Just did a first cupping of a new Peru coffee – El Guabo… Very impressed. It was what I call a casual cupping, which means I don’t score it and just note my experience with it. It’s something I do with most all the coffees to get to how it strikes me emotionally than, say, the degree of complexity or whatnot.
Anyway, it was quite elegant – hazlenut base, smooth medium-full body with hints of vanilla and apricot (especially in the dry aroma). Great balance. I kept thinking to myself that I could simply drink this all day long and neither get bored of it nor feel that I had to pay attention to it.
There’s been a great deal of not unwarranted moaning within the specialty coffee industry about Ethiopia’s new Exchange system, and how it hadn’t been set up with allowances for direct trade with farms and how that would essentially make it impossible to get the same high quality coffees that we have been getting used to over the past few years…
This morning, I came across an article that states the ECX has responded to these concerns (contrary to some reporting, they never ignored them, they just didn’t deal with the issue…). Anyway, it seems that it’s being corrected for next year… Eleni Gabre-Madhin, chief executive officer of the ECX, said in an interview that the exchange will begin offering a direct buying service to encourage exactly the type of buying we have grown to love.
Awesome. Cause I would sorely miss some years without any wet-processed Koratie.
Well, it’s simply that the rustic sweetness of this sample just stuck with me. Honestly, I wasn’t going to purchase this since I was already ordering another of their coffees. Not that I thought it wasn’t a great coffee, but I was clearly referencing the deep complex fruit of their Espresso Reserve. But after a few weeks, I was still thinking about this one. The rustic sweetness of Muskovado Sugar draping over light cocoa and chocolate just kept coming back into my mind. So here we are, and there you go. A smooth, classic Brazil coffee with tons of old world sweetness and chocolate from one of the most innovative, quality-driven estates in Brazil.
With the recent wave of 100°+ weather, I turn to iced coffee.
This'll help with the heat
Here’s how:
12g La Berlina Estate from Boquete, Panama (or other, nicely balanced, floral, sweet coffee)
2 blocks of solid, cold ice, in some sort of tray
At least 1 box fan
Fill a 16 oz glass as high as possible with cubed ice
Grind coffee slightly finer than you would for press pot
Put coffee in a Vietnamese Coffee brewer & screw filter top onto coffee with light pressure
Place on top of glass with ice
Add just enough hot water (about 1tsp should be enough) to wet the grounds, wait a minute or two
Add hot water, filling it to the top of the brewing cup
Wait, while the sweet goodness slowly drips down over the ice
While that is happening, place the blocks of ice in a couple trays, and set in front of a fan
Make sure the fan is placed so that it is blowing cool(er) air to where you are sitting
By this time, your iced coffee should be about done
Add as much ice to the glass as it will hold
Sit down in front of the iced fan, with your iced coffee and enjoy!
Grown on old Typica coffee trees at around 1900 meters, this coffee has a softer touch than the Daterra Espresso Reserve. Medium bodied, with caramel – more than sugar – that comes through as the cup cools. First whiff is sweet, fruity with a nicely balanced toffee, cocao background to it. As a varietal, this doesn’t have the heavier fruit (blueberry, huckleberry) that a typica coffee from Harrar or Sidamo might – it’s softer, lighter than that. Subtly stretched out. There is the influence of climate and the growers particular skill showing through – giving it a character that is completely enjoyable early early in the morning, or mid-afternoon as an http://www.deftcoffee.com/2008/08/06/bolivia-san-ignacio-iced-sumptuous/.
From the Cerrado region in Minas Gerais, Brazil comes a wonderfully complex Brazilian coffee. Daterra has long been on the forefront of producer technology, but that isn’t why I am so fond of their coffees. It’s the flavor. A rich, full-bodied chocolate & cocao base that mingle with deeply fruited layers of raisin and black cherry delivers an extraordinarily balanced, structured cup with a long, sweet finish.
This particular coffee is a blend of three varietals, grown and selected from different plots on the farms, and although it has espresso in the name, it is equally suited for press and drip brewing.
And to top it all off, this coffee is certified by Utz Kapeh & The Rainforest Alliance.
I was directed to an article in The Standard about changes to the Kenyan coffee system that apparently are taking effect immediately…
Is Kenya taking a learning lesson from Ethiopia, and not doing the same thing? It looks like this is a good thing – something which will increase transparency and traceability in Kenyan Coffees – something that the new ECX in Ethiopia has made difficult over the past year or so.
Through the article mentioned above is thin in terms of detail, I think that this is a great step for creating a sustainable system of coffee, equitable to the ones who grow and process it, that is open and where price can be based on quality.
Quick post to let people know that two coffees are now run out: ‘Bonko’ Black Sun (from Dara Woreda, Sidamo, Ethiopia), and the Kebado Wet-processed (from Sidamo, Ethiopia).
I’m currently cupping new coffees to replace them, stay tuned…
Rich like the marbling of Kobe beef. Medium-heavy body. Stone fruits – like apricot and the light starch of a real good, I mean amazingly smooth and even textured, pear – weave complex, layered dolphin patterns through a bed of bittersweet cocao and chocolate.
(this coffee is currently sold out)
Similar to the Koratie Dry-Processes that sold out so quickly, but with more crispness. Lighter fruits are at play – starfruit, citrusy notes. But it’s sweet and aromatic, floral. Complex and delicate. Light in body. This is like the sun the last couple days, crisp, bright, but with a stark clarity to the air that is mesmerizing. Truly, this coffee is an amazing display of skill set to work amid the right environmental conditions. This is a very light roast, gingerly stretched at the right points to bring forward the floral and clear crisp complexity of its fruit flavors.
(this is currently sold out)
