Ground coffee in a wine tasting?

I was at a tasting at a new Maryland winery this weekend. The offered a cup of ground coffee beans between wines to clear one's sense of smell. Has anyone ever heard of that before?
(One reason I ask is because one wine, a merlot, smelled like wet newspapers. I told the pourer, an employee, not a volunteer, that the wine smelled corked to me. He said: "Yes, we do use corks." I said: "No, TCA." and he did not know what I was taking about. So, I am doubting the coffee bean idea.)

I've seen this in perfume shops. I'm not sure of the basis behind this.

Jon:

Here's a description of just one of the interesting papers on the science of smell contained on a website called (aptly enough) http://www.senseofsmell.org.

"6) The Influence of Smelling Coffee on Olfactory Habituation. Here is another contribution of Noam Sobel’s lab at U.C. Berkeley. This one should be near to the hearts of perfume evaluators and sales people. Smelling coffee aroma is thought to clear the nose after smelling a perfume so as to increase its sensitivity for the next evaluation. Coffee aroma is not the only odor used for clearing the nose. Other popular nose clearing techniques employ smelling a swatch of wool or smelling an unfragranced forearm. Noam’s group did the study and found that smelling coffee aroma between perfume samples, as compared to smelling unscented air actually works. The perceived odor intensity of the perfume from sample to sample stayed the same after smelling coffee aroma while it decreased when smelling air between samples. The pleasantness of the perfume, however, was similar after smelling coffee or air. This is the first scientific evidence that coffee aroma works."

I have seen coffee beans at the tasting bars at some wineries too. I am not sure either how much of an olfactory cleansing they provide.

Jon, there are number of studies on the ability of coffee to "awaken" olfactory receptors. See for example:

Awaken olfactory receptors of humans and experimental animals by coffee odourants to induce appetite

Yaser Dorria, b, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, E-mail The Corresponding Author, Maryam Sabeghic and Biji T. Kurienb
aDepartment of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States
bArthritis and Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, MS No. 24, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States
cOklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, OK 73159, United States
Received 13 December 2006; accepted 14 December 2006. Available online 28 February 2007.

Summary

Smell and its mechanism has been of interest to scientists for many years. Smell, not only provides a sensual pleasure of food and perfumes for humans but also reminds us of past memories, thoughts, locations and finally warns of dangers such as fire. One of the uses of coffee beans is on perfume counters, enabling people to distinguish between perfume fragrances. We hypothesize that coffee can be also used to refresh olfactory receptors after cooking, since people usually experience loss of appetite after cooking. We have experienced an increase in appetite, after cooking, by smelling coffee beans. This is probably due to the detachment of food odourants from olfactory receptors by the coffee odourant molecules. We also think that coffee smell could be used in animal research studies, to keep animals healthy by stimulating their appetite. In a recent study, 28 different odourants have been identified from coffee. One or more of these odourants may have strong binding affinity to olfactory receptors which results in detachment of other odourants from the receptors. The high vibration intensity from coffee odourant molecules may cause the detachment of food odourant from olfactory receptors. Another hypothesis might be the unique structure of these coffee odourants. Studies need to be done to investigate the effect of coffee smell on salivary flow and appetite in animals and humans.


Corresponding Author Contact InformationCorresponding author. Address: Arthritis and Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, MS No. 24, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States. Tel.: +1 (405) 271 7394; fax: +1 (405) 271 7063.


Medical Hypotheses
Volume 69, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 508-509

Very interesting. The discussion so far refers to coffee beans, ground coffee, and the aroma of coffee (brewed?). Does anyone happen to know whether all are shorthand for "coffee", or whether there is research that has looked at each form?

Dan, the research I've seen always mentions which form of coffee was used. I'm not aware of any studies that discuss the different forms or roasts.

One important point for wine tasters at wine tasting events: if you are carrying beans or ground coffee in a plastic baggie, for example, it is good practice to leave the room to refresh your olfactory sensitivity. Coffee does have some of the same aromas that appear in some wines -- syrah comes to mind immediately -- and like cologne or perfume, you don't want to adversely affect the enjoyment of other people at the tasting.

Very interesting. The discussion so far refers to coffee beans, ground coffee, and the aroma of coffee (brewed?). Does anyone happen to know whether all are shorthand for "coffee", or whether there is research that has looked at each form?

Oh, yeah, you're going to find plenty of research into the infinitesimal aspects of subdividing the categories, Jeff. We're talking about scientists and research grants here, buddy!

[James Roscoe]

Very interesting. The discussion so far refers to coffee beans, ground coffee, and the aroma of coffee (brewed?). Does anyone happen to know whether all are shorthand for "coffee", or whether there is research that has looked at each form?

Oh, yeah, you're going to find plenty of research into the infinitesimal aspects of subdividing the categories, Jeff. We're talking about scientists and research grants here, buddy!

As always, follow the money!

We had coffee beans at a Banfi tasting. We were instructed to smell the coffee between the wines. Problem was many of us could smell nothing but the coffee so I thought it was counter-productive.

Thanks everyone. I guess there's sound reasoning behind the coffee grounds presentation at the tasting.
And Dan - I notice you are from Syracuse. I lived in Manilus from age 8 to about age 14 or 15 and my brother went to Syracuse Law School. I haven't been back for a while but I do love that part of NY.

I was at a tasting at a new Maryland winery this weekend. The offered a cup of ground coffee beans between wines to clear one's sense of smell. Has anyone ever heard of that before?

Yes,
I have a wine tasting buddy who does this. He say's it is especially useful when he has a slight cold. He keeps his ground coffee beans in a brown paper bag and occasionally brings the bag out to have a big sniff. When I first saw him do it, it was like he was sniffing glue, or something, He swears it works though I've never tried it and don't really want to.