tadcranky

The Coffee People
I was reading the Post as I was waiting for the subway this morning (no crazy delays, derailments, or deaths -- good job, guys!), and I noticed that the front page of the Food section featured a big picture of an unshaven guy sticking his nose into a glass of amber liquid. This, of course, got my attention. Turns out, the liquid was coffee and the unshaven guy was part of what they call a "cupping," which the article describes as "a formalized way to evaluate bean characteristics." That would be coffee beans. I'm not a big coffee guy (even so, my feelings are kind of hurt about never being invited to a cupping), but this whole process, and the article describing it, just struck me as comical. Nicholas Cho, the owner of Murky Coffee, and a guy with a good p.r. person, led the cupping, which apparently was done for the Post. Cho seems like quite a character. As participants bring a spoon full of coffee to their lips, he tells them that "You want to spray the coffee across the palate. Be careful not to burn your mouth." After the cuppers apparently swish the spoonful of coffee around their mouth for a while, they then spit it into a plastic cup.

It gets better (or worse). In another article in today's Food section, Cho (I told you he had a good p.r. guy) enlightens us on the hot chocolate that he serves at his shop. It costs $5, and he instructs his baristas not to answer customers' questions about the drink (like how big it is, or why it would cost $5, I guess). He claims this is because it's a "social experiment." (I told you he was quite a character.) Apparently he's trying to say something about the hot chocolate, maybe justify the mystery or the high cost of it, when he says, "If you were forced to jump once, it sticks with you, and you're part of the club." I have no idea what that means, but I think I'll pass on being part of that club.