Friday, October 31, 2003


coffee & chocolate tasting

and today finds a great article on a starbucks' led cupping class.

however, i will disagree with one smidgeon of this article: cupping isn't entirely personal. it actually isn't "extremely subjective." and it's not an ink-blot test.

there are standards; there is a fairly accepted set of "terms of art." and the scaa does offer a sensory evaluation test to ensure your "coffee nose" works.

but of course there is an element of subjectivity; there is an element of personal talent. some people are born with better tasting abilities than others; and some have spent decades studying coffee to learn it.

few people fall into both groups: but a famous example of one who does is, of course, don schoenholt of gillies. there are other many notable cuppers, such as lindsay bolger of green mountain; erna knutsen; jerry baldwin of peets; steve colten of atlantic.

among scaa c-members, there are also a couple of budding cuppers. the first that leaps to my mind is of course jim schulman of chicago.

on the chocolate front, i was recently given a bar of blommer milk chocolate. it's nicely packaged, but not that great -- inferior sheen, poor snap, bad finish, slightly gritty mouthfeel, weak chocolate taste, waaay too sweet.

i'd be surprised if this was even 31% chocolate liquor. personally, i don't think it's even equal to ghirardelli.

still, i appreciate the gift. it's the intention that counts.

and it's an opportunity to give a truly world-class artisan chocolate in return. to continue our mission of educating the planet one mouth at a time!

of course, in the u.s.a., today is halloween -- the ultimate chocolate fest. tomorrow is in other countries, the day of the dead -- more candy! enjoy 'em both. . .

posted by fortune | 10:12 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments