SFPFS Recent Events




	Upcoming Events Recent Events Calendar Regional Groups Calendar Archive About SIGS	Coffee Cupping Text and Photos by Thy Tran On a sunny afternoon in June, Pacific Bay Roastery closed the doors of their Walnut Creek café early in order to allow a small group of SFPFS members to experience first-hand the world of small-batch coffee bean roasting and tasting. Deeply knowledgeable, Kenneth David, editor of the Coffee Review, shared photographs of his coffee travels while explaining the complex array of factors that contribute to the flavor of coffee in the cup. SFPFS members learned about the plant, about decisions made in harvesting and drying, and about the delicate stages of roasting. The first cupping -- a flight of three brews -- revealed the different aromas and flavors that emerge as the same batch of beans was roasted increasingly darker. The second cupping was an enlightening comparison of five distinct beans, from a high-grown Colombian to a nutty, chocolaty Brazilian Mogiana Yellow Bourbon to a complex Sumatran Mandheling. This second flight, using five different types of beans roasted to the same level, allowed us to isolate the unique flavors that come out of variations in terroir, fermenting, drying and other processing choices. Members then moved to the tasting tables, where a simplified set-up of a professional coffee cupping waited for each. Kenneth and his assistant tutored newborn tasters on technique, descriptive vocabulary and serial coffee sipping. In between sniffing grounds and skimming foam and slurping loudly, SFPFS members enjoyed connecting with old friends and new colleagues as always. Practical information on buying, storing, grinding and brewing ensured that we'd all know what to do with the generous samples of freshly roasted coffee beans that Pacific Bay owners John and Kerry Laird shared with us. Specializing in single-origin beans roasted to medium levels, unusual in these dark-roast times, they will be opening a larger roasting and barrista training facility in the 4th Street area of Berkeley later this year. We look forward to visiting their new location and learning more about the rich, complex world of coffee.	List of Recent Events September 2008 Minutes from September board meeting (Word doc) September 2008 Peanut Butter Tasting September 2008 SF Networking event at Local Kitchen September 2008 Stirring the Pot: Celebrity Chefs September 2008 Traveling Table at Mantra September 2008 30th Anniversary of SFPFS August 2008 Board Meeting Minutes (Word Doc) August 2008 Coffee Cupping July 2008 Cooking Teacher SIG June 2008 Honey Tasting SIG June 2008 Food Writing Book Club SIG June 2008 Digs Bistro June 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Showdown May 2008 A Visit to Careme 350 May 2008 Cooking Teachers SIG May 2008 San Mateo Members Meet May 2008 South Bay Members Connect April 2008 Wine SIG takes a Beaujolais Cruise April 2008 Demystifying the Food/Wine Dilemma March 2008 Pasta tasting March 2008 Cooking Teachers' SIG March 2008 Traveling Table to Ubuntu March 2008 Gelato Making February 2008 Best of Show Cabernet Sauvignons January 2008 AGM 2008 January 2008 Cooking SIG at Ramekins January 2008 Stirring the Pot: Future of Chinese Cuisine December 2007 Marmalade tasting November 2007 Wine SIG samples sparklers November 2007 United States of Arugula review November 2007 Decoding Molecular Gastronomy October 2007 Career Change Roundtable October 2007 B Star Bar September 2007 Barbary BBQ on Maiden Lane September 2007 Vanilla Tasting August 2007 Wine SIG tastes Rieslings June 2007 Wine SIG Rosé Tasting June 2007 Wines from Livermore June 2007 Tasting Sig Explores Fetas June 2007 Dinner at B Restaurant May 2007 An Evening with Jaques Pepin April 2007 Knockout Santa Cruz Wines March 2007 Feasting at Chef Chus February 2007 Annual General Meeting February 2007 Lessons from a Master Taster: Darrell Corti February 2007 East Bay Urban Wine Tour January 2007 Traveling Table: Radio Africa and Kitchen December 2006 Holiday Cookie Exchange November 2006 Southern Foodways Alliance October 2006 Stirring the Pot with Chuck Williams October 2006 Wine Sig Looks for Varietal Character August 2006 SFPFS Barbeque on the USS Hornet August 2006 Stirring the Pot: Building your Culinary Pedigree June 2006 Antony Bourdain at the Commonwealth Club May 2006 Expo West 2006 May 2006 Table Travelers visit Old Mandarin January 2006 The Annual General Meeting January 2006 Impressions of Fancy Food, the 31st annual trade show September 19, 2005 Stirring the Pot: The History, Dynamics, and Ethics of Luxury Dining June 22, 2005 Stirring the Pot with Nell Newman, Els Cooperrider and Guinness McFadden May 25, 2005 Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust Fundraising Dinner May 18. 2005 Philippe Stark and Michel Rolland at the SF W Hotel April 28, 2005 Roundtable: The Food and Culture of Burma February 15, 2005 Stirring the Pot with Harold McGee October 22, 2004 Food Fight! A Lively Discussion of Today's Most Challenging Food Choices July 12, 2004 Blenheim Apricot Food Tour May 17, 2004 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Hubert Keller, Michael Mina and Bradley Ogden March 15, 2004 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Gerald Asher February 10, 2004 SFPFS Traveling Table goes to New Delhi Restaurant January 26, 2004 AGM / NMR Review November 10, 2003 Reel Food - Castro Theatre September 25, 2003 Food Tour - Heritage Fruit Orchard at Filoli Gardens September 17, 2003 Rick Knoll on Organic Farming June 16, 2003 A Conversation with Thomas Keller: The Soul of Haute Cuisine in America May 19, 2003 The SFPFS Traveling Table - Roxanne's in Larkspur April 28, 2003 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Marian Burros and Marion Cunningham March, 2003 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Marion Nestle


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