Geoff Watts wants you to give up your cream and sugar.
For those who take their coffee light and sweet, his suggestion may be a bitter one. But Watts, who works as the main coffee buyer for Chicago’s Intelligentsia, says straight up is the best way to appreciate a quality coffee’s aroma and flavor.
And when the coffee is the highest quality–the equivalent of top-shelf liquor, one grown and roasted to bring out hints of cherry, chocolate, apricot or jasmine–adding sugar or milk borders on the blasphemous to Watts, as bad as adding sugar to a bottle of Chardonnay or topping of a glass of single-malt scotch with some cream.
“People really should take that leap of faith and try it black,” said Watts, who works out of the Intelligentsia headquarters and roasting center on West Fulton Street in Chicago.
At Intelligentsia, which took top honors in the RedEye taste test, coffee is viewed similarly to how a winery views wine. Much attention is paid to how the crops are grown and harvested and how that agricultural product–for wineries, grapes; for Intelligentsia, green coffee beans–are turned into the finished product. Techniques are continually tinkered with to make a better-tasting product.
About five years ago, Watts, whose title is director of coffee, began traveling around the world in search of quality coffee. Now, he spends more than half the year in Nicaragua, Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and more than a dozen other countries, working with local farmers.
Watts tastes all the coffee and rates it on a 100-point scale. Farmers who grow the best beans are paid more. The incentive is intended to encourage farmers to share ideas and growing techniques so they can grow the best coffee possible, ultimately raising the quality level of all the coffee.
“The idea is, it gets better year by year because of the attention to details,” Watts said.
Details are huge at Intelligentsia. Watts and the other coffee fanatics at Intelligentsia see even the smallest steps as the difference between an amazing cup of coffee and swill.
Each blend has its own distinctive roast. Most roasts are on the lighter side, Watts said, because roasts that are very dark (such as Starbucks or Peets) can cover up the individual flavors of different beans. (The dark roast works for mega-companies such as Starbucks, Watts said, because it ensures that all your coffee has a consistent flavor.)
At Intelligentsia stores, each coffee is ground to a certain consistency. Too coarse and the coffee tastes weak, too fine and the coffee becomes bitter. Water temperature must be just right (most people make coffee with water that’s too cold, Watts said), and a water system in the stores is calibrated to a certain pH level. No coffee sits on a burner for more than 15 minutes, and baristas train for months before they can make coffee drinks for customers.
Nationwide, Intelligentsia is well known and highly regarded among specialty coffee roasters, retailers and wholesalers, said Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
“There’s really no secret to success in our industry,” Ferguson said. “Buy the best coffee you can possibly find, and train, train, train your employees.”
———-
kmasterson@tribune.com
– – –
5.8 pts.
Intelligentsia (Logo cup illustrated.)
Accidental Occidental blend, $1.98 for 20 ounces; 9.9 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Good balance; not too strong, no bitter finish”
– “Bitter”
– “Very strong”
– “Robust!”
– “A bit more robust, fuller, pleasant aftertaste”
– “Strong–wow!”
– – –
COFFEE TASTE TEST
RedEye and metromix staffers tasted 10 coffees from local shops. All were house blends. All were served black, with no additions. All were served in nondescript cups, so testers did not know which brews they were tasting.
The winner? Chicago’s own Intelligentsia, thanks to its strong, robust flavor.
Peet’s came in second, and Starbucks rounded out the top three.
Here are the results, along with the testers’ comments. (Products are scored on a scale 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest.)
–RedEye
5.6 pts.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea (Logo cup illustrated.)
Garuda, $1.96 for 20 ounces;
9.8 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Strong, bold, rich: a morning slap in the face”
– “The ultimate average cup of coffee–nothing stands out”
– “Not too strong, smooth good coffee”
– “Somewhat acidic but nice, rich flavor”
– “Chocolatey, with a hint of nut”
5.1 pts.
Starbucks (Logo cup illustrated.)
House blend, $1.98 for
20 ounces; 9.9 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Call Exxon, I think we have an oil slick”
– “Strong taste at the beginning, almost overwhelming, but gets better”
– “Perfect blend of sweet, bitter”
– “Tastes like a Cuban cigar”
– “Very tasty, sweet; almost tastes like there’s sugar in there”
4.7 pts.
Caribou Coffee (Logo cup illustrated.)
Light roast Discovery, $1.98 for 20 ounces; 9.9 cents
per ounce
Comments:
– Aroma is like “pure gravy”
– “More bitter than Oprah at Hermes in Paris”
– “A nice bite but not too sharp”
– “All-out nasty, like rusted metal”
– “Tastes like coffee-flavored water”
4.5 pts.
Einstein Bros. Bagels (Logo cup illustrated.)
Neighborhood Blend, $1.86 for 20 ounces; 9.3 cents
per ounce
Comments:
– “Clay Aiken coffee: inoffensive and a little weak”
– “Weak flavor … no aftertaste”
– “Kind of dry .. but with a chocolate-muffin aftertaste”
– “Spit out-able, worse than Tang”
3.6 pts.
Cosi (Logo cup illustrated.)
Summer Blend, $2.40 for 20 ounces; 12 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Crisp, clean and just a little weak”
– “Very bitter and burnt; tastes slightly like medicine”
– “Full-body flavor”
– “Taste like battery acid”
– “Decent flavor; not impressive, though”
3.4 pts.
McDonald’s (Logo cup illustrated.)
$1.49 for 20 ounces; 7.5 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Barely discernible coffee flavor”
– “Not so bad, not so good”
– “Cardboardish aftertaste”
– “Not too strong”
3.3 pts.
White Hen (Logo cup illustrated.)
House Blend, $1.65 for 24 ounces; 6.9 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Light brown, like melted Coke with ice cubes”
– “Weak as water”
– “Nasty! Cream and sugar couldn’t fix this”
– “Weakest of them all; really, what’s the point?”
– “Light, nutty flavor, not too strong; smooth, not bitter”
3.1 pts.
Dunkin’ Donuts (Logo cup illustrated.)
Original, $1.93 for 20 ounces; 9.7 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Grounds! Yucky!”
– “Yup, gag reflex still works”
– “Leaves aftertaste”
– “Nasty, tinny, acidic”
– “Unpleasant, almost like medicine”
2.6 pts.
Torrefazione Italia (Logo cup illustrated.)
Medium Roast, $1.98 for 20 ounces; 9.9 cents per ounce
Comments:
– “Gas-station pit stop”
– “Terrible; tastes like it smells–like rubber”
– “Pretty weak; if you wanted a kick-start in the morning, don’t bother”
– “Overconfident, with good reason”
