Finally! We have a new Ethiopia Sidamo Dry Process to offer: Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Guji Sidamo, fruited and spicy, nice balance of flavors and can take a dark roast. And we’re adding two excellent coffees from Panama Carmen Estate First it’s Panama Carmen Estate 1900 Meters, a new high in both flavor and altitude level for this great varietal. Look for a rounded mouthfeel and some sweet caramel tones. Secondly, it’s Panama Carmen “Siete Dias de Bellota” a versatile dry-process offering that also makes a nice SO espresso!
Monthly Archive for July, 2009
After a few months of testing various mills (honestly, we started about the time of the SCAA conference and just finished a week ago), we have found an espresso mill we really like - the Compak K3 Elite and K3 Touch. The Elite is the version with a doser, the Touch is the same grinder in doser-less form. In practice, we tend to prefer the doserless grinders for their ease of operation and the potential to be used as a dual-purpose espresso and brewed coffee grinder, but the doser model has substantially fewer clumps, and may be a better choice for dedicated espresso users. Both Compak mills are priced at an attractive level – a step up from the Rocky, but still substantially cheaper than the Mazzer Mini. We think the Compak mills offer a great value for the money, and are really pleased with the results we are getting in the cup. It is well known that a fantastic espresso machine is nothing but overpriced eye-candy for your kitchen counter without a serious espresso mill to back it up. Some recommend budgeting more for the grinder than the actual espresso machine! With the Compak, we think you can get results similar to a Mazzer or a Macap and save a bit to spend elsewhere.
Five new coffees today: First off are two Lintong-region Sumatras: Sumatra Lintong Dolok Sanggul with rustic sweetness and black tea and Sumatra Onan Ganjang Cultivar which is a thicker body cup with tobacco and clove. Next up are two centrals: Costa Rica Helsar de Zarcero from the West Valley region- with chocolate milk and hazlenuts and the Costa Rica Genesis “Miel” from the Naranjo region- a bright honey-process coffee with dried red berry flavors. Lastly, we are adding the India Organic Jasmine Estate Yellikudige a mildly rustic wet-process coffee with molasses-like sweetness.
Again! another four coffees to add! What’s with the number four?! I am not sure, maybe we should play the lottery. In any case, here are the coffees:
First is the return of Australia -Mountain Top Farm, a Fancy grade semi-washed coffee with a juicy sweetness. Next is a national auction winner from Bolivia, Bolivia Juan Coaquira Mamani Microlot, with brown sugar and stone fruit tastes. And the return of the classic El Salvador Finca Matalapa Peaberry versatile for light or dark roast with an orange brightness, And finally it’s a change in the naming conventions for our espresso blends, from geology to acoustics: Espresso Workshop #6 - “Treble Response”. Dry fragrance from the ground coffee has a cocoa-nut roast tone, Nutella sweetness, caramel, black cherry, chocolate truffle. The wet aroma is spicy, with pepper and dark plumy fruit. This describes the primary flavors of the espresso, with richly layered brightness (hence Treble Response!) tapering off into intense and tangy chocolate bittersweet notes. Tom and I enjoyed this iced this past weekend and it was lovely.
Green unripe coffee cherry from Dolok Sanggul area of Lintong,
Sumatra. While these branches are incredibly loaded with fruit, the
crop is smaller overall. Dolok Sanggul just arrived this week, and
we’ll be rolling it out in a few days after I finish the review. The Onan Ganjang sample that arrived at the same time is cupping really well, with that herbal, complex flavor true to the Lintong appellation.
Today we are announcing our first ever Sweet Maria’s Home Roasters’ Dream Camp! The session will be held Saturday July 25th from Noon to 3 pm at our warehouse on East 21st Street in Oakland. This is not a class, but a gathering of home roasters, an occasion to compare roasts done on different machines, a chance to try out some new (or…er… new to you) roasters, cup coffee and share home roasting experience. More information and details on how to sign up for the camp, follow the link above.
We are also adding four new coffees today. Sumatra Organic Lampahan -Bonkawan Coop, with low acidity, raisin, fig and plum tastes. Next up is the return of Yemen Mokha Haimi, an aromatic cup from light to dark roasts; great also for SO espresso use! And lastly, we sourced some good decafs: Ethiopia Dry-Process Sidamo MC Decaf, with medium acidity, and sweet fruit notes and Nicaragua Jinotega SHG WP Decaf, a bright decaf with chocolate/malt at darker roast levels. Maria
Happy early Fourth of July! Four new coffees!!!! Here they are in short. First is the arrival of Guatemala Acatenango Gesha: Jasmine, citrus blossoms, tropical fruit with a complex Gesha flavor profile and aroma. Click through to the review. Guatemala Finca La Bella JBM Cultivar, a balanced cup with milk chocolate, and a bit of apple spice harvested from Jamaican seedstock in Guatemala. Our third Guat. addition is the return of Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca La Maravilla: sweet fruited notes, mild sweet chocolate-dipped nuts. Last, but not least, we received new Yemen Mokha Sharasi, a Mokha coffee from a new region not usually sold as single-origin. This is a sweet Yemen and also versatile: makes a nice SO espresso!
Recent Comments