Archive for January, 2002

Posted on January 20, 2002 - by deCadmus

On Tasting Coffee

Slurp. Swish. Spit.

Not very attractive, is it? And certainly not the romantic stuff that much of the business of coffee is built on. Still, slurping, swishing and spitting — better known as cupping — is the foundation of professional coffee tasters the world over. Armed with silver spoons, twirling tables and the ever-present spittoon, cuppers have employed the technique for more than a hundred years.

Just the same, there are iconoclasts even within the community of coffee professionals who feel that cupping is a bit of a throwback to earlier times, when it’s purpose was not so much to identify really great coffees, but to cull those that had defects, those that had been damaged in storage or shipment — even to ferret out those rascals who might try to pawn off inferior beans for the good stuff that was originally purchased.

Cupping coffee is a ritual. Ken Davids, author of Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying, suggests that there really is no like ritual for “the lay person”– those outside of the professional coffee world. I disagree.

Consider the breakfast cup. For hundreds of millions of people around the world their day simply hasn’t begun ’til they’ve had their morning cup — whether alone, or in the company of croissant, beignet, bagels or bacon and eggs. There is perhaps no more contemplated cup in the world.

Consider the ritual of the dessert cup. Whether your after-dinner treat is tiramisu, death by chocolate, or a few chocolate chips, there are few better companions than an equally rich cup of fresh-brewed coffee.

There are more… coffee and a smoke. Coffee and biscotti. Coffee and Mozart. Even coffee and Zen. No rituals, indeed.

Tasting coffee — savoring it, really — can’t be achieved with a simple slurp and a spit. Frankly, savoring a great cup of coffee deserves a ritual. It merits taking some time. Paying attention. Allowing yourself to be in the moment… and focusing on it. If you’d like something a bit more structured, allow me to suggest the following ritual — a “lay-person’s guide” for savoring coffee.

• Grind your coffee. Note the fragrance of the fresh-ground beans… spicy, earthy, nutty.
• Brew your coffee. Enjoy the aroma as it brews… heady and full of promise.
• Pour your coffee. Find a comfy place to sit. Feel the cup warm your hand.
• Sample the aroma of the cup. Is it sweet? Fruity? Notes of caramel?
• Breathe deeply. Release your breath.
• Sip your coffee. Go ahead… slurp it if you like. Feel the coffee bathe your cheeks, blanket your tongue. Focus on its flavor… is it complex? Is it direct, simple? Swallow… enjoy its warmth.
• Breathe out through your nose. Savor the aromas that waft through your sinuses… are there herbal notes? Fruit?
• Breathe deeply. Release.
• Sip your coffee again. Wiggle your tongue. Does the coffee feel heavy? Viscous? Is it light and delicate?
• Breathe out through your mouth… feel your breath on your tongue. What new flavors and aromas do you sense?
• Breathe deeply. Release.
• Repeat, as often as you like.

Enjoy your coffee. Savor a cup. Savor the world.

Posted on January 17, 2002 - by deCadmus

Is espresso the ultimate coffee?

Is espresso the ultimate coffee? It’s very essence? Ken Davids titled a book thataway — but you have to wonder if that speaks more of espresso, or of marketing a book. There is, of all things, a Jehovah’s Witness tract entitled “Espresso: the essence of coffee“. I can’t claim to know how it’s inspired, except as a general call to sobriety.

I like espresso. A lot. At the same time, I have a problem with the idea that espresso is the pinnacle of coffee flavor. Espresso is not only about the coffee — it is at least as much about the process — and the machine. Without a seriously capable machine, you simply can not produce espresso. And, given a superbly capable machine, you will not have good espresso without a very particular blend of beans. There are precious few single origin coffees that will withstand the rigors of the espresso process, and result in even a fair tazza of espresso, much less a good one.

For the truly great beans — the grand crus — there is really only one way to extract the essence of coffee: brew them. Strong. And black. Only then will you witness [aha, the link?] the subtleties of aroma, of flavor and body…. That, my friends, is the essence of coffee.

Posted on January 15, 2002 - by deCadmus

Announcing the Mystery Cup Challenge

In coffee…
Bloggle has joined forces with Riley’s Coffee to present a coffee tasting and blending challenge… great coffee and intrigue — at one low price. Get the big picture on the Mystery Cup Challenge page. And, this just in… how to taste coffee. No spitting required.

Posted on January 15, 2002 - by deCadmus

Slurp. Swish. Spit.

Not very attractive, is it? And certainly not the romantic stuff that much of the business of coffee is built on. Still, slurping, swishing and spitting — better known as cupping — is the foundation of professional coffee tasters the world over. Armed with silver spoons, twirling tables and the ever-present spittoon, cuppers have employed the technique for more than a hundred years.

Maybe it’s time for a new coffee tasting ritual. One that’s in-tune with enjoying coffee — savoring it — rather than hunting for defects. A humble suggestion or two can be found in articles.

Posted on January 12, 2002 - by deCadmus

Presenting…

Presenting…
In cahoots with Riley’s Coffee and inspired by fellow alt.coffee denizen Ted Simpson, Bloggle is proud to announce the MYSTERY CUP CHALLENGE — a unique opportunity to test your cupping and blending skills!

Here’s what you get:
Six one-half pound bags of coffee [green* or roasted, your choice]. Five of these are from five different coffee-growing origins — labeled simply with the letters A - E. Bag number six is “Mystery Blend X” and it contains coffees from bags A-E. But which beans, and in what ratios? — That’s part of the challenge…

THE CHALLENGE

Level 1:
Use your cupping skills to determine each coffee’s flavor characteristics, and world origins. Rate the flavor, finish, acidity, body, and balance — and try to figure out what part of the world each coffee hails from… Africa? Latin America? Indonesia? Someplace else?

Level 2:
Ready for more? Determine the regional origin! Can you name the country the bean was grown in? The region? The farm?

Level 3:
The heat is on… blend those beans! Sure, there’s dozens of ways to blend them — but we picked one in particular (actually, all the other blends we tried were bad or boring). Can you come up with the formula to match “Mystery Blend X”?

But wait! There’s more!
What’s a challenge without the chance to earn some bragging rights? Post your results on Bloggle.com’s coffee pages! On-line cupping and blending forms will be provided for you to submit your entries. Cupping results [and guesses] will be revealed as each challenge level is completed — but the origins themselves remain secret until February 8th.

The nitty-gritty details…
You can order your Mystery Cup Challenge beans any time between now and Noon Central Standard Time, Friday, January 18, at Riley’s Coffee. The package is only $15.00 for US orders, and $20.00 (shipped Global Priority Mail) for international orders. Roasted beans are available only for US orders, and those’ll run you $22.00. Not a bad deal, eh? It gets better… that price includes shipping to your door. Orders will be shipped on January 19, 2002.

Enter now… and let the Mystery Cup Challenge begin!

Posted on January 11, 2002 - by deCadmus

Bigger than Big

You thought the new iMac thing was big? Bigger than the rumors? Wait ’til you see the Mystery Cup Challenge.

Posted on January 11, 2002 - by deCadmus

CES 2002 is underway

CES 2002 is underway — 1.2 million square feet of shiny new consumer products — in the city that itself typifies America’s lust for style over substance, Las Vegas. How utterly appropriate. And, given that the show is reportedly bigger and better than ever, how refreshing. What our alarmingly recessional, fear-riddled economy could use most right now is a warming dose of blatant consumerism, and — dare I say it? — irrational exuberance.

Posted on January 11, 2002 - by deCadmus

Anti-SPAM SPAM?

How profitable can it possibly be to spam millions of email addresses with advertisements for anti-spam software? And yet this week it’s the clear leader the junkmail folder. Along with every single message from the yahoo.com domain, which apparently has become a haven of sorts for spammers — or at least a favorite forged return address. This week I’ve received offers to enlarge things, to copy things, to refinance things… but no offers of employment thus far.

Posted on January 8, 2002 - by deCadmus

It’s The Picture, Stupid

Thumbs-up to TechTV for their coverage of the entire MacWorld keynote [hereafter known as the 2002 Apple Lovefest]. Thumbs-down to TechTV commentator and long-time PC columnist John C. Dvorak for whining afterward about Steve Jobs’ extensive demonstrations of Apple’s new iPhoto technology. I think Dvorak just doesn’t get it…

Steve Jobs has once again fired up his crystal ball, this time tuned not to the hearts and minds of unwilling technology users, but to their wallets. And he’s found something intriguing. Whether that wallet is stuffed with cards of platinum, gold or green, nearly all of them are filled with…wait for it… photos. Photos of children, grandchildren, dogs and cats. Photos of vacations remembered, brides and grooms eternal. Photos of cars, boats, planes and trains… even photos of beautifully prepared cappuccinos.

Introduce a household of technophobes to a personal computer with Internet access and within a week the whole family is emailing photos to friends and family — whether they’re on the other side of town, cross-country or around the world. Despite the fact that web-based photo sites have proved famously unreliable, users have flocked to them in droves, largely because off-line tools for building and hosting photo albums have proved difficult to use.

With a single stroke, Jobs has launched a service that eases import, organization, editing, printing and distribution of digital photos — which paints a very compelling picture for millions currently using a jumble of mis-matched utilities on a PC. Killer app, indeed.

Oh yeah… I understand Apple launched a new iMac, too.

Posted on January 8, 2002 - by deCadmus

Coffee Unwrapped: Sigh

Well… Coffee Unwrapped was pretty much a bust. The host was irritating, and the show’s coverage was pretty weak, and all too often inaccurate. My FoodTV evening would have been a complete waste of time were it not for the surprisingly good showing of Keith Famie [you remember, the Survivor chef who couldn't cook rice?] with his show’s Seattle jaunt [which he opens wearing a shirt that reads, "Got Rice?"]. In only a few minutes’ time at Seattle’s Cafe Vita, he thoroughly trumped Unwrapped’s 30 minute paean to the bean.

Who knew?