Arts & Leisure
Posted on November 18, 2015 04:43:00 PM
The man with a million-dollar tongue spills the beans
-- Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
GENNARO PELLICCIA has one of the best job in the world: he tastes coffee every day. This is to make sure that Costa Coffee, London’s favorite coffee chain, which currently has three branches in the Philippines, maintains the quality of its espresso as it was in 1971 when it was established.
COSTA COFFEE’s Coffee Master Gennaro Pelliccia skims the coffee to scrape off the floating coffee granules before demonstrating how to “caress” coffee to bring out its flavor. -- NICKKY FAUSTINE P. DE GUZMAN
“The reason my tongue was insured was because Costa wanted to remove a myth that all coffee was the same. We did that by commissioning a survey with coffee lovers to do a blind test taste and seven out of 10 preferred Costa… We are the leading brand in London in terms of number of stores. But more important, we are the nation’s favorite coffee chain in the United Kingdom measured by customer’s preference,” Mr. Pelliccia toldBusinessWorld.
He flew to the country on Nov. 9 to give a coffee class at Costa’s flagship store in Bonifacio Global City. Before that, he toured in Dubai, Thailand, Singapore, and China.
COFFEE SAVES THE DAY
Costa Coffee uses an original blend called Mocha Italia, which was concocted by the Costa brothers, Sergio and Bruno. It’s a perfect marriage of Arabica (for aroma) and Robusta (for texture and body) beans.
While Costa has almost 2,000 coffee shops in the UK, the Philippines is predominantly an American-coffee brand country (clue: We love collecting its planners and mugs).
“You have an established and traditional drinking culture,” he said. “When it comes to the coffee bar scene in the Philippines, we are here to save you from the mediocre.”
The 40-year-old coffee master knows his coffee. He started with Costa when he was only 16 years old, taking a part-time weekend job to help finance his studies. He was an engineering student. After graduation, he went to work at Costa full-time and since then mastered cupping, caressing, skimming, brewing, and tasting coffee beans and grounds.
Wait, there is such a thing as caressing coffee? Apparently, yes.
COFFEE CLASS WITH THE MASTER
Mr. Pelliccia has given a new meaning to “coffee lovers.” He’s made it sexier. The class couldn’t helped but laugh. “Cupping” “caressing,” “stroking,” and “lingering taste” were just some of the key words in the master class.
Before the cupping session begun, the Coffee Master advised participants to drink water for hydration to stimulate the olfactory senses. “Relax, close your eyes, and inhale deeply,” he said. The cupping session is done to ensure the quality of every coffee grind by smelling its aroma. In our case, we had to smell three blends: Colombian Arabica, which is chocolatey and fruity; Kenyan Arabica, which is citrusy; and Indonesian Arabia, which is woody and with a small hint of smokiness. Mr. Pelliccia said we’d have to dip our noses deep into each bowl with eyes closed to distinguish each smell.
After the sniffing came the coffee steeping or brewing session, which entailed adding water heated to 93°C to the coffee beans. After five minutes the coffee blends had settled and they were ready for some caressing.
With a special spoon (it is deeply concave), we had to “caress” each coffee blend. “Caressing” is gently stroking the surface of the coffee. Be very gentle, said the Coffee Master, so as not to stir and create turbulence -- when you stroke hard, some of the undissolved coffee granules that settled would rise to the top. After carefully caressing the coffee, smell it. Mr. Pelliccia said the caressing session could further stimulate the rich aroma of the coffee.
Then came the taste test. For a beginner like me, the three coffee blends tasted almost the same, but the Coffee Master said the Colombian Arabica was sweet, the Kenyan Arabica was a little citrusy, and the Indonesian Arabica was bitter.
So what makes a good espresso? Mr. Pelliccia, who likes his coffee soft and bland (“Because I am a purist.”), said it’s all about the cream, the aroma, and the taste, which should not just roll but linger on the tongue.
“The best part of my job is sharing my passion and know-how of coffee with others [while] seeing the look in their eyes when they realize the difference between a good or bad espresso,” said the man, who, perhaps, should also insure his nose.
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