By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Nov 25: Gloria Jean’s (GJ’s) Coffees gave the media fraternity here a ‘lesson’ and a little insight on how to taste good brewed coffee by organising a sampling session with their in-house expert.
GJ’s Coffees marketing and transformation head Debby Amrini Shamsulbahri kindly imparted her knowledge of coffee tasting by instructing the participants on the right characteristic of good coffee drinks through its aroma, flavour, acidity, body and aftertaste.
It was a fun and knowledgeable moment for the media personnel to try what was placed in a small paper cup and to sample the drinks by smelling the aroma through their noses and to taste the brewed coffee, especially its texture, in their mouths.
Debby said people would not be able to taste what they drink or had eaten if they could not smell it as their taste buds would be distorted.
“Your sense of smell and taste buds are very important in identifying what you eat or drink, or it would affect the person’s appetite,” she said, followed by a demonstration by pinching her nostrils shut with her fingers and putting a jelly button in her mouth to chew.
“It is impossible to know the flavour of what you have eaten until you release your fingers from the nostril. Only then you are able to taste and identify what you have just eaten.”
The coffee presentation and tasting session were held as part of GJ Day 25 per cent discount on every 25th of the month and Christmas Drink promo ‘Shout Out Star Sparkles and Candy Canes and magical Maple Moments’ at their Plaza Merdeka outlet here in the city.
She revealed that coffee brewed at GJ’s Coffees outlets is different from others in the sense that each cup was prepared from coffee beans, while its competitors would have it done in set mode. Only qualified GJ’s Coffees baristas are allowed to prepare coffee.
“That is why we are different from our competitors, and it is our trademark in the business,” she said.
Debby said it is easy to identify the qualified GJ’s Coffees barista by looking at their outfit — black apron.
Earlier, the media fraternity followed the representatives of a local GJ’s Coffees franchisee to the Kuching Waterfront as they presented each ‘sampan’ operator at the Sarawak River with a cup of coffee as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.
Later, Plaza Merdeka managing director Dato Steve Ng and his wife, Datin Anriza Cordero, paid a visit to the outlet and met their tenant staff and the franchisee.
GJ’s Coffees is a franchised speciality coffeehouse company that has opened thousands of coffee houses across many markets worldwide, including more than 400 in Australia — where the owners are from.
In Kuching, there are two GJ’s Coffees outlets — at Plaza Merdeka and the other at White Barouq.
Also present at the function were franchise partner Mohd Shazreen Mohamad Bahaman and outlet manager Mohammad Azam Mohamad Azaiddin. — DayakDaily
