Carrie’s Corner
Several years ago I asked this question: If the Rutherford region is famous for Cabernet Sauvignon and Carneros for Pinot Noir, why not similar appellations for beef?
My mission is to break the commodity trap in meat by helping people discover and celebrate that meat flavor & texture vary naturally depending on the breed, region, diet, husbandry, aging time and technique and the relative talents of the rancher, slaughterhouse, and butcher.
Ratings & Community Site
I evaluate meat as others taste wines and produce tasting notes and ratings for beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, and goat from individual artisan farms, ranches, and butcher teams. If you would like me to evaluate the meat that you produce or sell, please let me know! I also invite everyone to download my tasting guides and rate the meat that they purchase. If you want to purchase meat from an artisan purveyor, please let me know how I can help you.
Training & Consulting
Whether you’re an independent farmer, ranch group, slaughterhouse owner, butcher, or large format retailer trying to differentiate your meat case from the competition, I will create a custom program to help you find a sustainable path to profitability.
MeatCamp™ Tastings
My artisan meat tastings can be customized for virtually any group whether a small, private tasting in your home, for your customers, team members, or clients or larger public tastings at your restaurant, winery, or other event.
Speaking Engagements
I enjoy speaking before groups whether big or small, in person or through online and phone conferences. I will custom tailor my presentation to meet the specific needs of your organization. Some topics include:
Artisan Meat
- Why It Will Break The Commodity Trap
- Tastes Like Chicken?
- How To Market Your Meat
- The Striking Parallels With Wine & Coffee
- How To Become a Meat Sommelier
- Grass-Fed vs. Grain-Fed – Which Is Better?
Innovation
- How To Reposition An Entrenched Brand
- The Accidental Entrepreneur
- The Duh Factor – When You Find It, Build It!
- Tapping The Hidden Entrepreneurship In Your Team
Social Media
- Finding Your Unique Voice
- How To Use Social Media To Build Your Brand
Pssst! It’s not about the marbling!™ Let’s celebrate that.
I created the concept of Artisan Meat and evaluate, rate, and create professional tasting notes for individual farms, ranches, and butcher teams. Some call me the Robert Parker of Meat, others Beef Geek. 
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
First and foremost, it was good to meet you Carrie.
I am working with Canyons Edge Winery on a Wine/Beer/Beef Tasting event. Perhaps it would better called a sampling? It is nowhere near as formal as your Artisan Tasting. However, I think it will be fun.
I am basically taking Top Round london Broils and Smoking them with Hickory Wood The smoke is simply initial. We do 4 Flavors of Marinade or Rub; Garlic/Pepper Rub (Marinade is Apple Cider Vinegar t tenderize), Dakota Buckaroo Chipolte, Hosers Apricot Brandy Sauce, and the winery will choose a wine of their choice.
It is taking the Round that has the least flavor and treating it like a bread as the base for a sandwich. I did this as a trial with freinds and Colleagues and it went very well. Always fun to see the “Wow” look on the faces when they have had nothing like it before.
As I move forward, there are some events i think that might be interested in you as a speaker. Love to talk to you about it at some point,
Pat
Hi Carrie,
Is there a place on this website that gives description of what “Texture” “Personality” and “Impression” means? I am not sure what a “medium” impression exactly means? Thanks for your input and tweeting about my beef. It really helps to get the word out.
Lisa Wilcox
Owner, Wilcox Angus Beef
100% Natural Grass Fed Beef
Hi, Lisa, it’s here: http://artisanbeefinstitute.com/tastingguides/ under Tasting Guides. It sounds as if I need to make it more prominent! Thank you.
That’s good feedback on Impression, too, that it may not be clear to people. Impression is similar (though not the same) as “finish” in wine. It has to do with how long the flavors and mouthfeel of the beef stays on your palate. Sometimes you’ll eat a piece of steak or burger and the flavors are there and gone, it leaves a very brief Impression. Sometimes, you’re still tasting the beef long after you’ve eaten it. That would be a very long Impression. Your and Chris’s beef was somewhere in the middle. Different people will have different preferences. If you saw Stephanie’s comment, she likes a Medium Impression!
A bit more, just in case:
I’m trying to keep beef descriptions light and fun, not intimidating like wine. So I ask people (or myself) to imagine if you met this beef at a dinner party, what kind of Personality would he or she have? Is he reserved and shy, by the end of the night you conclude that he’s just about the beef, i.e. there are no other flavor notes than just “beefy”? Or on the other hand is she very adventurous, the life of the party, do you taste many distinct flavor notes in the steak such as blue cheese, caramel, toasted nuts, or even lamb? Neither is good or bad, some people find reserved Personality beefs elegant, while others find them boring. Adventurous Personality beefs are fascinating to some tasters, but off-putting to others. It’s a matter of opinion.
Impression then refers to whether you’re going to remember that person (your dinner date, the beef) for a very long time or a very short time or somewhere in between.
Hope that helps and if not, let me know!
Finally, thanks again for giving me the opportunity to try Wilcox Angus Beef. It was delicious.
Hi Carrie,
It was great to talk with you last Friday and believe we can both benefit from our knowledge and resources. I am sending Jody (APPPA.org) a note today about the possiblity of an event for tasting of chickens. We do have many contacts here that I believe would love to be involved. Santa Fe Slow Food, my wife is on the advisory Board, Santa Fe School of Cooking, Rocky Durham is the chef there, Deborah Madison, cookbook author and chef, Cheryl Jamison, cookbook author and chef, Katherine Kagel, Cafe Pasqual’s and previous APPPA Board member Anne Fanatico who has a Ph.D. in poultry science with dissertation in Specialty Poultry Production System, and Nutrition on Performance, Meat Quality and Sensory Attributes of Meat Chickens for Free Range and Organic Markets. We have many great relationships with large resort and restuarants that would be open to hold an event also, Inn at Loretto, La Fonda Hotel, Encantado Resort, Bishop’s Lodge and others. I believe we would have to do this by October in order to get the samples we would need from the seasonal producers around the country too.
I don’t know your personal e mail to send along to Jody, but if you respond I would send that along.
Thanks, Tom
Pollo Real
(505) 550-3123
Tom, I couldn’t agree more re: the opportunity to move a few mountains together. I sent you an email last week, please let me know if it didn’t make it through the pipeline.
I find your concepts fascinating. I enjoy beef almost as much as I enjoy seafood–which is a whole lot. After reviewing your blog and site, i will be approaching beef with new appreciation. Do you raise beef? Is Oliver Ranch a real enterprise?
Hi, John, Thanks for the visit and nice note. I do not raise beef myself but instead seek out the best of those who do. The Oliver Ranch Company is an online marketplace that sells a small selection of beef from top notch producers. The most popular item by far is an Artisan Steak Tasting kit that allows people do host a comparison tasting in their home of steaks from different farm and butcher teams, much like I do in my live MeatCamp (Provenance of Beef) tastings.