I know I’ve also said before that I tend to prefer my coffee a bit over-extracted as well – well, I might be coming around on that point now that I’ve stumbled on a great video that walks you through preparing coffee with your French Press in a more…refined manner. Let’s take a look at the video behind the jump.

This video reminds me of a post over at Lifehacker I saw a while ago about how important it is to weigh everything and keep notes to make sure your coffee is perfect, and that every cup you prepare is better than the last. In this case, we see the preparers measuring everything by putting it all on a simple food scale – you know, the kind you should probably have anyway?

Measuring and weighing aside though, the thing I find most interesting is the specific technique of steeping the coffee open and then skimming the sludge off of the top. I hadn’t heard about this until recently, and when I tried it myself, it really did make a world of difference, and as promised it resulted in a cleaner cup of coffee.

By steeping the press open without covering it, you allow the bitter bits in the coffee to rise to the top and stay out of the water, where they’ll get over-extracted and inject their bitterness into the end-result. It also allows the aromatics and flavors to really bloom. When I did this, I noticed a lot of the darkest beans floating to the top, and the nose on my coffee was fantastic – something I hadn’t smelled quite as well, since I normally poured in the water, put the top on the press (without actually pressing it) and waited for it to steep.

The other thing I noticed from the video that I started doing – with mixed results – is the skimming. You’ll see that after the coffee has steeped, they use a pair of spoons to break the coffee that’s floated to the top, stir it up a bit, and then scoop off the foamy crema on the top. You take the top off in order to skim off the sludgy, bitter bits from the top of the press that, when you actually pressed the coffee, would wind up in your cup.

That grainy, sludgy mess on the top of the press is usually the stuff at the bottom of the cup that turns people off of the French Press entirely. By skimming it off the top, you wind up with a much cleaner tasting and smoother cup of coffee.

At the same time, the tradeoff is that you lose a little of the bitterness and earthiness that you may be accustomed to with the French Press, and if you don’t have a good, even grind, you may wind up with enough fine particles in the coffee that you still get some sludge. Still, it’s a great trick, and an easy one to do without seriously changing the way you use a French Press. Give it a try, and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

What’s that? It sounds too good to be true? It’s not, I promise: which is why you should enjoy them now, before we do something silly like start overfishing them or their population crashes. The only real catch is that you might have a hard time finding really good ones: after all, most chain grocery stores aren’t about to have live, fresh bivalves in their cold case, no matter how delicious they are. So what do you do, now that you’re interested? Well, let’s first talk about where you can get them, and then talk about why you definitely want them.

The first thing you need to know is that if you like in a landlocked area with no short route to water, you’re probably boned here. Seriously – unless you’re willing to pay the exorbitant amount of money required to get live mussels from a lake or coast to your local restaurant in, Nebraska – hypothetically, then your odds of finding good mussels are pretty slim. Even then, if you do find them, I would suggest first that you question their freshness before you buy them or order them, okay? I’m not saying you can’t get them – I am saying that you’re going to have trouble getting good ones, at least affordably.

Now then, with that aside, if you do have access to a waterfront, marina, or a decent seafood market, those are probably your best bets to find them. Good seafood markets or a solid fishmonger will likely have a good stock of live mussels, either locally caught/farmed or shipped in along a major route from somewhere on your coast where they are caught or farmed. Your next stop if you’re really looking should be a gourmet grocery store – doesn’t have to be a small one, but it does have to be a grocery store you know is uppity enough to carry something like mussels. You know where I’m going here: skip the Walmart grocery section and head over to your local Wegman’s.

Once you’re in a position to buy some, make sure they’re good and alive before you pick them up. If they’re in a bag, tap the shell of one of them to see how many of them close up in response to the vibration. If they all do, you’re in good shape and they’re all still alive. If a bunch of them are tightly closed when you get to them, that’s a good sign. If a lot of them are wide open or don’t respond to the tapping, they’re probably dead and you should skip them. They should also smell briny, or like the sea – not at all fishy. You know the adage about seafood: if it smells like fish, it’s not for eating.

Once you get them home, get them out of the plastic, rinse them a little, and put them in a bowl with a damp cloth over it and put them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. I’ll be the first one to tell you that if you’ve purchased some fresh mussels, try to eat them the same day: that’s when they’re best.

So now what do you do? You cook them, of course! There are several ways and tons of different delicious mussel recipes, but when you’re cooking, pay attention to the whole open/closed thing: If you take them out of the fridge and any are wide open, toss them. If you cook them and some of them are closed up tight, they’re no good.

If you want some great recipes for fresh mussels, try this Mussels in White Wine and Garlic-Butter Sauce from PioneerWoman (where the image above is also from,) or this recipe for Mussels in a Cilantro Cream Sauce from eHow, which also gives you a handy guide to picking and storing Mussels if you want one thing to print out and stick to the fridge.

But sustainable? Are they really? Oh yes, yes they are. Writing for Salon.com, Francis Lam has this to say:

They taste great, are cheap, are ridiculously easy to cook, still pack some heat on the impress-the-guests scale, are seriously versatile and are, yes, sustainable. Calling seafood “sustainable” is usually tricky business because there are so many variables, but with mussels, you’ll almost always get responsibly farmed shellfish that actually clean the water they’re grown in. (They’re a “best choice” on the well-respected Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list.)

For too long relegated to “mixed-seafood pasta” jumbles or clichéd steams with white wine and herbs, it’s time for mussels to get shown a little love. They can seem intimidating for home cooks, but really, I can’t think of anything easier to prepare. And I love how sitting there with a big pot of them, slurping them out of the shell, soaking up the broth with bread, turns dinner into an event of conversation and juice-slicked hands.

Hear, hear Francis.

Great. Now I want mussels.

In a couple more weeks, we’ll be stuck needing that cold drink to go outside anywhere, so why not make the most of the lovely weather without sacrificing your caffeine habit? Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for iced tea and sodas and other tasty cold drinks, but sometimes an iced coffee hits the spot — and I don’t mean a Starbucks iced coffee either, I’m thinking a nice, freshly shaken Greek frappe.

The best thing about a frappe is that you can make it yourself in a matter of minutes, and all you need to do it is instant coffee (I actually suggest Starbucks Via for this, since it’s probably the only palatable instant coffee I can think of,) water, sugar, milk, and of course, ice. Want to see how it’s done? Click the jump for the video.

Delicious, nutritious (if you consider caffeine an essential nutrient, and I certainly do) and most importantly, easy to make.

I have a bar set at home, so I have all of the hardware that’s used for this – including a nice shaker (the tongs may be overkill.) If you don’t, I’d suggest just using some container that has a nice secure lid so you don’t get your instant coffee all over the place when you prepare it. If you’d like to keep a properly stocked bar instead, I suggest the essential bar equipment segment of our bar essentials tutorial?

Now then, hurry out and make yourself a delicious Greek-style frappe. Like I’ve mentioned before in several situations, sure you can just go out and buy one somewhere, but making it yourself is the only way to make sure it’s perfectly suited to your tastes. Tweak it just the way you like – more coffee, less sugar? Sure. More sugar, less milk? Okay. Make it your own, and stay cool.

Who among us hasn’t come home one night after a long day (or night) at the office (or out having fun, or worse, stuck in a datacenter doing work that you’ll never be thanked for) wondering how you’re going to feed yourself, only to find the last three things in your fridge are butter, cheese, and bread?

You’re not alone! And you don’t have to have more than just those three things to make a truly epic grilled cheese sandwich. Sure, you can toss in some bacon, you can add some kind of ham or lunch meat, you can use delicious rare cheeses or herbed bread or compound butter, but sometimes? Sometimes you just want bread, and delicious melty, crispy cheese. And this week over at Slate, the fine folks from GastroLab have some help for us.

Head behind the jump to see the video.

Now I have to admit something right here – I’m not a huge fan of crispy cheese, but considering exactly how much they used here, and the fact that what I really like about a grilled cheese – the molten, oozy, salty cheese in and oozing out of the sandwich – is all over the place in this recipe, I’m inclined to give it a try.

Plus, there’s a soft spot in my heart for folks who use the scientific method and repeatable (as well as delicious) experiments with different results to get where they want to go.

Oh – a note of caution? Be very careful if you try to do what these guys did at home. I mean after all, that was a lot of grease and that flip could have ended badly. Maybe a pair of spatulas or getting a friend to help would be a better idea, and sharing that sandwich with said friend would be better for your health.

I’m a huge fan of making sure to make your own food if at all possible, and especially in most normal everyday circumstances. There’s plenty of room to go out to eat, enjoy your favorite dishes when you’re out and about, and spend time at your favorite eateries, but when it comes to the every day and all of the other meals you have every day, it’s clearly healthier for you to make your own meals. Add to it all the fact that you have the utmost control over what you eat and drink when you prepare it yourself, and you have a great reason to make your own.

Bittman has an excellent take on this, and he has a great list of dishes. Click the jump to read a few of my favorites, and find out what Bittman means when he says “minimalist.” It may not be what you think it means.

First of all, Mark Bittman – or The Minimalist as a number of readers of The New York Times Dining Section know him – has a very special definition of what “minimalist food” means. It’s not necessarily some hoity-toity gourmet concept that involves only a few special ingredients, or only organics, or only local food, although all of those things can be good for you, for your food, and for its flavor. Here’s how he described it in his farewell column:

The Minimalist first appeared on Sept. 17, 1997. It was the brainchild of Rick Flaste, who created the Dining In/Dining Out section (now the Dining section); Trish Hall, my on-and-off editor; and me. It was conceived as a successor to Pierre Franey’s classic 60-Minute Gourmet column, but with a less French, more modern, less chef-y sensibility. In addition, Rick wanted the recipes to be “smart,” and although I couldn’t quite figure out what that meant, I tried to please him.

As every columnist will tell you, it takes time for a column to find its true identity, and The Minimalist was no different. A year later, the column was at least adolescent, and I described its typical recipes as I do today: nearly all of them use minimal technique, minimal time or minimal ingredients; many recipes meet two of those standards, and quite a few all three.

I could say it more succinctly: The column’s goal, my job, has been to help make home cooking more accessible.

Bittman’s been writing The Minimalist for longer than these ideals of home-made, conscientious cooking with real ingredients and an attention to both health and flavor have been fashionable. Longer than there’s been a Food Network, longer than cookbooks were in style, and longer than chefs were celebrities (with the exception of some of the most highly renown chefs on public television, of course.)

It makes sense that he’d retire it now after it’s been so good and long. Still, it’s a shame that his column was one of those things that’s helped bring this style of cooking and eating to the forefront and now that it’s popular it’s time to go. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from his experiences and follow some of the delicious recipes that he’s left behind for us. For example, his first column was a simple Red Pepper Puree, but one of my favorites is Scrambled Eggs with Shrimp:

OF all the dishes I ate for the first time in 2006, this one stands out. It’s amazing how good it is, how simple it is, how easy and fast it is. It’s also amazing how puzzled you must be hearing me say these things about scrambled eggs with shrimp. Have faith.

…

If you want this dish at its best, stop cooking when the eggs are creamy and even a little bit of liquid remains. (If you like your eggs dry, cook them as you usually do.)

Eat this immediately, really hot. I made a batch as an appetizer for a party, using 24 eggs and about two pounds of shrimp. It was gone in a minute, and my feeling is that it was the high point of the meal.

Bittman even goes on to share the perfect way to scramble eggs, in a very short but very succinct piece that’s enough to inspire anyone to try it themselves at home with a little cooked shrimp and some scrambled eggs. Another one of my favorites is the Spaghetti with Fried Eggs, which hits a spot that I think my parents tried to hit when we were growing up – some nights my parents just didn’t feel like cooking so we did spaghetti with boiled eggs: changing it up to fried eggs and adding some delicious garlic and a great olive oil to the mix and you have a really modern but simple take on a classic dish — from my childhood, anyway:

These recipes, however, take things one or two easy steps further. In the first dish, sometimes known as ”poor man’s spaghetti,” you fry a couple of eggs in the olive oil after removing the garlic; tossed with the pasta, the eggs and oil create a creamy, delicious sauce.

The recipe is included with this one – along with a couple of other delicious pasta treats, so make sure you bookmark this one, okay? It’s easy enough to cook one night on your way home from the office when you’re too tired to make a big fussy meal, but it’s classy enough to make for a guest if you’re trying to impress someone with your pasta cooking skills on a quiet night in with a date, or if you’re planning to entertain a few friends for a refreshing but hearty dinner in the summertime.

Go forth, my fellow geeks – don’t be afraid to play in the kitchen, and apply some of the same principles and ideas that you put to solving puzzles in video games or assembling your next computer to work in the kitchen. Thankfully Bittman left us with some great recipes to help get you started. Give them a shot, and then think about ways you can tweak the recipes to your own tastes and palate.

images in this post courtesy of New York Times Photographer Evan Sung: Fennel and Celery Make a Striking Pair , and Let the Oven Do All the Work.

If you had no idea what I was on about there at the end, don’t worry too much about it – the world of wine can be really intimidating, and while I think there’s a lot to be gained by just jumping in and trying different things without fear of discovering something you love or stumbling on something you may hate, there’s also something to be said for having a helping hand through the process to some extent.

Gregory Dal Piaz, also known as Editor-in-Chief of Snooth is often seen over at The Huffington Post, commenting on all things wine and writing some food and drink pieces. This is where he comes in, and one of his most recent pieces that I think is worth a look, titled The 10 Most Common Wine Questions. Let’s take a look, shall we?

When I say that Dal Piaz tackled the 10 most common wine questions, I mean it. If you have any experience in the wine arena at all, you’ve probably seen these before, and you’re probably over some of them. But for those people who enjoy the occasional (or even the frequent) bottle of wine but who have never really gotten into the wine “world,” as it were, these are some great questions.

For example – and this is one that schooled me – if you know someone who thinks that the reason they get headaches after drinking red wines is because of the sulfite content in the wine, they’d be wrong:

Why do some wines give you a headache?

Well, it’s probably not the sulfites, right? Indeed, it probably is not. The most likely culprits are histamines in wine. Red wines have higher levels of histamines than whites, since the histamines are in the skins of the wine and red wines spend time macerating on their skins to extract pigment, tannin, flavors, and, yes, histamines.

Those same tannins and flavonoids tend to help to preserve red wines, resulting in many white wines with higher levels of sulfites than red wines. So, if you’re getting a headache after drinking red wine, it is likely a reaction to the histamines, which can be prevented by taking an antihistamine before starting to drink.

How incredible is that? I think that’s one of the bigger wine stories that still circulates unquestioned, and in reality, it’s likely a matter of allergy. Dal Piaz even goes further to explains exactly what sulfites are and whether or not you should be concerned about them (hint: you shouldn’t be.) That’s not all though, there’s plenty of other great tips, like what’s up with those crystals on the underside of the cork, for those people who have ever seen them, and what the deal with screwtop wines is and whether it’s some indicator of the quality of your wine.

Maybe you’ve had a wine that had a little sediment at the bottom? No – that’s not dirt and dust, and if you have no idea how wine is made, you might actually worry about it. You can even find out what to do about the stuff if it bothers you.

That’s not even the half of it either. I don’t want to tip too much of the overall piece, but it’s a great primer if you’ve ever had a bottle of wine and wondered what was going on with the cork, or the bottle, or pondered whether or not you were storing your wine properly, and what the “best vintages” are (hint: there’s no such thing.)

After all, coffee is a short shelf-life product. Contrary to the way a lot of people (and large commercial coffee producers like Folgers and Maxwell House) think about it, it is not a product that’s well served by stuffing it into your freezer and forgetting about it until you’re all out of coffee. It’s not a product that you should buy gallon-tubs of and keep lying around for months at a time. The oils and chemicals that give coffee the rich body and delicious acidity that defines a “good cup” break down very quickly over only a few days.

To that end, it helps to store your coffee in airtight containers – even those nice jars with the locking, airtight seals that you can get from any department store will do. Try to keep your coffee out of the light, since bathing it in light or in the heat of sunlight will accelerate the process. And, of course, try to buy your coffee from someone who puts the roast date on the bag, like Zeke’s Coffee – a small batch roaster based in Baltimore, Maryland.

In this Stalking the Wild Bean segment, we’ll taste some of Zeke’s coffee – particularly their Sumatra Gayoland, which is available in restaurants, gourmet food shops, and organic and gourmet markets in the Baltimore, MD and Washington DC area.

Hit the jump to find out how Zeke’s Fair Trade Sumatra Gayoland did on my palate.

Let’s get this out of the way right from the get-go. I’m a big fan of Zeke’s Coffee – they’re pretty local to me, I can get freshly roasted beans at my local gourmet food market, and I know that those beans are not only rich with flavor and incredibly tasty, but the bag may as well be warm from them being packaged.

If you’re a huge fan of Sumatra, you’ll enjoy this blend. A lot. So I’m not holding back the secret here, I’m not waiting until the end of the review to let you know how I feel. If you can pick up the Zeke’s Sumatra Gayoland, go get it right now. If you can’t, find someone in the Baltimore/Washington Metro area that you trust enough to send you a bag. Is it the best of Zeke’s coffees? Nope – I don’t think so, but that’ll have to wait for another time. Right now, let’s get into the review criteria.

Unless otherwise noted, the beans I’m tasting have been on the shelf no longer than 5 days, roasted Vienna style, and sealed in an airtight or vacuum packed container, the way any consumer would get them.

I normally prepare the beans by grinding them on-demand, just after boiling the water for coffee, and then prepare the coffee in a french press. I let the coffee steep a touch longer than advisable, but otherwise consume it the way any normal consumer would. I will, at times, prepare the coffee differently for the sake of comparison, but I’ll note it in the review.

Finally, each blend will be reviewed on five factors: aroma (the smell of the cup as it’s brewed and poured), acidity (the sharpness and acidic notes of the coffee on your tongue), body (the richness and heaviness of the coffee), flavor (the flavor notes and depth of the coffee’s taste), and after-taste (how long the flavor stays with you after swallowing, and what type of flavor that is).

That said, let’s get started:

• The Blend: Zeke’s Coffee – Sumatra Gayoland

  Zeke’s Coffee is a small-batch roaster founded in 2005, family owned and operated, and passionately dedicated to exceptional coffee. Here’s how Zeke’s describes this fair-trade, shade-grown natural coffee:

  Cultivated on the Western tip of the island, this bean, roasted light-medium, produces a light, full-bodied coffee with a wine like, syrupy taste.

  Zeke’s sells their coffee in simple brown bags that are rolled on the top and closed shut with the flxible clips on the sides like you’ll find on virtually every bag of coffee in your local grocery store. Very simple, but effective. As I mentioned earlier, the real stand-out feature about Zeke’s is that they stamp each bag with the date the coffee inside was roasted. I can’t sing the praises of this enough, especially since so many other coffee brands don’t do this – even ones with great coffee.

  The bags are about 1lb (16oz) of roasted beans each, so they’ll last a little while depending on how much coffee you drink. I usually go through one in just under a week, but I drink a bit more coffee than a lot of people.

• The Aroma

  Zeke’s Sumatra Gayoland is warm and nutty on the nose, and also gives off hints of chocolate and hazelnut. There’s definitely a little bit of smoke, especially when you prepare the coffee through a French Press, but because the coffee is roasted medium-light, you get a very mild and delicate nose that’s mouth-watering and really appealing, but barely there – it’s not strong or overbearing in any way.

  When ground, the coffee has much a much more nutty, chocolatey nose – it’s really well balanced, and I didn’t get a bunch of notes on the nose when ground that vanished or were replaced by something else when brewed. I could do with a slightly stronger nose, but that’s just my preference. This particular Sumatra isn’t super-heavily roasted or designed to be a particularly deep nose. It’s attractive without being overwhelming or disjointed.

• The Acidity

  This Sumatra has remarkably low acidity, which kind of defines the wine-like taste that Zeke’s describes. It’s not a “powerhouse” coffee, like I’ve discussed before (especially when confronted with the Royal Farms Royal Gourmet,) and if you’re looking for a coffee that gets out of its own way and lets you really experience the flavor, this is it. Even though I tend to often over-extract my coffee, the acidity was more than bearable, it was actually palatable, and worked as an incorporated component of the flavor profile instead of a distinct and stand-out element of it.

  Some people who are used to super-dark, burnt coffee will probably miss a high acidity level with Zeke’s Sumatra Gayoland, but if they can see past the lack of burn on their palate and to the flavors in the rich and full body, they’ll never look back.

• The Body

  When Zeke’s points out that the Sumatra Gayoland is a rich, full-bodied coffee when prepared, they’re not kidding. I can’t imagine putting this coffee through drip, but I also can’t imagine it being bad if you did. Pressed, the coffee yields a strong and complex body with full bottom notes that’s enough to perk you up in the morning but still mild enough to not turn into gut-rot later in the afternoon if you still have a cup in your thermos, for example.

  The body rounds out really well and everything you smelled on the nose comes through in the body – you get rich, deep chocolatey notes when you sip it and swirl the coffee in your mouth, and the acidity comes through in the form of the higher notes in the body as well. If I didn’t know better, I would think there were some sugars in the roasting process somewhere, the coffee’s “syrupy” nature, according to Zeke’s, actually turns into a long finish and some really tasty sweetness, especially when lifted with a little bit of sugar or sweetener (as long as your sweetener doesn’t get in the way of the flavor!)

• The Flavor

  The syrupy finish doesn’t just linger on your palate, it also lifts some of the bottom notes of the body and expands some of the finer cocoa-like flavors in the taste profile as well. You do get just a touch of smoke, especially when prepared via French Press, just because you’re getting a more dense flavor at once, but it’s actually a really nice addition. The coffee is far from sweet enough to be a dessert coffee on its own, but I can see Zeke’s Sumatra Gayoland being an excellent accompaniment to a dessert treat, with a flavor that’s unique on its own but not so strong or bold that it’s going to get in the way of your sweet treat. If you are going to drink it that way though, keep the amount of sugar you add to the coffee (if any) light, okay?

  It’s not really diner-style coffee though – the light and delicate flavors get lost when you pair them with super-bold or strong companions, so this isn’t the kind of coffee you’ll want to drink with a rich and tasty dinner. It would, on the other hand, go really well with a light breakfast of fruit, yogurt, cereal, a bagel – you see where I’m going. The cocoa and hazelnut just seems to blossom with a little bit of sweetness, and whether paired with something to eat or just enjoyed as a morning pick-me-up, this Sumatra is a great and complex way to experience a coffee really worth drinking but challenging to a Folgers palate.

• The After-Taste

  I know I mentioned it a couple of times, but the sweetness in Zeke’s Sumatra Gayoland makes for a long finish that sticks on the palate. It keeps your mouth moist, doesn’t give you a distracting sweetness, but also makes you want to take another sip. It doesn’t linger too long – either in your mouth or in your gut – but it doesn’t vanish so quickly that you forget what you drank. If given the opportunity, this Sumatra can be savored one sip at a time, but I would reccomend drinking it while it’s nice and fresh – letting it sit too long will start to break out some of the oils that make it so tasty, and you’ll get a less satisfying after-taste when you drink it.

• The Verdict

  I know that not everyone can get their hands on this coffee, and for that I am truly sorry. Mostly because if you’re already a fan of Sumatras in general, you’ll fall in love with Zeke’s. if you’re not a fan of Sumatras or just want to try and decent coffee that’s roasted with care and attention to the way it’s roasted and the flavor profile you get when you brew it, this is the coffee for you.

  I don’t normally discuss price, but Zeke’s is a little pricey when compared to some grocery store brands, but it’s not as expensive as some other, less complex and well-rounded coffees (you hear me, Starbucks?) – the $9.99/lb I paid for the bag I bought is a pretty good deal considering the level of enjoyment I got out of the cup. Zeke’s Sumatra Gayoland is a winner, I know I said that already, but this is also a coffee you can give as a gift to people who say they like coffee – when they brew a cup for the first time, they’ll thank you. I promise.

  Just…make sure they drink it quickly, okay? That roast isn’t getting any younger, and you can tell because the date is on the side. (You hear me, coffee roasters? The date. Is on. The Side. Follow suit.)

Are you a fan of Zeke’s Coffee? Maybe you’ve actually been to the cafes in Baltimore, or just see it on the shelves in your area and pondered picking up a bag? Maybe you’re not a fan, or think I missed something on the flavor profile? Let me know in the comments what you liked or disliked about the review.

Also, as always, let me know what I can do to make this series of reviews even better! If you have a favorite roaster or blend, either gourmet or off-the-shelf, let me know in the comments, or send me an e-mail at alanhenry [at] theclassygeek [dot] com.

header image in this post courtesy of Flickr user Jeff Kubina. (Coffee Beans)

I know, I’m a fan of wine. I’m a huge proponent of discovering new wines, finding new varietals and flavors that might entice you, and most of all never ruling out any class of beverage because you’ve pre-judged that you won’t enjoy it: either because you’re “not a wine person,” or because you think that in order to enjoy wine you have to have some level of prerequisite knowledge. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I can testify to it.

This is another place where the geek mentality can help you out a lot: all you really need to enjoy wine is a desire to experiment with different flavors and styles of beverage, admit there are things you don’t like and things you just haven’t tried, the willingness to get a little tipsy, and surprisingly little cash to back your experiments (lots of great wine can be purchased at bargain prices!) Once you have a few bottles and types that you like, you can start experimenting with foods to see how well they pair with the wines you already like. Before you know it, you’ll have a few bottles stashed away for different moods, different occasions, different events, and hopefully even a few that you’d like to drink at any day of the week, even with pizza.

If you’re already on the way to discovering great wine, great – this post will help you pick something for someone you have to buy a gift for this holiday season, and you might already have a few varietals or types in mind. If you’re just getting started, I have the advice of a very special sommelier for you that just might prove useful for the holidays: Natalie MacLean.

Click the jump to see what she has to say:

The full list is located at Natalie MacLean’s Top 10 Wines for Holiday Gifts, complete with links to each wine so you can see where you can get your hands on the varietal and type suggested.

To compliment the list, she also sent out an e-mail that included some of the rationale behind the selections:

Wines for the Top 10 Tough-To-Buy-For People on Your Holiday List

Pairing wines with personalities for gift shoppers—there’s an app for that (and a web site)

“Wine is one of the few presents that makes both the giver and the receiver look good,” says Natalie MacLean, the red-nosed e-sommelier behind www.nataliemaclean.com, one of the largest wine web sites. “You look like you spent a bundle on the gift (even if you didn’t) and the recipients are happy that you think they know something about wine (even if they don’t).”

This holiday season, anyone can tap into MacLean’s expertise via her free web site and mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid and other smartphones. They help consumers with a whole new type of pairing: wine with the people on your Christmas shopping list. The app and site also pair wines to thousands of dishes, including holiday favorites, such as turkey, goose, duck, and even partridge in a pear tree.

“When you give wine, doubles are fine, there are no wrong sizes and you can always find something good in stock,” MacLean adds. “Vintage gifts will get anyone into the holiday spirits.”

Natalie’s Top Ten Gift Wines for Your …

1. Hairdresser: For the person who combines humor and optimism every time she styles your mop. Go for a light, gulpable wine like a dry rosé. It’s versatile and fuss-free—a great quaff for your coif.
2. Psychiatrist: Of course, he’ll analyze whatever you give him so choose a wine that’s all about balance. Easy-drinking pinot noir is medium-bodied yet packed with flavor. Surprise him with a large-format bottle, like a magnum. Big thinking means big progress for you. This wine also works for psychologists, marriage counselors and bartenders.
3. The Boss: Pick too pricey a wine and your boss will think your last raise was too much; go cheap, and she’ll think you lack judgement. Focus on a label with a lot of white space since that makes the bottle look more expensive. A castle in the distance also works, but avoid fluffy animals.
4. Personal Trainer: Think a muscular, robust red would work? Hold that position. Instead, try riesling: this light white wine pairs well with a health-nut diet of salad and seafood, plus it’s low in alcohol. You can also give it to Pilates instructors, yoga masters and Tai Chi coaches.
5. Financial Planner: You and he both know it’s going to take decades before your portfolio recovers after the crash of 2008. With that long-term view, vintage port makes the perfect gift. This fortified wine from northern Portugal, with its long aging potential, will be around for both of you into your retirements.
6. Travel Agent: She’s been everywhere and seen everything, so go local with your choice of wine. Even better, if you live close to the winery, get the bottle signed by the winemaker.
7. Teacher: If you can’t find a suitably obscure wine with a Latin name, there’s always cream sherry. It’s the tipple of Oxford dons, not to mention the centerpiece of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Case of the Amontillado.
8. Mail Deliverer: Go for a winery that’s consistent year after year in producing a wine that can be enjoyed in snow, rain, sleet or hail. Try an Australian shiraz or Argentine malbec.
9. Mechanic: Yes, there’s a wine called Red Truck, but try to be more imaginative. Why not give a wine made by Mario Andretti in California or Ferrari in Italy?
10. Online Date: So you’re on your second or third rendezvous with the person you met on eHarmony or Dating.com. If you’re not sure yet whether marriage is a possibility, try something middle-of-the-road, like merlot. Yes, it’s the soft jazz of wine, but until you know, play it safe.

And after all that shopping, don’t forget yourself: even Santa’s little helpers need more than milk and cookies. Try something with high-alcohol like Italian Amarone or Rhone syrah: these big reds easily drown out tone-deaf caroling and pair beautifully with tired feet.

I’m specifically on board with Natalie’s suggestions for your boss, and for an online date – after all, both of those categories are places where you have to tread lightly and with some measure of care to make sure you pick a wine that says the right thing but is also appropriate for the audience.

Still, don’t put too much thought into it, or else you’ll find yourself struck with analysis paralysis! There are a couple of really great specific reccomendations with tasting notes at the blog entry for these suggestions, and you really can’t go wrong with them – or wines that are like them.

I’ve covered Natalie’s iOS, Blackberry, and mobile app, called Nat Decants in a feature at AppScout, and it’s incredibly useful for people just getting into wine or who wish they had a sommelier with them when staring at racks of wine in their local grocery store or wine seller, so if you’re still nervous, download the mobile app and head to the store.

Seriously folks – don’t show up to another holiday party with a bottle of Yellow Tail in-hand. You can do better, I promise.