In more on-topic reflections, the food and drink tastemakers have seen to it that we drink acidic coffee and hoppy beer. When I started this blog, I advocated for light-roasted, usually acidic coffee, and now I have to backtrack. (Fortunately, I'm perfectly comfortable with my long history of flip-flopping!) I now prefer a roast somewhere between the traditional Starbucks/Stone Creek dark roast and Alterra's current light roast level. In practice, that often means blending beans from multiple sources.
I'm curious about the degree to which these trends reflect genuine food and drink preferences vs. the degree to which they are simply "stuff that white people like." After all, if you're a company like Alterra, you probably enjoy the prestige of leading your clientele on the path to enlightenment. No doubt, that means gradually turning up the volume on the acidity.
