Posts Tagged ‘Procope’

Coffee Tasting at Café Procope – Part 2

Sunday, August 15th, 2010
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Ready for Tasting
(c) Discover Paris!

The cupping began in earnest. The tasting was a blind one, with the coffees unidentifiable except by number. We first looked at the unroasted beans to determine whether there were any blemishes. We then inspected the roasted beans. These were ground, and we inspected the quality and aroma of the grind. Then each grind was put into its own French press, and hot water poured in. We sniffed each brew and noted our observations about the aromas that we perceived. Then the brew was stirred and we sniffed again. Finally, each brew was poured into a separate cup. Since there were eight persons, this required forty cups!

At the end of the cupping procedure, the coffee growers were asked to leave the room and I never saw them again. After they left, there was open discussion about the coffees that we had just had tasted. The verdict about the best coffee was unanimous: it was the Geisha coffee from the Don Pachi Estate. What each person perceived in aroma and taste, however, varied widely from person to person. Comments on this coffee included “good equilibrium,” “beautiful complexity,” “body not too strong,” and “extremely floral.” Others identified specific aromas, such as malt, caramel, and Muscat grape. Indeed, it was one’s duty to identify specific aromas, as there were aromas listed on the evaluation sheet to be checked. I, for one, failed at this. The best that I could truthfully say was that it tasted “fruity.” To be sure, I found this coffee to have a wonderful compelling flavor. I would like to be able to try it again and again until I can identify specific aromas. Unfortunately, Geisha is a rare bean in the world of coffee, and I probably will not come across it again.

At the end of the cupping exercise, which lasted about two hours, Gloria announced that we had just attended the longest tasting in the world. She explained that at professional tastings, where coffee is selected for purchase, the tasting is very rapid, because a lot of coffees have to be sampled. I was happy to have gotten the opportunity to participate in this slow tasting and to have sampled the marvelous Geisha bean!

This is the last post in the series entitled “Coffee Tasting at Café Procope”.

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Coffee Tasting at Café Procope – Part 1

Sunday, August 8th, 2010
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Interior of Café Procope
(c) Discover Paris!

In July, I participated in a professional coffee tasting at the oldest coffee house in Paris. Organized by Gloria Montenegro of La Caféothèque de Paris, the event is part of an ongoing effort of an association called Connaissance du Café to teach the art of tasting and appreciating fine coffees grown on specifically identified plantations (cafés fins provenant de terroirs d’appellation). Eight persons showed up for the tasting, plus two coffee growers from Panama—a husband and wife team from the Don Pachi Estate in the Boquete region of the country. They brought with them four different coffees, one of which is the almost-mythical Panama Geisha, considered by some coffee lovers to be the best coffee in the world. There were two “amateurs” at the tasting, a young man named Tony, who wants to open a coffee shop, and me. The others appeared to be professionals in the field of coffee selection by their demeanor, by the content of their conversation…and by the brown aprons that they wore bearing the words “L’Académie de Caféologie.” As the tasting unfolded, I realized that I had a lot to learn about coffee!

The Distinguished Coffee-tasting Panel
(c) Discover Paris!

First of all, coffee tasting is properly called “cupping.” During cupping, one evaluates coffee by the look of the bean before it is ground, the aroma after it is ground, and the aroma after hot water is poured into the grind. Then each participant is poured a small amount into a cup, from which the aroma and taste are judged. During this evaluation process, one records his appreciations on a specially printed table called “Critères de qualité” (quality criteria). The criteria are quite numerous, and include such things as altitude at which the coffee is grown (in the case of Geicha, it is 1650 meters), visual inspection of the grain, and references to different aromas (spices, flower, cereals, dried fruit, and so on).

We judged five different coffees, the four that the Panamanian couple brought with them and a fifth that was a coffee that can be purchased at supermarkets. Before the tasting started, Gloria introduced the couple and asked them to talk about their coffee plantation. They produce seven or eight different varieties of coffee on their 45-hectare estate whose soil is rich in volcanic minerals. Seventy-five tons of coffee are produced each year. Impressive!

Francisco and Ivette Serracin
Coffee Growers in Panama
(c) Discover Paris!

To be continued…

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