Sweet Maria's Weblog

Panama / Rwanda

We were squirreling away a Panama lot for that window of time when new crop Centrals are a month or two away, and out selection starts to thin out. That time is now! PanamaÂ SHB Las Victorias is a Boquete region coffee, and cups clear and clean like the day it came in. We also have a superb E. Africa new crop arrival ... RwandaÂ Gkongoro Nyarusiza is a mouthful to pronounce, and a superb bright coffee in the cup, with Mandarin orange citrus sweetness, cherry blossom aroma, and great balance. It is pure Bourbon cultivar too. On a totally unrelated note, I got meself one of these fancy new MacPro 8 core super computers, and sure it's fast, but the keyboard is all amiss. I can't make question marks, colons, exclamation points ... how can I continue to post without my explanation points. All I can do is make ... these ... senseless ... ellipses ...

Ethiopia Organic Golocha Dry-Process

Josh did 4 levels of sample roasts of this natural Ethiopia on Friday and I cupped it early Monday morning ... so it was well-rested. The lightest roast, like many DP Ethiopias, is not a pretty sight; variation in bean-to-bean color. Hey, that's what dry-processed coffees are like. It's not a beauty contest here. They discovered long ago that it's much better pour the coffee into your mouth, not all over your eyes. Youch! After all most of us grind and drink this stuff, not admire the hue of the roasted bean (although a few people have turned espresso crema and latte art into a visual obsession). Where was I? Golocha. The fact is, the lightest roast had great dried apricot fruit to it, slightly winey, a touch of banana, a little mango, along with buttery roast notes. With each darker roast shade, that was eclipsed by other flavors, soft rustic chocolate tones. Not that chocolate is undesirable at any time, but tasting lively fruit fade through all the darker roast levels is the flavor equivalent of watching the sunset, and the lightest roast was akin to preserving that golden moment of shimmering intensity before the light fades into darkness. Yes, despite this overblown analogy, I basically mean it. (But seriously dude, don't pour the coffee over your eyes). -Tom

Will we all be embarrassed?

Do you put on one leather glove in order to make an espresso? I don't. Do you polish the puck clockwise or counter-clockwise? Hmmm. Do you drink coffee with a silver-plated "cupping spoon?" I don't either. Do you "break the coffee crust" by stirring 3 times to the bottom, or do you go 4 times just on the surface? Does brewed coffee extract or infuse? For how long? Do you argue with your other about whether your morning bowl of fruit loops has a hint of red apple, or green apple? If it's red, are we talking Fuji, Braeburn, Red Delicious ... and do the flavors "knit" well together.? How is the structure of flavors in those Fruit Loops? So 5 or 10 years from now will this look foolish, indulgent, grossly excessive, or will it be part of a ground-breaking new movement of "super-sensory" consumption? Will their be a Guild for everything? A separatist Machiatto Guild wants acknowledgement for their unique skills --- they aren't just your average "Baristi," after all. How about that Biscotti Guild we were talking about forming? Will the janitors accept their same lousy pay if we pump up their esteem at the annual Mop & Bucket Guild Retreat? Just a few early morning thoughts. -Tom

India: delightful, appalling

I just returned from a week in India, my first time there. I edited down from 1350 pictures to a mere 302, and I give you my usual warning ... 50% of them are not about coffee. Additionally, it's all my opinion. I also wrote a little essay about the contrast in India between things delightful and appalling. I also picked up a lot of information in our meetings with the director of the Coffee Board of India, and the Central Coffee Research Station. But here's a link to the photos on the temp. site in our new format ... or here's the html link on our site, which loads a bit faster. Ironically, I ate tons of incredible food and had no queasiness in India, but got totally sick on something in Amsterdam. Okay, maybe it was the raw meat hamburger I ate at the big soccer game I went to. Anyway, I have to get back into this time zone, and will be heading off to cup Costa Ricas in 7 days. -Tom

Costa Rica Coop Dota Dry-Process

This week we are tackling the most un-Costa Rican of the current crop of Costa Rica coffees on offer. As explained in the review, this coffee has been processed differently than all other Costas. The result is a hybridization of CR flavor profiles and cup characteristics associated with fruited Ethiopian coffees. We sample roasted to seven different levels trying to hit the "sweet spot" and the second lightest roast did just that: huge strawberry notes that punch your palate with an exotic strangeness (how's that for a redundant descriptor?). I just put the first batch into the Probat so I'll check back in a second with the results of trying to replicate the City+ roast we cupped this morning done on the sample roaster yesterday--that's right, while Tom Petty was Learnin' to Fly, I was learnin' how to roast this coffee correctly. We have success! I took the first batch up to 431 degrees which happened at the 17:00 mark on the dot. One good way to compare a test roast with the final roast right away is to grind a small sample of each and see if they match color-wise. This is a fairly accurate way to ensure you are in the right ballpark. As we all know, roasted coffee needs at least 24 hours to rest before the full flavor characteristics become apparent so cupping them side by side right away is a bit more problematic. However, we feel good about hitting a nice light roast that should unleash the fruited notes we are expecting. First crack happened at 405 degrees approximately 14:20 into the roast.