Daniel's World of Coffee

Sweetness

All coffee should be sweet.

When I do trainings I always pull some good espresso shots and have the students taste the espresso as I help describe what they are tasting. I'm always careful to point out that the "good" definition means good for that particular coffee. For instance, a good shot of Intelligentsia's Black Cat is going to be dark-toned, chocolatey, syrupy and full-bodied. A good shot of Terroir's Daterra Espresso will be clean, fruity, and with a pipe tobacco characteristic. Trying to make one taste like the other would be a big mistake. There's room in the world of coffee for both, and for many other kinds of coffee, and thank goodness for that.

But they have one thing in common: when properly prepared, they are sweet.

Everyone has different tastes. Different cultures can handle different tastes and different strange foods. But there's not a culture that I've ever encountered that doesn't like sweet things. We've evolved to love sweet things because sugars are one of the most concentrated forms of energy, and because sweetness is a sign that food is ripe and not spoiled.

When people learn what I do, they sometimes say as if by way of apology, "Oh... I drink coffee with lots of cream and sugar. You must think that's terrible." It's not terrible at all. It's natural. You evolved to like sweet things. And most coffee, unfortunately, is not sweet. So it's natural to put sugar or Splenda or what have you in there. Then, once people get used to a certain way of drinking their coffee, they are understandably reluctant to change it up. But as you know, reader, it doesn't have to be that way.

Coffee is a fruit, and the seeds of that fruit (you know... "beans") are lovely sweet when nurtured and cared for properly.

So when you evaluate a coffee, and you need something to wrap your mind around to begin your evaluation — and anchor point for your evaluation — you can start with sweetness. Is this coffee sweet? How noticeable is the sweetness? What is the character of that sweetness?

And if it's not sweet, you should demand better coffee, from yourself or from your barista or roaster. Later this week I will look at the places in the process of growing, roasting, and preparing coffee where sweetness is created or destroyed.

(A very special kind of Sweetness).

Cleansing Your Palate

Like I said, I'm doing a lot of taste-testing this week, and so I have tasting protocols on my mind.

People often ask me what coffee tasters do to cleanse their palates. My answer is: usually, not much!

Coffee (especially non-espresso coffee) is heavily water-based... about 98.7% water in most cases. When comparing just a handful of coffees, all you need to cleanse yourself of the last coffee is.... the next coffee. However, over time and many samples, you will develop some build-up. There's nothing wrong with cleansing, especially if you find it helps you.

The best cleanser in life, in all circumstances, of course is water. When I do tasting, no matter if it's cupping, brewed coffee, espresso, or whatever, I always have lots of fresh water on hand. I like the water to be not too cold, as having really cold water can provide a shock to your senses. Also, it's best to use the same water source as is being used to brew your coffee. That means if your brew-station has a water filtration system, it's best to be drinking water that is similarly filtered. But, really, any old water will do.

Swishing water around in your mouth and spitting is a good practice. It's also a good idea to drink plenty of water if you are going to taste a lot of coffees. Even if you are spitting most of your coffee samples, you are going to absorb a lot of caffeine through your mouth. Drinking plenty of water helps ensure your body will be able to handle it.

When I have a lot of coffee to sample, I will use crackers to cleanse my palate. Choose something neutral, like soda crackers or table water crackers. Make sure to rinse with water after to get all the cracker residue out of your mouth.

Pears and apples are also a common way to refresh yourself between sets. I strongly recommend you stay away from this kind of palate cleanser when you are in the middle of tasting. But if you have several sessions planned, having a few slices of a sweet apple can scrub your tongue a little and refresh you. Again, finish with water.

Finally, espresso is a special case because of all the oils involved. I like to serve people sparkling water when hosting an espresso tasting. Stay away from flavored waters. A good, relatively neutral water like Perrier should do the trick. Swish and spit, and swish and drink. Have some still water on hand, too, as always!

Control Your Variables

I've been doing a lot of taste tests lately, and I've had a few interesting experiences that have reminded me of the importance of strict protocols when doing taste tests.

The whole reason for the ritual of cupping, of course, is to eliminate the variables from cup to cup, so that you know you are tasting the difference between the beans themselves (or, alternatively, the roasts). If more than one variable changes, you lose control of your experiment very quickly. Unfortunately, in my experience, most people have two or sometimes many more variables out of control when they are evaluating flavor.

Controlling your variables is important not just in cupping, but in evaluating your own espresso, deciding which roasted coffee beans to buy, choosing your brew parameters for your home coffee, buying coffee equipment... everything! One must avoid blanket statements that aren't backed up by the real data. The mind is very good at focusing in on one particular factor, to the exclusion of everything else.

For example, you may have a relatively rare coffee, such as a Timor or a Burundi. Someone makes a cup in a drip machine that is under-temperature and which uses a paper filter. Earlier in the day, you had some Guatemalan coffee from a properly prepared French press. The Guat tasted full-flavored, rich, and sweet. The Timor (let's say) tastes watery and flat. "I hate Timor coffees... they are too thin and flavorless!" Big mistake.

In general, in all different preparation and testing methods (from home brewing, to sampling coffee shops, to evaluating your own espresso, to cupping), here are the variables you have to be aware of:

Temperature: All coffee is very sensitive to the temperature at which you brew it. Many home brew coffee is too cool. Aim for 200 Fahrenheit. In espresso, a few degrees one way or another can make a night-and-day difference.

Grind: Inconsistent grinding can force you to choose between very weak coffee on the one hand or bitter coffee on the other, with no middle ground.

Season: If you compare an El Salvador to a Rwanda in September, you are giving the El Salvador a huge advantage (assuming its current crop). Be aware of when certain coffees are most fresh.

Roast: As everyone knows, roast has a huge influence on taste. Don't mix and match light roasts with dark when making comparisons.

Age of Roasted Coffee: As little as a few days can make a tasteable difference as coffee loses its aromatic gasses and the oils start to go bad. And many people are comparing coffees that are months apart in roast date.

Time Since Grinding: If I gave you coffee ground yesterday versus coffee ground 5 minutes ago, I could convince you they were two different kinds of beans.

Dose/Strength: Here's an obvious one... are you comparing coffees that were brewed to the same strength?

Dwell Time: Don't compare a pot made in 4 minutes to one made in 7.

Extraction: Extraction rate is actually highly dependent on all of the above factors, and from a certain perspective is not in the same category as these other variables. But I'm referring here to the evenness of the extraction. That is... if you make two Chemexes with the same grinder, water, dose, etc. but you pour one straight down the sides and the other one in a careful spiral motion, you will have two different tasting brews.

Non-coffee Factors: There are so many other things that can influence your experience that it would be impossible to list them all here. But pay attention to how long it's been since your last cup of coffee (first one in the morning versus after a long day of sampling coffee), what you last had to eat (spicy food? fudge? cheese?), the environment you are in, expectations you had for a given coffee (due to branding, preconceived notions, etc), and other smells or stimuli around you.

I'm sure I'm missing something in this list. My point is: Be careful! Make sure you are evaluating what you think you are evaluating.

Tasting Espresso

When I do trainings, sometimes I have students who don't normally drink straight espresso. But, I tell them, drinking straight espresso is now a part of your job. "You don't drink espresso? Well, you do now!"

Think about it: would you want to eat at a restaurant where the chef created specials that he sent out to the guests without ever tasting the recipe once?

Some people are very sensitive to caffeine, and I understand that. For those people I recommend they try small sips of espresso which they can then spit out into a cup. If you want to be really careful about it, you can follow this up by rinsing your mouth out with water or, even better, sparkling water.

Every barista should be tasting his or her espresso every day, without exception. As you taste more and more shots, you start to build a vocabulary for how to analyze the taste. And you begin to notice correlations between certain aspects of the appearance of the espresso and the tastes that go along with it. And, of course, you can track changes as they happen to the blend over time.

When someone drinks a straight espresso for pleasure, I would never dream of telling them how they should or should not consume it. Personal preference! But if you are sampling an espresso purely for flavor evaluation, I have a couple of pointers.

First of all: understand that espresso is a strong beverage. People often react to a strong-tasting compound by calling it "bitter" without reflection. But bitterness and strength are two different things. Try to "taste through" the initital strength of the beverage. Of course, many espresso are bitter, but we want to be able to separate these from those that are sweet, or sour, or salty. So be brave and keep tasting after that initial shock.

The second pointer I give is to always taste beneath the crema. Good espresso should have resilient crema. It's a sign that the fats have been properly emulsified, lending to a rich, smooth mouthfeel that you only get in espresso. But it can taste radically different than the rest of the brew. Essentially, each cup of espresso is two beverages laying one on top of the other, like a black-and-tan: the crema on top of the darker espresso. The crema is CO2, particulate matter, and oils. The darker liquid is mostly water and solubles, with some oils blended in. They taste very different. Always be careful to poke a hole in the crema by blowing on it or scooping with a little spoon.

And that's it! All you need to know to become an expert taster of your own shots. The best lessons come from real life experience, so get out there and start tasting.

For a bonus, check out this interesting video from former World Barista Champion, James Hoffmann. h/t to Nigel.

Event Announcement: Crop to Cup on the Highline

My friend Taylor now serves his Crop to Cup coffee in (on?) New York City's newest park, the elevated train tracks on the West Side that have been converted into a long, skinny, walkable green park, the Highline.

This Sunday he's having a free coffee giveaway. Crop to Cup is a New York-based company that specializes in Ugandan coffee. Taylor and his partner got the idea for the business while living in Uganda a few years ago. If you haven't seen the Highline yet, here's your excuse....

Taylor's announcement: The “Crop to Cup Free for All” party is set for Sunday, to celebrate the recent launch of Crop to Cup Coffee Co.’s new café up on the Highline. This Sunday, August 16, from 4pm to 6pm, we will lock away our cash box and dish out free coffee and chocolate drinks to all. Revelers will be able to choose from our signature hot and iced coffees, iced chocolate (from our own homemade ganache) and hot or iced mochas (also made with our ganache). All dairy will be from our friends at Basis Farm to Chef and Battenkill Valley Creamery.

As always, Crop to Cup is your NYC-roasted source for the best in farmer-direct single origin coffees and trace-your-impact sustainability. By supporting family farmers in Uganda and elsewhere, as well as sustainability-focused dairy farms in our own backyard, we’re doing our very best to help reinvent the food system the world depends on.

So, please come join Crop to Cup and delicious farm products - from Uganda to Upstate - as we party it up at the super cool Highline park. Our new 29-day café (lasts until Sept 6) is the perfect spot to spend the afternoon, with amazing views of the river, spectacular architecture of the neighborhood’s old warehouse buildings, and of course the beautiful Highline park. Stay for the sunset – our west-facing view over the Hudson is the best in the city!

Details:

• What: “Crop to Cup Free for All” - Free Drinks for All!

• When: Sunday, August 16, 4pm to 6pm

• Where: Crop to Cup Coffee stand at the Highline Park, at the Chelsea Market Underpass (near the Highline’s 16th St entrance).

• Rain or Shine, as we’re sheltered by the Chelsea Market building

• Why? On a hot summer day you deserve a delicious freshly brewed iced coffee or iced chocolate! 1 free coffee or chocolate drink per person

We hope to see you there!

NYCS Event This Thursday

My good friend and coffee colleague, Willem Boot, is in New York this week and we're throwing a little coffee event together. Join Willem and me, and the rest of your co-Coffee Societals, this Thursday, July 2nd, at 7 pm at Ost Café in the East Village. We'll be tasting some fresh-crop Central American coffees and discussing the quality coffee movement in general.

For those of you who don't know him, Willem Boot is one of the world's leading specialty coffee experts. He grew up helping his father run a coffee roasting company in his home country of Holland, and has since worked in just about every capacity in the coffee industry, from roasting to cupping to quality-development at origin. Willem is a regular judge at international coffee competitions; he has led projects in Africa, Latin America, and Asia to help farmers improve their coffee and find markets for their product; his intensive roasting and cupping seminars at his laboratory in the Bay Area, where he lives, have helped countless specialty roasters (some quite famous) get their start; he is one of the founders of the Common River project helping Ethiopian coffee farmers and orphans in Aleta Wondo, Ethiopia; and he even is a coffee farmer himself, with two small farm in the Boquete region of Panama! I can tell you from personal experience that Willem is a goldmine of knowledge about coffee, a great speaker, and a fun guy, too!

And if you haven't been to Ost yet, you are really missing out. They've been serving some of the best, most lovingly-prepared coffee in all of New York City since the start of 2009, in a beautiful, elegant environment. I like Ost so much that I sling shifts there many Sundays just to soak up the atmosphere and the coffee love. The Ostians, Alex, Aaron, and Kat, are being kind enough to close business early for us and our dorky ways, so let's show them a great Coffee Society turnout and really pack the place!

JULY 2nd, 7 pm Ost Café Corner of 12th and Avenue A, in the East Village

Please RSVP to [email protected] if you plan on coming, and as always, feel free to bring a friend.

NYCS Event this Saturday, June 6

My friend David Latourell just came back from a week in Scandinavia and he brought back some treats for us. David's friends with just about all the top coffee people in Copenhagen, which just might be the top coffee city in the world. So these roasters, taster's champions and World Barista Champions sent him back to New York City arms laden with all kinds of beautiful beans.

The New York Coffee Society will be tasting these coffees (including 3 espressos!) on Saturday, June 6, at 2 pm in Soho. The location is Intelligentsia Coffee's cool little shiny white coffee laboratory on Broadway just south of Houston.

The address is 594 Broadway, Suite 909A

Just take the elevators on the right side of the lobby on up to the 9th floor and follow the smell of coffee!

This event is open to amateurs and professionals alike; there is no charge, and as always it's a non-commercial event (no selling stuff or advertising allowed!). We'll be tasting two different roasts for the same natural-process Ethiopian coffee (from Bagersh), in addition to pulling shots on our GB-5/Robur-E set-up.

RSVP to [email protected] if you would like to come. We're going to cap it at around 20 people. As always, there's a high likelihood of tacos and/or beers happening afterwards for those who want to take the edge off the caffeine buzz.

Hope to see you there!

Espresso Tasting this Saturday

I have lots of tastings and classes with Intelligentsia coming up, but there's one in particular I'd like to mention on here.

An espresso tasting! This Saturday, May 9th, at 11:30 am. It's at Intelligentsia's pretty white training and education lab in Soho... 594 Broadway, Suite 909A (just south of Houston).

How often do you get to taste more than one espresso in the space of an hour? If you go to the right store, you might be able to get two espressos. Well, we are going to have four! I'll have the new iteration of the Black Cat on tap (now with Rwandan coffee!), plus some single origins, including the famous Bolivia Anjilanaka. Plus we might mix some of them up with milk and see how they do. I'll be pulling all the shots on our pretty La Marzocco... come check out our new GS-3, too!

You can sign up here. Also, while on that site, check out all the other cool classes I am teaching (for instance, there's a cupping on Thursday morning, at 10 am... you should come to that, too!).

Hope to see you on Saturday.

2009 SCAA Show Highlights

Back in New York City after a long weekend in Atlanta. SCAA was, as usual, lots of faces, lots of parties, lots of interesting new concepts and machines, and way way way too much caffeine. Good times

I'd like to share some highlights and lowlights from my experience:

Highlights

1. Gwilym Davies' signature beverage. Gwilym is your new World Barista Champion. Of course, as a non-judge, I didn't get to taste his espresso. From everything I heard, and judging on the fact that he beat out the 50 best baristas in the entire world, I'm assuming it was positively fantastic. Roasted by these guys.

But, although again I didn't get to taste it, Gwilym's signature beverage was a sight behold. At the beginning of his competition time, he gave the four sensory judges each an envelope and told them to open it and follow the instructions therein. It was a mystery to the general audience what was going on. Then he made his espressos and cappuccinos. When sig-drink time came, he collected the envelopes and announced what four flavors the judges had selected. You see, each card contained four different flavor components, divided into four categories, and Gwilym had the judges choose their "favorite flavor component." Then he went to his tray of 16 different ingredients and selected the four named by the judges for the drink, and prepared the drink. Ballsy, entertaining, and presumably delicious.

In the first round, the choices were butter, hazelnuts, honey, and cherry. I didn't catch the combo in the final round. But all 16 were components he claims are in the espresso, and it's easy to believe him based on the scores he got. Every time I think baristas couldn't possibly come up with new innovations, the best prove me wrong. I have no idea how next year's champ will top this — that's why they are champs and I am not — but I'm already intrigued. Bravo, Gwilym!

2. Chris and M'lissa's wedding reception. Good friends and great people (and great coffee people) Chris Owens and M'lissa Muckerman were married recently, and they saved their big reception for the SCAA show. M'lissa used to run the show at Octane coffee in Atlanta, and that's where about 400 drunken happy baristas and assorted coffee folks descended on Friday night to toast them and dance the night away. At the end of the night there wasn't a single drop of booze left in the place (seriously), though they had started with a mighty inventory. Chris wore a tux and M'lissa a pretty dress, and everyone was smiles all around, spilling out into the parking lot and the streets of Atlanta. So great to see so many old friends! It's a tribute to how much everyone loves those two that it was such a great party. Also a good thing that my primary job the next day was to drink coffee.

Thanks Chris'n'M'liss! Congratulations!

3. Devin's shot of Black Cat. You get a ton of coffee at these events, of course. Some of it is good, some of it is great, and some of it makes you wonder what people were thinking (in a room full of 1000s of coffee experts, better bring your A-game!). I went in hoping to get a real transformative experience from some unknown coffee, but the best shot I had all weekend was actually a shot of Black Cat espresso made for me at the Intelligentsia booth by master LA barista, Devin Pedde. Perfect chocolate and caramel, touch of rich fruit, velvety smooth mouthfeel that stayed with me for an hour.

The other fantastic shot I had was at the Barista Guild of America cafe, a shot of Terroir Coffee's Daterra Reserve (a famous Brazilian grower, roasted by a famous Massachusettes coffee expert), pulled by fellow New York Stater Chris Ganger of Ithaca Coffee Company. Very clear and light for a Brazil, but with lots of sweetness and great aromatics. Nice job, Devin and Chris.

4. First Annual Taster's Championship. Won by another northeasterner (detect a pattern?), Ben Kaminsky of Barismo. This has been a long time coming. For all the attention given to barista competition, it's about time we had a national competition for tasters. The format is simple differentiation of triangulated coffees (pick which of the three is different from the other two), in as short a time as possible. Geoff Watts of Intelly made the top three, but Kaminsky pulled out the championship in the end. Now it's on to world's for him. Major props. If I have the balls I will compete next year myself.

5. Hartmann Honey from Gimme! Gabe Boscano of Gimme! Coffee gave me a small bag of Panamanian coffee from his latest batch on their restored Probat drum roaster. Gimme! has air-roasted from the start, and the drum-roaster is a new venture for them; Gabe's helping to drive that bus. I didn't technically taste this at the show, but rather brewed myself two pots this morning. It's very rich and sweet for a Panama, due in part to being "honey-processed" coffee (pulp dried right on the parchment instead of fermented off). I know this is a risky way to process coffee, but the Hartmann family did it perfectly, and the Gimme! crew roasted it perfectly. I'm already looking forward to drinking some more later today. Thanks, Gabe!

Lowlights

Just one here: JFK airport almost completely shut down on Monday due to a little blustery weather and heavy rain. That place is so damn busy, the slightest glitch seems to send it into total disarray. People were getting canceled and redirected all up and down the East Coast. My colleague David left very early Monday, ended up in Cincinatti somehow and barely made it home. My colleague Steve had to spend the night in Raleigh, NC, and then was delayed again on his morning flight. As for me, I was delayed several hours out of Atlanta, then circled over New Jersey for an hour or so before they sent us to Boston where we refueled, took off again, circled over Long Island for a while and then, at the last moment, they let us land at JFK 7 hours late. Oof...

But I'm back now. And luckily, the highlights (of which these five are only a small selection) vastly overpower the lowlights.

Cheese!

Don't forget! This Wednesday evening is my cheese and coffee class at Artisanal Premium Cheese. The bubbly will be flowing (and we might whip out the port at the end too), three fantastic coffees from around the world married with six unbelievable cheeses.

Here is my longer post about it.

Sign up at Artisanal here.

See you there!