Have A (Virtual) Tasting Party With Driftaway Coffee

Has the pandemic put a slight cramp in the development of your sensory skills? The new normal has a solution for that: virtual coffee tastings where you can try coffees along with world-class tasters from the safety of your own home. Leave behind the stress of cupping spoon germs, and feel free to bring along your digital friends. Subscription-only New York roaster Driftaway Coffee just launched a virtual coffee tasting experience, bringing a personal and interactive touch to the company’s already popular coffee sample kits.

The Concept and Leadership

“We’ve always been e-commerce only, no shops, no wholesale,” says Driftaway co-founder Suyog Mody, who launched Driftaway with life partner Anu Menon in 2013. Today, alongside former World Brewers Cup Champion James McCarthy, who joined Driftaway as its Coffee Educator this year, the concept has come back to life at just the right time. McCarthy is guiding a series of tastings for up to five people at a time, providing either one-on-one sessions or hosting a more social interaction with the coffee friends or family that 2020 has kept you distant from.

Developing a Palate

“It’s a continual kind of building, the connection between taste and smell and that language center of your brain,” says McCarthy about learning to develop a palate—and the vocabulary that comes along with it. Although it’s not the same as the in-person education sessions he’s led in the past, he says there are benefits to the smaller online group setting, too. In addition to the private classes, McCarthy will also be hosting occasional Instagram Live guided tastings for Driftaway subscribers to guide them through their sample kits.

Available Coffee Profiles

Before now, any new Driftaway subscriber was sent a kit with the roaster’s four different blend profiles. Through tasting on their own, they would decide which kind of coffees they’d like to get more of. The following table highlights the core profiles available in the tasting kits:

Personalized Palate Practice

Eager learners can get a little personal palate practice with the guidance of McCarthy. Often, says McCarthy, people are surprised at what they end up liking. “The biggest surprise has been that people chose a different coffee [during the tastings] than the one they chose for their subscription,” says McCarthy. “I think it has been really revelatory for people. We can all kind of get into taste habits where we say ‘yeah, I like Fruity, that’s my jam,’ and then they find some strength in other profiles.”