Four Coffees, Four Courses.....a memorable night in Brooklyn
Hey Everyone!
This is Bobbie (Daniel’s foodie partner in crime) taking his blog bus for a spin while he is kicking it in El Salvador. It is my honour [Canadian spelling!! HA HA! --daniel] to bring you a little taste of our coffee and food pairing evening this past Thursday at our dear friend Rachel Mc Farland’s fab-pad in Williamsburg.
I truly hope this is the start of many a joint venture between myself the talented Mr. Humphries. He is, as all of you know, incredibly knowledgeable, articulate and makes a cupping event a great experience from seasoned coffee geeks to green beans.
The crowd was a great mix of coffee folk, foodies and artsies all happily mingling, muching and slurping the night away. There was a four-way tie for most outstanding….
1. the view - truly spectacular and panoramic…
2. the brew - Daniel researched, tasted, and researched and tasted…
3. the food - not to toot my own horn…..but.......
4. the wind - as Rachel tried with all her might not duct tape, nor optimal strategic placement could keep the table cloth down, candles lit or flowers in vases…..
Prior to the party we were greeted, interviewed and photographed by our new friends Amy and Stu of Imbibe Magazine from Oregon. The issue we will be featured in is has yet to be decided - stay tuned!!
We were ready, grinders loaded and me with trusty sous-chef by my side, the incredible Rachel Graville.
I threw Daniel a loop and we started the evening off a little different than planned….Intelligencia's “Los Immortales” (El Salvador) was paired with pancetta crisps, goat cheese, pear and fresh thyme…we really aimed for guests to discover the smoky bacon and juicy pear notes in the coffee while the tart, salty yet rich goat cheese complimented the silky body of the coffee….the thyme provided a citric fragrance and cleansed the palate……GREAT SUCCESS!
We kept the ball rolling with the 1-2 punch of Cremini Mushroom Bread Pudding over arugula with Novo's delicate “Koke” (Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe)……the result: custardy texture of the pudding cradled gentle vanilla undertones, with the crisp lemony arugula making way for Koke’s lavendar notes to take a humble bow…….HIGH FIVE!
After a brief victory lap around the sprawling kitchen it was back work..…this time for the “Thimu” sandwich…..first: vodka-spiked cherry tomatoes with coarse salt and cracked pepper followed a sip of Stumptown's Thimu (Kenya SL-28 and SL-34 Peaberry)- I enjoyed the way cocoa and citric notes bounced off the tongue; only to be hit with sumac marinated skirt steak with pomegranate reduction to bring out the lush, tomatoey, beef stew-like full bodied finish….
There was little time to squeeze in South Park jokes, Family Guy quotes or Daniel’s yet-to-be-famous Werner Herzog impersonation, it was time to roll out the red carpet for Honduran ‘Purple Princess’ with Concord Grape Sorbet on a Hazelnut Wafer. The effort and semi-permanent stain on my hands to juice the grapes was instantly worthwhile…..this was the celebrity couple…. Finca El Puente's plum notes danced beautifully with the sweet tart grape and the crisp then almost melt away meringue texture of the hazelnut wafer brought forth the subtle cocoa undertones of this gorgeous roast from Counter Culture ….
We topped the evening off with biscotti, chatted with friends and toasted our success with some much needed Sambuca…
Thanks Everyone, this was fun!
Until next time.....
This is Bobbie (Daniel’s foodie partner in crime) taking his blog bus for a spin while he is kicking it in El Salvador. It is my honour [Canadian spelling!! HA HA! --daniel] to bring you a little taste of our coffee and food pairing evening this past Thursday at our dear friend Rachel Mc Farland’s fab-pad in Williamsburg.
I truly hope this is the start of many a joint venture between myself the talented Mr. Humphries. He is, as all of you know, incredibly knowledgeable, articulate and makes a cupping event a great experience from seasoned coffee geeks to green beans.
The crowd was a great mix of coffee folk, foodies and artsies all happily mingling, muching and slurping the night away. There was a four-way tie for most outstanding….
1. the view - truly spectacular and panoramic…
2. the brew - Daniel researched, tasted, and researched and tasted…
3. the food - not to toot my own horn…..but.......
4. the wind - as Rachel tried with all her might not duct tape, nor optimal strategic placement could keep the table cloth down, candles lit or flowers in vases…..
Prior to the party we were greeted, interviewed and photographed by our new friends Amy and Stu of Imbibe Magazine from Oregon. The issue we will be featured in is has yet to be decided - stay tuned!!
We were ready, grinders loaded and me with trusty sous-chef by my side, the incredible Rachel Graville.
I threw Daniel a loop and we started the evening off a little different than planned….Intelligencia's “Los Immortales” (El Salvador) was paired with pancetta crisps, goat cheese, pear and fresh thyme…we really aimed for guests to discover the smoky bacon and juicy pear notes in the coffee while the tart, salty yet rich goat cheese complimented the silky body of the coffee….the thyme provided a citric fragrance and cleansed the palate……GREAT SUCCESS!
We kept the ball rolling with the 1-2 punch of Cremini Mushroom Bread Pudding over arugula with Novo's delicate “Koke” (Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe)……the result: custardy texture of the pudding cradled gentle vanilla undertones, with the crisp lemony arugula making way for Koke’s lavendar notes to take a humble bow…….HIGH FIVE!
After a brief victory lap around the sprawling kitchen it was back work..…this time for the “Thimu” sandwich…..first: vodka-spiked cherry tomatoes with coarse salt and cracked pepper followed a sip of Stumptown's Thimu (Kenya SL-28 and SL-34 Peaberry)- I enjoyed the way cocoa and citric notes bounced off the tongue; only to be hit with sumac marinated skirt steak with pomegranate reduction to bring out the lush, tomatoey, beef stew-like full bodied finish….
There was little time to squeeze in South Park jokes, Family Guy quotes or Daniel’s yet-to-be-famous Werner Herzog impersonation, it was time to roll out the red carpet for Honduran ‘Purple Princess’ with Concord Grape Sorbet on a Hazelnut Wafer. The effort and semi-permanent stain on my hands to juice the grapes was instantly worthwhile…..this was the celebrity couple…. Finca El Puente's plum notes danced beautifully with the sweet tart grape and the crisp then almost melt away meringue texture of the hazelnut wafer brought forth the subtle cocoa undertones of this gorgeous roast from Counter Culture ….
We topped the evening off with biscotti, chatted with friends and toasted our success with some much needed Sambuca…
Thanks Everyone, this was fun!
Until next time.....