A taste for detail

Oh honey honey

Sudarshan Rao (Honey)

It was a few years ago in Mizoram, when Sudarshan Rao lost his way that he found his direction. "I stopped at a small shop to ask for directions, when I saw a glass jar filled with what looked like liquid sunshine. It turned out to be the most exquisite honey I had ever tasted."

In 2016, Rao, who holds degrees in food and agriculture, went into the honey business. He now manufactures his own brand and runs honey-tasting workshops in Bengaluru. "Most honeys are multi-floral, which means the bees have been taking nectar from several varieties of flowers. Honey makers are now trying to create single-flower honeys because each one has a distinct taste," says the 42-year-old. The jujube flower honey is viscous and dar\k amber, Indian borage honey is thinner, more golden in colour and minty; honey from a neem flower is fruity.

"Honey tasting is tricky," says Rao. "You cannot swirl and spit like wine. You have to swallow it, and taking in too much can be sickening." Tasters need to go from lighter, less sweet honeys to the more viscous ones. "Also, you need to taste a small amount and keep it on the back of the tongue. After swallowing, one needs to tap the tongue on the roof of the mouth so the taste lingers," he says, adding that one needs to sip on warm water in between.

Cuppa complexities

Sunalini Menon (Coffee)

It was the swirling and spitting more than the tasting, confesses Sunalini Menon, which got her interested in becoming a coffee sommelier. But after 40 years of coffee cupping, Asia’s first certified woman taster says the cuppa with all its complexities continues to fascinate her. "How many have I tasted" exclaims the 70-year-old. "Well, some days I would taste up to 100 cups, so I’ve lost count."

At a coffee championship, Menon remembers tasting so many cups of espresso that she couldn’t sleep. "The only remedy is reading, and sipping hot water and green tea."

Menon, a former director of quality control for the Coffee Board of India, who runs Coffeelab Ltd in Bengaluru, says the Indian consumer has evolved over the last two decades. "Coffee used to be drunk with just milk and sugar, and described only as strong, weak, or watery. Today, consumers have learned to appreciate the espresso, know their hot brews from their cold, their pour overs and so on."

While Menon still loves her hot espressos, she recently discovered the joys of cold brew — medium roast filter coffee in a muslin bag, placed in a bowl of room temperature water, seeped for 12 hours, and drunk with a touch of jaggery and a sliver of an orange peel.

Raising the bar

L Nitin Chordia (Chocolate)

Five years and 1,500 chocolates later, L Nitin Chordia admits that he is in a sweet spot. With restaurants, hotels, startups and international brands among his clientele, the first certified chocolate taster in India is all set to launch a professional certification course in Chennai.

"Being a chocolate taster is becoming mainstream and is lucrative, with chocolate makers and companies needing professionals for product development," says the former retail consultant who decided to make chocolate his business years ago. Since then, it has been his priority to cut down the fat and raise the fitness bar. "I get a lot of fat from the chocolates I taste," says Chordia. "Physical fitness matters, because if I have a cold or cough, my ability to taste will be compromised."

Holding the chocolate, snapping off a piece and letting it melt in your mouth – everything tells you something. "If it is 70% dark chocolate, it has to be a particular shade," he says. "The way it snaps indicates whether it has been tempered properly." The ideal tasting portion, 1gm, is put on the palate and left to melt. A short aftertaste or an overly dry palate after tasting means the chocolate is not of great quality.

It’s important to clean the palate when tasting chocolates. "We do that by taking half a spoonful of polenta — sooji rava boiled with water — swirling it around the tongue, gulping it down and waiting for 10 minutes before the next tasting," says Chordia, adding that India is set for a cocoa high.

"This is the tipping point for the profession in India. It is a big market, the potential is huge and we have just only got started," says Chordia, who has partnered with the International Institute of Fine Chocolate and Cocoa Tasting (IICT), UK, to offer the Chocolate Tasters Certification course this June.

In good spirits

Chinmaya Arjun Raja (Wine)

The world of good wine is made up of many crafts. And that’s why when you meet a sommelier like Chinmaya Arjun Raja, you want to learn at least one. Why you should hold the glass by the stem or the base and not the bowl. "The warmth of your palm can alter the wine’s temperature and taste," says Raja, who visited his first vineyard in 2000 while on a scholarship to France.

"The family I was staying with, went from one tasting session to another, swirled their glasses and spoke about flavours, as I sat watching them oblivious and intoxicated," says Raja. But today, after several wine tasting courses, sessions and learning the know-how from some of the best winemakers and sommeliers, Raja can tell a good wine by holding it up against the light. "What characterises good wine is balance — of sweetness, acidity, tannins and fruity flavour. We swirl the wine before taking a sip to release its aroma. For accuracy, you’re discouraged from wearing perfume at tastings."

The next step is to know the colour and viscosity of the wine. "From the first sip you get to know its texture and flavours. Finally, we compare the different characteristics of every wine we taste and make notes," he says. "Forty to 50 wines down, your tongue turns numb. Having crackers or non-greasy, hard cheeses cleanses the palate."

(Compiled by Kamini Mathai, Priya M Menon, and Saranya Chakrapani)