Sassy gets a buzz at Kong Coffee Consulting’s Intro to Coffee Tasting workshop

I think it’s safe to say we’re treated well at Sassy HQ! Wine tastings, press previews, mani/pedis… yep, it’s a good life! So when we went to check out the intro to a coffee tasting workshop by Courtney at Kong Coffee Consulting the morning after a wine tasting, Megan and I realised we couldn’t have timed it better. There was no better way to ward off that hangover…

Held at The Hive in Kennedy Town (check out our guide to K-town’s restos here!), Courtney had us exploring coffee aromas and tastes in no time. I felt like I was back in a science lab at school – she was boiling water and had drip coffees going all over the table. In essence, it was a science experiment, as she explained that the water had to be a certain temperature in order to extract the flavours from the ground coffee beans.

Courtney had us sniffing aromas from miniature bottles (I imagine this is what perfumeries have on hand and use to put together my fave bottle of Chanel No. 5), which was useful because the nose knows. There were scents of all sorts, including fruits, berries and more. But this was just the warm up before the actual coffee tasting…

Who knew that coffee flavours could be so distinct? From berry undertones to tropical fruits, this wasn’t the crummy, bitter-tasting instant coffee that had fuelled me through my university days. We tried a Panama Elida, a washed Columbian Medellin and a honey-processed Costa Rica Sonora.

By the end of the session, I have to say I’d developed an appreciation for coffee. I’m not sure if it’ll sway me from my daily habit of frequenting  our friendly neighbourhood chain store in our office building, but I definitely feel more educated on the different types of coffee available!

Find out about other coffee tasting workshops hosted by Courtney here.