Have A Virtual Coffee Tasting Party With Expert Roasters
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.
Driftaway Coffee Virtual Tasting Experience
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. 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. Before now, any new Driftaway subscriber was sent a kit with the roaster’s four different blend profiles—Fruity, Classic, Bold, and Balanced. Through tasting on their own, they would decide which kind of coffees they’d like to get more of. But now, eager learners can get a little personal palate practice, too, with the guidance of McCarthy.
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. “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. 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, and encourage deeper interactions with their tasting experiences.
San Alberto Coffee Experience from Colombia
Pure! Colombia brings travel experiences to your home, with our virtual coffee tasting together with San Alberto Coffee cropped exclusively in the Hacienda San Alberto in Buenavista, Quindío, Colombia. This is a coffee experience that awakens the senses, where you will learn to appreciate and enjoy the particular attributes of specialty coffee through a delicious sensorial exploration. The third generation of coffee growers materialize their greatest challenge, to grow luxury coffee for the world. How will this virtual experience work? A knowledge box will be sent from Colombia to your home, this knowledge box will include a complete set of coffee tasting material for 2 people. A virtual session is scheduled with one of San Alberto’s baristas to ensure an unforgettable experience, anywhere in the world.
Columbia Street Roastery Cupping Classes
Columbia Street Roastery has come up with a way to participate in their popular cupping classes, typically held on Saturday mornings, from the comfort of your own home. The Coffee Cupping Kit can be purchased on their website for $10 and shipped to your door. It contains five one-cup samples from various coffee growing regions, as well as instructions and a “flavor wheel” of sorts to help you put words to what you are smelling and tasting. You can also contact John Herriott to arrange private cupping classes, if you have a group you’d like to connect with in this way. The classes will remain small, so there’s more opportunity to discuss as Herriott leads you through experiencing each coffee in stages.
Comparison of Virtual Coffee Tasting Kits
- Driftaway Coffee: Features a kit with four different blend profiles (Fruity, Classic, Bold, and Balanced) with guidance from James McCarthy.
- San Alberto Coffee: Includes a knowledge box for 2 people sent from Colombia and a session with one of San Alberto’s baristas.
- Columbia Street Roastery: Offers a $10 kit containing five one-cup samples from various coffee growing regions and a flavor wheel.
