Taking gentle sips of coffee priced at $6,395 a kilo from a wine glass, while overlooking MacArthur Park’s muddy lake from a suite across the street, on an overcast afternoon in Los Angeles, may be one of the most paradoxical moments in my food- and drink-obsessed life.
Yet, there I was, enjoying every damn milliliter of the warm floral juice that has more in common with palo cortado sherry than it does with an Americano, as the invited guest of New York Roaster SEY’s extremely luxurious coffee tasting, titled “In Good Company.”
I was one of a dozen guests; about half industry and half extreme coffee drinkers, including a coffee-obsessed attorney who flew in from Guadalajara that morning just to partake in the tasting. I was the only member of the media present.
Each ticket to the tasting cost $250 and included coffee and water—no food. Plus, a guided tasting by leading coffee expert, creator, and SEY ambassador Lance Hendrick.
All three tastings sold out. Same for San Francisco on the following day. All the coffees were roasted by SEY following the Nordic style made famous by roasters like Tim Wendleboe of Norway, meaning extra light, where the coffee takes on a more translucent mahogany color and thin texture rather than the extra-toasty, dark, tar-like coffee conventionally enjoyed in European countries like Italy and France.