Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/804825
Today, Sunalini is known for her groundbreaking work improving Indian coffees, becoming the fi rst woman cupper on the Indian Coffee Board, then in 1996 launching her own company, Coffeelab, "to evalu- ate the quality of coffee and to see how best the coffee farmer could be guided in his quest to move up the quality ladder." Barista Magazine was lucky enough to interview Sunalini, and her genuine warmth, intelligence, and fascinating personal story were entwined with her extensive responses. A condensed version of our conversation is below, but beginning in April, you can read much more of the interview at Barista Magazine Online (www.baristamag- azine.com). Barista Magazine: How was coffee consumed in your house when you were young? Did you always feel a connection to it? Sunalini Menon: Coffee was the only beverage that I grew up with. Every morning at 6 a.m., we would be woken up by my grandfather. We used to sleep in the upstairs of our home, and when we would come down the staircase, the aromatic smell of coffee would hit our nostrils, and our day would begin with the smell of freshly ground and brewed coffee. My grandmother was a great connoisseur of coffee. She would buy green coffee beans from a local coffee shop, roast it just for the week, and powder [grind] it every morning, just before she brewed it on the traditional Indian fi lter. We woke up to the smell of coffee; we woke up to the chant of prayers. We woke up to the fresh cool breeze of the early morning, to start the day of lessons at school. I loved the smell and the taste of cof- fee, not realizing, at that point of time, that my life would be in coffee. BMag: Your fi rst job in coffee came when you answered an ad for a taster for the Coffee Board of India in a newspaper: Why did you apply? Was there a moment with coffee where your percep- tion of it was altered? SM: Reading the advertisement opened up a Pandora's box of mem- ories. I went down memory lane to the age of 7, when as children, my sister and I would be taken to the tea estates by my mother, to spend our school holidays there, where my mother's brother worked as a manager of tea gardens. The most fascinating room in the tea factory was the tasting room, though at that point of time, I did not know what tasting was all about. I only remember seeing white bowls with a golden-colored liquid, placed in rows, with my uncle moving from one cup to another, taking a spoonful of the liquid into his mouth, sipping and making a loud slurping sound, swirling the liquid in his mouth, spitting out the same, and fi nally either praising the tea maker or admonishing him for the poor quality tea that had been manufactured that day! My perception of coffee and its nuances completely changed, when I got into the profession of coffee tasting. I realized that coffee is not only a tasty drink, but also a fascinating beverage. The more I looked into the coffee cup, the more I realized that there was so much more that I required to understand about its complex personality. There have been many "a-ha" moments for me, when I looked into the coffee cup and every time, I thought I knew what was in the cup, I realized how little I knew about the aromatics and beauty of coffee. It certainly is a drink, which humbles you and makes you understand that the drink is from a tiny bean, which lives and harbors wisdom, creativity, and complexity within itself. BMag: Can you tell us about your experience working as a taster at the Coffee Board? SM: I still remember the day at the board when the staff working Clockwise from top le : The family, a pillar of strength, support, and happiness, in a photo from 2003. Sunalini's grandmother in 1958. "She was the backbone of our family, building the foundation for value systems, integrity, and service to humanity," says Sunalini. Sunalini and Dr. Ernesto Illy at Sunalini's Coff eelab, in Bangalore, India in 2004. She calls Dr. Illy her "guru in coff ee." 124 barista magazine