*Building Your Coffee Vocabulary

Description

Describing sensory sensations is a skill that improves with practice. By understanding the biological function of gustation and olfaction, we can harness our natural ability and start building muscle memory. Together, we’ll walk through a few different excercises that help us leverage our memories and emotions to build better flavor recall.

Identifying flavors accurately and consistently is only half of the equation. We must also communicate the sensation we’re experiencing with others in a way that’s mutually intelligible.

There’s a bunch of obstacles here, not least of which is cultural context and personal preferences. I may love cilantro, but maybe it smells like soap to you. You may love butter but it wasn’t part of my diet growing up and so it smells animalic to me. We are experiencing the same odiferous molecules but having very different reactions. How can we navigate this?

One way to work our way out of this predicament is by expanding our vocabulary for flavor descriptors, and in particular moving away from brand names. We can practice this by tasting our favorite candies and breaking down the flavor components in each one!

Together, we’ll taste through some of the best known candies in the US, plus favorites from other countries around the world and stretch our vocabulary to describe each one in neutral, global language - just like we should be doing every time we approach the cupping table.

*This workshop has an additional registration fee. Please add it to your badge prior to the event (and receive early bird pricing) or stop by the registration counters onsite.

Track(s)

• 
  Coffee Fest - All Sessions
• 
  Coffee Fest - Roasting & Green Coffee