I drink a lot of coffee & espresso. It's my life.

Since the beginning of my life I've been on a search for a good palate cleanser, or as someone just put it -- "refresher". I tried many things; spring water, spring water with a little salt, lemon water, breads, crackers, mouthwash (not good), etc., etc. -- you get my drift. A while back I started going through all the green bottled mineral waters I could find, and I settled in on San Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water. Of all the waters, San Pellegrino (SanP) invigorates my palate and leaves no real aftertaste. Nice! I now found a designated driver for my coffee & espresso binges. Plus, the mineral water helps keep me hydrated, and since their label sports a star too, I figured it was just meant to be.

Caffe Fresco is me. It's a solo operation. Each day I am confronted with new & unknown business, roasting and industry hurdles to go over, and I welcome those hurdles. Bring it! But, every now & then I read something on the web that gives confirmation to the little actions I've taken in my coffee world. One of them was about using SanP as a palate refresher. Of all the things to catch my eye in Malachi's GS3 monster post was that he loaded up on SanP before his espresso tastings. A quick e-mail to him revealed that SanP is a preferred palate refresher amongest coffee people. Who knew?

What's your favorite palate cleanser? Please do share. There must be more out there!

Between Pellegrino and Ty Nant, I prefer the latter. I like Pellegrino in general, but find its softness sometimes comes through as oiliness, which makes it a bit less versatile. But then I haven't tried all the gaseous mineral waters out there (I haven't tried your beans, either, but I'm planning to remedy that situation soon ).

Great idea for a discussion!

San Pellegrino and Soda Biscuits or Soda Crackers.

Good trick if you need to actually cleanse (not refresh) your palate...
There is an italian liquor called Cynar. A shot of it in a glass topped off with SanP will eliminate any flavours on your palate.

modern processed milk is quite effective as it doesn't really taste of much and has enough fat and water to rinse off most tastes.

The Fat Duck do a weird egg white, green tea, lime and vodka foam they cold poach in liquid nitrogen that makes your palate feel very clean. The vodka is the really important bit when it comes to stripping off fat (so they tell me).

Tequila! Or at least that is my excuse

But in all seriousness, a neutrally flavored spirit would cut the oils (swish and spit unless you want to get hammered) followed by a water rinse. I just can't bring myself to waste good vodka to try it.

I don't think milk would be all that good personally. The milk fat would leave a residue in your mouth and on the palate unless you followed it with some water. I will have to try out the sparkling water next time.

Pilot Bread is a good palate cleanser along with SP or other appropriate water. It's sort of like a cross between a no-salt soda cracker and a frisbee. Discovered it years ago when fishing in Bristol Bay, AK.

HB wrote:Good topic Tony! San Pellegrino is a great sparkling water, though I prefer Badoit because it's lighter and less fizzy. I got hooked on it while living in France; unfortunately not many stores in the US carry it and those that do generally charge too much.

Hi Dan,

I used to think that Badoit was a great mineral water, in fact I used to always order it in expensive restaurants, but I have been shown that it is in fact basically the Canada Dry Soda Water of France. Most of the French who buy it, get it in plastic bottles in the supermarkets or hypermarches. I would not put much effort into getting it over here as it isn't worth looking for.

I have a new one for you, recommended by a guy I know with great taste, an international lawyer who travels to Belgium and France about once a month. He has a vacation home in my area and we have known each other for years, often musing about our favorite restaurant which happens to be the same; Lameloise in Chagny, just south of Beaune, Burgundy, France. By absolute coincidence I ran into him a couple of months ago there. We ended up sharing a table and he told me about Chatledon.

Mind you, this isn't a discovery in the same league as discovering a great Red Burgundy hidden on a wine list, for $12.75. But, if you are in a situation where you feel like you should order a bottle of water, this is definitely better than Badoit, and if the restaurant has it on the list, the server won't view you as yet another dumb tourist after you order it.

ken

Business periodically takes me to Newark, NJ. While there I venture into Newark's Ironbound. Ironbound? This particular section of the city is completely surrounded by commercial & passenger railroad tracks. Currently the Ironbound is home to a large community of Brazilian & Portuguese immigrants. Their diversity of culture and foods makes it a fun trip for me. Going into the restaurants is an authentic experience. Going into the grocery stores is like being aboard in a different country. Because of my latest quest, I searched the aisles for mineral waters and found a vast selection. I picked up 4, six-packs of different waters; Luso, Pedreo's, Castello & Carvalhelos. All from Portugal. Their tastes were all different, and the Carvalhelos did it for me. I am not saying it's the best, but it just refreshed my palate and tasted the best to me.

Carvalhelos http://www.carvalhelhos.pt

So this thread leaves me to wonder. Where or what are the U.S. Mineral waters? It seems the Europeans have the market on this type of product.

Oddly enough, I was just talking about this yesterday with my wife. When I get up in the morning, and brush with toothpaste, for example, it "corrupts the palate" for a while. Same with coffee and grapefruit. I have found a nice thing to reset the clock is a thin slice, or bite of apple. It is sweet, so kind of clears away bitterness, but does not linger. Please do not tell my poker buddies I used the phrase corrupts the palate. I think it mine originally, but may be a repressed memory from Niles in an old Frazier episode