I’ve been trying to pay attention to the taste of coffee. This conscious awareness is my preliminary training before embarking on some serious coffee cupping. My 8 O’ Clock coffee is my baseline in taste. It’s not bad – not bitter, not watery – but nothing to hoot or holler about.
A few of my coworkers like to go to Caribou Coffee in the morning. Since I’ve begun to pay attention to the coffee taste, I’ve had the realization one morning that the Caribou light roast was “brighter” than my 8 O’ Clock I had on the bus. Maybe that’s what the coffee people call acidity.
Today after my first sip of Caribou’s Organic Blend light roast, I had the sensation of a bouquet of flowers! This my taste bud’s epiphany! I felt like a kindergartener realizing that I just read a real word for the first time.
November 26, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Is that how you start developing your tasting ability – drink the same cup long enough to get a baseline?
December 1, 2008 at 12:08 am
That’s what I’m trying to do. 8 O’Clock is neither bad nor good. So I at least have a neutral to compare everything by. I’ll be taking a tasting class this Saturday. I’ll let you know. Over Thanksgiving Luke, my brother-in-law bought four different beans from Starbucks. I’m finding that after years, if not decades, of paying no attention to taste other than bitter/not bitter, I have to consciously consider the taste of the coffee to notice the differences. Then again, it was Starbucks, which I hear may just be one step up from 8 O’ Clock – sorry Luke.