# Ideas for cleaning/training the palate ??



## grumpydaddy (Oct 20, 2014)

This request for ideas is based around the principle that drinking a glass of fresh orange not too long after cleaning your teeth can be a less than happy taste experience.

I have mentioned before that my taste buds suffer from years of smoking but I wonder....

I have tried water biscuits and water to clean the palate before making coffee in an attempt to get the flavour nuances from the beans.

Does anyone have any other go to ideas that might enhance my experience ??

This is another occasion where the search function has failed me so sorry, this has been asked before for sure! (perhaps even by me







)


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

I have a piece of brown toast for breakfast after cleaning my teeth and before drinking my first spro . I think this was a suggestion from Matt Perger . Works for me


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## Syenitic (Dec 1, 2013)

I currently have a rather nice sparkling mineral water from Spain in my fridge - Vichy Catalan, sadly not easily nor cheaply available in the UK. But I find most sparkling mineral waters are great at giving that freshened feel in the mouth.

Maybe try some Pellegrino or Badouit from your local supermarket?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> I have a piece of brown toast for breakfast after cleaning my teeth and before drinking my first spro . I think this was a suggestion from Matt Perger . Works for me


Boots, I think he was taking the piss mate......surprised he did not suggest a dollop of Seville marmalade as well


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> Boots, I think he was taking the piss mate......surprised he did not suggest a dollop of Seville marmalade as well


No he wasn't ...but thanks for your input .


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

grumpydaddy said:


> This request for ideas is based around the principle that drinking a glass of fresh orange not too long after cleaning your teeth can be a less than happy taste experience.
> 
> I have mentioned before that my taste buds suffer from years of smoking but I wonder....
> 
> ...


I was wondering about this the other day actually.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> No he wasn't ...but thanks for your input .


but if he was, how would you know? surely for this to work it would have to be brand specific, with or without spread as opposed to just saying brown......that covers a wide multitude of sins


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

dfk41 said:


> but if he was, how would you know? surely for this to work it would have to be brand specific, with or without spread as opposed to just saying brown......that covers a wide multitude of sins


Pergbread?


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Jon said:


> Pergbread?


Wheat would have had to be ground on an EK43 to ensure evenness of particle size distribution.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

grumpydaddy said:


> This request for ideas is based around the principle that drinking a glass of fresh orange not too long after cleaning your teeth can be a less than happy taste experience.
> 
> I have mentioned before that my taste buds suffer from years of smoking but I wonder....
> 
> ...


Are you saying you have never got any flavour notes from any beans? I know smokers who can taste just well if not better than I do (never smoked).

Is this the case for all the brew methods you use?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Jon said:


> Pergbread?


That made me think of Flatbread but then my spell checker kicks in and it types Twatbread


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

When I was food tasting they give you thin plain crackers (like round water biscuits) and water to cleanse the palate.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

in expensive restaurants, between the first and second course you often get sorbet or the likes (water based ice without the cream)


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## Jason1wood (Jun 1, 2012)

Was just going to mention sorbet.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Gin sorbet before every coffee? Sounds like a good plan.

I can see the sense of brown toast, it's scratchier than white so would work like a water biscuit, but with added tongue scraping


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## grumpydaddy (Oct 20, 2014)

MWJB said:


> Are you saying you have never got any flavour notes from any beans? I know smokers who can taste just well if not better than I do (never smoked).
> 
> Is this the case for all the brew methods you use?


Not Never, but whilst I got the strawberry in spades from a rave roast last year, my quest for a caramel that is as notable has, to date, been a failure. I find this a surprise when others have variously described some beans as "caramac in a cup"

This got me to thinking about the other "notes" that folks mention as being very strong. In general I cannot pick out the individual tastes just the overall blend of flavours. That said I found the cold brew tasted at the Rave event last year to be a Revelation. It was everything I have been hoping for in espresso. A ristretto from there gave me the acidity but the flavours?

I have tried 1:1.5, 1:2, 1:3 for each of the types of beans I purchase and I try each at times of .6, 1 and 1.6 times the weight in seconds resulting in wide variation in taste sure but individual flavours have not broken through for me.

I have a sweet tooth and consume far too much sugar. The decision to get a good espresso machine and grinder was to train my palate away from sweet so that now I can enjoy espresso but perhaps enjoy more a flat white.

I only use one other method of making coffee at home.... french press..... and drip at work.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

grumpydaddy said:


> Not Never, but whilst I got the strawberry in spades from a rave roast last year, my quest for a caramel that is as notable has, to date, been a failure. I find this a surprise when others have variously described some beans as "caramac in a cup"
> 
> This got me to thinking about the other "notes" that folks mention as being very strong. In general I cannot pick out the individual tastes just the overall blend of flavours. That said I found the cold brew tasted at the Rave event last year to be a Revelation. It was everything I have been hoping for in espresso. A ristretto from there gave me the acidity but the flavours?
> 
> ...


I don't always get all the notes, sometimes tasting notes look a bit like a scattergun approach, or have so many notes listed it's a bit optimistic to hit them all. I start out just looking for sweetness & ripe fruit acidity...then see if there's something that stands out, even then it might just be "stone fruit" rather than specifically peach, apricot, or mango (or facets of all).

The clarity of flavour is closely related to extraction & espresso/French press are trickier to achieve higher extractions. The Rave cold brew, I suspect was a low extraction, you could try pulling shots shorter...often you can hit a sweet spot at very short brew ratios, before the acidity dominates...though I tend to find these types of shots a bit blunt/simple tasting, but often sweet.

What's your French press method?


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## grumpydaddy (Oct 20, 2014)

50g coffee

preheat press with boiling water

tip out and put coffee in

fill to 1/3rd about 20 seconds after kettle boiled and water is at ~85° in the press, stir, re-heat water, wait 1 min stir again,

top up to 800g using re-heated water

wait to total 4 mins, press slowly, pour into preheated cup because press temp is now usually about 60°


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Tasting notes on packs are arrived at via cupping which is a very specific process governing the method - see  here 

Moreover, as the article points out, a roast profile for cupping purposes may not be exactly that for the beans in your pack - beans used in cupping might be roasted a tad lighter. So, given your preferred methods of brewing - immersion, filter or espresso not to mention the water composition you're brewing with, you may find that all the tasting notes are present or some are more muted and/or not detectable.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

grumpydaddy said:


> 50g coffee
> 
> preheat press with boiling water
> 
> ...


Don't bother with the bloom & stirring (pour the water in as soon as it clicks off boil), use 900g of water to your 50g of coffee, fine grind, leave it 40mins, not 4.

Something is really weird if the coffee is 60c after 4mins, this should take an hour or more to drop to that temp, for a pot this size.


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## grumpydaddy (Oct 20, 2014)

You made me do a quick test again, this time with digital IR meter

800g

@4min = 77°

@8min = 69°

@12min = 65°

@16min = 63°

I shall test this properly later using 2 meters and further away from the open window which I feel is influencing these results, even though room ambient is 23°


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

grumpydaddy said:


> You made me do a quick test again, this time with digital IR meter
> 
> 800g
> 
> ...


While it is steeping, take out the plunger assembly, drop a probe down the hole in the lid into the slurry. With a 12g:200g brew (less thermal inertia) I'm still over 70c at 15min.

Is your French press single walled glass? If steel, or ceramic, you may want to preheat it.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Jon said:


> Pergbread?


Where can you get such stuff? I'll enjoy it all the more sitting on my Pergerbench


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

MWJB said:


> Don't bother with the bloom & stirring (pour the water in as soon as it clicks off boil), use 900g of water to your 50g of coffee, fine grind, leave it 40mins, not 4.
> 
> Something is really weird if the coffee is 60c after 4mins, this should take an hour or more to drop to that temp, for a pot this size.


With this is it Grinds in first then water or the other way round?

Would 25g in 450g of water work?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

urbanbumpkin said:


> With this is it Grinds in first then water or the other way round?
> 
> Would 25g in 450g of water work?


Yes, that brew ratio would be fine, the smaller the brew, the shorter the time it takes to drop to target temp. Either water or coffee in first, water in 1st can produce a cleaner cup, but can also be more variable (due to how well you wet everything at the start, a quick dump of all the water over grounds seems more consistent extraction-wise) & take longer.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

I eat a piece of toast with butter on

please excuse any brevity, I'm a moron with a mobile


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## ZappyAd (Jul 19, 2017)

Apologies for the thread resurrection but I was just thinking about this the other morning. I've found eating a bit of porridge does a great job of getting rid of any coffee taste. It means I can practice making 4 or 5 cups with my breakfast and keep track of how the taste changes. (I don't drink all the coffee in each cup)


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## Beanedict (Aug 14, 2017)

Interesting question, not found my answer to it yet. Asian food normally comes with ginger to clean your palate between meals. Different types of bread seem to work for wine. Can't think what would work well for me with coffee. Cracker seems best. Water? Would it be weird if I told you that I think cottage cheese seem to work for me? What do cuppers do?


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Beanedict said:


> Interesting question, not found my answer to it yet. Asian food normally comes with ginger to clean your palate between meals. Different types of bread seem to work for wine. Can't think what would work well for me with coffee. Cracker seems best. Water? Would it be weird if I told you that I think cottage cheese seem to work for me? What do cuppers do?


Apparently water, soda or crackers work best for coffee:

https://www.hilinecoffee.com/blog/coffee-and-cleansing-the-palate/


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