Monday, May 12, 2003


cupping's amusing

i want to comment a little more about an in-depth discussion on alt.coffee having to do with cupping and tasting. long-time readers remember that i had the great privilege to attend a pro cupping at the ever-wonderful dallis coffee recently.

whereupon i learned that i really suck at it right now and need to strive hard to try to develop a serious palate. not that the pros weren't nice to me; because they were. that's just how the coffee business is.

but you have to study, study, study and work like a dog in this situation. coffee's not like wine: not some rarefied mystery inaccessible to normal humans. in coffee the complex flavors are more obvious and standardized. this doesn't make them less complex!

you just have to commit yourself to studying them and humbly practicing in order to learn. coffee is accessible to all who approach with a beginner's mind and a willingness to work. of course, it's not necessary to go to these extreme lengths to simply enjoy your coffee.

but once you've been drinking our favorite magical elixir for a bit, once you've seen the wide range available in high-quality specialty coffees and espressos, it's natural to be tempted to learn more. . .

so a well-respected independent roaster, barry jarret of riley's coffee, cupped some indian robusta and offered his own thoughts on alt.coffee. i responded with basically the same info i provided here in the cupping posts.

in sum, robusta -- even suppposedly nicer ones -- tastes like asphalt/ hot tar / ash / burning plastic to me. except for the monsooned beans -- those left to age in the humid winds of the indian monsoon. they have a distinct note that pushes the yuck to the back.

these monsooned beans are featured in the espressos of some notable independent quality roasters, perhaps most famously dr. john's cult espresso, the josuma malabar gold.

after noting this, fans of malabar gold immediately assailed me; they accused me of being some kind of super-tasting coffee goddess whose tongue was too sensitive to rely upon. since they love malabar gold, and taste nothing untoward, i had to be some kind of wacky anomaly.

this struck me as odd. for surely the reason they taste nothing untoward has everything to do with the skill of dr. john himself, no? it is a testament to him, not the tastebuds of his fans, that he can carefully choose, blend, and roast an espresso with a certain robusta and have it add to the coffee, not detract.

read the thread yourself here. this whole thing wigs me out, because -- as i so painfully learned recently -- i can barely taste coffee at all in comparison to the truly educated palate!

herein lies the cautionary tale: we consumers of upscale coffees need to remember that what we drink is the pinnacle of the art; near-perfect beans blended with skill and roasted with finesse by experts. to start from this base -- we're frankly spoiled -- and then claim we are connoiseurs is just posing.

we need to admit what has to be learned about coffee. and then we have to go do it. only then will we have the proper and humbled understanding to share what we have learned. . .

posted by fortune | 3:19 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments