January 20 - Cheese Tasting

We tasted 12 different kinds of cheese today.  I do not like cheese that much, and many of the cheeses that we tasted, I did not like.  It was interesting to see all the different kinds of cheese because they were so different from what we normally see in the stores.

Vermont Butter & Cheese Co’s Crème Fraiche

Smell – It smelled like sour cream and very creamy

Taste – It tasted pretty much like sour cream to me except more fresh.

Dancing Goat Creamery’s Cream Cheese

Smell – It smell like cream.

Taste – It had a sour and tangy taste.  It tasted like cheesecake to me.

Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog

Smell – It had a very weak smell.

Taste – It had a dry, creamy taste to it.  It did not taste that good to me. 

Berthaut Epoisses

Smell – It smelled very gross and it was very strong.

Taste – It tasted really gross too. It had a burnt, smokey taste .

Capriole Mont

Smell – It smelled like Swiss Cheese.

Taste – It has a pungent taste to it.  It was really strong, but it did not taste that bad.

Dancing Goat’s Merze Tate

Smell – It smelled sour.

Taste – It had a very mild taste.  It tasted like Mozzarella.

Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue

Smell – It had a very strong smell. It did not smell good at all.

Taste – It was very strong and sour.  It did not taste good.

Castellano

Smell – It had a very weak smell.

Taste – It was dry. It kind of tasted like parmesan cheese.  It was a lot less sour then the others

Dancing Goat’s Effie Mills

Smell – It smelled like fresh mushrooms to me

Taste – It tasted creamy and kind of like mushrooms.

Cashel Blue

Smell – It smelled very strong. It smelled like cows.

Taste – It tasted very gross. It was gritty and very strong.

Isle of Mull

Smell – It had a weak smell.

Taste – It has a sharp pungent taste to it and was very strong. 

Alpine Cheese

Smell – It smelled like Swiss cheese.

Taste – It was very strong. It was a very dry cheese.  It tasted kind of like Swiss cheese.  

January 20 - How to make Cheese?

What is Rennet?

It was discovered when they use to store milk in the stomachs of goats. The milk would then begin to curdle in the bag.  They discovered this as a way to preserve milk. They also noticed that they could separate the curds and whey, and they could dry out the curds.  They discovered that the most active portion of the young animal’s stomach was the abomasums, which caused the curdling. They then cut this sections of the stomach into strips and would add it to the milk to cause it to turn into curds and whey.  It is now produced by genetically engineered bacteria, which has the gene for this enzyme inserted into it. 

Why add salt?

Salt slows down the aging process.

Swiss cheese is soaked in salt water to conserve, hardened and intensify its taste

The salt adds flavor, aids in further expulsion of whey, and helps with preservation. (http://www.rickandlynne.com/cheese/process/index.html#salting)

How long does it take cheese to age?

For fresh cheese, it will be ready to eat the next day.  For Blue cheeses, Brie, and Camembert, it takes about 30-50 days.  For a hard cheese, it takes a few months.  (http://www.thecheesemaker.com/FreqAskedQues.htm)

For Swiss cheese, it will take about 6 months for the cheese to age and is flipped often during the process so it ages evenly.  The pieces are then placed on its side.  The cheese will be good for at least 10 years. 

Aroma’s in Cheddar Cheese

• Acetaldehyde
• Acetic acid
• n-Butanol
• Furanone
• Guaiacol
• n-Pentanoic acid

January 19 - Salsa

This is the recipe that we used to make the salsa. We kind of made it up as we went along; adding things that we thought needed to be added. 

1 can of tomato

1 whole tomato

¼ onion

2 cloves of garlic

¼ of a green pepper

3 pinches of cilantro

1 pinch of cumin

1 pinch of salt

The salsa that we made turned out really good. It had a strong tomato flavor, but you could also taste the cilantro and pepper. We first tasted it before we put the cumin in, and we knew that something was missing so we put just a little bit in to give it some flavor. 

One of the salsas that I tasted was very hot.  I do not like hot things so that salsa was not very good to me.  One group’s chili was very good. It had like a smokey flavor to it. I could really taste the cumin in it, so if they had used a little bit less of that it would have been perfect. 

January 19 - Chili and Salsa

1. To what family does capsaicin belong?

It belongs to the vanilloids family along with vanillin, eugenol, zingerone, and capsaicin.  They all contain a six-sided hexagonal ring of carbons. 

2. How is capsaicin different from the other molecules in its family?

The compound’s molecular weight is the highest of any of the vanilloids.  The side chain contains a polar amide group, which makes capsaicin’s volatility very low. 

3. Why is drinking water not useful for reducing the burning sensation from eating a chili or food that contains chili? If you feel “hotness” in your mouth, what should you drink? and why?

Capsaicin is insoluble in cold water that is why drinking water does not get rid of the hot sensation.  Drinking a cold beer is the best thing to drink to get rid of the hot sensation.  This is because capsaicin is freely soluble in alcohol and vegetable oils.

4. What is a Scoville Unit?

Scoville heat unite is the dilution sugar water needed to neutralize the heat of the chile.

5. Look up the 3 hottest chili’s according to their Scoville index. Google the names of these chili’s and see if you can find a picture of these chili’s to post on your blog (you may find some in the chili glossary at the above site)

Bhut Jolokia

Dorset Naga

 

Francisca

Read the following sections in the article Recent advances in the study of capsaicinoids and capsinoids (introduction, 2.1-pain relief, 2.2-cancer prevention, 2.3-weight reduction). Article is available on Moodle.

1. Capsinoids are considered less pungent than capsaicinoids. Look up the term “pungent”. What does it mean?

Pungent means to have a sharp, strong taste or smell.

2. Although you can buy creams containing capsaicin, how effective are they at controlling pain according to this article?

Creams containing capsaicin have moderate to poor efficacy for chronic pain. 

3. In table 1, what is the difference in the structure between capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin? What is the difference in the structure between capsaicin and homocapsaicin?

Capsaicin contains a double bond carbon in its carbon chain where dihydrocapsaicin does not. In homocapsicin, the second to last carbon had its carbon tail located at a different position than on capsaicin. 

4. Why is capsaicin considered a “double-edged sword” ? (see section 2.2-cancer prevention).

Capsaicin is believed to have both carcinogenic and chemopreventive properties, so it can treat cancer and it can cause cancer.

5. How is capsaicin related to weight-loss according to section 2.3-weight reduction?

Chili peppers are thought of as a potential food for obesity management. It is reported that capsaicin inhibits obesity by enhancing energy expenditure and reducing body fat accumulation in animal experiments.  

January 18 - Woodland Mall

French Bread
- This is the bread that we made. It was a bit dry and pretty salty.  We had put in 1 tablespoon of salt and it was only suppose to be 1 teaspoon of salt.  The bread was very heavy and dense. It was not like the french bread that we tasted yesterday.

Focaccia Bread
- This bread was very good.  The crust was very soft and buttery.  The bread was very dense and heavy.  This was my favorite bread that I tasted.

Sourdough
- This bread smelled very sour.  It was a very heavy and dense bread. It tasted very sour too. I did not like this bread.  The crust was very hard.  The inside of this bread was a little bit doughy and was the most sour.  

Potato Bread
- It smelled more like a white bread. It was not nearly as dense as the other breads.

Woodland Mall

Macy's
- As soon as we walked in from the mall, we could smell all the perfumes. It was quite strong in that general area, but in the other areas it smelled very fresh. It was very bright throughout all the store.  The main aisles were all tile and they circle the floors.  The clothes are all arranged by similarities and by brand.  The music was quiet but you could still hear it.

Forever 21
- The front of the store was all glass so that you can see into the store. It was very bright throughout the store.  There were two long aisles that lead all the way to the back of the store.  Everything was sorted by colors. The cashiers were in the middle of the store so they were easily accessed from anywhere in the store.  The smell was not very strong, but you can tell it was a flowery smell.  The music was a little bit loud.

Eddie Bouwer
- It smelled very fresh, and natural.  The music was quiet and slower.  Everything was aimed at outdoors, which is the "theme" of the store. They pictures on the wall showed mountains and outdoor scenes. You could hear some nature sounds that played after some songs.  They had big signs all around that advertised sales.  The store was not geared toward a certain gender.

Gymboree
- It did not have a strong smell in the store.  The music that was playing was from the sound of the TV that was playing. The had a TV and seating area for the kids.  It was aimed at wanting the kids to stay in the store so that the parents would not have them distracting them from buying.  All the racks in the store were lower; they were more at a comfortable level for kids.  Everything was in an easy reach for everyone.

Campus Store
- The music was loud and it was pop music that was playing.  There was one main aisle that led down the whole length of the store.  It did not have a distinctive smell in the store.  

I think that stores do use different aromas to entice people to buy their products.  They get people to enter their store and stay longer because it smells good in the store.  People will be interested in the store if there is pleasant smells.  I think that stores do aim at certain genders to be interested in their store.  Stores aimed at females want to use a smell that is flowery. Stores that are aimed at males want to use a smell that is more natural and fresh.   

January 18 - Buy-ology

I have heard of this type of marketing. Most of the stores in the mall use this type of marketing. They have the scent of the perfumes or cologne that they sell in the store.  When you walk in the store that is the first thing that you smell.  I think that it is very effective.  When you smell that, it makes you tempted to buy it if you think it smells good.  I think that it is ethical. It is a type of manipulation, but I think that it is fine to use this as marketing.

Describe one example in which marketers ―created new solutions for busy lifestyles. What do they appeal to in people?

The Apartment store – The lay out of the store is the exact lay out of an apartment. They have everything fully functioning and they aim to get people to buy more then one thing from the store. They have everything that they need in one place. They want people to not just buy one item but buy an entire layout to a room. This appeals to people because they don’t have to go all over, this store had what they need.

How might the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul serve as a model for modern shopping malls? How does the retail chain Lush build on markets like the Grand Bazaar?

Open food stores – The colors and smells excite the senses to get people to buy the product. You need to create an experience for the people to get them to buy the product.  The customer can see the colors, and smell the products. 

Lush was trying to sell fresh cosmetics.  It set up the store to look like open food stores. He was trying to sell the product like food stores.  He made the cosmetics out of fresh products and presented the products like fresh food.   Appealing to our senses get us to buy their products.

How can stores specifically target men or women with music and aromas? Pay attention in particular to this segment, as you will need to reflect on it in class on Tuesday.

Music is becoming the norm in retail stores. The music is aimed at the type of people they want to buy their product. Supermarkets play music aim to slow you down so you buy more of the products.  Smell is now becoming more of a factor because we sense smell faster then the other senses.  It has a major influence on our behavior.  Stores can distinguish itself by using smells.  Stores can use a smell that is aimed at a certain gender. 

Discuss the use of space to encourage people to slow down, see the whole store, and to keep them inside to buy things.

The layout is designed to get you to walk around the entire store.  They use color and light to get them to focus on a certain spot in the store. They want them to see as much of the product as possible. Oasis set up seats and makeup areas to get the customers to slow down.  They want to get people to want to spend time in a place so they stay longer and will spend more money.

Note how the Forum in Las Vegas keeps shoppers inside. If you’re ever inside a casino, note that you will have a hard time finding any clocks.

They manipulate time inside the mall. They change the ceiling from day to night in an hour so that customers do not know what time it is.  People will spend hours at the mall because they do not have any idea of what time it is.  They make time seem like it is never ending.  They want to keep the customers distracted so that they stay longer.  

January 17 - Bread - class

Wealthy Street Bakery

French Bread

This was my favorite bread; it was so delicious. It smelled so fresh.  It was fluffy and airy, but it had a heavy taste to it.  The toast was tough and chewy. 

Healthy Bred – Whole grain

I don’t really like whole grain because of the grains in the bread. This bread was not bad, but I did not like the pieces in it because they were so hard and chewy.  It was very dense and heavy bread.  The crust was very crunchy.

Sourdough

This bread was pretty good. I don’t know if I have had sourdough bread before. It did taste a little bit sour, but it wasn’t too sour.  The bread was very light and airy.

Recipe

We choose to make the Basic French Bread

• Dissolve 1 package dry yeast in ¼ cup warm water and ¼ teaspoon sugar
• Combine 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon margarine, and 1 tablespoon salt in 1 cup boiling water
• Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture
• Stir in ~4 cups flour
• Knead for 10 min. or until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl (margarine or olive oil), turning once. Let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rest 15 minutes. On a floured surface, roll to a 12x15” rectangle. Roll up, starting at 15” edge. Place on a greased cookie sheet and make 4 or 5 slashes diagonally across top. Let rise until doubled.
• Mix and brush on 1 egg, beaten and 1 tablespoon milk
• Bake at 400 for 20 minutes

When we first started kneading it, it was hard to get all the flour mixed it. It took a lot of kneading to get it to all stick together.  At first, when you pulled it apart, it felt like you were pulling strings a part. As you kneaded it, it could feel it getting harder and more elastic.  We kneaded it for about 15 minutes, to get it all mixed it and for it to be smooth and elastic. Rachel took it home to bake it. 

January 17 - Bread - pre-class

What is yeast? What are the different types of yeast available?

Yeast are single-cell fungi.  It is very strong and capable of fermentation, which causes the bread to rise. Yeast cells digest food to obtain energy for growth. There are 3 types of yeast: baker’s yeast, Nutritional yeast, Brewer’s yeast.

What is the function of yeast in bread?

The process of fermentation produces useful end products, carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. When yeast ferments the sugars available from the flour and sugar, the carbon dioxide gas cannot escape the dough, so the dough inflates.

Why do you have to add sugar to the yeast?

When yeast ferments the sugars available, the carbon dioxide gas cannot escape because the dough is elastic and stretchable. 

Why do you knead bread dough?

As you knead the dough, the gluten becomes more and more stretchy. This substance fills with thousands of gas bubbles as the yeast goes to work during rising. 

What chemical reaction causes the elastic bread dough to form?

The chemical reaction between acidic and alkaline compounds produces the carbon dioxide necessary to inflate dough.

What is gluten? What happens if your body can't digest gluten?

Gluten is made when you add water to wheat flour.  The water molecules combine with two proteins, gliadin and glutenin, to form gluten.  Celiac disease is a disease where people are sensitive to gluten.

What is sourdough bread? What is a sourdough starter, and why is it necessary?

Sourdough is s dough containing a lactobacillus culture.  It is one principal mean of leavening in bread baking.  It produces a tangy or sour taste, because of the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.  A starter is an essential form of pre-ferment.  A starter is made with a small amount of old dough saved from a prior batch, which contains the culture.  You then add the new dough and knead it together.  You can then save a small part from this dough to make another starter.  The starter needs to be fed flour and water weekly. 

What is responsible for the flavor, texture, and leavening differences in: injera, pita, nan, etc. (or your favorite type of bread)?

It all depends on what you add to your bread.  The texture is dependant on whether you put nuts or raisins or other things in your bread. I love nuts in my bread so that adds texture. The flavor is dependant on what you like. I like banana bread, poppy seed bread, and French baguettes.  The leavening of the bread is dependant on what you use.  Not all bread requires yeast in it.   

January 14 - Chocolate Tasting

Activity 2: The Chocolate Chain

Farmer – grows the cocoa tree, must pay for his own farming tools and fertilizers, needs money to care for his family, he needs to replace the roof on his house

Manager of Godiva – buy cocoa from Ghana, pays for transportation, buys all the supplies for making chocolate, pay wages for workers, pay for packaging and advertising

Manager of D&W – buy chocolate, pay rent for store, pay sales staff

In the real world, the farmer gets the least amount of money while the manager of the chocolate manufacture gets the most amount of money.

We thought that we would give the farmer 50 cents, the manager of Godiva 75 cents and the manager of D&W 75 cents.

One example of how 2 dollars would be split up is the Chocolate manufacturer would get 96 cents, retailers would get 64 cents, the government of Ghana would get 20 cents, and the farmer would get 20 cents.

Activity 3: The Art of Tasting Chocolate

Chocolate contains crystals that melt in your mouth.  Cocoa butter melts on your tongue and gives you a sense of “coolness” by taking away heat from your tongue.  Chocolate contains 600 different flavor molecules.  The chocolate then gives off a sweet sensation.

Activity 4: Finding the Best Tasting Chocolate

My top 5 favorite chocolate that I tasted today was Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate, Reese’s, Symphony (Hersey’s), Milky Way, Hersey’s kisses. 

Reese’s – They are made by The Hershey Company.  They are milk chocolate coating with peanut butter inside. They were created by 1928 by Harry Burnett Reese who created it in the basement of his house. He quit working on his dairy farm to start a chocolate company. He started The H.B. Reese Candy Co., which would later by bought by The Hershey Company in 1963.  He used Hershey chocolate to create his peanut butter cups. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reese's_Peanut_Butter_Cups)

Ghirardelli peppermint – The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is the US division of Lindt & Sprungli.  The company was started in 1852 and is the second-oldest chocolate company in the US. It was started by Domenico Ghirardelli who apprenticed with a chocolate factory. He started his store in San Francisco, California and called it D. Ghirardelli & Co.  The company roasts the cocoa beans themselves in San Francisco.  They remove the other shell on the bean and roasting the inside for the bean. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghirardelli_Chocolate_Company)

Symphony – The Symphony milk chocolate bar is made by The Hershey Chocolate Company.  It is made similar to the original Hershey’s bar but with varying amounts of some ingredients in order to give a creamier flavor.  They called it the symphony bar because it is suppose to be a treat to the mouth like music is to the ears. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_(candy))

January 14 - Chocolate - pre-class

Read the article, Chocolate JCE Article. Map the process of forming a chocolate bar starting from the cocoa tree. Describe the process of forming chocolate: Cocoa Tree àCocoa Bean à fermentation à etc.

The Theobroma Cacao tree is originally native to Central and South America.  The tree is not cultivated in other environments around the world near the equator.  The tree produces small flowers that produce pods. The pods ripen in 5 to 6 months and are harvested by hand. The mature pod contains about 30 to 40 almond shaped beans that are surrounded by a sweet pulp. The beans are scooped out of the pod and separated from the pulp.  The beans are then laid out for fermentation, which lasts about 5 to 7 days.  They then need to be dried for one to two weeks to remove moisture and produce a hard bean. The beans are then roasted for 70 to 120 minutes.  This helps to develop the chocolate flavor and aroma.  The shell is removed from the “nib,” which is the inside of the bean.  The nib is ground in a process that generates a lot of heat, which melts the cocoa butter and forms a liquid called “chocolate liquor.” When the liquor is pressed the cocoa butter is separated and drains out so what is left is a packed cocoa powder.

a) How does one establish the relevance of these findings to the general population?

It can be explained to people that an important flavanol in chocolate, helps to relax the blood vessels in our body.  This is an important discover because relaxing the blood vessels means reduces the wear and tear of our blood vessels. 

b) Epicatechin and other flavanols are also found in grape juice, tea and red wine. Would you expect to find a similar positive cardiovascular effect when consuming these foods/beverages?

Yes, It is the Epicatechin that is affecting our blood vessels so as long as these products contain this floavonols it should produce the same effect as the chocolate.

c) Much of the cocoa found in the US or in chocolates contains processed cocoa. Standard commercially processed cocoa has little or no flavanol. Would you expect to have a cardiovascular benefit from consuming chocolates found in the supermarket?

No because it does not have the flavanol in it that would give it this quality.  The flavanol is the molecule that is creating this effect in the chocolate.

d) Much of the health benefit studies have been done with cocoapro cocoa. Cocoapro® is a patented process that helps retain more of the naturally occurring flavanols in cocoa. Products that are made with the Cocoapro process include Dove® Dark Chocolate and CocoaVia®. Can you think of what Mars Inc., which owns the patent for Cocoapro must be doing to the cocoa beans to allow for high flavanols?

They are modifying the compound of the chocolate so that it does not lose the Flavanol. This enables the chocolate to hold on it’s the flavanols so that is can still have the cardiovascular effect on the blood vessels. 

e) If one assumes that eating Dove Dark Chocolates are good for you since it contains high flavanol levels and that the plant manager for Mars eats about half-a-dozen dark chocolates a day, and that each Dove dark chocolate contains 190 calories, do you see an upside or a downside from eating Dove Dark Chocolates?

Downside, even though it contains that flavanol, it still needs to be eaten in moderation like everything else.  If he ate 6 candies that would be 1140 calories just in eating chocolate, which is over half the recommended daily value of calories.  It would not be good to eat that many candies just because it contains flaanol.

f) Read the article, Improved Skin Condition and Cocoa (available on Moodle). You may skip the Materials and Methods section and the Results section. Pay special attention to the Abstract, Introduction, and the Discussion. To achieve the skin quality described in the paper, how much cocoa should be consumed and how frequently?

They should consume about 100 g of dark chocolate everyday.  A regular consumption of a beverage/food rich in flavanols can help maintain skin health.

g) Read the article, Chocolate and Health, (see Moodle). What are some of the misconceptions about Chocolate and Health?

The heart-healthy components of cocoa are antioxidants that quash naturally destructive molecular fragments in the body.

A person can get cocoa’s heart protecting constituents simply by downing nearly any off the shelf dark chocolate.

Fact: There are some cardiovascular benefits to a class of flavonoids know as flavanols.  However, some of the flavanols’ benefits trace to functions other than fighting oxidation. Commercially processed cocoa powder has little to no flavanol content so it offers almost no cardiovascular benefit.

January 13 - Beer Class

I was not able to go to this class on Beer. I heard that it was very interesting to learn about. I plan to look at that article that you sent about the speaker.

January 12 - Coffee and Tea Class

Tea

Gunpowder Chinese Green Tea

Observations – The leaves are rolled up into tiny balls. It has an earthy smell to it.  It tastes like other green teas that I have had, and it kind of has a bitter taste to it.

Information – It is known as “pearl” tea in China. It is called gunpowder because the leaves rolled up resemble gunpowder pellets.  It is one of the main Chinese green teas for export. It is produced mainly in the Zhejiang province.  (http://www.fmltea.com/tea/Gunpowder-tea.htm)

Made – The leaves use to be individually hand rolled into tiny balls, but know they are rolled my machine.  You can still buy hand rolled gunpowder but it is very expensive.  You can brew this tea like other loose leaf teas.  It is recommended to use an infuser. (http://www.crazyfortea.com/gunpowdergreentea.html)

South African Red Bush Tea

Observations – The leaves look like tiny pieces of grains with red pieces mixed in.  You can tastes some spices in the tea. 

Information - This tea is also called Rooibos.  It is a naturally sweet tea. It has a high level of antioxidants and a very low level of caffeine.   The plant has very similar growth and flowers to the redbush.  It is grown in only a small area of South Africa called the Western Cape province. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos)

Made – The leaves are oxidized, referred to as fermentation. This gives the distinctive reddish-brown color of rooibos and enhances the flavor.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos)

Chinese Black Tea – Golden Yunnan

Observations – The leaves look like small noodles.  It smells like leaves and wood.  It has a better taste to it.  It tastes a lot like the other black teas that I have had.   

Information – The leaves are a gold-tipped leaf.  The trees are found in the souther Chinese province called Yunnan. It has a sugary and floral taste to it, along with a peppery taste.  This tea became popular because it was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth. (http://www.chah.co.uk/yunnan-golden-tips-finest-black-chinese-tea-39-p.asp)

Made – The leaves are harvested and sorted into differing grades of quality and ripeness. They are then left to wither and undergo a type of pile fermentation.  The buds of the tea harvest oxidize and turn a bright gold color.  (http://www.chah.co.uk/yunnan-golden-tips-finest-black-chinese-tea-39-p.asp)

White Peony Indian White Tea

Observations – The leaves are different colors of green, brown, and yellow.  It has a flowery and mossy smell to it. It has a weak taste to it. It is very mild with not a lot of flavor.

Information – White peony tea is known as Bai Mu Dan. White tea is called white because the leaves have fuzzy little silver hairs on them, which gives the leaves a whitish appearance. White tea is more expensive then other types of tea. White tea comes from a species of Camellia. (http://www.the-color-of-tea.com/white-tea-facts.html)

Made – The leaves are plucked early and then baked or steamed to prevent any leaf oxidation. They are then dried by the sun or indoors. (http://www.the-color-of-tea.com/white-tea-facts.html)

Coffee

Coffee beans start out as a green color and then they are roasted to a brown color. The medium roast coffee was a little to weak for me. It had a smoky flavor to it, but it tasted a little watery.  The dark roast coffee was very good. That tasted like normal coffee to me. The espresso was very strong. It had a very strong coffee taste to it.

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

This is considered to be the best quality Ethiopian coffee.  These coffee beans are picked by hand.  It is a washed coffee, which means that the beans have their outer layers of skin and fruity pulp removed. They are then soaked for up to 72 hours in fermentation tanks. They have a higher acidity and a more floral flavor. (http://www.cw-usa.com/coffee-reviews-ethiopianyirgacheffe.html)

Indian Monsooned Malabar

This type of coffee bean is dry processed. The beans are harvested and processed and then exposed to the monsoon winds for about 3 to 4 months.  This causes the beans to swell and lose the original acidity.  The beans are sun dried and then stored in warehouses where they are exposed to monsoon winds. This coffee is more of a sweet coffee. It comes from the Malabar Coast of Karnataka and Kerala.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsooned_Malabar)

January 12 - Coffee and Tea - pre-class

1. In what places was coffee first discovered and then cultivated? What are some of the legends of the origins of its roasting and brewing?

Coffee was first discovered, according to legends, by the Abyssinian shepherds who consumed the seeds of some Coffea plant. The appeal of the coffee mostly likely had to do with the physiological effects of the caffeine that they experienced. 

The ripe cherries are usually picked by hand and then either lay out in the sun for drying or depulping. This releases two seeds per fruit, which are the coffee beans.

According to Wikipedia, Coffee was believed to have been discovered in Ethiopia. It then spread to Egypt and Yemen.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffee).

2. Petracco tells us that the end products in coffee roasting are typically on the order of 10,000 Daltons (which is the same as saying “10,000 grams/mole”). Approximately how many atoms is that?

I’m not sure exactly how to do this and I’m trying to remember back to my high school chemistry class. I believe that we can use Avogadro’s number (6.02x10^23), which is equal to the number of atoms in 1 gram of a substance. So we could do 10,000 times Avogadro’s number to find out how many atoms are in that substance. It would then equal 6.02x10^27.

3. Activity to try at home, if possible: Place equal amounts of salt or sugar in two different glasses. To one, add cold water, and add hot water to the other. Which dissolves the substance the fastest? If the substance doesn’t dissolve immediately, what happens when you wait for a little while?

Salt dissolves better in hot water because the particle are moving around faster, because heat creates more energy in the particles. 

4. Petracca states on p. 1166 that espresso is “often considered a ‘strong’ cup of coffee” and “fully deserves this attribute based on its sensory properties.” However, it generally contains a much smaller amount of caffeine than we might anticipate. Why is this (in terms of the chemistry of brewing)?

Espresso has less caffeine then a normal cup of coffee because of a couple reasons. A shot of espresso is usually very small and is brewed from a small amount of coffee beans.  The pressure of the water pushed through the coffee grounds is high so the water has a very short contact with the coffee grounds.  Caffeine dissolution is slow, so a lot of the caffeine stays in the grounds because the water was not in the coffee grounds for a long enough period of time. 

5. In order for you to use olfaction to taste coffee, volatile molecules must make their way up inside your nose. Choose one or two molecules from the food-info page. Can you explain, in chemical terms, why these molecules are volatile, compared to water or a fatty acid (e.g., CH3(CH2)16COOH)?

I am not sure why certain molecules are volatile. I tried to look up some information, but I did not really understand it. I believe that Methional and vanillin are volatile because they are both light molecules that can easily evaporate. 

6. One of the reasons for the success of coffee shops such as Starbucks is that they throw away beans that were roasted more than a week ago. Why are freshly roasted coffee beans better than months-old coffee (provide a chemical explanation)?

The longer that roasted coffee beans set out the more chemical reactions can occur to it so that the flavor is not as strong as freshly roasted coffee beans.  The aroma of the coffee comes from roasting the coffee beans.  After roasting, the coffee beans are at the perfect state for their flavor and smell. The longer the time after roasting, the more time chemical reactions can occur. 

7. “Terpenes” is old nomenclature for molecules built from the 5 carbon isoprene unit: . Count the carbons in cafestol. If it is a “diterpene,” how many carbons are found in a terpene?

I counted 20 carbons in the cafestol molecule.  Terpene molecules usually containg about 30 or more carbon molecules.

8. If you had the opportunity, would you want to try kopi luwak?

No, I don’t think I could ever drink coffee made from these beans. It sounds really gross!

9. Trace the history of tea from the far-east to the west. When was tea first discovered and how was it introduced to the west?

The legend of the discovery of tea believes that tea was discovered in 2737 BC by emperor Shen Nung who was interested in herbs. While drinking water, some leaves fell into his drink.  Tea became popular under the Tang dynasty from 618-906 AD.  Shortly after this tea was introduced to Japan.  Later in the 16^th century, tea was starting to appear in Europe.  The Dutch traders were the first ones to ship back tea as a commercial import. The Dutch shipped back tea from Java, and it soon became a popular drink in Holland and it spread to other countries of Europe. 

10. How was tea initially used during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)?

Tea was sent to the emperor’s court as a tribute to him.

11. Which western traders are credited for bringing tea to the west?

The Dutch were the first ones to bring tea back to Holland from Java. The Portuguese also brought tea back with them.

12. What was the Boston Tea Party about?

The British wanted to tax the colonist for the tea and the colonist were angry with them and believed that it was illegal to do this. The colonist would not let the ships leave nor would they let the ships unload. They then went aboard the ship one night and dumped all the tea in the water. 

13. What addiction did the English create among the Chinese people due to their desperate dependency on Chinese tea?

Opium

14. Which chemical in tea has psycho active properties known to reduce mental and physical stress?

It is the polyphenols in the tea that help to reduce stress. It is also believed that the process of making the tea can be very relaxing for some people.

15. What other chemicals are found in tea and what are their therapeutical benefits?

Flavonoids – Antioxidant

Caffeine – reduces the sensation of being tired

Fluoride -  Helps to prevent dental caries,

(http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/tea/)

16. How is green tea produced?

The withered leaf is steamed and rolled before drying or firing. This prevents the veins in the leaf from breaking and stops any oxidizations of the leaf.  Green tea has a very pale color and the wet leaf is often left whole. 

17. How is black tea produced?

The leaves are set out to wither so that the moisture in the leaf evaporates in the warm air, which takes about 10 to 16 hours.  The leaf is then broken by machine so that the natural juices are released and will oxidize.  The leaves are then laid out to ferment or oxidize and it turned once and awhile.  After oxidization passing through hot air chambers dries the leaves.

18. Read the Key Tasting Terms described in Tea Tasting Notes (page 1), and describe using the key tasting terms, how you prefer your cup of tea.

I like my tea to taste sweet. I also like to have a long length of time that I can taste my tea after I drink it. I like a balance of my tea. 

19. Based on your moods, write down the types of teas you may wish to consume. (refer to the Tea Tasting Notes for tea and mood information)

-       English Breakfast tea

-       Assam

-       Lady Grey’s

-       Chai

January 11 - Taste and Smell

Activity 1: How does taste work?

Sour – Lemon juice

Sweet – Orange juice

Bitter – coffee

Salty and Umami – Soy sauce

I could taste all four of the tastes.  I tasted some things in a little different place then they were on the map.  I could taste sweet on the font of my tongue. I could taste salty, sour, and umami more towards the sides of my tongue. I could taste bitter on all of my tongue. 

There are many different type of bitter compounds. I have probably tasted many different type of bitter compounds.  I think that there are similar receptors for the bitter, but they are not identical.   

After brushing my teeth, the orange juice tasted very bitter. The toothpaste changed the bitter receptors. Since the orange juice, which normally tasted sweet, tasted so bitter, I am going to guess that the bitter receptors became more sensitive.  I also feel like toothpaste affected the sweet receptors as well.  Looking at the picture, I would predict that the bitter receptors would be affected and that is what I experienced. 

Activity 2: What else is involved with taste?

I was not able to do this part of the experiment because we do not have jam in our house.

Activity 3: What else is involved with taste?

When I was blindfolded and just had to taste the chips, I guessed all three of the different kinds of chips right.  The three kinds of chips were original, corn, and salt and vinegar.  

When I had to smell a chip and then eat a different chip, I got 2 out of the 3 correct. I had to eat salt and vinegar and small original and I guess that one correct. I had to each salt and vinegar and smell corn and I got that one correct too. I had to east salt and vinegar and smell salt and vinegar and I got that one wrong. 

This shows that smell is also involved in taste.  When you can smell what you are eating, you can get a more distinct taste of the food that you are eating. 

Activity 4: Desensitization

The taster: I smelled it more on my own breath then I tasted it. I took a small amount because I don’t really like garlic. 

The non-taster: She smelled it a lot when I was talking. 

Everyone: We smelled it more from our own breath then the other people around us. 

Activity 5: How does your nose function as a spectroscope? How does olfaction (smell) work?

Molecule	Guess	Correct/Answer
Anethole	Licorice	Black Licorice
Benzaldehyde	Almond	Correct
Naphthalene	Something old	Moth balls
Menthol	Toothpaste
Geraniol	Cleaner	Geraniums
Vanillin	Vanilla	Correct
Ionone	No idea	Raspberries
a-pinene	Tree	Pine
Camphor	Vicks	Correct
Cinnamaldehyde	Extract	Cinnamon
Isoamyl acetate	Circus peanuts	Licorice
limonene	Lemon	Lemon
Eugenol	Pine cones	Cloves

Carvones

The two molecules have different smells because of the orientation of the carbon molecule next to the R group.  The R group comes off of the carbon molecule at a different angle on each molecule so that slight change changes the way that it smells.  They two molecules are closely related so they do smell similar.  They both have a smell that is similar to a pine smell. 

Combinatorial Chemistry

Most odors bind to more than one receptor. The smell that we get is a combination of all the active receptor and the interpretation that our brain creates based on these receptors.  This smells are very similar because the active similar receptors.