Coffee is the new wine

Mellow, bold, piquant, assertive, lean, subtle, pleasingly complex, with a great depth of flavor, perfect, complete. The adjectives that were once used to describe wines are now also being used to describe coffee. This is because while cocktails were the previous generation’s beverage of choice during social occasions, coffee can be considered as this generation’s preferred drink — the "new wine," so to speak.

Coffee connoisseurs have their preferred blends and may even be able to distinguish the type of soil where the beans were grown. Still, the rest of us ordinary coffee drinkers judge the drink solely on flavor and "kick." However, with the many variants of coffee that we are exposed to, we cannot help but gradually educate our taste buds and choose our own favorite blends.

Bluenotes is the brand by which coffee roasted by the Conlins Coffee Company goes. What makes Bluenotes coffee special? Conlins uses beans from all over the world and it enables us to sample the best there is in coffee. This is especially so since 100-percent single origin premium coffee beans are used. What does this mean? Simply, that beans grown in different areas are not mixed. Bluenotes Brazilian "Santos" is from Brazil, Ethiopia "Yirgacheffe" grade is from Ethiopia, and so on.

Roasting is key in producing excellent brews. This is because proper timing ensures that the subtleties of different varieties are enhanced. A bitter cup may indicate that the beans were over-roasted or even partially burned. With Conlins Coffee Company’s precision roasting, this does not happen.

Why did the owners of Conlins involve themselves in coffee?

His father dreamt of owning a coffee shop franchise and Michael Harris Lim took the dream a step further by establishing a coffee-roasting company. This was to ensure that high-quality, first-class coffee is available in their coffee shop, the Coffee World Lifestyle at SM Mall of Asia. As a coffee lifestyle store, the outlet’s goal is to promote the emerging global coffee lifestyle, which has been described as "a synergy of today’s modern edge and traditional values for a culture that appreciates the finer things in life."

Aside from specialty coffee, desserts and the usual items in a your regular coffee shop, luxurious Swiss-made Jura automatic coffee machines can be viewed in the store. These are compact, simple-to-operate devices, and owning one is like having your own professional barista in your home. With these gadgets, having a coffee party is a breeze.

On the day of our visit to Coffee World Lifestyle, we used the Jura machines to brew Bluenotes Sumatra "Mandheling," which is described as having "delicate floral earth and nutty nuances found in the aroma; with a silky body and smooth flavor with low acidity;" Timor, "a smooth mild coffee with a creamy and elegant body; with sweet and clean nuances complemented by subtle hints of cocoa;" and Kenya AA, "a bright coffee with citrus and berry undertones."

The Kenya was my personal favorite, but perhaps trying the different kinds of coffee is akin to trying out different scents, where your senses are dulled and you can no longer distinguish the difference after several samples. As in wine tasting, distinguishing the subtle nuances of coffee requires extensive experience with the beverage.

The Conlins Nicaragua Talia, which is characterized as "average like a pinot noir," seemed interesting as a "complexly fruity and richly floral coffee" with hints of "papaya, lemon, coffee fruit, dusk-blooming flowers and chocolate riding a strong balanced texture." Likewise the Jamaican Blue Mountain seemed promising as "mild-toned and complex in the nose with fresh apricot and sweet cocoa. The immediate finish is slightly sharp, but the long finish smoothes out in a silky lemony, chocolaty trajectory." I doubt if I will be able to distinguish all the fruit and flower nuances soon, but a drink that evokes such extravagant and sublime descriptions is most certainly special.

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Jura and Bluenotes Coffee are distributed by the Conlins Coffee Company. For more information, visit www.conlinscoffee.com or call 551-3215 and 831-2729. You can also visit the Conlins Lifestyle Café at the second floor of SM Mall of Asia.