Asia's First Lady of Coffee - Gastronomica

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visionaries | uma girish

sias First Lady of Coffee

from Gastronomica7:4

There is no such thing as a coffee break in Sunalini Menons life. And on the occasion that she does

take one, it is a breakfrom coffee. Call it an occupational hazard, if you will, but when youre in thebusiness of sipping, slurping, and spitting coffee all day, a coffee break assumes a different

meaning. I met Asias only woman coffee taster over a cuppa, and what a cup it turned out to be!

Menon has had an eventful journey to where she is todayin a cozy office in Bangalore, southern

India, safely ensconced as ceo of Coffee Lab Pvt. Ltd.

The mantel in Menons office runs the length of her office wall and is crammed with coffee

memorabiliafrom the remotest corners of the world. Coffee: the Bean ofMy Existence, declares

the slogan on a mug, which seems to define Menons personal philosophy. Coffee has personalit y. It

is romantic; you need to get to know it better. I was just tasting a blend from St. Helena; it had the

fragrance of orange orchards, she says, bustling in with good cheer. With coffee you are handling a

verysensitive living being that emotes as much as you do. You must feel for the bean as much asyou feel for yourself. You have to learn to understand it, Menon declares. I am convinced she has

coffee in her veins.

Inside the lab is a staggering collection of everything coffee related: a one-hundred-year-old hand

roaster; Our Lady of Coffeefrom Brazil, a beautiful statue of the Madonna, the protector of coffee

farmers, with coffee beans at the base; a Saudi Arabian coffee pot; Cleopatra seated on a coffee pot

(an Egyptian souvenir); coffee grinders, moisture meters, timers, and filters; a coffee pot from

Yemen embellished with gems; balances, measures, and hooks for coffee sacks; home espresso

machines; old-fashioned mortars and pestles; coffee-scented candles; tins of coffee spices; coffee

mugs from every part of the world; and a coffee clock. Made from coffee grinds and roasted coffee

beans, this clock not only tells time but also exudes a coffee aroma.

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Sunalini Menon holding adavara, a traditional Indian coffee cup. Photograph by Prabhakar K.

2006

As the only woman in her field, Menon is eager for others to understand her work. Many people in

India are not aware of what a tasters job is all about, she explains. Very often I see a strange lookcome into peoples eyes when I tell them Im a taster. What?! they ask. A taster! You must be

having a great time at your desk, drinking cups and cups of coffee, taking a coffee break all the time,

and even getting paid for it! Today Im encouraging more and more young women to take up this

profession, as I believe that women are more palate-sensitive, and their attention to detail helps in

the organoleptic evaluation of coffee. Living the credo she believes in, Menon has staffed her team

at the Coffee Lab predominantly with women.

It was Menons childhood vacations in Munnar, a picturesque hill station in southern India where

tea estates abound, that determined her destiny. She travels back in time to tell me the story of a

little girl who watched, fascinated, as her uncle, a tea taster by profession, took a sip of the brew,

playfully rolled it around his mouth, and grew thoughtful, his eyes taking on a faraway look. Hethen spat out the tea, saying, This is bad, and admonished the tea maker to monitor his processing

methods more carefully. Menon loved watching her uncle repeat the process over and over again,

like a childhood game. This fun performance lodged itself as a significant memory.

To a seven-year-old, it seemed like magic that just by taking a spoonful of the tea liquor into ones

mouth, one could speak volumes about the tea leaves. It seemed fascinating not only the tea

tasting, but also the way the tea leaves were plucked, dried, and processed in the tea factory. During

our holidays with my uncle most mornings would be spent in the tea factory, watching the tea

leaves coming in and the steps that followed to make that perfect cup of hot tea. I did not think of

tasting as a profession at that point in time, but now, when I look back, I think I must have stored

those magical impressions in my Pandoras box, which I opened when I saw an advertisement in1972 in the local Bangalore newspapers calling for coffee tasters.

Armed with a Masters degree in food technology, Menon applied for the job. In a male-dominated

beverage world even the expert panel that interviewed her was divided on the issue of whether to

offer her the job, even though she had scored the highest marks in the written test and aced her

interview. She did get the job and began working at the Coffee Board as an assistant cup taster, the

first woman ever hired by the board. Coffee has long been a male domain, Menon notes. Even

today, there are not many women in coffee. Not only tasting but other aspects of coffee such as

growing, curing, exploring, trading, and marketing have been a male prerogative. Maybe it has been

that women were not inclined to these professions, or not exposed to them. In any case, with men


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dominating the arena, few women ended up in the field.

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But Menon continued to defy gender stereotypes. By 1978 she was the head of quality control,

holding the post of director at the Board. I made sure that I excelled in what I did, to prove that

being a woman was in no way a disadvantage, and I went on to head my team. It took about two

years, Menon says, to get off the coffee high (tasting a hundred cups even if youre doing the roll-in-

mouth-and-spit drill can give you a kick, she confirms), get used to the job, and develop a tasters

tongue.

After two decades with the Coffee Board, Menon began to crave a greater challenge: She wanted to

be an independent player in the free market. So in 1996 she launched her own consultancy in

Bangalore, a one-of-a-kind lab in India, perhaps in the world. This lab boasts state-of-the-art

equipment and offers a gamut of services from the seed to the cup, including coffee evaluation,

education, consultancy and training, certification, and advisory services. The lab also assists in special

preparations of coffee, such as estate brands and specialty coffees based on plant strain, region of

growth, and the intrinsic properties of various beans. Butter Cup Bold, an estate coffee that the lab

helped develop into a brand nearly eight years ago, is one example. This brand of coffee is now

available in Korea. Juan Valdes, a Colombian blend well known in the United States, is also a

product of her lab.

Formulating blends is a vital part of Menons business. Even the renowned Norwegian specialty

roasters Solberg & Hansen use her lab services, purchasing coffees such as Monsooned Malabar,

Plantation, and Robusta Kaapi to use in their own blends. A farmer has sent his beans all the way

from Ecuador to have them certified at my lab, Menon proudly informs me. It is the technical

aspects of coffee making that intrigue her most nowquality tasting, advising growers on how and

when to sell the beans, preparing special blends. Where and how coffee is grown affects the size,

density, flavor, and taste of the bean. On a plantation visit to Coorg in Karnataka, in the South of

India, Menon discovered that coffee was being grown in the shade of chikoo trees. Its smooth and

creamy texture makes it an incredible palate glider, she says. Coffee grown in high altitudes is hard.

Nilgiris coffee is hard compared to Coonoors in Tamilnadu, where the climate is very different

from other parts of southern India. While size, shape, density, flavor, and taste can be engineered

through plant breeding, modulating or altering such aspects in coffee growing in a specific region

can, to a limited extent, be carried out through cultural practices and processing techniques on the

farm. What has already been engineered into the plant strain can be highlighted and clarified.

As one of the most influential people in the coffee world today, Menon regularly travels around the

world to judge beans and brews and cupping competitions. Her passion for coffee is as rich as it

gets. This is one profession that must be mastered through the senses, she explains. It is also

important to use your imagination to experiment. When you say that a coffee is strong, you have to

recognize the particular attribute that gives it the quality of strength and measure that. One must

read a lot to update ones knowledge of industry developments worldwide. And while the basic

techniques can be taught, other important nuances have to be developed through ones own

initiative. Only those really interested in this niche field, who are prepared to learn all their lives

through trial and error, will succeed. As for success, it is determined by how passionate you are

about the job at hand, the inborn acuity of taste that youve unlocked to the intricacies of the coffee

cup, the constant training you expose yourself to for however long youve been tasting, the integrity

and humility that you need in abundance, and the acceptance that coffee knowledge is a never-

ending road, she declares.


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Are tasters born or made? I wonder. A good taster must possess a sharp acuity of taste, good

concentration ability, excellent memory power, exemplary descriptive terminology, and

communication skills. A background in food technology also helps in understanding the science

behind coffee and coffee tasting, Menon tells me. With an acute sense of smell and taste and an

aptitude to learn, understand, and absorb the art and science of tasting, one can develop a sensitive

and discerning palate to the subtle nuances of the coffee cup. In a lighter vein, you need to have a

pointed nose, a long tongue, and piercing eyes to be a discerning taster! Coffee clearly hasnt

blunted Menons wit. Seriously, she hastens to add, the three senses of sight, smell, and taste play

a significant role in the science of tasting, and therefore, in the life of a taster.

Menons acute sensitivity to smell, an asset in her profession, has a downside, too. When I walk

into a place I pick up even the faintest smells. At times it could be a good thing, especially when you

find that youre able to make out some off-notes in food that otherwise seems excellent. But you

tend to be slightly fussy as to what and where you eat. Even entering a room and smelling odors no

one else can discern does, at times, place you in an awkward position.

She goes on to explain what an average coffee tasters day is like. The day would start by checking

on how the coffee market fared the previous day; checking the samples that need to be evaluated;

visually examining the quality of the samples; roasting them as per cupping standards; grinding and

preparing the brew as per cupping specifications; sipping, slurping, and looking wise thereafter!

Menon emphasizes that coffee samples need to be evaluated both visually and in the cup according

to buyer or consumer requirements. The samples are brewed to the necessary specifications and

analyzed. Once prepared, the reports are checked, cross-checked, and then dispatched. The day

might also involve discussions with farmers on the quality of their coffee; talks with new entrants in

the field; and communication with consumers. Reliability, repeatability, integrity, and creativity all

come into play while evaluating the cup, and we in the lab follow these tools as our coffee

mantra, Menon affirms. Repeatability is especially important, she emphasizes, because the palate

reveals new aspects on the second tasting, which one needs to make sure is consistent with the first.

Menon asserts that coffee is as complex as wine. There are so many notes and flavors, and you have

to feel it layer by layer. She believes that exposure to other beverages like wine and tea is valuable

for developing expertise as a taster. Understanding each beverages nuances and attributes helps the

taster successfully evaluate them all.

Even after two decades as a coffee taster, Menon still finds waking up to the smell of coffee very

stimulating, satisfying, and energizing. She confesses that the tiny bean has taken over her life to the

extent that she cant imagine not waking up to its smell and taste. But staying up until the wee

hours or flying across continents does not go with the territory of coffee tasting, for fatigue affects

the ability to taste. It is for this reason that we ensure were well-rested, to give our best to the

tasting the next day. Good health, combined with rest, is one of the basic essentials for being a good

taster. A periodic break from coffee is also mandatory. It is important to rest the palate and the

mind between tasting flightsone cannot taste continuously. After a flight of about ten samples,

which could entail evaluating fifty to seventy cups (the number depends on the type of tasting), the

palate is usually rinsed with milk, although some tasters eat a cracker or a piece of bread between

sessions. Tasters refrain from tasting for an hour before and after lunch. A break allows the memory

to erase taste, which has a way of lingering on the palate. If the same qualities surface during the next

tasting session, then the evaluation is presumed to be accurate. The rigid code of conduct that

prevails at Menons lab includes abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and spicy foods. Maintaining a
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deep sense of inner calm is also encouraged so that tasters will truly commune with the bean and

therefore be able to give a truthful evaluation. Distress affects tasting ability, so if Im upset or

suffer from travel fatigue, I take the day off, Menon says.

She slips back in time to pluck another childhood memory. My grandmother used to store coffee

in silver containers. In the morning, the aroma of fresh coffee would waft through the house, but

we children were not allowed to drink coffee, only milk. We used to beg the elders for a few sips.

Drinking coffee made me feel like an adult.

Menon is excited about the vibrant coffee culture that is now sweeping through India, with new

chains like Qwikys, Caf Coffee Day, and Barista. Give me a coffee culture over a pub culture any

day! she declares. Once seen as a dull beverage drunk only by adults, coffee in India today is

considered versatile and hip. Most Indians once liked their coffee strong, aromatic, and milky. All

that has changed. And coffee pubs provide a good place for the young to hang out. As a mother, Im

quite happy about this trend.

Menons favorite flavor notes, which she can expertly discern in beans from all over the world,

include floral in a citrus dip, chocolate, fruit, caramel, mocha, lemon, and a mixture of fruit and

nut. My favorite is Ethiopian coffee, because of the diversity of coffee flavors in that country.

Brazilian and Indian beans are the pillars of an espresso cup. She adds, My proudest moment was

when I saw the words Serving Indian Mysore Coffee in a caf called Ricoh in London in 1997.

Many years later I discovered Monsooned Malabar coffee served as a single-origin coffee in an Oslo

caf. Today, our Dark Forest blend, prepared solely from beans grown on a single estate in

Chikmagalur, Karnataka, is being sold in Caf Coffee Day in Vienna. Called Dunkler Wald in

German, this blend now occupies pride of place for me. Sunalini Menon is heartened that Indian

coffee is becoming recognized as a quality origin, with flavors and tastes to suit many palates.

Thanks to her pioneering efforts, its reputation should only continue to grow.

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Asia's First Lady of Coffee - Gastronomica