Dinner at WD-50

I’ve been to every 4 star restaurant in New York City, and dozens of other restaurants in the area over the years. I am fortunate enough to be able to afford such pleasures now and again (that's the humble way of saying I worked my ass off to get where I am), and as a foodie and a serious home cook, this is one of the things that I really like to do. WD-50 has always been on my mind to go to, but in the back of my head it was relegated to second-tier status. I finally remedied the situation over the weekend, and now I am kicking myself that it took so long. In a nutshell, the food is thought-provoking, and more importantly, delicious.

WD-50 and its chef, Wylie Dufresne, have gotten lots of press over the years, chiefly because of chef Dufresne’s use of what is called molecular gastronomy. Personally, I think that is a stupid term, but what it describes is the use of science to present food in a different way. Chef Dufresne has been featured on Top Chef as a judge and contestant, and has a way about him that is certainly intriguing. But what about the food?

You see, gimmickry gets you nowhere unless the food tastes great. Any idiot can throw unusual random flavor combinations together, or use liquid nitrogen or gelling agents to create odd textures. At its heart, this is what I feared about WD-50 and what kept me away so long. I don’t want to go to a restaurant and be shocked. I want to eat great food, period.

My wife and I showed up on Saturday evening for our reservation. The staff were attentive and engaging, and we were never left hanging. So far so good. We quickly decided on the tasting menu, and then waffled on whether to get the wine pairing as well. In the end, since the restaurant is offering the awesome deal of 50% each bottle of wine when you order the tasting menu, we quickly decided to go it on our own. We had a bottle of Pichler Riesling to start, which turned out to be a fantastic combination with the first half of the menu.

Note: There are pictures of many of these dishes at the WD-50 website. They are worth a look!

The amuse, “bay scallops, white chocolate, mustard, beer” was the weakest dish of the night, but was still interesting. Since the various items on the plate were so small, I had a hard time to figure out what each individual thing was (besides the scallops). There were curlicues of some sort of crispy thing (mustard flavor, I think), bits of a “cake” (beer flavor?) , a couple of tiny scallops, and a white puree (chocolate?) on the bottom. Taken all together, there was an interesting combination of the scallop with a taste of what evoked for me horseradish cheese spread, of all things.

Next was “everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese”. As a Jew who has eaten bagels and lox his entire life, this one really tickled me. It is also a great play on the restaurant’s location, the lower east side of Manhattan, which was once one of the biggest enclaves of Jewish immigrants in the US. What threw me for a loop, though, was the fact that this perfect little “bagel” was.... ice cream! The smoked salmon threads were a flossy/cotton candy texture, but with intensely smoky salmon taste. There was also crispy cream cheese (no idea how they did that), and some really nice pickled onions as well. Again, this was a taste from my childhood transformed into something very unique texturally.

Things were getting interesting after the bagel, and next came “foie gras, passionfruit, Chinese celery”. I am a foie gras nut, especially when cold, so I was pretty excited about this one. The cylinder of foie, when cut, released a lava flow of intense, sweet/acidic passionfruit puree. It was sitting on top of crystallized celery which has sort of a granita-like texture to it, with a slightly sweet taste. The richness of the liver with the sweetness of the passionfruit was absolutely delicious. What was even better was the pairing with the Riesling we were drinking, which itself had intense passionfruit notes. They both played off each other, creating what I would say was one of the top ten combinations I have had in my restaurant dining career. This was an utterly fantastic dish.

Next up: “Scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, kindai kampachi”. This was essentially two dishes in parallel, each excellent in their own way, one very homey and traditional, and the other more stripped down and modern. The egg ravioli was a cube of scrambled egg, fluffy and tender, and there was a “gravel” of potatoes. Taken together, you could have been eating classic US diner food – eggs and homefries. At the same time, there was a strip of perfectly fresh, raw tuna and a cylinder of avocado puree that had been charred with a torch. This was a very nice combination as well. I liked the play on classic and modern with this dish, and the way they played off each other.

The egg dish was followed by “Cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, tabasco, caviar”. This was a cylinder (Chef Dufresne seems to be a big fan of this geometric shape) of cold fried chicken, cooked to perfection, accompanied by fresh ricotta made from buttermilk, thickened Tabasco sauce, and caviar. There were many groans of pleasure during this one. The chicken (not white meat, but not sure exactly what cut it was - perhaps a terrine?) was flavorful and crisp, the soft, tangy ricotta and spicy/vinegary Tabasco cut through it, and there was a subtle brininess from the caviar. Again, a very homey dish spun in a different way. I think the use of Tabasco with caviar is very clever, and something I wouldn’t have thought made sense before I tasted it. The unctuous quality of the fish eggs is often paired with creamy, tangy sour cream, but I think that detracts from their delicacy. Is there a play on the classic blini/sour cream/caviar dish going on here, with the sour cream being replaced by the ricotta? Or perhaps a "Chicken McNugget" provocation? Who knows, but it was very good.

“Perch, kohlrabi, 'dirty' grape, cocoa nib” followed the egg, and I was slightly apprehensive. I really don’t like kohlrabi much; it has a very earthy and musky quality that I find off-putting. This dish was a piece of sauteed perch on top of a verjus (an acidic juice from unripe grapes) gelee, with halved red grapes and small baton of raw kohlrabi on top. There were small shards of cocoa nibs scattered about, which I presume is why the grapes were “dirty”. Fish and cocoa sounds like an odd combination, and perhaps it is, but overall this was a very successful dish for me. The tender fish, sweet acidity of the verjus, and the grapes are a natural partner. However, the musky/bitter quality of the cocoa nibs and kohlrabi kept the dish from being too 1-dimensional. Without the nibs, I think the dish would have been unbalanced. I found that the cocoa created a lingering quality in the mouth as well as an interesting textural counterpoint.

Next was the mysterious “beef and béarnaise”. I had no idea whatsoever this dish was going to be, and it surprised me when a soup bowl was placed in front of me. There were several “béarnaise gnocchi” floating in an intensely-flavored roasted beef consommé. The texture of the gnocchi was yielding and soft - I believe it was "encapsulated sauce", and the broth was unbelievably powerful. When combined in the mouth, it was like eating the very essence of this dish, but in a new way. This dish brought back some intense taste memories for me, since eating Chateaubriand and béarnaise sauce at a local restaurant with my parents growing up is something that has stayed with me. This dish just blew me away.

“Lamb loin, black garlic romesco, soybean, pickled garlic chive” was another dish that got a stunned “wow” from me after the first bite. The Colorado lamb was cooked to perfection, and the garlic Romesco sauce was intensely flavored. However, the thing that took it over the edge for me was the edamame, which were dried into a very crunchy pebble form. That intense vegetal bite balanced out the richness of the lamb and created an unusual and delicious combination

“Caramel apple” was an apple sorbet filled with a center of liquid caramel. A refreshing palate cleanser after the meat dishes

“Hazelnut tart, coconut, chocolate, chicory” had a soft consistency, with the bitterness of the chicory complementing the chocolate.

Looking at my copy of the menu, “Carmelized brioche, apricot, buttercream, lemon thyme” came next. Oddly, I have no memory of it whatsoever. Perhaps too much wine?

Lastly, there were "Cocoa packets, Chocolate shortbread, milk ice cream". Little balls of chocolate that turned out to have ice cream insie, and odd rectangular chocolate packet with some sort of crunchy chocolate in side (the shortbread?).

If there was one annoyance, albeit completely expected, it was the coffee. Why oh why do fine restaurants spend so much time and effort on the food only to serve barely passable coffee? I had the same experience at Per Se where an absolutely transcendent meal was followed by an average Cuppa Joe. A couple of people, including my wife, have suggested that these restaurants have a "coffee Sommelier" or some such, and it makes sense for me. New job for Scotto anyone? After all Thomas Keller serves three different salts and multiple butters with some dishes; are you telling me he can't offer a few different coffee origins to complement dessert? Time to get with the program, guys!

Throughout the meal, I was facing the kitchen watching Chef de Cuisine Jon Bignelli work the pass. I was disappointed that Chef Dufresne was not there, but lo and behold he appeared at the bar later in our meal. Our server took us into the kitchen to look around after, which was neat. I could not believe how calm it was given the intricacy of each plate that had to be put together.

Lastly, I couldn't resist interrupting Wylie at the bar as we left to thank him for a wonderful meal. He was very nice to us, and took the time to chat for a moment. I am regretting not getting a picture with him, but that would have been a bit geeky. I know how hard these guys work, and I felt a little guilty about bothering him when he was trying to relax a bit.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I needed to write it down so the memory would linger longer. It was a fantastic evening.

Ethiopia Dry-Process Birbissa

As I think I have mentioned, there is very little information on "optimum roast profiles" out there. Searching the internet will find tidbits, but it is still a DYI affair for the most part. If I had to sum up the conventional wisdom such as it is, it would be this:

• Keep roast times below 14 minutes or so
• Slow start/fast finish is better than the reverse
• There are three main segments of the roast:

1. The drying segment, from start to about 300 degrees, should be about 3-5 minutes (longer for light roasts and shorter for dark roasts)
2. The segment from 300 degrees to the start of first crack should be as rapid as possible to avoid woody flavors
3. From the onset of first crack to end of roast should be 3-5 minutes. Shorter for drip and longer for espresso

Got all that?

Let's have a look at this roast of Ethiopia Birbissa:


Under 14 minutes? Check.
5 minutes to dry? Check.
Fast ramp to first? Maybe.

Pretty good against the "standard" if I do say so myself. Too bad I totally spaced out during the roast and forgot to lower the heat when I originally wanted to, but in the end it seems to have worked out. I wished I had pulled it a bit sooner since the roast got a bit darker than I had intended, but so be it.

The aroma in the cup was amazing. Pure, pure blueberies all the way. This is really the first coffee I have had that has been so distinct in one berry note, though I jave had many others with grape, strawberry, etc. Very nice. The taste follows suit, but the acidity was lower than I wanted, either due to the coffee or the roast - I am not sure. The body was syrupy and overall this was a nice dry-process cup, but nothing that exciting, IMO.

Colombia Finca Buenavista -Carlos Imbachi Microlot

Boy, did I forget how hard stainless steel is to machine with home tools. Over the weekend I set out to install a thermometer probe into my Hottop, following the basic method outlined here. Sounds easy, right? Well, let's just say that much cursing ensued as I tried to drill through things with my electric drill. Anyway, its in there, giving me access to the actual bean mass temperature instead of just the Hottop's sensor which is bolted to the back wall. And a good thing, too! See:

This was a roast of a Columbian bean that I had ruined (and never blogged about, of course) with my Gene Cafe when it was having troubles. The blue line is from the Hottop readout and the pink from my new thermoprobe. Obviously, one should pay attention to the pink line, which is a fast acting K-type thermocouple buried in the rotating beans. You'll notice the temperature drop when you add the beans which is not sensed by the stock thermocouple, and the eventual crossover of the curves.

I highlighed the times where I played with the heater power to slow things down, and I also boxed out the area where first crack started and ended from about 10:45 to 13:30. What I was attempting to do was slow down the rate of heat transfer going into first crack in order to improve flavor development and have enough time after the end of first and before the onset of second crack. You can see that I stalled things out a bit where the pink curve flattens around 11 minutes in, and eventually it ramps up again later until I dropped the beans into the cooling tray. I need to play with the heat and fan settings more to have a slow but steady temperature increase instead of this stalling behavior. This roaster is like driving a Ferrari compared with the very slow reacting Gene Cafe. Still, you clearly need to anticipate things by a minute or so given the electric heating on the Hottop. Lots of room for improvement, that's for sure.

Anyway, the coffee was a nice City+ roast and was actually a decent cup. There were very intense fruity notes both in the aroma and taste. I called it tamarind in my notes, but I see that Tom from Sweetmarias called it guava. Your choice. The acidity was nicely controlled, and the cup was quite refreshing. As it cooled, there was a bit of a flavor change that is hard to describe, but I attribute it to stalling out the roast a bit and having things drag on too long. Let's call it "flat". Most people wouldn't pick up on it, but after roasting a lot of coffee I am starting to be able to tell what went wrong.

My next few efforts will be to speed things up a tad, and keep playing with the heat settings.

A New Toy and a New Learning Curve

Well, I ended up going down quite a rathole with my Gene Cafe. I replaced the heater, but things still weren't as they were. As far as I can tell it works ok, but something is just different than before. After roasting a pound or two a week for years, I knew what the coffee from that roaster was going to taste like and what the behavior during the roast would be. For whatever reason, something changed and I was staring down a new learning curve. The coffee just wasn't good enough.

Then the little devious part of my mind started working. "Hey Scotto, if you are going to have to learn something all over again, why not upgrade and do it on a new machine? Expensive? Sure it is. You're worth it, though...." Before I knew it, a Hottop roaster was on its way to me.

I had quite the internal debate over roasters. Everyone is hot on the Behmor roaster (pun intended), and it is certainly a lot cheaper than a Hottop. The deal breaker for me was the fact that you can't control the roast profile. Being a scientific type, I like to be able to control things and tune profiles for different coffees. That, combined with the excellent track record of build quality of the Hottop, as well as external cooling of the beans, won me over.

A few roasts in, and this is definitely a different beast for me. There is fine tuning over the heater power (not just on/off like the Gene) and a variable fan as well. The stock thermocouple is bolted to the rear wall and is slow to react, so that will have to be addressed as well. My first couple of roasts blasted through first crack into second. After that, I learned to anticipate first crack and turn down the heater to gently ease the beans into it. By the way, I can't believe how quiet this thing is and how trivial it is to hear the cracks. There is no mistaking them whatsoever, and the challenge in other roasters of hearing over air blasting or inside a closed drum is gone. What a pleasure!

Here is a look at a recent profile:


You can see that I reduced the heater power at about 7:30 in, and the slow reaction of the measured temperature. Remember that this temperature (the pink line) is the essentially the temperature of the back wall of the roaster, not the bean temperature. I boxed out where 1st crack stopped and ended as well.

Unfortunately each bean is different, and changing power and fan on the fly is difficult, so I ordered a thermocouple probe to be able to get at the temperature of the bean mass itself. Stay tuned for that. I'll also mention how nice it is to dump the beans when you want, so there is no worries about "coasting" after you reach your desired roast level. The external cooling works great.

Most importantly, the coffee has been very good. Roasts in the Hottop are extremely sweet and full bodied, especially good for espresso. I suspect as I get better and driving this thing I will exceed my previous coffee skill by a wide margin.

Down But Not Out

Hi folks. Sorry about the lack of updates here (though I have been adding things to my cooking blog). Usually I would blame things on work, but in this case I have been having hardware issues with my roaster.

Over the past few weeks, my usually ultra-consistent roasts have been all over the place. Some race through first crack into second with nary a "thank you, ma'am", and others struggle to achieve target temperatures. I have more or less convinced myself that I need a new heater/thermostat assembly for my Gene Cafe. One is winging itself my way as we speak, so hopefully I am back in action soon, and more importantly, I don't have to re-learn my machine. Stay tuned.

Costa Rica "La Margarita" Honey

Use of "unconventional" processing (not wet-processed) coffee seems to have flourished in Central America over the past few years. The increased body and fruity flavors associated with leaving the fruity mucilage layer on the coffee seed longer is something that can be very attractive.

That being said, I get the sense that a lot of these coffees have forgotten their origins as really excellent coffees, letting the processing flavors take over too much. This particular coffee is special in that there is a really lively acidity that competes with the miel chewiness/waxiness.

Aromas from the roaster are often harbingers of things to come, and this is no exception. Flowers and malt, all the way. In the cup, that floral note continues, with more malt, milk chocolate, and some nuts. It is juicy and supremely drinkable, a honey coffee that hasn't forgotten its origins as a great Central.

Brazil Ipanema Tree-Dried Process

Why do I keep buying Brazilian coffees? They all taste like one-dimensional, ashy coffees to me, with the exception of my beloved, Poco Fundo. Mmm, Poco Fundo (insert Homer Simpson voice)....

Anyway, I have been doing a lot of roasting for espresso lately, and I am always on the lookout for interesting coffees to add in. This one caught my eye because of the "tree dried" moniker, and the allusion to Oreo cookies in the review at Sweet Marias. Recall that I had tried a tree-dried coffee before, and it was interesting, so I bit for a pound.

I roasted this twice. The first time was in my standard treatment:

For some reason, this coffee raced from 1st to 2nd crack and got away from me. It ended up as a Vienna roast. In a second session, I blended it (pre-roast) with some Uganda Bugisu, and that was a more normal behavior during the roast.

As espresso, this was indeed redolent of an Oreo cookie. You got that chocolate cookie thing going on, with a very unusual creaminess to the body and taste that reminds you of that cookie center, which is of course nothing more than vegetable shortening and sugar.... It is certainly an interesting effect, but I found the whole thing a bit one-dimensional. It lacked that dynamism (is that a word?) that you get from a great dry-pricessed coffee, that core of spices and leather that keeps things interesting. Even blended with the Uganda, I just didn't find it interesting. Oh, well, another Brazil bites the dust. I am done with this origin, with the one exception.

Kenya Kiambu Peaberry -Ndumberi Coop

There are a few things that really make you stop and appreciate life. The first blooming tulips in spring, taking a quiet evening walk, etc. To this, I will add the aroma of freshly roasted, quality Kenya coffee. A lot of people like to talk about resting coffee after roasting for a day or more, but to me this is just staling it. If you want to try something special, brew a vacuum pot of a really good Kenya coffee about 12 hours after you roast it. The aromas are so piercing, so floral, so sweet that there is almost nothing else like it.

Coffee is a seasonal crop, and I went some time without Kenyas in my stash. This coffee reminded me how much I missed it. Word on the street is that 2009 is going to be a great year for coffees from this origin, and I am looking forward to it in a big way.

After roasting a lot of coffees darker than I otherwise might have, working on the blend I previously talked about, I wanted to get a nice, crisp, light roast on this one:



The aromas of the grounds, and in the cup, are pure muesli: sweet toasted grains, brown sugar, and dried fruits. It is a heady aroma, almost intoxicating in its sweetness. The taste follows, with refreshing acidity, some green grape, and a chocolate note that gets more prevalent as the coffee ages a bit. For me Kenyas change very rapidly after roasting. Capturing that initial burst of aroma and fruit before the roast and chocolate notes take over is one of the purest pleasures of roasting your own, and something you can't get in storebought coffee. What a great cup.

The Mod Blend

Normally I eschew blending of any sort, with the exception of espresso. Part of the allure of specialty coffee for me is that uniqueness of each coffee, how it represents the terroir of where it is from, etc. That being said, there are some cases where coffees aren't complete, so to speak, and benefit from some supporting characters.

Yesterday I went to a BBQ with some good friends. A few weeks before, I set out to put together a blend from things I had on hand in order to give away the coffee as a goodie bag to the attendees. It was surprisingly challenging.

I decided that this was to be a rich blend with the majority of coffees near the Full City regime in order to have a "crowd pleaser" quality, with some interesting twists. I roasted up some Tanzania and some Sumatra I had, and first tasted them individually. The Tanzania was funky and rustic with some melon notes, and the Sumatra was super sweet molasses. My expectation was that the Sumatra would win as the heart of the blend.

Interestingly, when combined 50:50, I didn't like it. The coffees clashed way too much. I gradually started to play around with ratios, and finally found something really nice at 4 parts Tanzania to every 2 of Sumatra. The sweetness of the Sumatra was just too powerful, and had to be toned down.

At this point, I had a decent base blend, but I wasn't happy with the aroma, the body, or the quality of the cup as it cooled. Looking through my coffee stashed, I came across some nice Mexican Chiapas, which has great body and a fruity taste. Adding a small amount (1/4 the amount of the Tanzania) provided a really nice fruity background without being overbearing, and helped the body quite a bit as the cup cooled. Finally, I played around with some intense Ethiopian dry processed coffee as a spice, and found that a minuscule amount was enough to really show in the aroma without being detectable in the taste.

So, the finally tally? 4:2:1:0.5 Tanzania:Sumatra:Chiapas:Ethiopia. The Tanzania and Sumatra were roasted to the verge of second crack (or just into it), and the other coffees lightly roasted to a City+ roast. The "Mod Blend" is aromatic berries in the aroma, rich, unctuous body with some funkiness, and a really interesting interplay of melons and berries as the cup cools. I am quite pleased indeed.


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Note: I am playing around with a cooking blog. We'll see if it lasts. You can check out my trials of recipes from Cook's Illustrated magazine here.

Ethiopia Wet Process Bonko

I broke down recently and ordered a few more coffees which I don't need. My stash had run out of wet processed Ethiopian coffees, and there were a few interesting ones around, so....

On any given week my favorite coffees change a lot. One week it will be syrupy dry processed coffees, the next a light Mexican bean, and so on. However, I have a soft spot in my heart for wet processed Ethiopian coffees. I love the clarity of them, the intensely sweet citrus notes, so different from the brooding and fruited notes of their dry-processed brethren.

This coffee, with the delightful appellation of "Bonko" (a coffee mill) was roasted after a less successful roast of another WP coffee whose notes got lost in an unsuccessful attempt to get my roast log into a better electronic format. So much for progress. Here is the roast:

I tried to keep things fast and light, and was rewarded with a really spectacular coffee. In a vacuum pot the next day, it was so clean, so fruity and refreshing that it brought a smile to my face. There is no sourness or grassiness to it, despite the relatively light roast. There are lemons and graham intensely in the aroma, and that carries directly into the cup. As it cools, there is a touch of anise, surrounded with a sweetness that is so appealing. The acidity is bracing, but never jarring, playing so nicely with the citrus notes. I could drink this all day long. Highly recommended.

Uganda Bugisu Kawomera

The previous version of Uganda Bugisu I have been drinking for a while has been running low. That coffee has become the base for a lot of espresso blending I have been doing; I love the earthy, malty complexity of it. It also makes a delicious cup of drip coffee.

Since good Uganda coffees can be hit or miss in terms of availability, I snatched 5 pounds of this Kawomera when it became available. This is a really excellent cup.

The roast was fairly standard:


The sounds got a bit hard to hear, but I stopped the roast at what I believe were the first few snaps of second crack. The taste confirms this. I really nailed this roast, if I do say so myself. The hint of roast taste was perfectly integrated with the coffee, without being overpowered or carbonized.

There is rustic maple sugar in the aroma, which carries over into the taste. There is a thick body, but the overall effect is still refreshing. This is not a coffee you take one sip of and put aside because it is too rich. As the cup cools a bit, there is the most interesting cherry cordial taste that becomes prominent. It is a very sweet cup, with lingering butterscotch hints. All and all excellent - that cherry taste is fascinating! I'll be very curious to try this as espresso later in the week.

One other point I should make. This is a good example of a roast/coffee that is taken rather dark (compared to what I normally roast), but still has tons of origin flavors. It goes to show you that a good roasted can take coffees to both ends of the roast spectrum while maintaining the identity of the coffee.

Tanzania Organic AB Hope Project

The bad news is that this isn't the best Tanzanian coffee I have had in the past year or so. The good news is that it is a decent cup.

I have been trying to reduce my green coffee stash for the past few months with decent success. People at work have benefited greatly from this, since they are the victims of my coffee every week. When I saw a new Tanzania coffee crop up (pun intended)recently, I grabbed 5 pounds to try. Tanzania may well be my favorite coffee origin, so it was very hard to resist.

The roast was a standard affair:


This took a long time to get to first crack, which was odd. I didn't observe any temperature issues, so perhaps it was the bean itself. Grinding the beans, they looked quite light - this is a City+ roast - nowhere near second crack.

Drinking this over the past week, it is lighter bodied than I expected. It is balanced, with decent acidity. There is a dense nuttiness as well that I don't think I have encountered in a Tanzania coffee. In the background, there lurks some funk/jute/leather that reminds you that this is an African bean. It isn't unpleasant, but there is a "wilder" element to it. A day or two post-roast, a creamy cantaloupe character emerges, splashed with milk chocolate.

All in all, this is a nice cup, but it didn't blow me away. I need to play with the roast level a bit to see if I can improve it. I think a tad more roast might work well.

Guatemala Oriente Dry Process

There is definitely a trend for Central American coffee producers to be trying their hands at more traditional methods of production such as dry processing. I have had some excellent examples of these over the past couple of years. This was a coffee that came and went at Sweet Marias, and I didn't get a chance to order any. I ended up trading some green coffee with someone else to get some of this to try. It is strange stuff.

Here is the roast, though it doesn't tell the story:


This coffee presented a conundrum in that it seems to race from 1st crack to 2nd very quickly. I rely on the sound of the cracks as a key indicator of how the coffee is roasting, and this one made all sorts of sounds that were hard to differentiate. Luckily the results were good, but I have honestly no idea what roast level this coffee is. Most likely Full City. Actually, I have roasted this coffee twice and had the same experience.

For those who have tried the truly bizarre Anokhi coffee, which is a different coffee variety altogether (coffea liberica v. coffea arabica), this Guatemala coffee is quite similar, but not nearly as intense.

The best analogy I can offer is Frankenberry cereal. There are odd berry notes galore, but not the clean fruit you get from say a Kenya, but fermented, slightly "off" fruit. There are some grainy notes and chocolate as well. The overall effect is slightly offputting, but not altogether unpleasant. I am glad I had a chance to try it, but I have no desire to have any more. For those who are bored by coffee, here is one to wake you up.

Zen and the Art of Knife Sharpening

I was thinking recently of how modern man has changed so much from his forbears. The sheer amount of "on" time we have to deal with is astounding. Information flows at hyperspeeds, work hours are longer and longer, and even home time is filled with kids "playdates" (a byproduct of the modern age if ever there was one), homework, chores, and other various and sundry things. If you think about it, there is just so little downtime that we have to think and reflect. I find my soul craves that stillness so badly. Literally the only time I have during the day is about 10 minutes in the morning, sitting with my coffee, looking out the window, and getting ready to hop in the shower and go to work. No one is up besides me, there are no sounds besides the bubbling of my aquarium, and I am alone with my thoughts. Kind of sad....

Given all this, people tend to find unusual ways to find this stillness. Some people fix their cars, others stare blindly at the television, and some.... sharpen knives.

I am a fairly serious home cook, and as is often the case, I have acquired many tools of the trade. There is nothing more important to a cook then a good set of knives. Until fairly recently, I was content with the usual spate of European knives - the Henckels, Wustofs, etc. Then a friend introduced me to the glory that is Japanese cutlery, and there was no looking back.

Given the extreme hardness (and accompanying brittleness) of good steel, one must maintain the edges of your knives with some sort of sharpening media, generally waterstones. Doing this sharpening freehand presents many challenges since you must maintain the proper angles of each part of the bevel, the correct amount of pressure, etc. As you become more practiced, the repetitive motion, feel, and sound of sharpening can become quite, well, soothing.

I find myself setting time aside every now and then to work my knives on the stones. That time, that concentration, has become golden. Other thoughts drift away, and it becomes just the motion of the knife against the stone. It didn't really strike me until recently how much I value this time. There is the added bonus, of course, of achieving something difficult - insanely sharp instruments that simply can't be matched by most techniques. That actual building of something, something done with the hands, is important, and something that a lot us simply don't have anymore.

A couple of days I headed to Korin in Manhattan, and had a chance to watch a true master sharpener at work (see picture above). His movements were so economical, so quick, so effortless and graceful, that it was fascinating to watch. Also on display was the Japanese penchant for making task-specific tools; knives specifically for cutting octopus, for slicing sushi, and dispatching fish. I couldn't resist adding another knife to my arsenal, in this case a yanagi that doesn't fit well in this picture due to its length.

Roasting coffee, brewing excellent tea, sharpening knives, whatever - we all need to find that place where we can take a moment to relax and ponder the imponderables.

2008 Mengku Shuangjiang Bingdao Spring Cake

Here is a chubby cake of pu'er tea:

I am a fan of this factory's teas. This Bingdao cake is a refined affair; beautiful leaves and just the perfect amount of compression.



This is actually my first taste of this particular cake, as it has been sitting in my tea cabinet patiently for a few months. I had samples of it previously, so I was finishing those up before digging into the cake itself. I sampled this today with about 6 grams of leaf in my favorite 100mL Yixing pot. I rinsed the leaves twice before ingesting anything.

1st infusion: very light. Grainy aroma, no bitterness. Sweet, but clearly the leaves haven't given up much.

2nd infusion: malted barley aroma, grassy. A hint of bitterness at the end. More complexity and sweetness.

3rd infusion: Now we are talking. Shiitake mushrooms, grains. Still a light tea, but a lot of subtlety here. Bitterness is picking up, but it is a caress, not a slap. I feel the energy in waves.

4th infusion: More of the same goodness. Long, long huigan. Some cooling sensation in the mouth, but it is light. My head is throbbing - a good sensation.

It soldiers on until I give in, but there is plenty more to be had. I like this tea, though it is quite light. I think it is a good example of a "one step up tea" compared to the plantation teas that are out there. It is refined and honest, with no tweaking to the soup; its charms are one to savor slowly while watching the world go by. Looking at the leaves, it is largely buds and small leaf/bud sets.

Espresso Blends #4 - #6

This espresso blending thing is a lot more complicated than I originally thought. I am finding that even subtle changes can have a large effect on the shot. Iteration #3 was the best yet. As a reminder, it was the following:

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Panama Lerida Estate "Miel"
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

For the next variation, I decided to replace the Uganda base with some Brazilian coffee, in this case the Fazenda Barreiro that I did not care for as a single origin espresso. All other coffees and percentages were the same.

Net: yuck. I had low expectations, but this was terrible. I just hate that particular Brazil coffee. It just goes to show that you should take other people's recommendations with a grain of salt. This blend was 1-dimensional, woody dreck.

For blend #5, I decided to return to the successful #3 and try for a fruitier coffee. I upped the Ethiopia amount, and lost the aged Sumatra:

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Panama Lerida Estate "Miel"
25% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

I also went a tad lighter in this roast, stopping at the onset of second crack. This was actually quite a nice blend. There was a lot of fruitiness in there, and the corresponding acidity level was increased as well. Shots of Misty Valley by itself remind me of the cherry liquor-filled chocolates that you can find, but in this blend it was tamed by the gentle earthiness of the other coffees. This blend rates as "very good", though it might be a bit intense for some people. Cappuccinos were interesting, coming out like strawberry milkshakes.

The last experiment was to swap out the Panama "miel" coffee for another coffee. I had some Costa Rica El Puente Caturra "Miel" hanging around, so I gave it a try in the "#3" blend:

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Costa Rica El Puente Caturra "Miel"
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This again proved that if you don't like a coffee by itself, like the El Puente, don't waste your time blending it. This variation was flat, with some weird "off" notes to it.

I have blend #7 queued up at the moment. Stay tuned.

Sumatra Lintong Special Prep

Man is work killing me. Every day brings new levels of insanity. Time to blog isn't high on the priority list... Sorry about the infrequent updates.

As an aside, I seem to be moving slower than I used to. It's funny, I am about to turn 40, and I sense a definite change in how I act physically. It is going to sound weird, but I find it much easier to hurt myself these days. I am a fit guy for my age (I think), and it seems to take less and less to strain a muscle, develop some unknown pain, etc. I also seem more likely to burn myself while cooking, cut myself, etc. I suppose it is a combination of getting older and being more distracted with work, etc. I find myself much more aware of my surroundings, how I stand up if I bend down to pick something up, thinking twice about whether to run after one of my kids, etc. It is very strange, and somewhat sobering. Scotto's growing up!

But enough depressing thoughts - on to the coffee. This week I have been enjoying the last of some Sumatra Lintong "Special Prep". In this case, "special" doesn't mean anything weird, like the Jacu Bird coffee, but is more of an indication of the care of the preparation, which is quite good for an Indonesian coffee. The roast treatment was fairly standard:

I admit as usual that I am not a huge fan of Sumatra coffees, but this one really hit the spot. There is an unexpected level of acidity which is very refreshing. The cup is sweetly herbal, sort of like Ricola candies. There is leather and spice, but it all comes together into a coherent whole, and isn't overpowering even at this roast level. It goes to show what a really nice Indonesian coffee can be, instead of the swampy, thick junk that is often passed off on us.

Espresso Blends #2 and #3

Last time I talked about some espresso blending I am doing, or rather green bean blending for espresso. Here is where I started with Blend #1:

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Mexico LaJoya bourbon
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This was a nice blend, but perhaps a bit too acidic from the Mexican coffee. For blend #2, I decided to add some more murky complexity by adding some Yemeni coffee, in this case Yemen Moka Mattari.

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
15% Mexico LaJoya bourbon
10% Yemen Moka Mattari
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This was roasted into second crack for about 30 seconds. As you might imagine from looking at the ingredient list, it produced some seriously rich, intense espresso. It was similar to the Moka Kadir blend that Sweet Maria's produces. Rich and spicy, with most of the acidity of blend #1 gone. I particularly liked this as straight espresso. In milk, however, I wasn't as thrilled. A lot of the complexity was gone and things weren't cutting through that well

Which brings us to iteration #3. Now I went back to #1 and replaced all the Mexican coffee with a "miel" coffee from Panama. Remember that "miel" means honey, and is a wet hulling process sort of in between wet and dry processing. It increases body and fruitiness at the expense of acidity and clarity.

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Panama Lerida Estate "Miel"
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This was a super sweet espresso. The crema was incredible - super thick and mousse-like. I really liked this one in milk; it is perhaps the best of the bunch. Ristretto shots of this were particularly luscious, while normal shots were very good but not quite as stellar.

Lots of interesting data here; more experimentation is clearly needed.

Espresso Blend #1

OK, if you read this, you need to promise me when I make it big in the coffee world, you won't steal my secrets. Then again, how do you know I am telling you the real blends? Mwa ha ha ha....

Ahem. Back to this post. As I mentioned previously, I have been playing around with coffees for espresso extraction. I have sampled a lot of stuff individually as so-called "single origin" (SO)espresso to get a sense of individual personalities. I'll remind you that the high-pressure extraction of espresso does strange things to coffee. Tasting something as drip coffee doesn't necessarily translate into the small cup.

I decided that I wanted to start with the excellent Uganda Bugisu AA I have. As a SO espresso, it is earthy, sweet, and supremely malty. It also does a good job cutting through milk. I decided to use that as a base and came up with the following:

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Mexico LaJoya bourbon
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

I was looking for something with decent complexity, very sweet, and subtly fruity. I roasted it just a few snaps into second crack about 5 days ago and had a chance to try it today for the first time. Not bad at all for a first attempt!

The straight shot was a bit more acidic than I planned for, but not unpleasantly so. It was fairly well balanced, medium bodied, with a long, lingering woody finish. I assume that is the result of the aged coffee. In milk, the maltiness of the Uganda came through, but things were a bit more muted than I would like.

There are a couple of ways I want to take this next time. First, I think swapping out a part of the Mexico for some Yemeni coffee would add some additional complexity and reduce the acidity. Also, I think substituting the Mexico for a pulp-natural Central American coffee would add more sweetness and some more body.

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Update made to Ethiopia Korate Wet Process

A parting salute

I don't often feel a strong impulse to post here. I am a busy guy, and I fit blogging in with lots of other stuff. It gets lower priority than most other things, and I get around to it when I can. The events of the last few days, president-wise, have got me doing a lot of thinking, and I find a sudden strong need to write it down. This may not be the popular thing to say these days, but such is the soapbox I have that I'll use it.

Thank you, George W. Bush.

There, I said it. Get over it.

I think history will look kindly upon the two terms of Bush, though it will take a long time to see things properly through the lens of time. Was it perfect? By no means. Domestically I disagreed with the Republican spending spree, implicitly condoned by the president. The idiotic interest rate reductions and devaluing of the dollar by the Fed is part of why we are where we are today. On the international front, outsourcing the Iran problem to the feckless Europeans was a mistake, and the dealings with North Korea were laughable at best. Too free a hand with the various Secretaries of State, methinks. In the end, though it gets down to this:

Do you remember 9/11? I do.

On that day, everything changed for me. I lost family, and so did many others. I remember the sheer panic of that day, wondering whether my father and brother were alive. A cousin of mine, a great guy, was caught in an elevator while the fires raged. He stayed in the elevator and helped two women out first, just before the tower collapsed. He never left that elevator, but the ladies were able to escape.

I remember the anthrax attacks. I remember the uncertainty around whether we would be attacked again.

I remember the blackout of 2003, watching the sun go down outside my house and looking at the total lack of lights, wondering whether this was another attack.

I remember.

To this day I can't think about this stuff without getting very upset. I just had to step away from my computer after I typed this to cry a bit. I'm glad I am in my office eating lunch.

The simple fact is that we have been safe in the US since 9/11 while other places around the world have not been. I thank George W. Bush and our great men in uniform for this. I also have tremendous respect for a man who despite being so reviled never got vindictive or angry, but continued to do the right thing even when it wasn't politically expedient. It was shown yet again in the weeks during which power was smoothly transferred to the president-elect.

It saddens me that so many people seem to have forgotten about that day and what came after. It is human nature to want to put those sorts of memories behind you. But you know what? Your ability to do that at its very essence was made possible by George W. Bush's administration. In a strange way I am glad that people can complain about how things were handled, about how we should do things different. That means that it is working; we are winning, though it is far from over.

And what about our next president? Well, I couldn't disagree more philosophically with him. Still, though, he won fair and square, so he deserves his chance. He'll have my support, if not my agreement. I think he'll find things not quite so easy when the mantle of power is upon him, and I hope he can make the same kind of tough decisions that his predecessor made without thought for personal gain or politics.

A Bing Dao Mystery

A while ago I ordered a bunch of samples from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing, including a couple of samples of teas with leaves (supposedly) from BingDao (Ice Island). I think I was prompted by a post over at the Half Dipper, briefly talking about Bingdao and its (supposed) cooling sensation that the tea imparts in the mouth. I am a fan of minty/menthol/camphor types of tastes in pu'er tea (interestingly, I am not much of a mint guy in foods), so I splurged on a couple. I ordered a 2008 Mengku Shuangjiang Bingdao, and a 2002 CNNP Bingdao.

OK, now it gets interesting. When the teas arrived from China - sparking a bout of eye-rolling from my wife when she had to receive the box from the postperson - the two sample bags were labeled identically, both as the 2008 Mengku. Which was which?

Looking at the tea, they were clearly different. One was a more brownish color, presumably the 2002 tea (you may have to zoom in to see the difference):


As an aside, has anyone noticed that chunks of pu'er tea look just like something you would scrape off the bottom of your shoe on a muddy day? Yum.

Tasting them over a few days, it was confirmed again that they were different. The younger looking and tasting tea had notes like this:

6g in 120mL gaiwan at work. Medium compression, somewhat tippy. Aroma is unique - cotton candy, camphor, sweet 'shroom, low-toned and earthy. Quite rich in taste, pungent, long huigan. Lots of energy in this one - my hands are shaking and my head is throbbing a bit. Also, there is a nice cooling sensation in the mouth.

And the second, presumable older tea:

This is a really nice adolescent pu'er. It has picked up enough of that aged character to be interesting; mahogany, leather, old books. No sign of wet mustiness. The flavor is very sweet and there is a decent cooling sensation on the tongue. Quite nice and a reasonable price for a 6 year old tea. The aroma alone is worth the price of admission.

and later:

2002 CNNP Bingdao. There is a bit of a mystery about this tea. I have it as a sample, which was part of a group which were mislabeled. I am almost certain I am drinking this particular tea, but I have another sample for confirmation coming in my next order from China. A couple of folks have cakes of this that they weren't happy with, but this sample is excellent. Rich and oily, with aromas of old books and charred wood. Nice rust color, perfectly clear. The characteristic bingdao cooling sensation is there as well

Based on those tastings, I picked up a cake of the 2008 Mengku. At the same time, there was still a bit of lingering doubt about the tea I thought was the 2002 CNNP, so I asked Scott to throw in another (properly checked and labeled) sample for me to verify things.

Guess what? This tea tasted different yet again. Either I am seeing variation from sample to sample, or the original tea I received was something else entirely. Since it was the tastiest of the bunch, it is a shame that I don't know what it is. I am tempted to pick up a cake of the 2002 CNNP BingDao to assuage my curiousity, but I think I am going to let this mystery stay the way it is.

Brazil Pocos de Caldas - Fazenda Barreiro

Have you ever gotten really excited about something based on its description and then ended up being totally disappointed after you got it? That pretty much sums up my experience with this coffee. I have been doing a lot of thinking about espresso lately, and trying to come up with a blend of my own. Before even getting to that, however, I have been exploring individual coffees to get a taste picture in my mind, hoping that will make things easier.

Quoting Tom from SweetMarias:

"... This is a very unusual and complex coffee, and has won quite a few accolades: BSCA and COE in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and Illy award in 2007. The dry fragrance is has strong nut tones, sunflower seed, and savory qualities. There are hints of fresh leather, which perhaps doesn't seem like something you want to smell in your coffee, but it is very attractive in this cup! The aromatics have hints of ripe muscat grape and a bit of banana sweetness, as well as hazelnut roast tonality. Cup flavors are so unique, with toasted almond, savory spice, honey and bee pollen sweetness. The cup is very dense, oily, thick. I get a raw sunflower seed flavor, and hints of olive oil. The overall flavor profile is concentrated in the middle ranges, without high acidic effect or (at my City+ cupping roast) dark, pungent deep tones. As it cools, it seems thicker and thicker. I start to get a single-malt scotch flavor from the coffee, with a tiny suggestion of roasted red pepper. For me, this is a unique flavor experience overall, that might have aspects of Indonesian coffee (low acidity, rustic sweetness), even Aged Sumatra (leathery hints), but is also unique when I line it up against other natural and pulp-natural Brazils on the cupping table. I can easily pick it out of the line-up every time in blind cupping."

Wow - sounds awesome, doesn't it? I picked up a pound and roasted it a few snaps into second crack:

This had some seriously dry, leathery aromas during roasting.

Bottom line - I wasn't impressed. In fact, I felt a bit let down. As espresso, I found it quite one-dimensional. Low acid, dry and leathery, but without any interesting character to it. I played around with temperature, time, and grind, and couldn't find a good operating point. As drip coffee it was a bit better - waxy bittersweet chocolate was the theme. I am just not a fan of Brazil coffees with the exception of Poco Fundo, I suppose.

Let's Talk Tea, and eFriends

Well, the title of this blog refers to coffee and tea, but I have been remiss in discussing anything about tea. Part of that is the fact that there are so many good tea blogs out there, the quintessential one being the Half Dipper, which you can link to from the left side of the page. From there, there are many other links to other blogs. I am not sure I have anything unique to add, and I am such a poor photographer, so I have hesitated to say anything.

That being said, I spend a lot of time drinking and thinking about tea, most particularly pu'er, that unique, Chinese, ageable, funky product that comes in frisbee-sized disks and other unique shapes. For those not familiar with the story of pu'er, WikiCha is a good resource, and David does a great job of discussing these teas as well at the Half Dipper. I think I am going to have some entries around tea and see how it goes, the first one a bit about some Bing Dao teas I have been drinking lately, and a mysterious set of unlabeled samples.

Thinking about tea started me thinking about TeaChums I have who pass around samples of tea to each other, and then into the broader category of what I call eFriends. This is a peculiar development of the internet era. In principle the growth in internet forums and other pastimes would seem to make humans less likely to interact with each other in real life. Everyone hides behind the written word, with facades and made-up attributes; sitting in front of a computer and developing eRelationships that don't exist beyond the electrons flying over the computer wires.

That's not always the case, though. I spend a fair amount of time on internet forums, and I have formed friendships with many people. What is a bit peculiar is that I interact with them in physical ways. I regularly send coffee and teas that I think are interesting to other people I have met on the internet, and have received much in return. One friend has lent me items from his kitchen to try out, others have sent me aftershaves and colognes, and the list goes on. My wife is somewhat leery, and I think a bit jealous. She has become used to packages showing up at the door from people, and now recognizes many of the names by sight. The fact that I have "internet friends" seems entirely natural to me. In some cases, I have gone as far as meeting people in person. It is always fascinating to compare the impression your mind has formed on the basis of the written word to the real thing.

So why do I mention this? I think that it is a small but good sign for the human race. I think that while internet interactions and eFriends are great, I don't think this is the end of the human race, with all of us shut up by ourselves in front of computers, becoming a race of mole-men afraid to come out of our darkened rooms. The real human need of contact, whether face to face, or by the sharing of physical objects, will still shine through. For someone like myself, who expresses himself well enough through the written word, but is an incredibly shy and reserved person in real life, all this becomes an important outlet.

So let's all have some fun, drink some good coffee, tea, or spirits, and talk to each other. This way when the machines take over, we'll be ready with our counter-attack strategy

A New Year

First and foremost, a Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone!

It has been about a month since I updated anything here. The first two weeks of that were out-of-control workloads and insanity in my day job, leading up to my vacation. After that was a (mostly) blissful two weeks at home over the holidays, doing little other than spending time with my family, and EATING.

Under normal circumstances I am a guy who leads a healthy lifestyle. I get up early every morning and hit the gym, eat more or less healthy stuff, cook a lot so I know I am eating non-processed foods, etc. However, the last few weeks of every year I let myself go nuts and eat a whole lot of crap. In addition, I cook a bunch of meals for Christmas, New Years, etc. that have become a bit of a tradition in my family, which are, shall we say, a bit on the heavy side. At this point, I am feeling awfully bloated, so I was happy to brave the ice today to hit the gym.

For those who want a bit more information on what I have been cooking, here you go:

Christmas Day(I am Jewish, but what the hey ;-) )
Roasted duck with port wine & rosemary reduction
Lyonnaise potatoes, cooked in the duck fat
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Wine: a bottle of 1994 Raymond Reserve Cabernet

New Years Eve
Roasted Rack of lamb with red wine sauce
Smashed red skin potatoes with butter, cheese, and chives
Honey glazed carrots
Chocolate Mousse
Wine: a bottle of 1999 Chateau de Beaucastel. Oh, man was this fantastic....

And so on; last night I made a 9 pound ham for two adults and three young kids. Why? No idea, really.

As for coffee, I have had some good, some bad. Honestly, I haven't had the energy to really intellectualize over it lately. I roast, I enjoy, and that is that for the most part. I do get the sense, however, that I am missing something. I am not sure whether it is equipment, roasting profiles, or something else, but I feel like I am on the verge of learning something important, but I don't know what it is. Hopefully 2009 will provide some insight.

Lastly, this blog. What now? Does anyone really give a hoot about coffee roasting profiles? Likely not. These pages do serve as my roasting log, however, and I use them as such. I also have been drinking a huge amount of teas, which I could in principle talk about. There are so many good tea blogs out there already that I am not sure my voice adds anything to the mix. We shall see.