Page 26 - Seniorstoday June 2022 Issue

which have been stipulated by the Coffee
sipping coffee and having a jolly good time
but the truth is far from it.
Menon explains: “When I talk about
tasting I look for taste profile in different
ways and follow the cupping protocol along
with various brewing methods as it gives
a better insight into various flavours and
taste nuances.”
Visual Quality
The protocol begins by checking the visual
quality of the beans. Coffee farmers send
300 grams of coffee bean samples. The first
step is to visually assess them, which is
identifying the moisture content, looking
for bacterial growth, and checking if it’s
a washed, natural preparation or honey
preparation.
The next step would be to look into the size
of the bean. There are certain specifications
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Board of India. The size, shape and the
colour of the bean gives a lot of information
about how it has been grown and looked
after.
Then comes smelling the beans. This gives
information about how the beans have been
handled and stored. Coffee beans are often
grown along with black pepper and the
farmer tends to store the beans along with
pepper. This results in the beans taking on
the spice notes of the pepper, which is a big
no for any buyer.
Identifying the defects is the next step.
There are different types of defects, it could
be a black bean, a brown bean, a cut bean,
or it could be insect damaged. After looking
into all the specs an award is given to the
visual appearance of the bean.
Roasting
Roasting has a certain protocol. There is a
standard measurement along with a colour
meter which suggests a dark roast or a
medium roast, or a light roast. This colour
value is related to the type of equipment
used for roasting. Roasted beans need to
rest for eight hours for degassing before
grinding it. Degassing the roasted beans
help release the carbon dioxide. This
process takes place an evening before the
grinding and tasting.