Archive for the ‘Coffee’ Category

Posted on November 26, 2008 - by deCadmus

Coffee Notes from All Over

It’s getting stupid busy around here, and so to make sure that I keep up with things I’m challenging myself to do more, not less. (That right there… that’s likely the stupid part of stupid busy.) 

As always, there’s more coffee reviews coming… and at least some of them will be covering coffees you wouldn’t want to give to your worst enemy. Yes, once again I will drink bad coffee so you don’t have to. Here’s the new twist: why don’t you tell me what coffees I should taste and review for your warped, twisted and not at all spirit-of-the-season type pleasure? Leave your ideas in the comments, below. And think evil thoughts. I dare you.

Also, while we’re at the height of that gifting season, I have a bunch of new hardware to try… in particular, several single-cup coffee machines. New to the Bloggle coffee labs are the completely revamped Tassimo by Bosch, the extraordinarily odd-looking NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto by Krups, and the new “Mini” B30 brewer by Keurig, dressed in a sassy new holiday red (which may not help it brew a better cup of coffee, but delivers lots of eye-candy appeal.)

Finally, Bloggle is now iPhone friendly! Which is damned ironic, given that’s its still near impossible to own an iPhone in Vermont. Is it frustrating to test your own web site on an emulator for a device that you can’t own? Why, yes. Yes it is.

(Word on the street is that’s soon to change. I’ll believe it when I have one in my own grubby, little fingers…)

Posted on November 14, 2008 - by deCadmus

PT’s Sidamo Special Prep

At PT’s Coffee, blondes have more fun. No, really.

When’s the last time you had a blonde coffee? What’s that, you say? Never? Well it’s about time that changes…

Okay, so maybe it’s not really a blonde roast… that stuff’s most often halted before first crack (and the ginger-colored grounds brewed with sugar and cardamom; it tastes like chai.) No matter what you call this extraordinary light-roasted, natural process Sidamo — cinnamon roast, New England roast, maybe — it’s spectacular.

Fresh from the grinder this coffee will fill your kitchen with the aromas of fresh strawberries and blueberries. Its flavors are a tremendous expression of fruit — sweet strawberry, blueberry and tart cherry — with an undercurrent of Cavendish tobacco. It’s body is mild (a fair trade-off what with that roast and all) and its finish is long, graciously tart and a teensy bit dry.

All in all it’s one remarkable coffee, and, I think, a testament to the  skills on display at the roaster. A coffee this light could be a disaster! But this one’s a dream.

Highly recommended and a steal at under $17.00 a pound. So go get some while the gettin’s good.

Rating:

Posted on November 11, 2008 - by deCadmus

A Taste of Things to Come

Arrived home to find a care package waiting for me. Which is always nice.

A parcel from Jeff Taylor at PT’s Coffee in Topeka (you probably remember Jeff; his crew were recently awarded Roast Magazine’s Roaster of the Year) was sitting on my doorstep and — while I wouldn’t have time to do any serious tasting today — I had to take a peek to see what was inside.

Long story short — ’cause I don’t have a lot of time, really — just opening the box I was wowed with the aroma. Sweet, very sweet aromas; think rich molasses, or dark maple syrup. The culprit — the bean responsible for this just outrageous aroma — was PT’s Reserva del Mandador - Finca Los Planes Pacamara, a Direct Trade bean from the Ticas family’s Los Planes farm in El Salvador. All peaberry. All Pacamara.

Again, not time enough for full-on sensorial effort here, but this bean is sweet, warm and juicy. Very clean, nicely balanced. Did I mention sweet? Caramel, maple sugar… a bit of mandarin orange. Nice. Very nice.

Rating:

Go get you some now… I’ll have more — and write more — when I get a chance.

Posted on November 3, 2008 - by deCadmus

Vote and the Coffee’s On Us

First, it’s worth noting that I’ve been known to give Starbucks grief from time to time… which only stands to reason as they frequently earn the griefing they get. On the other hand, sometimes the folks in Seattle get it dead to rights, and this is one of those times. Vote, Starbucks says, and the coffee’s on us.

Good on them.

For what it’s worth, I’d be delighted to see every indy shop in the country follow suit. You voted? Have a cup of our best… no matter *who* you voted for, no questions asked. Yes… even if you voted for Ron Paul. (In Montana, *especially* if you voted for Ron Paul!)

‘Cause it’s our democracy, after all… and it’s about time we took some ownership of it. Don’t ya think?

Posted on October 25, 2008 - by deCadmus

Coffee Notes from All Over

Has your brewed coffee got Mojo? Maybe. Just how would you know, anyway?

By measuring it, of course. Let’s face it: you can tweak your coffee-to-water ratio, temperature and grind ’til you’re blue in the face, but if you don’t know the total dissolved solids of your final brew you’re pretty much driving without a map. And there’s a lot of unmapped territory out there.

Andy Shecter has posted a tantalizing first look at George Howell’s ExtractMojo system — and even given that he’s an espresso-hound and not a brewed coffee fiend, he likes what he sees:

I’ve recently been a beta tester for a nifty system that gives direct and immediate feedback on your brewed coffee technique. It’s called “ExtractMoJo” from the George Howell Coffee Company, and it has helped me to brew the best non-espresso coffee I’ve ever made.

The software is available now as a free trial (yeah!) but the hardware — a pocket refractometer — will set you back a cool $339 beans, and may prove a little hard to swallow if you’re looking to calibrate your brew at home.

Congrats to Jeff Taylor and the gang at PT’s Coffee and the Perry clan at CoffeeKlatch for winning Roast Magazine’s 2009 Roaster(s) of the Year!

Each year Roast makes two awards, one for a large (macro) roaster and one for a small (micro) roaster. And each year I think the competition gets steeper. There have been some seriously great coffees “discovered” in the past year, a direct result of countless trips to origin, conversations with growers, and canvassing the auction lots. Both of these coffee roasters are helping to lead the way forward with their sourcing and roasting of premium small-lot coffee offerings.

While I haven’t sampled any Coffee Klatch offerings — at all! I think I need to fix that — I tasted some of PT’s Kenya AA Kieni Auction Lot last year and found it pretty darn wonderful. It looks like they’ve got a stable full of still more exciting beans even now, so I expect I’ll have more on that front soon, too. 

Ah… so much coffee, so little time.

Posted on October 12, 2008 - by deCadmus

Tasting Square Mile Coffees

Let’s face it. Right now the folks at Square Mile — Stephen Morrissey, James Hoffmann and Annette Moldvaer  — could phone it in. They could source dubious coffees, call them edgy, describe them cryptically while lavishing them with praise… and they would sell. A lot. At least until the hype subsided.

Happily, our world champion baristas and coffee tasters are doing no such thing. They’re sourcing coffees of great character — juried award winners and coffees from small, family-run farms — roasting them light to remain faithful to the beans’ origins, and letting the coffee speak for itself. Well done.

Costa Rica El Portillo C.O.E.

I admit to having a love / hate affair with Costa Rican coffee the last year or two. From where I sit, Costas have lurched in one of two directions, each at opposite ends of my bell curve of happiness: at the one end, bright, shrill, efferfrickinvescant acidity at the expense of all other character; at the other extreme, big, beefy and dumb-as-a-cow bullion flavors with no dynamic to the cup at all. The exceptions to these extremes can be found far from the big coffee estates on small, family farms… and — happily enough — the Square Mile El Portillo is just such an exception.

Balanced and round, with flavors of honeysuckle and buttery caramel. I find a burst of citrus on the front, and a dark cocoa surprise as the cup cools, and that honeyed sweetness and syrupy body throughout. This is a complex, many-layered cup, and immensely rewarding.

Rating:

Kenya Muchoki Peaberry

Tremendously bright, crisp, and dry with flavors of tart cherry, and strawberries with fresh-ground black pepper.  Its finish is dry, somewhat distilled and yet — somehow — suggests a candied sweetness. I’m reminded of a top-quality Muscato D’Asti.

The very light roast on this coffee makes for a cup that’s faithful to its origins, but the roaster in me can’t help but wonder if a bit more fire wouldn’t further develop the sweetness that dwells in this bean.

Rating:

Both of these coffees are highly recommended, and available now, at Square Mile Coffee Roasters.

P.S. It’s worth noting… this is two coffees down, and two to go. More soon.

P.P.S. Sorry about the marginal photography. It was a bit of a rush job.

Posted on October 9, 2008 - by deCadmus

Coffee Notes from All Over

Despite my recent obsession with politics (I admit it… I’m pretty thoroughly tangled in the 2008 presidential race) I haven’t lost my bearings on the world of our favorite bean. Or, at least I hope I haven’t. Let’s get right to what’s happening in the caffeinated world of coffee.

While I wasn’t looking, the folk at Barismo — you know, the guys who authored the excruciatingly detailed primer of brewing with a coffee syphon — have made some of the spiffy sounding coffee they’ve been sourcing and roasting available for purchase online. Good on them!

I’ll probably get me some to try, especially as I see  they’re offering the honey-process coffee (a.k.a. pulped natural, or miel coffee) from Costa Rica’s tiny Los Lohas farm. I’ve rarely met a pulped natural coffee that I didn’t like… and I know I like this one, as we’re also offering it as a Special Reserve bean at Green Mountain Coffee. I simply can’t pass up the opportunity to see how our roasts compare.

Current World Barista champ Stephen Morrissey and immediate past champion James Hoffman and friends (like SCAE world tasting champ Anette Moldvaer!) have got their Square Mile Coffee Roasters venture under way in London, and are shipping coffee worldwide. A quartet of Square Mile coffees arrived on my doorstep in Vermont in the last week, and the tasting is about to commence. Not to hype things up or anything, but my expectations are HUGE. ;) More on that in a day or two…

Posted on October 2, 2008 - by deCadmus

Playing Now on the Small Screen

I’d like to thank the Food Network Academy for this honor…  in particular Alton Brown and Mario Batali, both of whom have been such a great influence on me, and, of course, my family for all of their support.

Move over, Vaynerchuck!

Posted on September 27, 2008 - by deCadmus

Passages: Paul Newman, 1925-2008

Film legend, race-car driver, popcorn impresario. Activist, philanthropist, and all around lucky guy.

Paul Newman died Friday.

I mention this because — as much as I’m a fan of his work on screen — I’m downright grateful that he leant his name and likeness to his daughter’s brand, Newman’s Own Organics, and in the process brought his bazillion-lumen star power to Fair Trade and Organic coffee. He made corporate philanthropy cool.

Thanks, Paul. For everything.

Posted on August 13, 2008 - by deCadmus

Coffee Notes from All Over

• The cool kids at Barismo do a deft take on a David Letterman style top-ten list with 10 Reasons Coffee Doesn’t Taste Like the Bag Descriptions.
  

  Number 10 - Juan Valdez is dead. Get over it.
  Number 9 - The marketing team ran out of ways to say, “tastes just like coffee, but better.”
  Number 8 -  Two words: cat poo.

  Okay…  none of these are actually on Barismo’s list, I’m just feelin’ punchy.

• Despite the fact that it gets a lot of the salient facts about coffee and health right on the money, I got a beef with the recent NY Times’ health article — Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions — for perpetuating the myth that Howie Schultz was the founder of Starbucks…
  

  When Howard D. Schultz in 1985 founded the company that would become the wildly successful Starbucks chain, no financial adviser had to tell him that coffee was America’s leading beverage and caffeine its most widely used drug. The millions of customers who flock to Starbucks to order a double espresso, latte or coffee grande attest daily to his assessment of American passions.

  To set the record straight, Schultz *left* Starbucks — the company founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker  — to start his own coffee company, Il Giornale, in 1985. Two years later Howie bought out the original Starbucks’ stakeholders with the profits from his new company and the help of a few investor friends, and bundled everything under the name of the coffee company that made its bones on Pike Place… Starbucks. So there.

• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation plans to help coffee farmers in Africa boost their agronomy skills and coffee processing capabilities in an big dollar effort directed by the good people of Technoserve. Which is a very cool thing to do, and all the more remarkable as it allows me to additionally note that Bill Gates — not that Bill, his *dad* Bill Gates, Sr. — was was of the original investor friends that allowed Howie Schultz to buy out Starbucks from its original founders in 1987.Small world, huh?