<Snip>
Basically, you don't clear your palate with coffee. You taste so many
coffees in a day (well, with the competitions especially) that it
just wouldn't be practical to do it between cups. Between rounds,
it's good to drink some water, eat a mild fruit like apple, crackers
too. That's mostly to keep something in your stomach, for endurance.
You have to watch what you eat before cupping. Acidic orange juice
and vitamin c can kill your palate. I find that bacon and fatty
greasy stuff lingers and can affect cupping. Maybe more importantly
than any food though is just your psychological bearing. If you are
stressed, upset about something, tense, fatigued, it really REALLY
affects cupping. Cupping is fairly meditative, and you need to be
able to clear your mind, get away from distraction. This can be hard
for me here at the warehouse, where little things always come up that
need my attention. Luckily the cupping and sample roasting lab is
upstairs so there is some separation. On that note, I actually have
found that "trying too hard" can be the worst thing for finding
coffee flavors. It's better to let the flavors come out, rather than
seeking them too vigorously. I used to have trouble when I found a
very distinct flavor, but struggled to name it. Then I would get
frustrated and it would ruin my cupping. Now I just like it go, and
sometimes I think of the word later ... or I just accept that ya'
can't win 'em all, and maybe the next time I taste the coffee it will
come to me...
Tom
--
"Great coffee comes from tiny roasters"
Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting - Tom & Maria
http://www.sweetmarias.com Thompson Owen george_at_sweetmarias.com
Sweet Maria's Coffee - 1115 21st Street, Oakland, CA 94607 - USA
phone/fax: 888 876 5917 - tom_at_sweetmarias.com |
<Snip> WOW, how many of us couldn't start the day with out OJ, Coffee, a bagel and a hand full of vitamins? I would never have thought it was hurting how my palate worked. I would and do have a little water between but I take it that's not enough? Also wondering about having the booklet on Cupping by Lingle? Or is this enough for us to learn?http://www.sweetmarias.com/tasteterms.htmlWanted to thank SM for the pictures of Agtron Roast Color Tiles at the bottom of the page they have on roasted bean colors-http://www.sweetmarias.com/roastedcoffee_grindVSsurfacecolor.htmlI would like to learn to do something like thishttp://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.reference.htmlSo I guess everyone now knows that my New Year resolution was to be able to">http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.htmlAnd I really liked this onehttp://www.sweetmarias.com/roastedcoffee_grindVSsurfacecolor.htmlI would like to learn to do something like thishttp://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.reference.htmlSo I guess everyone now knows that my New Year resolution was to be able to set in with anyone and talk coffee and be on the same page! More then talk I want to understand what they are saying. treshell |
On that same note, is there a coffee-cupper's toothpaste that won't interfere? Eddie -- Vita non est vivere sed valere vita est Home Coffee Roasting Blog and Referencehttp://southcoastcoffeeroaster.blogspot.com/On Jan 7, 2008 3:21 PM, Treshell wrote: <Snip> |
--Apple-Mail-91-244900154 Content-Type: text/plain; charset -ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Interesting parallel to wine tasting. Professional wine tasters like clear the palate with both water and a neutral-tasting bread or cracker (matzo works well); and wine merchants and buyers like to say, "Serve cheese when selling; eat fruit when buying." Cheese (the fat and protein in it) masks faults; fruit (especially apples or pears, which have malic acid) reveals them. And, paradoxically, what to you NOT want to drink within a couple of hours before wine tasting? Yup--coffee. It alters the taste of wine because it lingers on the palate. When I was on a tasting trip to France & Germany with a wine merchant, we drank tea at breakfast if we were tasting before lunch. Sandy Andina www.myspace.com/sandyandina On Jan 7, 2008, at 1:53 PM, Tom & Maria - Sweet Maria's Coffee wrote: <Snip> --Apple-Mail-91-244900154 Content-Type: text/html; charset -ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Interesting parallel to wine = tasting. Professional wine tasters like clear the palate with both = water and a neutral-tasting bread or cracker (matzo works well); and = wine merchants and buyers like to say, "Serve cheese when selling; eat = fruit when buying." Cheese (the fat and protein in it) masks faults; = fruit (especially apples or pears, which have malic acid) reveals them. = And, paradoxically, what to you NOT want to drink within a couple = of hours before wine tasting? |
I just rinse my mouth with hot tap water and scrub my tongue, roof of mouth and cheeks with my finger to clean my mouth. Seems to work well, and taste buds are way fresher for discriminating flavors doing it this way and before eating and drinking in the morning. Of course my experience is limited to my little area of the world, and I don't have a warehouse of beans and a long list of customers hanging on my decisions. ********************* Ed Needham "to absurdity and beyond!"http://www.homeroaster.com********************* |
<Snip> I have experienced some unexpectedly bland cups and believe some foods are guilty. I suspect strawberry preserves and cinnamon. Peanuts are another suspect food, but not tree nuts. A food diary may give some answers. It does make sense that since we put so much effort into making a good cup of coffee that we should avoid foods that diminish that enjoyment. -- |
<Snip> This is very interesting since I have recently added some new cheeses to my heart healthy diet. Edam from Holland and Jarlsberg from Norway (and possibly Gouda) have enough vitamin K2 to make them worth eating for that alone. And this year I have eaten more apples and pears than my entire previous life. But have not followed them or the cheeses too closely with coffee to notice any glaring effects. -- |
Huh? Cheese.. good for the heart??? This is news (VERY good news) to me, if this is true! Lynne (who* loves* cheese..) Ken Mary wrote: <Snip> |
Eddie Dove wrote: <Snip> When I used to play trombone seriously I didn't like how mint made my mouth feel. I think mint stays with you pretty long and this would be the most "offensive" flavor. There are some citrus flavored toothpaste that don't have as strong of a mint flavor and also some toothpastes for kids with all kinds of other flavors that aren't as sharp. I usually time my tooth brushing so that it isn't close to when I'm drinking coffee. I also don't eat sunflower seeds or almonds at any time of the day before coffee. These stay with me for the rest of the day. JeffO |