#7wordwinereview Vinsobres

Domaine La Pequelette 'Emile' Vinsobres 2010 #7wordwinereview meaty beaty bouncy, spice dust kissed plums

calmly, out of the fray

Imperial measurements followed the body's framework for measure ie. the inch, the foot, the yard... Our culinary meantime so too was marked out by a succession of clearly defined hours - breakfast, elevens's, brunch, lunch proper, high tea, dinner, and supper if you're still peckish. The morning coffee belongs to the galvanising cup, the one with jolt, power, and lest we forget - great taste. The rise of the Independent Coffee House has championed the single origin coffee like no other merchant house. We are experiencing the halcyon days of coffee production, and it's filtering down to the producing zones, thanks to FairTrade and Rainforest Alliance. 

Which brings us to the reflective afternoon cuppa. Step right up the 'Pour Over'. The Pour Over (PO) is the have a break cup - charming, mellow, lasting, a signing off (rather than last push octane task fuel), a benign digestif to the productive hours. It frames the taste and structure of the coffee in calm abeyance allowing for the subtleties to shine. It's J.J. Cale or Mazzy Star, Turner or Paul Klee, an Oak tree or a Rose. Power is gentle. But I would say that... My name is Mark, and I'm a Coffee Snob.

Thanks as ever @BeanAndBud @Ground_Coffee

plant your olfactory bulbs

Tasting, nay, drinking experiences are scythed by a head cold. What is palate but the composite of sensory receptors on the tongue, and the magnifying glass of the olfactory bulb. Sinuses blocked, nasal cavity and olfactory bulb unable to perform, breathing circumvented, all pleasure gone but the anticipation of what might have been. In this instance, an Espresso Stout from Kiuchi Brewery. Fortunately, a palate weight that's discernible, but given the journey from Japan, it's like flying into British fog and winter's half-light. One persists...