Coffee Tasting – It’s not that easy

Has anyone tried my experiment – exhaling after taking a sip of your coffee? Well, I have two confessions:

First, it is not as easy as I had hoped. I was drinking 8 O’clock Coffee to see if I could come up with a description of its flavor. Sorry it just tastes like coffee. Maybe if I stretch my imagination I may be able to say that it’s a tiny bit nutty. More accurately I have the taste of bitterness – not as bitter as Maxwell House – but none the less bitter. Any other description? Coffee. Not fruity, not flowery, not chocolaty, maybe slightly nutty.

Second, when I first take a sip and exhale, I don’t immediately recognize the subtleties of the coffee’s flavor. I’m embarrassed to admit it but I typically am able to sense the delicate flavor moments later as I burp up the coffee. All the subtle nuances of flavor come to mind as the aroma wafts up the back of my throat into my nasal passages. Sorry I might be grossing you out -but it’s true.

Vivarin or . . .

A friend of mine works six ten hour days. I saw him the other night. I asked him, “So, how are you doing?” He answered, “I’m tired. I had to take a Vivarin.” I thought to myself, “Vivarin? I’d rather have a delicious cup of coffee!”

More About Roasting Coffee Beans

I don’t have the fine skills of an experienced roaster, but with every roast, I’m getting one more step closer.

Coffee beans at different stages of roasting

So let me tell you what I know about what a roasted coffee bean looks like. The picture shows the coffee bean at different stages of being roasted.

The bean to the far left is unroasted. Unroasted beans don’t even smell like coffee. They actually stink, smelling raw.

The second bean from the left right has begun to roast, but has not even gotten to the “first crack”. At this point you should smell a slightly sweet aroma – kind of like sugar starting to caramelize.

The third bean has reached the “first crack”. The “first crack” sounds like popcorn popping, occurring around 4.5 to 5 minutes in my popcorn popper. This is where the water in the bean has finally evaporated and the bean begins to really roast. Roasting caramelizes the sugars and releases the oils found in the beans. The roasted sugars and the oils produce the wonderful aroma and flavor of the coffee.

Coffee roasting requires a sense of smell, hearing, and sight. I’m not able to monitor the temperature of the beans – so I rely on those three senses. Once you hear the “first crack” now it’s time to pay close attention (this is usually when one of my kids ask me to do something for them). Trust your nose and the color of the beans that you see. The beans start to smell like coffee after the “first crack”.

For a medium roast, I typically stop the roasting at about 8 minutes. The beans have roasted beyond the “first crack” but not to the “second crack”. The fourth bean is a sample of this. As you can see in the picture, a medium roasted bean is nicely browned, but not yet shiny – like you see in dark roasted coffee. Medium roasted coffee typically gives you the inherent taste of the beans.

If I let the beans go to about 9 minutes, you will begin the hear the start of the “second crack”. When I pour these beans out they usually continue to crack on the cookie sheet until they cool down. These beans are a medium-dark roast. I like this best for my blend of Kenya and Brazil or Sumatra.

Most coffee drinkers that I know like dark roasted coffee. They like the strong attack of their taste buds. For a dark roast I’ll let my popcorn popper go all the way up to 12 minutes. Most of the beans have reached the “second crack” by this time. The fifth bean in the picture is a dark roasted bean. It begins to shine since the oils have made its way to the surface of the bean. Starbucks likes to roast their beans pretty dark. In fact, they have a carbon taste to me. I like dark roasts, but I think I like to stop just before the carbon taste kicks in.

So that’s it. One key to roasting is knowing what the beans should look like. The difference between a medium roast and a dark roast in the popper is about 4 minutes. My 12 minute mark for a dark roast is a basic guidline. It’s still best to watch the beans, making sure they look like beans at the level of roast you want.

Roasting and Tasting with Guy

I got my green coffee beans from La Prima, a local Pittsburgh coffee roaster. I bought 2lbs of Sumatra, 1lb of Kenya, and 1lb of Brazil. I first roasted the beans on their own and tasted them.

I roasted the Sumatran coffee dark and it tasted great. It was thick and syrupy. As the coffee cooled, the taste of chocolate was left in my mouth.

I roasted the Kenyan medium. The flavor was brighter than the Sumatran and did not have the syrupy body of the Sumatran. But I liked the brightness.

I roasted the Brazilian both medium and dark. It had more body than the Kenyan and the flavor was even sweet, but it was kind of boring – not exotic like the Sumatra, not bright like the Kenya.

GUY’S BLEND – so I found that my favorite was actually roasting the Kenyan with the Brazilian. This is  what I liked drinking on the bus on my way to work. The brightness of the Kenyan made the coffee flavorful, but the sweetness and body of the Brazilian made it perfect. I did the same with Kenyan and Sumatran – even better – more exotic.

MADE A CONVERT – My friend, John, from work – you know the one who gave me his Maxwell House – he mentioned that he had an old popcorn popper and wouldn’t mind trying roasting himself. I said, I bought 2lbs of Sumatran, just take 1lb. Well he paid me for the coffee. Guess what – I told him roast it for about 12 minutes. It worked like a charm!

Have French Press, Will Travel

French Press in Junk Bin

This is the junk bin between the two front seats of our mini-van. After making my cup of coffee for the road, I quickly washed out my French press. No time to properly pack it. So I threw it in the junk bin. Won’t leave home without it as I continue my trek through the world of coffee.

Bigger Scoup – More Coffee

Bigger scoup - more coffee

Yesterday I posted about using more coffee for my morning cup. This morning I realized that the scoup I had been using for the Intelligentia beans was smaller than the scoup I normally used.

The scoup on the right is a 1/8 cup scoup. I normally use two scoups for my four cup French press. Two of the left scoup was just too little coffee for me.

So from now on I am standardized! 1/4 cup of beans, ground and placed into my 4 cup French press.

Black and Decker Smart Grind – terrible, really terrible

My wife’s youngest brother brought the beans to Thanksgiving (I’ll talk about that in the next post) with his coffee grinder. The coffee grinder was a Black and Decker Smart Grind. He said he probably paid less than $10 for it from Walmart. THIS WAS A TERRIBLE GRINDER!

It is a blade grinder that never really ground all the beans unless you ground it for a long time, shaking and turning it over to make sure all the beans came in contact with the blades. By the time all the beans were ground, they were a fine powder – but I don’t think any serious espresso drinker would use the grounds – well maybe if he or she were desperate. I tried to grind beans so it was on a little coarser side for the vacuum pot. Result – some grounds, some whole beans. What a shame!

I think this means that it’s time for me to find myself a burr grinder.

La Prima and Aldo Coffee

I’m excited about two places in Pittsburgh. The first is La Prima. I haven’t had their coffee yet, but I’ve read many good reviews. They give a tour of their roasting plant the first Saturday of the month at 10:00AM. I’ve already signed up for December 6th. I heard that we’ll actually see them roast coffee and get samples. The tour is just $10.

Aldo Coffee is in Mt. Lebanon. They give two coffee tasting classes a month. By chance their next beginners’ class is also December 6th at 1:00PM. I’ve made my reservation. By the way it’s free! We should be tasting coffee from different countries.

I’m anxious for December 6 to come.

Slumming It with Maxwell House

Maxwell House in the French Press

Maxwell House in the French Press

So this past week (even as I write this) I’ve been slummin it with Maxwell House. Made up a cup of Maxwell House Master Blend in my French Press – Mmm, look at that rich foam floating on top. Made it the same way as my 8 O’ Clock or my Kona -

boil water

let it cool for 45sec

pour the water into the Frech press

set the timer for 4 min.

mix it at the 3min mark

wait for the timer to go off

press and pour

With the first sip Maxwell House bites you back like no self-respecting Arabica bean would never do. Then the caffeine just burns in your gut. Nothing to savor or enjoy – just the well expected caffeine buzz. Well, a bad taste is left in the mouth too.

You know what? There is something appealing about this type of coffee. Kind of like the macho attitude that you have to take when drinking cowboy coffee that burned and burned over the fire, until all that’s left is caffeine in the black mud. Why try to fix this up with flavors, milk and sugar? Take it like a real man! It’s extra strength Drano doing its thing! Ok, ok. It does really taste bad. My friend’s recommendation was to just throw it away.

(BTW the french press in the picture is now my own. I found it advertised on Craigslist by someone in Philadelphia. She was very accommodating and sent it to me for $10 including shipping and handling. I really appreciated it. So I have returned the french press the belonged to my friend. My french press is smaller, enough for one mugful. One thing I noticed, don’t know if it is because of the smaller size or not, when I pour the coffee into my mug, I get less foam than from my friends’ larger french press. In the past I would always slurp up the foam as my first taste.)

Changing the Routine into Ritual and Even Ceremony

I think in most people’s lives, there is a positive place for the routine. The routine are the things we do without having to think. They give us a chance to wake up in the morning. For coffee drinkers, having that first cup is probably a routine of necessity.

The Routine into Ritual – After years of making myself coffee with Mr. Coffee and other similar drip coffee makers, my experience of making coffee with a French Press and now a Vacuum/Syphon Coffee Maker has allowed me to discover a certain sophistication that turns the routine into ritual. What am I talking about? Here is my definition: every step of the brewing process – grinding the beans, smelling the grounds, adding the hot water, stirring the coffee, smelling the brew, waiting in anticipation, pouring that cup to finally taste – is slowed down enough to stop, enjoy, and savor.

Ritual into Ceremony – To turn ritual into ceremony is to add one more dimension. I haven’t done this yet, but I long for the day — my ceremony would be to carry out my ritual with a number of fellow coffee lovers. Together we can stop, enjoy, and savor the aromas and wonderful flavors in a good cup of coffee. Do you smell it? Can you taste it? I do.

Why have life hum-drum, when a little bit of spice and sophistication can turn the routine into ritual and possibly even ceremony.