Over 250 people payed $25 per ticket to participate in this epicurean showdown which took on some of today's more pressing culinary questions in a fun filled format at an entertaining venue. Prosciutto di Parma or Jamón Ibérico, Beef or Pork Ribs, Mac n Cheese or Corn Pudding, East Coast vs. West Coast Oysters were just a few of the examples put to the test of the attendees discerning palates who tasted, chewed, sipped and then voted for their favorite.
Plowshares hosted the coffee debate which was entitled: Press Pot or Chemex. Newly transplanted NYC coffee professional Katie Duris formerly of Murky Coffee and Chinatown Coffee Company in Washington D.C. stepped in for the assist as we prepared an endless stream of Press Pots and Chemexes of the wonderfully sweet and heavily fruited Ethiopian Amaro Gayo naturally processed coffee for attendees to sip and ponder.
And the winner you ask? Press Pot by a nearly 3 to 1 margin. Before a firestorm is set off in the coffee blogosphere over the merits and validity of comparing these two brewing methods, or the lack of scientific control, I must freely qualify that I prepared the Chemex while Katie handled Press Pots and this more than any other factor probably dictated the results! It was definitely a fun evening and the coffee was very well recieved by an enthusiastic and curious audience.
