Kim Kardashian vs. Audrey Hepburn – Which coffee style do you personally prefer?
When Steve Jobs first presented the iPod, he made a very easy to understand example: 2,000 songs in your pocket. When it comes to sensory evaluation in coffee, we all have different backgrounds, different preferences and in addition sensory science can be very complex, even for very well trained and experienced coffee professionals. This is why I would like to make a simple and very visual comparison.
Anaerobic Fermentation – Kim Kardashian:
Hyper-real, intense, extraverted, overwhelming, flamboyant, I would also compare this coffee style with the fashion photographer David LaChapelle.
Yesterday I was invited to taste three different, so-called experimental lots. These three coffees could all be very successful choices for today’s coffee competitions.
Costa Rica – El Cañal (anaerobic fermentation): The coffee tasted very sweet and very juicy, the acidity was complex and very bright. The flavours were overwhelming: cinnamon, apple pie, raisin, yogurt, pineapple, ginger, cocoa nips.
Panama – Elida Geisha (natural anaerobic slow dried dowsed): This coffee was another overwhelming sensory experience, an intense flower and fruit bomb. The acidity was again bright, complex and well structured. I found a saturated sweetness and notes of tropical and yellow stone fruits as well as citrus fruits and berries.
Ethiopia – To-La Reserve (carbonic maceration): When I smelled the coffee, I felt like being surrounded by pineapples. Pineapples were just everywhere. The acidity was balanced, the coffee was hyper sweet and the aftertaste was long-lasting with intense notes of cacao nibs.
My personal coffee style – Audrey Hepburn:
Refined, classy, elegant, svelte and understatement. I would compare this coffee with the work of Swiss photographer René Burri. When I attended last year’s Cup of Excellence program in El Salvador, I fell in love with the following Audrey Hepburn style coffee:
El Salvador - Finca La Esperanza (Bernardina variety, honey process): The acidity was complex, structured and juicy. The body was silky and smooth and the flavours were delicate and subtle: jasmine and rose, peach, strawberry and bergamot. When you take a sip and close your eyes, you can feel an elegant ballerina dancing gracefully over your tongue – totally weightless.
I guess my personal coffee style is now no more secret. Which coffee style do you personally prefer? I do not put any value on Kim Kardashian nor Audrey Hepburn, and of course this comparison also works with men, for example Jude Law for Finca La Esperanza. We all have our personal preferences.
The idea for this comparison comes from Sun Huang. She had the brilliant idea to talk in an easy to understand way about sensory skills to further democratise specialty coffee. All credits to her. In the meantime I got messages about how Clint Eastwood or Rocky Balboa would taste like. Hence, Sun had an amazing idea.
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4yHepburn with Tiffany hues to compliment rich brown cremas.
Director Partner Channels - Building teams to shape chances
4yAudrey
Expert Coffee Consultant
4yIs it about choice though..? Yes, personal preference will - of course - always be your choice. However don't you have moments / situations in which you'd prefer a Kim coffee versus an Audrey one? Part of the fun complexity of the coffee world - to not necessarily have to chose or decide if you're on one side or the other. (Side note, your comparison is of one processing method (anaerobic) to a coffee "style" which implies end result?) Fun read though and I definitely appreciate the accessibility idea behind it. :)
Editorial
4yHaving done it, choosing well-known names (e.g. Jobs, Hepburn) to associate with a product or service is a really interesting and insightful branding exercise. It can be quite revealing! It really makes you think about what your true perceptions are, both of the product and the the names.