Crash course: Coffee Connoisseur
For the past two years Story has had the pleasure of working with Nespresso, and during this time we’ve learned quite a bit about coffee. We decided to dive even deeper down into our coffemugs together with Nespresso’s Coffee Ambassador Mikael Andersson.
Hi Mikael! What are the top 3 expressions one should know to sound like a true coffee connoisseur?
Extraction, Clean Cup and Finish can get you pretty far!
Extraction: The process where you use water to extract flavors from roasted ground coffee. Coffee can become Under Extracted which results in a bland cup with high acidity. This usually means that you have used too much coffee in relation to the amount of water. Coffee can also be Over Extracted and become very bitter. This usually means that you’ve added to much water in relation to the amount of coffee.
Clean Cup: A coffee without any taints or faults.
Finish: Finish refers to the sensory experience of the coffee right when you’re about to swallow it. Lots of different types of coffee really transform from the first impression, to when you sip it and finally swallow it.
How do I become better at noticing flavors and aromas in coffee?
Practice, practice, practice! You can often read on the package what notes are most prominent in the coffee you are drinking and this can be very helpful, read the description and try to taste these flavors while drinking the coffee. But it can be quite tricky to link for example a citrus note in coffee to your own actual perception of citrus. This is because our sense of taste is very linked to what we can see. We are used to seeing things and knowing its taste, like when you pass the fruit section in a grocery store and spot som green apples you instinctively know what they taste like, but when we can’t use our sight to tell us the taste of something our mind gets a bit confused. It’s also worth noting that a citrus note is just a note – meaning something that is very subtle, it’s not an added flavor which makes it hard to discover.
What sparked your interest in coffee?
I have always been interested in different beverages and my interest in coffee probably kicked in when I truly realized how complex the world of coffee is and that every coffee is different from the other, how flavors and different notes work together and the whole process behind making a great cup of coffee. It’s a world that never ends, there’s always something new to learn and discover.
Is there any kind of coffee you would never order?
Yes, a bunch! But the worst kind of coffee according to me would probably the coffee you buy at convenience stores, or coffee at restaurants and cafés that’s been in a thermos for hours.
What’s going on in the world of coffee right now? Any significant trends?
Iced coffee and Cold Brew are the fastest growing coffee segments where a lot of exciting things are happening. The breakthrough of Iced Coffee has opened up a whole new world to discover and experiment with and that trend seems to be here to stay.
Do you have any favorite coffee of all time? A certain bean, region, technique..?
Panama Geisha (sometimes Geisha). Geisha is an Ethiopian Arabica that loves the climate in Panama. It’s the world’s most expensive coffee today IF it comes from the right farm! In 2019 100 lbs were sold for $102,900..! It is very difficult, if not impossible, to get a hold of this certain coffee, but there are other types of Panama Geisha with an enchanting profile. Many tend to describe it like it’s similar to tea, very herbal and fruity. Lovely!