Pinot Noir is the classic pairing with a roasted turkey. It's our choice as well. We've already stocked up on some nice Pacific NW bottles for our dinner.
But some folks like a Beaujolais Noveau, a dry Reisling or even a sweet Gewurztraminer to sip alongside their turkey. All would be fine choices as well. Go with whatever floats your boat.
But what about coffee? If you're doing an afternoon meal what's the best coffee to finish on? What about an evening meal? What about waking up on the couch after the deadly combo of a turkey coma and a Detroit Lions game put you to sleep... what's a good coffee with which to rejoin the living?
There's not nearly as much information out there on the subject of coffee compared to the volumes of articles in food magazines and on the web regarding wine pairings.
First off, before we even get to "what to drink", let's talk about "when to buy". Ideally that would be Wednesday as that's when the new stuff is coming in (we're getting our order a day earlier for the holiday) and we'll have new coffees from Intelligentsia and Stumptown, only two days off roast.
Intellgentsia's new harvest Peru Cruz del Sur will make its Pittsburgh debut here on Wednesday.
We'll also have Stumptown's new release of a unique Costa Rican "Honeyed" coffee - one in which some of the fruit mucilage has been intentionally left on the bean during processing to increase the sweetness and Stumptown's first Colombia coffee of the new harvest year.
Lastly we'll have some of our own proprietary coffee from Guatemala. This will be coffee from the project Rich has been working on with Ed's Beans in Cranberry the last couple of months. We're still fine tuning exact roast specifications, but we've passed "alpha" testing and are well into "beta" testing - the coffee is 99% ready for prime time.
A lot of choices.
The Colombia will be an all around versatile coffee - good for breakfast, lunch or after dinner. It's got the balance to work with pretty much anything (as does the Santa Barbara Brazil from Barismo, which we've just received more of - it'll still be fresh next week).
The Costa Ricans and Guatemalas will be a bit sweeter, more chocolatety in the finish and have higher citric-like acidity ("pop") than the South Americans. They're a bit more assertive in that each of these coffees will have specific notes you'll be able to pick out while savoring them. We love them to wake up with and to accompany pie.
The other afternoon/evening coffees are the Kenyans and Ethiopians. The two Kenyans (Gichathaini and Thiriku) offer a yin-yang of sweet and savory notes while the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Sidama give you flowers and fruit. These are comforting coffees, great for enjoying with dessert or for winding down with company or family after dinner.
As with wine, choosing coffee comes down to personal choice and taste. While we're not the type to wake up to Kenyan coffees as we prefer to be completely alert to appreciate their nuances. But some people love waking up to a good cup of Kenyan.
Whether you're looking for sweet, balanced, nuanced, agressive or versatile for your Thanksgiving holiday, we''ll have a coffee in stock that will suit your needs and tastes.
And if you're unsure about your selection, we can brew any of these coffees on our Abids so you can compare and contrast.
Ed stopped by last week and told us about your project. That is very cool. Good luck with that!! We'd love to stop by, but can't find enough time. Perhaps you'll have some the first week of January, we're closing the shop for a week.
Posted by: Amelie | November 21, 2009 at 12:41 PM