11-11 Coffee tastes like wine?

Coffee tasting?

I know a lot of people who love coffee, and I know a lot of people who love wine. I also know a lot of people who love coffee and wine, though usually not in the same sitting. I don't think any of those people would compare tasting coffee to tasting wine, even those who really appreciate both. I think most coffee lovers are really coffee addicts who want good coffee, but then again maybe most wine lovers are really wine addicts who want good wine. I always hope to provide proof that you can know a lot about wine without being a wine addict, but I know I'm not the majority!

Anyway, coffee tasting is actually something for professionals, just like wine. According to Wikipedia, the practice of coffee tasting is called cupping and is done much like wine tasting: "A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it spreads to the back of the tongue." Sound familiar? So does the description of what one is measuring: Aroma, Taste, and Mouthfeel; and the words used to describe those things, respectively: earthy, fruity, floral; acidity, bitterness, sweetness; and body (for more go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_cupping). They even use a comparison commonly used in wine for mouthfeel of different types of milk, skim milk being like light-bodied coffee, and whole milk being like full-bodied coffee.

I was introduced to this notion of coffee tasting the other day when I was buying some grounds at Peet's. When I told the young, slightly awkward, but very energetic guy behind the counter that I needed to buy a half pound of ground coffee, he put on his Master Cupper's hat and began a deep interrogation about what exactly I liked in my coffee and what I wanted to get out of the beans I bought today. In my head I was just thinking "caffeine...that's it", but when he started describing coffees from different regions as having certain characteristics, I was hooked. I wanted to make sure I bought the perfect bag. I ended up buying the Christmas Blend for its medium body and fruity characteristics with a hint of spice, but I left wanting to buy at least one from each region he described. Who knew that Costa Rican coffee was fuller bodied and nutty with citrus flavor (Marsanne), Ethiopian coffee could taste like blueberries (Petit Syrah) and Sumatra was a full-bodied, low-acid, and sweet coffee (Zinfandel). So if you enjoy knowing what characteristics you like in wine, pay a little extra attention to your next cup of coffee, and next time your buying coffee, think "do I want cabernet? or something a little less acidic?".

I was so overwhelmed with my experience, I completely overlooked the fact that he sold me a pound instead of a half. I guess knowledge of your product really does make you a good salesperson!

For more on how to be a coffee cupper:
http://www.coffeecuppers.com/Tasting-Primer.htm
And for more on the different regions: http://www.coffeecuppers.com/CoffeeTastingGlossary.htm

10-30 Getting to the Juice

Time to Press.

For those of you who are following along, you know that last week we crushed our grapes. About 7 days after crush, it's time to press all the juice from the grapes and leave the skins and seeds behind.

Over that 7 days the juice is still sitting in the skins and seeds. The mixture is kept cool and dark, covered in a large vat, within the stone walls of the winery for ideal temperature. During this time, the wine is gaining color and tannin, and fermentation has begun. You can see the dark color of the juice in some of these pictures we took. Before we "went to press", I popped one of the remaining whole berries in my mouth and it was extremely remniscent of an island-themed party in college where we had soaked fruit in Vodka. WOW!




Before we actually start the press we pump all of the juice that has settled to the bottom and separated from the skins and seeds on its own, out of the vat. This is called the "free run" juice. We attach a little filter and hose to a small pump which will pump the juice from the vat into the barrel that we will store it in for the remainder of its fermentation and aging. Free run juice is usually considered the best juice, so we were very happy to have gotten a lot of free run out of our grapes this year.




Next we press as much of the remaining juice from the skins and seeds as we need to fill the barrel. The press looks a little like a barrel with some separation between the staves (those are the slats of wood that are bent to make a barrel). Inside the press, it looks much different than a barrel; there is a large balloon in the center, made of a heavy plastic, that will expand to gently press the skins, seeds, and any remaining whole berries to the sides of the contraption, releasing the juice. The juice comes out the bottom, much like a heavy-duty juicer. The pump then pumps the juice from the small recepticle below the juicer into the barrel to join the free run. The press we used today was previously used for pressing cabernet. We left the must (leftover skins) in the press, which will give us a boost of darker color, whithout changing the flavor. As the juice poured out of press, we took a glass to sample it. At this point it tastes pretty tart and alcholic, kind of like a vodka cranberry made with the unsweetened kind of cranberry juice. It is also very cloudy, which will change much later in the process when we filter the juice.




In order to make sure we stop the pump when the juice is just below the top of the barrel, someone watches inside the tiny whole in the top of the barrel (the bung, I'm sure all of the boys reading this are chuckling now...) Its a tricky task. The barrel is very dark inside making it hard to see the level of the dark juice as it rises. We used a flash light to peer in, but this time we did overshoot a little and the juice spilled over the side. After we turned off the pump it settled down to a perfect spot. This will just make our barrel easily recognizable with its red stained center.



The juice will sit in the barrel through the holidays, and then we'll "rack" it in January. I bet you can't wait to find out what racking is...