Coffee taster Chee- has more to say about drinking coffee and taste buds

Interview & text / Brett, zi-chieh; Photo / Jimmy Yang

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Coffee is a part of life, after the third wave of coffee comes, there are more and more choices of coffee details, different countries, producing areas, varieties, treatments … And so on, these factors have a considerable impact on the taste of coffee, like wine and chocolate, we can start from drinking coffee, slowly to "taste" coffee, drink out the delicate taste.

Welcome the upcoming < Culture & Coffee Festival in Taipei > and interview Chee, one of the founders of the co-organizer Simple Kaffa. With its high demand for coffee and dedication, Chee has been assisting Berg to work together to become the world champion barista, while unlike Berg, Chee is going in the direction of judges, coffee senses, and taste, which can be said to be the flavor gatekeeper of Simple Kaffa. This visit was made in Fujin Tree 353Caf é and worked with Simple Kafffa barista Brett to talk to Chee about two or three things about coffee tasters.

Something you can't help but know before you become the coffee in your hand.

Making an appointment with Chee in his most familiar Simple Kaffa, the award-winning halo, did not change anything. She and her husband came to the coffee shop with their children, immediately asked the bar to make a cup of one and one, and tasted the coffee with sensitive taste buds, which was always her pleasure. Professionally, Chee believes that the basic way to examine the flavor is cupping, which is usually carried out frequently in coffee producing areas. This action can detect the original taste of coffee beans. Its steps are: first grind the coffee beans into powder, soak them in hot water for a period of time, then remove the coffee grounds from the top, and then sip them with a spoon (at this point, it will make a sound like drawing noodles). Without too much cooking skills, farmers in producing areas can tell the quality of this year's coffee beans and check whether they can participate in the competition. At the same time, there will be many raw bean buyers to the production area to look for beans, the way to judge the quality is also through the cup test, the quality will directly affect the price.

As there are more and more self-baking shops in Taiwan, cup testing is often carried out in the shops. "after baking the samples sent by the raw bean manufacturers, Berg and I will test the taste of the samples together," Chee said. All in all, in the producing area, the coffee bean is mainly picked out through the cup test to see if there is any defective taste, while when the store tests the sample, it will use the cup test to find out the potential of the coffee bean and decide whether to buy it or not.

Coffee tasting: sniffing the taste of life

"you can't ignore any chance to touch the taste around you," Chee said.

The cultivation of coffee taster varies according to each person's life experience. Chee stressed the need to increase your senses, remember the taste of what you have eaten and drank, and remember consciously: "for example, when you smell a cup of Panamanian-geisha coffee, the person next to you immediately says it smells like jasmine, but at the moment you think it's the smell coming from the yard next door. At this time, you can go to the yard next door, smell the smell, and then find the real jasmine, even though the next door is egg flower." But the taste is also very similar to jasmine, which increases your database of taste and conscious memory. "

In addition, Chee said that she often goes to the market, especially when all kinds of competitions fly around, she is sure to "taste" the market. She thinks to taste fruits, spices and essential oils. These things with rich flavors are a way to train your sense of taste. And the most important thing is to hold a curious heart to taste in order to feel and remember. Next, to learn to describe the taste, through the blind test in the cup test, let people discuss each other's taste. Chee vividly said, "everyone's life experience will greatly affect the description of the flavor. I describe it as the fermented taste of red wine. You may think it is bean paste, and discussing the flavor is like exchanging life experiences with each other." further analysis is needed. You can also refer to the coffee flavor wheel to make some associations to describe the taste and establish your own taste database.

The scene is pulled to the classroom in Neihu, where Chee is giving lessons for Simple Kaffa baristas.

Drink coffee all over the place, make the memory of the deep taste experience

In his rich and conscious taste experience, Chee shared an impressive taste two years ago in Goteborg, Sweden, when a cooking competitor from the United States said she wanted to give everyone a taste of Eugenioides, the mother of Arabica, which is hard to drink on the market. "he brewed Eugenioides, which tasted like Japanese roasted tea (Robusta) to me and tasted like Japanese roasted tea. It was very sweet and smooth. It was very different from ordinary coffee and impressed me very much. "to break our perception of the taste of coffee, Chee says coffee is not just bitter!

In order to taste good, Chee and Berg walked a lot of places not far away. Another impressive smell was cupping room, a coffee shop that flew to Hong Kong to try because of the smell of honey and cinnamon clearly smelled during a game. Chee had a great feeling about the way they interpreted coffee, and the couple made a big adjustment to Simple Kaffa's coffee, even the roasted part, which had a big impact on the race to Seattle. The love and research of coffee is self-evident.

* Note: Arabica is currently the most widely used variety of coffee. Robusta is the father of Arabica, while Eugenioides is called the mother of Arabica.

With such rich tasting experience, when asked about her favorite coffee shop, Chee was not shy about her pride and said, "of course it's Simple Kaffa!" "and Single Origin espresso & roast near Simple Kaffa is also Chee's favorite store." very few stores are doing single origin espresso and can do it so well. Our two stores often support each other. Sometimes they will borrow cream from us for dessert if their business is too good. We will also borrow mascarpone (cheese) to be Tira Misu, which is an inseparable revolutionary emotion (laughter). "

In addition, Chee also mentioned the coffee after the recent move, "I appreciate the place that fully shows the style of the owner, so if I like that owner, I usually like that restaurant." "

Instead of judging the coffee shop on the basis of taste, as a coffee taster, Chee is very concerned about the overall space and atmosphere of the coffee shop. As a bartender, "I like the bar player of The FOLKS very much, and the interaction with people is comfortable and comfortable. Berg is not good at interacting with guests. What he wants to convey is expressed through the coffee in his hand, so the bar design of Simple Kaffa is to wrap the barista inside. (laughter)! "

Chee, which makes the whole atmosphere very relaxed and pleasant, can be said to be like a cup of amorous coffee, with a rich smell under the catalysis of different problems, and sometimes humorous playfulness and sometimes serious elegance in the enthusiasm for coffee. And her curiosity about taste, and her open and charming personality, can see the traces of these masters in Simple Kaffa.

Perhaps for many people, the focus of drinking coffee is that the atmosphere is greater than the flavor, and the tasting master is still a little far away, and the biggest achievement of this interview with Chee is not that everyone should develop keen taste buds, curiosity about flavor is the most important thing! Hundreds of delicate flavors actually exist in daily life, whether it's the smell of wet soil after rain or the smell of grass in the morning dew, Chee even describes the damp smell in the old wardrobe, which is worth savoring. If you want to become a coffee taster, you have to smell life curiously.

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Name: Culture & Coffee Festival in Taipei

Date: 29 July 2017 (Saturday)-30 July 2017 (Japan)

Time: 10:00-18:00

Venue: Huashan 1914 Cultural and Creative Industry Park (Building B, Building 2 West of Red Brick Liuheyuan)

Exhibition booths: ONIBUS COFFEE, Goodman Roaster, Simple Kaffa, Fujin Tree Cafe...etc

Admission fee: 100 yuan

Organizer: Culture & Coffee Festival in Taipei implementation Committee

Co-sponsored: URBAN RESEARCH x snow peak

Cooperation units: Huashan 1914 Cultural and Creative Industry Park, ONIBUS COFFEE, Goodman Roaster, Simple Kaffa, FUJIN TREE, C ³offee Coffee, haveAnice and so on.

Main visual design: CHALKBOY

Hash tag:#CultureAndCoffee # haveAnice