Visiting Jura World of Coffee

http://www.juraworld.com/

On Thursday 23 April 2015, ZIWA's Swinging Sixties group took a train journey into Canton Solothurn to visit the new Jura World of Coffee. We could almost smell the coffee as we got off the train in Oberbuchsiten and walked across a country field to the splendid, newly-appointed visitor centre. Our visit was master-minded as usual by chairlady Vreni Riedler, who had everything under control.

The art of coffee tasting

At the impressive exhibition centre, we were welcomed by our chief guide, Kristin Seidler, and we enjoyed a welcome cup of coffee and a gipfeli in the coffee lounge. Then we split up into two groups, one English-speaking and one German-speaking. The English group went first for a coffee tasting, led by Claudette who had laid out a counter with individual places for us to cleanse our palates before tasting two brands of coffee. We heard about the four taste types - sweet, sour, salty and bitter, and the many more aromas, around 10,000, which can be discerned by the nose.We sipped water flavoured with nutmeg and clove, and then we discovered that while holding our nose, it was harder to discern the identity of two more sample tastes, which turned out to be sugar and cinnamon. We also noted the different textures on the tongue of still and sparkling waters and creamy milk. After training our nose and mouth, we then tried the smell and taste of two different coffees, which came from the coffee machine with a deep head of foam or crema. Our first sample was Malabar Monsooned Indian coffee which had low acidity and tasted bitter and earthy. The second sample originated from San Antonio, Honduras and appeared darker but tasted less strong than the Indian coffee. Both types were one hundred percent Arabica beans.


Then we tried another taste test, this time sampling drinks of almond-flavoured amaretto and grape juice, both with distinctive flavours, but when mixed together, resulted in a new cherry flavour. We also learnt that the optimum water temperature for making espresso coffee is 65-68 degrees C. No more boiling water then, as I tend to prefer.

The history of coffee

The second part of the Jura coffee experience was an interactive tour through the history of coffee, leading us through a series of rooms with lighting and sound exhibits. Coffee had its origins in 9th century Ethiopia, when legend has it that a goatherd discovered that his goats became excitable when chewing the red coffee beans, which were made into a pulp and then a drink by a local monk.  The beans were, and still are, hand picked and dried in the sun before being roasted. Coffee is the world's second most important commodity after oil. The drink was then established in popularity in the Arabian peninsula in around 1100 and was sold in the souks.

At the end of the 16th century, Europeans brought the coffee trade to Venice. In 1578, German botanist Leonhard Rauwolf was the first European to bring the taste of coffee to Europe, where it soon became very popular as a drink. In 1615, the famous Cafe Florian was opened in Venice and helped to popularise the drink as a stimulant. Attempts by the Dutch to grow coffee failed however, so coffee plantations were established in the French colonies in Central America, where its cultivation was successful. The first coffee house opened in Vienna in 1683; later the idea caught on in London too. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was the trigger for the Americans to develop a craze for coffee and they are now the world's biggest consumers.

In the 1930s, Leo Henzirohs, an inventor from Solothurn, developed the world's first electric coffee pot, and the Jura company has gone on to manufacture the ever more sophisticated coffee machines that we have today.

In heaven

After the fascinating history lesson, we watched a film entitled In Heaven, showing the popularity of coffee drinking all round the world. We also discovered that we could buy a variety of coffee beans and the latest in Jura coffee machines in the product shops. And as a final touch, we could meet brand ambassador Roger Federer and even have a photo taken with the great man in his walk of fame. Several people were keen to get in the picture with Roger.

After the eye-opening coffee tour, we walked to nearby Gasthof Sonne for a pre-ordered set lunch and a chance to relive the coffee experience with friends, before making the journey back to Zurich by bus and train. A big thanks goes to Vreni for another great day out.

Julia Newton, 25 April 2015.