Bruce Nguyen : Tiny Bites

Bruce’s coffee adventures at the 2011 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show

Coffee Cupping Basics Workshop

Karen and I cupped two flights of coffee to better understand two factors that affect the taste of your brew: processing method and terroir.

The first flight demonstrated processing method and consisted of three cups: an Ethiopian bean processed naturally, a semi-washed coffee from Indonesia, and a wet-processed coffee from El Salvador. One of the main distinctions is based on how much of the cherry is left on the coffee bean as it dries. The natural method leaves the cherry intact around the bean; wet processing removes most of the cherry pulp from the bean before drying; the semi-washed method falls somewhere in between.

The impact of the coffee fruit on the final brewed product was readily apparent on the tongue. The naturally processed cup contained citrus notes more akin to tea than to any coffee I’m used to. The semi-washed coffee gave off its characteristic earthy musk. We were able to pick up on these differences just from smelling the coffee grinds that formed a crust atop the coffee liquor.

The wet-processed El Salvador was the cleanest tasting and expressed the most brightness. One person at our table described its marked acidity as sour, but our seminar hosts from JJ Bean were quick to correct her, saying that sourness is a state used in the coffee world to specifically refer to flaws: “We never say a good coffee is sour.”

I understand that sour can be thought of as rancid, but having grown up on sour soup and pickled vegetables, I feel that there’s nothing wrong with calling something sour–as long as it’s done lovingly. And let’s face it: Acidic Patch Kids would never have taken off.

The second flight of coffees were all wet-processed, though each were grown in different parts of the world. The differences here were subtle, and I had a lot more difficulty picking out the individual nuances, which meant I had to keep sampling more and more coffee.

I was okay with this.

Coffee brewing showdown: Chemix vs V60 vs AeroPress vs French Press

The next seminar I attended covered open brew methods, with plenty of air time for the perfect 60 degree ‘v’ shaped cone of the Hario V60 pour-over dripper (oh, that’s where the name comes from). While I sincerely love a good infographic and number crunch session – especially when on a caffeine high - my head was brimming with industry stats and acronyms when I was simply seeking a taste comparison.

And I found it, making my way through the trade show floor, arriving at booth hosted by Cafe Gabana. They delivered samples of their coffee made in a Hario V60 drip cone, a Chemex coffeemaker, an AeroPress, and a French Press. Unfortunately, Karen was busy at the Tea Sommelier 101 course, so no visuals of this highly educational demo.

Everyone else was going gaga over the V60 and the over the laboratory-like elegance of the Chemex, but I found that I am still–and probably will always be–a greater fan of the oily, sediment-rich brew that the paperless French Press gives.

Canadian Cup Taster Championship

To finish off the day, we watched a round of the Canadian Cup Tasters Championship. It’s a test of palette. It’s a test of focus. And I also thought it would be a test of my patience. How wrong was I! While I’m still not entirely sure what I witnessed, by golly was it compelling!

Eight sets of three coffee cups. In each set, one coffee is subtly different from the other two. Competitors race against each other to pick the odd one out as quickly as possible.

It starts out as a cacophony of loud slurping and sniffing. All of a sudden, a hand is thrust in the air as one competitor is done. A minute and 20 seconds?! Surely all eight can’t be correct; the average time for the last two heats was nearly three minutes. Another hand is raised and the two remaining competitors in this heat start to feel the pressure. Suspense builds as results are tallied aloud one by one.

By the end of the two-day competition, Melody Lu of Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters had slurped her way to victory, with a final-round time of 2:57 and 6 of 8 cups correct. She’ll head to the Netherlands next June to represent Canada in the 2012 World Cup Tasters Championship. The rest will have wait for next year’s competition for another chance. And to that end, they will continue their daily training regimen, one coffee cup at a time.

Categories: Coffee, Events, Food

On Argentinean wine and Mendoza bodegas

1 Comment Bruce NguyenApril 14, 2010

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is just around the corner. With Argentina and New Zealand being co-theme regions this year, it seems opportune to share experiences from my recent jaunt through Argentina this past Christmas break.

A primer on Argentinean wine

Let’s start with some basic Spanish-to-English terminology:

vino = wine
bodega = winery
viñedo = vineyard
salud = cheers
uno mas, por favor = one more, please

The above, plus charades, got me through three weeks in Argentina!

In terms of vino, Argentina is mainly known for its Malbec. This grape has its roots as one of the handful of kosher varietals allowed in a Bordeaux wine blend. The most popular Bordeaux blends these days, however, do not contain this grape at all, mixing Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot instead. It’s said that the Malbec grape was so maligned and unsuited to the wet and cold French climate that it earned the lesser name of côt. I’m told that it’s not an endearing name, but all wine varietals sound Greek to me when I first hear them.

It wasn’t until the late 19th century, when Malbec was planted in Argentina – where the scorching sun shines over 300 days a year – that the grape finally came into its own. And now, if you believe the marketing hype of my tour guide, Malbec is one of the hottest crazes in wine. In other words, the story of Malbec is the story of a poor French immigrant achieving the great (South) American Dream!

A lesser known wine varietal equally coupled with Argentina is Torrontés (Torontel). You may have had a more intimate experience with it in the form of Chilean Pisco. Crisp, floral, and fruity, this was our white wine of choice in our travels. Perhaps “choice” is the wrong word, as it was rather insisted upon us whenever we asked for a white wine recommendation.

Argentina’s Mendoza region is known for its Malbec, while the best Torrontés are said to come from Salta. While we didn’t get a chance to visit the latter, we did make it to Mendoza, visiting a couple wineries between taking mid-day siestas, feasting at parrillas (grill houses), and discovering surprisingly good Italian food (a tale for another day).

The two wineries we visited were Vistandes and Don Artuo, both located in the Maipú sub-region. Here, glacial waters from the Andes, high altitudes, and large day/night temperature swings lead to successful vineyards. The temperature swings, called thermal amplitude, makes the grapes constantly expand and contract, drawing in and concentrating the flavours and nuances of the terroir.

Personally, whenever “terroir” is brought up during a wine tasting, I have a tendency to disguise the rolling of my eyes with a swivel of the wrist, a sniff of the glass, and a murmur that “mmm, yes, the yeast is quite expressive”. While I would never claim to have nearly as nuanced wine-buds as the rest of Team Tiny Bites, I’ve learned long ago to never pick a fight with a sommelier.

Bodega Vistandes

Vistandes is a boutique winery located in the Cruz de Piedra sub-region of Maipú in Mendoza, Argentina. While the owners have been selling grapes to other wineries for years, they only recently set up their own in 2006, giving them a modern winery with access to older vines. The winery’s entry hall doubles as a music hall. Unfortunately nobody was playing when we were there mid-day, which in retrospect was a bit of a tease since we do appreciate the Tango.

Known mostly for their Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, this winery likes to combine grapes from both their two vineyards, one in Mendoza and one in the Famatina Valley of La Rioja. The claim is to a more sophisticated flavour profile.

We tried their Malbec, Cab Sauv, and Torrontés, with part of the group giving top marks to the Cab Sauv and the other half of the group liking the Torrontés best.

Bodega Vistandes
Ruta 60 y Carril Urquiza, Cruz de Piedra | Maipú, Mendoza
+54 261 5246213 / 5246214

Bodega Don Arturo

Another boutique winery in Mendoza, Don Arturo has been family run for the past eighty years. Our guide proudly pointed out the weeds in between the vines as proof that no chemicals or pesticides are ever used on the dirt. Heaven forbid that chemicals penetrate the terroir! Mmm, yes, the yeast is quite expressive… sorry, force of habit.

To further stress their focus on using and accepting the character of the land, the irrigation for the vineyards and the coolant system that keeps the vats at the right temperature uses glacial waters siphoned from the nearby Mendoza River. These systems were engineered to be driven by the force of gravity, with powered pumps turned on only when necessary.

Again, being based in Mendoza, Don Arturo specializes in reds, but with more blends rather than pure varietals.

Bodega Cavas de Don Arturo
Franklin Villanueva 2233, Lunlunta | Maipú, Mendoza
+54 261 154538854 / 154540843

Afterword

Unfortunately, neither of these two wineries will have a presence at this year’s Vancouver Wine Festival. Although glancing through the participating wineries list, I do see a few wineries that I have had good experiences with:

Doña Paula – Malbec
Familia Zuccardi – Torrontés (Santa Julia brand)
Finca Flichman – especially their Malbec 2007
Norton – Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (Perdriel brand)
Masi Agricola – Granderella

That last one isn’t Argentinean, but I am so enamoured with their Granderella it that I can’t help but include it on the list!

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival runs Monday April 19th through Sunday April 25th. Tickets and more information are available at their website. We’ll be around, and remember to say salud if you see us!

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
April 19 – 25, 2010
Multiple venues | Vancouver

Vino, vino everywhere but not a drop to drink

Categories: Argentina, Events, Food, Travel, Wine

Twelfth annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner at Floata

1 Comment Bruce NguyenFebruary 9, 2010

Mosaic.

Growing up a young immigrant in Canada, ‘mosaic’ was the catch phrase my school teachers would use to define the country’s cultural landscape. Mosaic; by proudly juxtaposing different cultures, my adopted country would create an altogether new composite Canadian identity.

I’m still skeptical on the extent of it all in reality, but what’s clear is with today’s popularity of the california roll, Japadog, and ninja turtles, cultural borrowing and fusion has become rather commonplace. However, I can’t remember when it’s ever been as explicit and downright fun as Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

Bearded Woman
We even covered the event live on twitter. Missed our live tweets? You can catch up on the conversation here

The event

A portmanteau of the traditional Cantonese new year greeting and that prototypical Scottish sausage, Gung Haggis Fat Choy combines Chinese New Year with Robbie Burns Day to create a new composite celebration of song, poetry readings, and food in order to celebrate the two heritages and raise funds for various charities.

This year marked the event’s twelfth year running and, with over four hundred attendees to this year’s dinner, the costumes, bagpipes, and sing-a-longs were in full swing.

Bagpipers

Hosted by “Toddish McWong” and Tricia Collins, the night started with a full bagpipe band, transitioned to poetry readings, both original works and those from Burns, and just kept going from there.

Audience participation was encouraged, with sing-a-longs of “When Asian/Scottish/Chirish Eyes are Smiling” – yes, “Chirish ” – and echoing along with a rap version of Burns’ “Address to the Haggis”.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy

The menu

The drink list consisted of a variety of Scotch whiskies and Chinese beers. Wines were available too, but understandably none from Scotland or China.

Hosted by Floata Seafood Restaurant, the menu would sound familiar to anybody who has been to a Chinese wedding banquet, with a few key differences of course:

Appetizer plate of haggis siu mai, BBQ pork, jellyfish, and turnip cakes
Deep-fried haggis wontons
Mixed vegetables and winter melon soup
Haggis lettuce wrap with diced vegetables
Pan-fried prawns with spicy salt (shell in)
Peking style gold coined beef
Buddha’s Feast vegetables with deep fried tofu
Deep fried crispy chicken
Vegetarian fried rice
Coconut or mango rice pudding

Ceremonial Haggis

The Deep fried haggis wontons being a clear stand-out. In fact, I personally loved all the haggis infused dishes served this night. Yes, I know what haggis is. But I grew up eating chicken feet, tripe, and Hot vit lon / Balut (readers with tender stomachs, do not click that link).

Haggis? No problem, and really very pleasantly savoury.

‘Good food and good fun’ sums up our experiences at this year’s Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner; I’m sure we’ll be back next year.

To learn more about Gung Haggis Fat Choy: The Robbie Burns / Chinese New Year event, visit their website here.