I’d like you to meet my friend Carrie Oliver of the Artisan Beef Institute. If you’re not familiar with what she’s doing, you should be! Carrie is single-handedly carrying out her mission to educate the world about the nuanced flavor of beef by organizing beef tastings all over the country.

Did you just stumble over the term beef tasting? What, haven’t you ever thought about the fact that one particular beef tastes different from another? Well, listen up: “Like fine wines, beef flavor and texture are influenced by breed, growing region, diet and the unique skills of those who raise it.” With this in mind, Carrie launched the Artisan Beef Institute.

She explains it a lot better than I do, so here’s a snippet from her website to explain the purpose behind the project:

“The beef that you serve can be as interesting – and rewarding – as the finest wines at your table. It begins with knowing and learning more about what’s on your plate and discovering that, like a fine wine, a lot goes into raising better cattle. From the selection of the breed to the grasslands and the feed, today’s artisanal ranchers are producing the finest offerings ever.”

“We have gone to the source and selected some of the best styles – “varietals” if you like – of beef available today and tapped expert butchers to carefully age and cut each to perfection. From our homes to yours, let us celebrate the diversity, the art, and the achievement of those who are crafting the very best in beef.”

Photo by Lady Leet

Seriously – it’s just like a wine tasting, only with beef.

I recently attended one of Carrie’s beef tastings, hosted by local foodie braintrust Canvas Underground. I’d have to say that this was one of the more eye-opening experiences I’ve had in a long time. Being an overzealous meat activist, I was already aware that there were flavor differences between cattle breeds, and even between the individual cows themselves. What I hadn’t expected, however, was that beef carried with it a wide variety of subtle flavors, very similar to wine.

Think about it – have you ever really tasted your beef? Do you detect different tones in the flavor, like grassiness, lambiness or earthy mushroom-like notes? Does the meat have a short flavor, or does it linger on your tongue? How was the texture? Was it buttery or more chewy?

With the help of chef Peter Jackson, food maven Vera Devera, and artisan beef purveyors Seth Nischke and Tracy Smaciarz, tasting attendees sampled six different beef varieties, ranging in breed, diet (grass fed/grain finished/etc) and aging method (dry or wet aged, and for how long). With Carrie as captain, our little culinary ship was surprised and impressed by the differences in the varieties we sampled.

Photo by Lady Leet

A Beefy Epiphany

What did I take away from the tasting? Well, it was surprising to say the least. Carrie had us rate the beefs according to texture, impression (how long did the flavor last?) and personality (was the flavor reserved, direct or adventurous?). The six varieties I sampled varied greatly, much more that I’d considered they would:

• The first variety had a nice, reserved flavor that seemed to disappear as soon as I tasted it. This one tasted a little more “irony” that I expected, and the texture had a nice tooth.
• Number two was chewy and verging on tough, though the flavor was straightforward and tasted slightly of the ocean – almost like seaweed.
• Three also had a direct flavor, though this one was more sweet and irony than the previous. The flavor lingered for quite a while after tasting and the texture felt nice and solid under my teeth.
• Four was earthy from the start, with a slight mushroom flavor and peppery undertones. The flavor was brief, and the texture was soft and buttery – this was my favorite variety.
• The fifth selection had a nice grassy flavor with a sweet aftertaste. There were some distinctly “lamby” notes, and the flavor lingered on my pallet for a few seconds after tasting. Texture-wise, this one was a touch chewy without being annoyingly so.
• The sixth selection was more “mushroomy” – not in a bad way – while its flavor disappeared almost immediately after I swallowed. It had a nice bite and didn’t seem chewy at all.
• Here’s a PDF copy of the varieties we tasted, which were kept secret until after the tasting was done.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to have even more regard for the artisan beef industry, but Carrie pushed the envelope and left me reeling. If the grass-fed, pasture-raised beef I eat now has so many delicate nuances, then I shudder to remember the flat, muddy, stessed-out flavor of the generic beef I grew up on. Ew.

Photo by Inuyaki

So, tell me: have you ever thought about what your beef actually tastes like? I challenge you to sit down and savor your next bite, sans seasoning. What do you find when you really think about the flavor of the meat you’re eating?

Photo by Lady Leet

Other posts from tasting attendees:

• Whispering from a Beef Sommelier
• Recap: Artisanal Beef Tasting

Edited to add the list of the list of the ranchers who beef we tasted, their styles of beef, and how to find more of their beef:

• US Wellness Meats: JF O’Neill Packing, Omaha, NE; Quality Processing Services, Omaha, NE.
• Open Space Meats: Yosemite Valley Beef Packing, Merced, CA; Sonoma Direct, Sonoma County, CA
• The Oliver Ranch Company: C&C Processing, Diller, NE. Also available directly from Colorado’s Best Beef though they use a different slaughterhouse and butcher.
• Montana Ranch Brand: JF O’Neill Packing, Omaha, NE; Brian O’Neill & employees.
• KK-Bar Ranch: Johansen Meats, Orland CA.
• Scott River Ranch: B & D Meats (Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth), Roseburg, OR; Bart Guthrie.

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