Honey Tasting
Yesterday, Rafael Muria, from the Apicultural Interpretation Centre Muria , visited us and we did a tasting of honey.
Honey comes from the work of the bees on the flowers of plants. And these flowers are varied, so too are the honey varieties. Speaking of honey means speaking of colors, tastes, smells and textures. And to capture these differences we have our senses: sight, smell, taste …
To learn how to differentiate some of our honey varieties the most important advice is to practice and learn to use some of our senses, and rely on an expert professional to be guided on the different plants, the work our bees do, and the result, our honey.
It was a pleasure, Rafel Muria!
Introduction to Coffee
Introducción al Café, a photo by Via Magna on Flickr.
Last wednesday, Efren Borràs Hetzler, from Cafés Civit, visited Via Magna to give us a talk about coffee. A very important raw material around which has been generated a “culture of coffee.”
Among the major classifications you can find washed and unwashed: robusta, unwashed arabica coffee, washed arabica coffee, brown snail.
According to the Spanish Coffee Federation, in a tasting man should evaluate:
- Fragrance: From roasted and ground beans.
- Aroma: Smelling the infusion.
- Taste: Through the infusion test.
- Post nasal: The stimulation from the vapors produced in the mouth at the time of sucking.
- Aftertaste: After spitting the portion sucked and swallowing a small part.
- Body: Rated by density and texture of the drink.
It was a very interesting dynamic, with a theoretical and a practical part that we all loved.
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Dynamic about Olive Oil
Jorge Cassola, Benjamín Canalda, Isidre Peralta
What types of olive oil are there?
What is the role of a technician in olive oil?
What has to be taken into account in an oil tasting?
Benjamin Canalda, commercial agent, oil technician with 35 years of experience in the oil, gave us a very interesting introduction to these issues.
The olive oil tasting is the sensory analysis. Prior to the marketing of oil, a professional group called the tasting panel has to perform a sensory analysis for analytical purposes, necessary for the correct classification of the oil.
To explain such a complex issue, Benjamin brought five kinds of olive oil to develop his explanation and to students experience it together with the only product recommended in a tasting of olive oils: apple.
First of all, sensory analysis of oil for analytical purposes does not take into account color, so this feature was not analysed:
- Put a small amount of olive oil in a small cup.
- Hold the cup with one hand and use your other to cover the cup while moving it gently to release oil’s aroma.
- Uncover the cup to inhale deeply and find out if the smell is mild or strong and which nuances reveals.
- Then take a small sip with some air at the same time and spread the oil throughout the mouth to appreciate every nuance of flavor.
- Finally, swallow paying attention to the sensation left in the throat.
We experienced not only with oils that are normally included in a tasting panel, but also with others Benjamin brought for educational purposes to illustrate the session with our students. From here our thanks to Benjamin Canalda.
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