I had a palate-awakening experience today. It involved thousands of single origin coffee beans and their smooth-talking boyfriend the San Franciscan Roaster. Let us begin at the quasi beginning- I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker. I’m not one that needs caffeine or desires it, really. My 10 thousand mile a minute brain tends to agree more with chamomile and chai. Soooothing things. But, as a “beverage professional” (yes, I just said that), coffee is something I need to know more about. I leaped at the opportunity to attend a “cupping” (again, yes, I just said that) with some dear friends that are opening a fantastic coffee shop. Nestled among a nondescript stretch of Culver City warehouse landscape, there is a nondescript building secretly housing rooms filled with fresh roasted steam and some of the best beans around.

New Frontier Coffee is a micro roaster that provides beans (and kick ass coffee-making equipment) to select restaurants and retailers. I got to tag along to a coffee tasting of all of their single origin beans as well as a few of their house blends. Now, I am no stranger to tastings. I can get through double digits a few times over with wine sips and spits. But, coffee? I was slightly worried about my ability to handle the caffeine. I was told spitting was de rigeur during cupping (coffeehead speak for tasting), so I figured I would make it out alive. Albeit, really alive.

With a tasting note grid and pen in hand, we set out to taste 10 different roasts. Each one was ground just before placing the grinds and hot water into a french press. We judged them based on strength of aroma, acidity, body and balance. Hey- this was just like wine! I could get down with this. As we tasted, we thought of each one’s ability to blend with the others and also when we would want to drink it and how. Was it a hungover brunch coffee, great with half & half, with a buttery croissant? Would it make a good espresso?

Each bean expressed totally different qualities; burnt toast, bitter hops, (dirt-streaked Pacific Northwest forest fairies), cocoa, blueberry, (a young Sophia Loren’s warm Chanel no. 5 soaked neck) or sweet pipe tobacco as well as slightly different textures and mouthfeel. I was captivated. And extremely alert! In those 2 hours, I just might have become….a coffee lover? I said it. It’s true. Could this become a Costa Rican Beans Have More Fun situation? Fear not.

Every month, Foodbuzz.com chooses 24 bloggers from their Featured Publisher network (see that ad in the right column of the screen?) to cook/prepare drinks/organize an event and write a blog post about it in 24 hours on the 24th day of the month. I decided to submit a proposal and I was one of the lucky 24 chosen. What was that proposal, you ask? Brunch. Not only brunch- possibly the best category of meal- but, brunch 2 ways; a traditional version and its modern twist counterpart. Along with two of my dearest friends and business partners, Joy and Rachel, we set out to make 3 courses with 2 versions of each course both paired with drinks. So…3 square(d) brunch.

After a week of rain, every. single. day. in Los Angeles (writing that sentence is even difficult), I woke up to hear birds chirping and to see- wait, what was that?- oh right… sunshine. Hallelujah. I don’t know about you, but a gorgeous day on a weekend screams eggs, toast, crispy pork products and a slight afternoon buzz. With a gaggle of friends and nothing but time, I think you’ve got yourself one perfect brunch. And by one perfect brunch, I mean this one.

For the classics, we decided to tackle potato latke with smoked salmon, french eggs en cocotte and doughnuts. The fun task was deciding how to reinvent these dishes and what “brunch” beverages would best complement all of them side by side.

First course: the latke. To oppose the classic potato latke with smoked salmon, chive and creme fraiche we prepared, Joy cooked up a mean zucchini pancake topped with Rachel’s darjeeling tea poached cod and a cumin creme fraiche. Many people said this was their favorite dish of the day. To pair with this course, I thought some bubbles would be the best way to get the meal going. The one drink almost synonymous with brunch is the mimosa. So, for the classic pairing, I chose an organic Spanish cava mixed with fresh squeezed heirloom orange (and a smidge of blood orange) juice. To go along with the delicious zucchini pancakes, I crafted what I call the limonosa; fresh meyer lemon juice, elderflower soda and one of my favorite proseccos. Really bright, floral and great with the zucchini and fish.

2nd course: eggs! Rachel chose eggs en cocotte for the classic side of the plate. She infused cream with shallots and thyme and added that to individual ramekins with a single egg. The spin on that, was an egg and creamy polenta combo served in a crispy prosciutto cup. Yum. And thus, the time had come for the ultimate brunch beverage: the Bloody Mary. Our standard (but dangerously good) version of the Bloody involved beef broth, celery seed, Cholula and a ton of horseradish among other fine ingredients. The modern twist was born from celery soda inspiration. Rachel had tried Dr. Brown’s Cel-ray soda once upon a time and declared it delicious. So to that, we simply added tomato and lemon juice to create our Bubbly Mary. The vodka used in both Marys was a delightful organic bottling from Minnesota’s Phillips Distilling. Fantastic label!

3rd course: the sweet stuff!  Joy put her outstanding baking skills to use and whipped up some mighty fine doughnuts. Doughnut holes, really, and when something is in bite-size form doesn’t that make it 10 times more face stuff-able and scrumptious? Yes, I agree. She made a traditional cinnamon sugar and a spiced sweet potato covered in powdered sugar. To pair with those delectable bites and to end the meal- coffee. Rachel “cooked” up some cold brew the night before steeping coffee grinds, cacao nibs and cardamom in water. It was filtered, blended with a touch of almond milk and put over ice. To accompany the sweet potato doughnuts, Joy made a hot chocolate of sorts infused with cinnamon and red chilies. Add a few pulls of espresso and some cream and you have yourself one hell of a drink. Most everyone at the table asked for seconds.

All in all, a seriously delightful day. I hope it inspires you to craft up your very own brunch extravaganza. For all of the drink recipes, see below. Cheers!

*A giant thank you to Molly and Tyler for letting us take over their lovely home (and de-luxe kitchen!)  And to all of our friends who came out to share a beautiful day of delicious food & drink with us: Katie, Abel, Soledad, Cris, Adam and Asher…and last but not least, our brunch mascot Willy.

Recipes

Each recipe makes roughly 6 servings

Mimosa

Pretty straightforward…

• Juice 8 medium-large oranges. I threw a blood orange into the mix. Get crazy and mix in half ruby red grapefruit, pomelo or tangerine.
• In each glass add 2 parts juice to 1 part sparkling wine. I used Barcino cava ($14 at Silverlake Wine)
• Garnish with citrus- mini kishus or Cutie clementines are fun.

Limonosa

• Juice 4 meyer lemons (meyer lemons are less tart than standard lemons)
• To each glass add 1 part lemon juice, 1 part Sweet Blossom elderflower soda and 2 parts sparkling wine. I used Sommariva prosecco ($14.75 at Silverlake Wine). Prosecco is a good one to use here because it naturally has really nice floral aromatics and a light lemony taste.
• Finish with a meyer lemon twist dropped into the glass

Bloody Mary by Rachel

• Base: 3 cups beef broth, 1 full container (3 cups) Pomi brand strained tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp worcestershire, 2 Tbsp horseradish, 1 1/2 tsp celery seed, 3 tsp each of salt and black pepper, Cholula or Tapatio (or your fav.) hot sauce to taste.
• 1 oz. vodka per glass
• Finish with a squeeze  of lemon and garnish with celery (and pickled okra- Rachel is a big fan)

Bubbly Mary by Rachel

• Base: 2/3 container of Pomi strained tomatoes, 2 cups water
• Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray celery soda (add to taste to each glass)
• 1 oz vodka per glass
• a squeeze of lemon juice in each glass over ice

Cold-Brewed Cacao Nib Coffee by Rachel

In a pitcher or jar add:

• 1 1/2 cups coffee grinds
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs
• 5 lightly crushed cardamom pods
• 2 Tbsp vanilla sugar (or any sugar you like)

Let it sit covered for at least 12 hours up to 24. Filter it twice by placing a coffee filter in a funnel over a clean jar and pouring the mixture through. Pour the strained liquid through the same filter and grinds a second time to fully extract flavor and remove any unwanted extra bits left in the coffee.

Add almond milk to taste and serve over ice

Mexican Chocolate Coffee by Joy

(made 8 espresso sized cups, with everyone getting seconds)