Sunday, June 19, 2016

[EVENT] #OrioleTalks - Coffee Tasting + Desserts


When Jessie and Meryl told me that we are going coffee tasting at Oriole Coffee + Bar today, I thought it was just to go and drink coffee. I never knew that there is actually a standard procedure for coffee tasting and this session was definitely an eye-opener to me. 


We each received a set of four Flavour notes cards for the four different type of coffee that we will be introduced to, namely Ethiopia Kebena Forest, Yellowbird, Biftu Gudina Cooperative and Leyva Mancilla Cooperative. We were briefed on the different factors to take note on during the coffee tasting session such as the aroma, flavour, acidity, body and finish and to give our own rating thereafter.


Let's start with the aroma. This involved the deep sniffing of the coffee. We were asked to take a sniff of the coffee powder as it would smell different after brewing. Thanks Meryl for the photo.


We were told to stir the coffee three times and smell the back of the spoon. To me, all just smell like roasted coffee. Next, to get the real flavour of the coffee, one have to loudly slurp the coffee so that the coffee will spread to the back of the tongue. Acidity in coffee is one of the attribute and can make the coffee taste sour, which can be unpleasant. Body described the fullness and richness of coffee feel in your mouth and the finish simply refers to the aftertaste of the cup. What taste does the coffee leaves in your mouth after you've finished.

In conclusion of all the factors, my favourite coffee out of the four turned out to be the Ethiopia Kebena Forest which is a natural process type from an altitude of up to 2200masl. This is also a more popular choice among the Asian people. 


"The Kebena forest, located in the East Welega zone of Oromia, is one of the few remaining forests in Ethiopia where coffee still grows wild. Deep within this forest lie thousands of undiscovered coffee varieties and species. These wild plants are harvested and naturally processed on raised beds, hulled, then meticulously hand sorted. The bean was awarded 3rd place at The African Taste of Harvest & Auction, a leading regional cupping competition in Eastern and Southern Africa which takes place annually and organized by The African Fine Coffee Association."


The first outlet of Oriole Cafe + Bar was opened in 2008 at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites for the love of specialty coffee. Our coffee tasting session today took place at Oriole Coffee + Bar at Capitol Piazza which was the latest outlet opened just last year. 


Since the coffee tasting session ended around tea-break time, we decided to just stay on to have some sweet desserts before we end our day.


We had the Yuzu Cheese Cake at $8. Served with ice-cream and sugar coated nuts. It's light not too sweet and a twist to a lemon cheese cake. I like it. 


We also ordered the Mi'So waffle at $12. Four little pieces of waffles served with ice-cream, sugar coated nuts and the sauce is actually caramel but with a tint of miso. So unique and nice. 


Beside Oriole Coffee + Bar, Oriole Coffee also have another business called the Oriole Coffee Roasters that is known for retail and wholesale business of personally sourced and locally roasted beans. 

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XOXO

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