Alisha and I (Russell) are foodies, winos, and coffee nerds. As accomplished chefs and members of several wine clubs, we had these pretty much dialed in. What was missing was great coffee. We decided to bring our culinary skills into the coffee world by offering world-class coffee. In this article we’re going to share with how foodies and winos enjoy coffee more than you.
Living Long & Enjoying It More
Here’s an undeniable truth. Stress kills. Lower your stress and you’ll live a longer and more happy life. One of primary ways to lower your stress is satisfying your tastebuds. Or as my wife, Alisha, asks “Are you satiated yet”?
So, what’s the key to satisfying your tastebuds? Fist of all, what’s your “Comfort Food“? For most people, it’s Wine, Food, and Coffee. And the secret is learning how to train your palate to taste more and enjoy more.
Training Your Palate to Heel
Training your pallet to taste more, discern more, and enjoy more isn’t much different than teaching your dog to heel. Dogs aren’t born willing to follow instructions, and neither is your palate. Like your dog, your palate is going to take time and effort to develop.
Mostly, it’s a matter of focus. Concentrating on the flavors of what you are eating or drinking is essential. To concentrate on the flavors of what you’re eating, you must slow down. Chew at least 25-50 times before swallowing. Put your eating utensils down after each bite. And ask yourself, “What am I tasting”?
Eating Like a King
Most of my life I was more concerned with the quantity of the food I ate instead of the quality. Shortly after marrying Alisha, who is a phenomenal cook, I lost so much weight that ended up weighing less than I did in high school. Why? My focus changed from quantity to the quality of the food I was eating. And because the food was so good, I started really paying attention to the flavors. By focusing on the flavor, I enjoyed eating more and I also ate less.
Not surprisingly, when your desire for food is satiated, you’re happier and experience less stress. Less stress meant that I was a much happier camper.
Two Buck Chuck to French Rhone GSM
When we started drinking wine, we didn’t know anything. Soon we noticed that many of the better wines were labeled with tasting notes from professional taste-testers. It’s much easier to identify tastes when someone tells you what you should be able to taste.
Like us, you probably won’t be able to taste all the things that the pros do, but you’ll probably pick out at least one. In a few months, we were able to pick out 2 or 3 flavors that the experts identified. Eventually, you’ll get better and better at tasting many of the subtleties that you used to miss. As you train your palate to heel, you’ll be enjoying wine much more.
From Wino to Coffee Snob
We took our lessons from wine tasting and brought those lessons to the breakfast table and applied them to our morning coffee. You’ll probably find what we found; all industrial coffee (Charbucks, BRCC, Keurig, Folgers, Kirkland, etc.) are all one-dimensional. They usually have only one taste, and that’s usually “burnt”.
Alternatively, get your hands on some hand-crafted, super fresh beans and you’ll find a whole new world. Good coffee, like wine, has a variety of flavors, complexities, quality, textures, and aromas. Training your palate to greatly enhance your enjoyment of coffee is very similar to wine. It’s like going from Two Buck Chuck wine to a $50 French Rhone Valley GSM.
Freshness Makes a Huge Difference
- Food – Farmers Markets are so popular because the food is so fresh. No successful chef buys their food from the grocery store, where shelf life is measured in months if not years. Fresh food tastes much better.
- Coffee – A vast majority of coffee sold in the U.S. has been sitting in warehouses and store shelves for months if not years. That’s why most U.S. coffee is so bitter. Yet, the truth is that the fresher the bean, the better the coffee. Fresh roasted coffee should be measured in hours, not months or years.
- Wine – Wine is less susceptible to freshness than food or coffee. While white wines typically shouldn’t be older than 2-3 years. Red wines, generally get better with time.
Aroma – Your Second Tastebud
Go ahead. Tell me that fresh roasted coffee isn’t the best thing that you’ve ever smelled in your life. Likewise, doesn’t your mouth water at the smell of sautéed garlic? When I’m cooking, I’ll open a bottle of Pino Noir to let it breath. When Alisha gets home, I swear that she can smell that wine from the driveway.
Everything tastes better with a great smell. That’s one reason that Winos, Foodies, and Coffee Nerds swirl their glass, put their face in their plate, and take a long slow whiff. So, to taste-test, use your nose first.
Chilling Out on a Budget
Some may call winos, foodies, and coffee nerds hedonists. And they may be right. I prefer to think that we are enthusiastic about enjoying the good things that God put here for us to enjoy.
The best food, wine, and coffee isn’t usually the most expense. Quality to Price Ratio (QPR) is key. It’s all about your personal tastes and getting the most bang for your buck.
Foodies, Winos, and Coffee Nerds
Alisha and I (Russell) love gourmet food, fine wine, and awesome coffee. As owners of Lake City Coffee, we’re exceptionally picky about our coffee. We insist on coffee that’s super smooth and not in the least bit bitter, with distinctive well-balanced flavors.
Many years ago, we fell in love with coffee from the Tarrazu Region of Costa Rica. Every year, we taste-test beans from 12-24 different growers. We then source 100% of our inventory with the very best bean that this region has to offer. As stated above, “The fresher the bean, the better the coffee”. That’s why we roast and ship the same day.
If you’re not already a customer of ours, then may we suggest that you do your tastebuds a favor and give us a try.