Sunday, November 16, 2003


why that coffee smells terrific

or, your brain on vanilla.

i mentioned in passing one of the reasons coffee's delicious scent causes most human noses to perk up with delight. . . the aromatic aldehyde it shares with vanilla.

i was most fortunate to hear from scaa chief ted lingle (whose gilded icon adorns the top position of my personal coffee retablo) on this very subject.

first we have to remember that the human nose -- who knows why? -- is unusually sensitive to vanillin, one of the many natural chemicals we sense when we smell lovely real vanilla. we can smell even miniscule amounts of vanilla; some scientists say as few as 5 or so parts per billion in the air!

(interestingly enough, capascin, the ouchy-hot chemical in chiles, is related to vanillin, and people can also detect it very finely: 8 parts per billion!)

lingle quotes tasting guru jean lenoir: "the smell of vanilla in coffee is a basic permanent feature, essential to the balance of the coffee's aroma.  it fixes and strengthens the other aromatic compounds, bringing body, especially in the arabicas."

long-time readers will also remember that small amounts of vanilla are present in most chocolate, as well. . .

he notes that the vanillin we smell in our freshly brewed coffee belongs to a class of chemicals known as -- brace yourselves -- the aldehydic derivatives of polyhydric phenols. for you true geeks out there, its chemical composition is 3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde.

and speaking of long-time readers, you will no doubt be asking yourself, hey why is she here today? shouldn't she be lost in the crush at the nyc chocolate show?

and it's true, normally i would be. but this year, i just can't do it.

i can't take the waiting hours on the sidewalk in the freezing wind, only to be jammed more tightly than a hapless commuter on a japanese train car, unable to reach the sample trays through the out-of-town hordes who have come to fill up on milk-chocolate-covered pretzels.

god love those out-of-town hordes, and may they discover the joys of hand-made, artisan chocolate at the show.

forgive me. instead i'm staying home, staying calm, making pizza, and going to yoga class. please make do with this fine article in my place.

in the meantime, i'll be sniffing the perfume of david haddock's counterculture certified organic holiday blend, made in my little cafetiére. . . more commonly known as the french press.

and let me close with another remark by lingle -- who, if the world were just, would walk on water -- on the subject of vanilla in coffee, and the aromas of coffee: "you see, the words in the flavor wheel really do have a technical basis and a more precise meaning than most people recognize."

he's referring here to the scaa coffee-tasting wheel, a tool to help people put words to what they feel when they taste coffee. and vanilla is one of the terms on the wheel.

it's there not because the wheel is based on poetry and metaphor -- although heaven knows, coffee has plenty of that beauty! -- but also because the wheel describes the real chemicals we can perceive with just a little practice when we sample our daily brew.

one of the goals of the scaa consumer membership idea is to help people appreciate the beautiful coffee they drink everyday. and to appreciate not only the poetry of coffee, its exotic heart buried in the everyday, but also the wonder of nature that coffee exhibits.

yet people often discover that they have a hard time describing the complex and delicious flavors of coffee. thus the wheel!

the wheel takes some time to learn, but it helps immeasurably. especially when buying coffee from professionals. once you learn a little about the wheel, you can discuss coffee in a way you never could before.

you can finally unlock the depths of how coffee feels to you! and you can try new coffees, or compare familiar ones, based on this liberating vocabulary.

i encourage everyone to become a c-member, get their own copy of the wheel and the lingle tasting handbook, and try out this new vocabulary as it suits them. this may be much, or little. hey, whatever works for you!

either way, it is a door that takes you into more fully into the fascination and romance of the world's greatest beverage. . .

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