I became a Master of Wine in 2011, and although I continue to blind taste, I’m not blind tasting wine as often as when I was prepping for the MW exam. Have my blind tasting skills atrophied? Probably not. Why is that?

My wine identification ability remains good, but I tend to taste more slowly and more deliberately. I’d like to think it’s because I can now focus on enjoying the journey, without the pressure of the big aha on whether I get the wine right. But, maybe I just need more time these days? I am curious to hear what others have found when they’ve moved past the rigour of regular test-taking.

One thing that has happened to me is that I have become a serious taster of non-wine things, which keeps my blinding tasting muscles in shape! Let’s take coffee. I can’t drink a cup of coffee without analysing it. Did I like it? If not, what did I dislike about the aromas or flavours? What about its body? What flavours are persisting on my palate and for how long? 

There is a style of coffee that is quite popular at the moment and I absolutely hate it – coffee with burnt citrus notes. Some of the better-known burnt citrus coffees I have tasted are the house blends served at Stumptown in the US and at Toby’s Estate in Australia. Both of these coffees have an underlying bitterness coupled with sweet candied fruit aromas and I don’t want either of those experiences in my coffee. Worst of all, the burnt citrus lingers seemingly indefinitely on my palate.

What coffee do I love? I love coffee to have delicate floral aromas, with lower acidity, medium body and chocolatey, hinting at caramel, flavours that coat my palate and linger. I find this experience with Italian roasts and the harder to find Yauco coffees of Puerto Rico. If I am using a coffee pod, Illy’s Classico blend (with the red and silver packaging) does the trick.

I find it curious that I dislike high acid coffee, and yet adore high acid wines. I think the reason why is that I always drink my coffee with lots of warm milk and most acid doesn’t complement that experience.