Have Palate — Will Travel

My knees hurt from trying to sit on the floor, but it doesn’t matter. By now it is completely dark outside and the rain has started pouring down. Sitting under the high roof of the century-old tasting room at Terada Honke I have just gathered enough courage to ask Terada if he would be willing to collaborate on a sake for our Kyoto project, and he has agreed. I cannot believe the honor just bestowed on me and ignore a sleeping left leg while we discuss what kind of sake might work for our event. It is April 2022, three days since I first set foot in this country. I think it counts as a good start.

Well, How Did We Get Here?

Back in the car on that bumpy road crossing Huila, the conversation grows more animated as we begin to draw comparison between the progress of the natural wine movement and that of specialty coffee in a town like Copenhagen: unlike the contemporary wine scene, the specialty coffee world tends to be more concerned with winning competitions than the farming behind the coffee that wins those awards.

From the Cup of Excellence for farmers to the Barista Cup for, well… baristas, much emphasis is placed on these events, where sometimes all that seems to matter is how much a coffee can stand out (hence the recent popularity of co-ferments.)