… that coffee “beans” are not really beans, but are rather the pits of berries that look like cherries? So, technically, they are seeds. May your day today be well-seeded!
(image source: https://www.cherrynleaf.com/blogs&blog_id=1)
Category: Tips
Did you know…
… that contrary to popular belief, dark roasts do not pack more caffeine than light roasts? In fact, light and dark roasted beans have the same amount of caffeine per bean, but if you’re measuring the amount of beans to grind by volume (i.e., with a spoon) rather than by weight, then your brewed cup of dark roast will have less caffeine than the same volume of a light roast because beans taken to a darker roast expand to a larger size, so your spoonful of French roast beans will have fewer beans than a spoonful of lighter roasted beans. And fewer beans means less caffeine. Moral of the story: always weigh out the amount of beans to use for the cup or pot that you’re going to brew if you want the same caffeine kick regardless of roast level.
Fancy Tasting Gear for Fancy Coffee
Some of you may be wondering why I generally don’t do traditional tasting notes for my roasts; some of you may not give a hoot for pretentious and preposterous descriptions of flavors we mere mortal coffee drinkers can’t come close to discerning. Well, the main reason is because I’ve never bothered to train my palette properly and I’m too lazy to use a thesaurus. But, I figure it might be fun to learn how to be able to give pretentious and preposterous tasting notes like the pros. So, I bought a proper cupping bowl and proper (and properly expensive) Hario Tetsu Kasuya Model cupping spoon. Now all I need to do is to practice cupping—basically brewing a sample cup and smelling/tasting it according to SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) guidelines. I think that all the practice and creative use of a thesaurus in the world will not tune my tongue to be able to honestly say that a Blah-Blah Blend tastes like fig, pine, tobacco, blueberry, burnt sage, and mascarpone, but at least I’ll have the credentials to fake it.
Who is Tetsu Kasuya, btw, and why is a cupping spoon named after him? He was the 2016 World Brewers Cup Champion. Upon his victory, he proceeded to monetize his accomplishment (good for him). And, he shared the 4:6 pour-over brewing technique that won him the championship. If you too want to brew like a champ, you can learn his secret here.