The Lupulin Shift

Roasting decreases acidity in coffee. If you drink the "darkest roastest" coffee, you are not drinking the best coffee available. It's like saying "I love steak, I always order it as well done as possible". Every bean has a golden roast level, and generally, the more expensive coffees are roasted just barely past first crack.

 

I was mostly just trying to make a point and may have embellished on that comment. I generally prefer dark roast coffee but I am just talking about coffee at Starbucks and Peets which probably aren't the highest quality of coffee compared to the real coffee roasters out there. Being a field account manager I need a office other than my car.

Thanks for the info as I wasn't aware of how roasting effected the acidity.

 

Yes.

But I also think sometimes this can be confused with batch variance.

 

I'm not sure about Lupulin Shift, but I will say that, regarding IPAs, whereas it seems like a lot of folks want juicier, tropical-er, softest-er, whatever juice bombs of IPAs, they're just not doing it for me (generally-speaking). Meanwhile, I've had a Stone IPA and a Founder Centennial in the last week that were just downright delightful.

Palate shift (which, I know, is not the same concept as Lupulin Shift) can occur in more than one direction.

 

I get it about twice a year also, due to excessive hop consumption, highly curable with proper routine.

Def. gonna try your routine above for my next time, sounds like it doesn't cure it so much as attack and overpower it.

 

Is it a change to the physical reaction or sensation to bitterness (let's call it "pain" for the purpose of my response) or the perception of what the bitterness imparts? Perhaps becoming accustomed to the bitter "pain" allows the senses to find more depth in the actual taste. Let's say you have a wicked cold bowl of chocolate ice cream. Your tongue will not sense every nuance of flavor that the ice cream has to offer, but let it warm up a bit and there you go - tasting more depth of flavor than before. Obviously cold or heat will have a physical toll on the receptors, but my larger point is that a physical reaction is interfering with receiving every flavor. This interference isn't limited to what the hop brings, but also the barley. If your tongue is in shock, it's only going to pick up the most dominant of flavors, so the malt backbone may never have a chance to impart flavor. Once the tongue becomes accustomed to the bitter "pain" it allows other flavors to become apparent. So maybe that "malty" IPA isn't really malty at all - you just never tasted them before because you were too sensitive to the bitter. Another way to look at it is like how the eyes adapt to dark. Go form light to dark and instantly all you can see is dark, but after a few minutes you start to pick up shapes and such. Same with bitter? Maybe.

Of course this is all my opinion and not based on any science whatsoever. Just rationalizing why IPAs I had a long while back tasted like hop bombs while those same ones (fresh even) today don't seem so much any more, like 60 Minute and Hop Devil. They didn't' change, but I did. Maybe I owe it to several good IPAs to knock it off for about 2 - 3 weeks and see if I can get that sensitivity back. Or maybe I can maintain my current bitter tolerance and enjoy the balance of IPAs as opposed to seeking an extreme palate destroying tongue sensitivity condition.

 

Going off topic a bit...but it's no wonder that you found the Assam to be so bitter! Tea really shouldn't be steeped in water that hot. 190-195°F is more like it, and will extract less of the undesirable tannins. Green tea requires an even lower temperature than that.
The only teas I know of that ask for boiling or near boiling temperatures are the PuEhr and Oolong teas from China. And that's only for the first infusion (which lasts less than 10 seconds and is traditionally dumped out before proceeding with the traditional 3-5 minute steep).
OK. Done being pedantic.
Back to beer and hoppy goodness...

 

no on the shift part and is that the complete post? have my tastes expanded over the years maybe...
I said this so many times here, its crazy but some of us, our tastes are the same.
I hated bud at age 5, 17,18, 24,29,45,66 (age event times I tasted it). (yea at parties u get handed it).

I disliked over hoppy beers forever. old here. balance rules

the last 1 is a bitter limit, yes. I think there is some science on that 1.

 

I steep most of my tea at 185, but malty black Assams need it hotter. From what I understand Oolongs require steeping temperatures in the same ballpark as green teas, not pu-ehrs. Oolong should not be steeped more than a minute for any of its multiple infusions.

 

Of course its real. Most people hated their first IPA and then in clicked for them one day. Now I look for hoppier and hoppier brews. However if you lay off them for awhile like any thing your tolerance will shrink.

 

Absolutely. It's very noticeable. Things that used to make me pucker now make me go "Where's da hops?"

 

Well I do like my steak rare but I like my coffee with a dark roast.You may like it barely roasted and that suites your taste. I tend to like French Roast or something similar as that suites MY taste. I'm seeking that smoky flavor as that is what I like. Taste preferences are an individual thing.I know a lot of people that shudder when they see my rare steak, should I tell them that the well done steak they prefer is not the best steak available?

 

If we are suggesting the Lupulin Shift is when you develop a taste for IPA bitterness, what do you call what has happened to hopheads who no longer seek out high IBU beers and have moved more to tropical juicy IPAs and pales?

 

yes

Do you think that a Michelin reviewer could ever order a well done steak and maintain any credibility?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_wave_of_coffee

 

Major rabbit trail, so I apologize, but can you explain what the best coffee/roast option is for those of us who enjoy a very dark roast? I've been paying out the nose at a local joint to try all their "Third Wave" coffee approaches -- all the beans talk about this fruit and that nut, and they've been prepared in a variety of methods from Chemex to V60 to Aeropress and so forth. But, truth be told, most of the time I find myself wishing for a nice, darkly roasted cup of joe.

 

I once heard a beer distributor give an off-the-cuff seminar about bitterness, and he said that we can't distinguish 'more' bitterness past ~100 IBU. So, a beer with 120 IBU would seem just as bitter as a 500 IBU beer, all other things being equal. Mikkeller does have a 1000 IBU beer... and I heard it is not good, even as an experiment/novelty.

 

I thought i was just getting old and bitter, the "Lupulin Shift" sounds better.

 

Interesting Wikipedia article but I think I'll stick with my dark roasts. But, if I see a third wave coffee bar I'll certainly try one. BTW if the reviewer ordered his steak well done (yes, I know the French would never so that) and it arrived rare I think the review would be equally bad. Once, in Paris (home of really dark coffee) my wife's language mistake resulted in me getting the best piece of liver I've ever had (no, it wasn't over cooked). All it cost me was the duck I ordered.

 

Does this have to do with that 3:00 craving for something so bitter, juicy, and hoppy, that it makes your mouth water just thinking about it?
Yeah, I got that too.

 

There is a solubility limit of around 110 to 120 IBUs. Anything above that is an estimater from computer programs that don't take the solubility limit into account.

The guy was right, most say bitterness perception tops out from 80 to 100 IBU.