Welcome the the wayback window of Sweet Maria’s green coffee bean reviews!
This is how we used to publish our review archives, and just for the heck of it, we like to keep our old stuff online … you know, the dustbin of history and all that. Likely none of the links work or the images show up. But old web sites are like other old things: stuff breaks. So here it is, our Coffee Review Archive:
You are browsing 2005-2006 archive – G to K Reviews |
GuatemalaGuatemalan coffee is considered a top quality coffee producer in Central America. Due to our proximity to Guatemala, some of the nicest coffees from this origin come to... ...more San Marcos WP Decaf | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | San Marcos | Mark: | |
ProcessingThe removal of the cherry and parchment from the coffee seed.: Coffee is either wet-processed (also called washed or wet-milled) or dry-processed (also called wild, natural or natural... ...more: | Wet-Process, then Water Process Decaf | Crop: | December 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .6 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | CatuaiCatuai is a high-yield Arabica cultivar resulting from a cross of Mundo Novo and yellow Caturra. The tree is short, with lateral branches forming close angles to the... ...more, BourbonA coffee cultivar; a cross between Typica and Bourbon, originally grown in Brazil: Mundo Novo is a commercial coffee cultivar; a natural hybrid between "Sumatra" and Red Bourbon,... ...more, Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.3 | Notes: The advantage of knowing exactly what coffee goes into your decaf is great, and surprisingly rare because a lot of decafs are sold simply with an originIn coffee talk, it refers to a coffee-producing region or country; such as, "I was just at origin." Of course "Origin" for most product we use is not... ...more name, and not even a regional designation to boot. But with this Guatemalan we know the region, San Marcos, and the grade (SHB, Strictly Hard BeanA classification used in some countries in Central America (Guatemala, Costa Rica) indicating the coffee was grown at an altitude above 1200 feet/4000 meters: In Costa Rica, a... ...more). More remarkable is the cup after decaffeinating. It’s really outstanding, especially in the livliness of the hight tones in the cup at City+City+ roast is an ideal roast level that occurs roughly between 425 and 435 degrees Fahrenheit in many coffee roasters with a responsive bean probe where First Crack... ...more roast. I am astounded and a little bewildered by this: I regularly cupped the Central American coffees that had undergone the SWPSWP means Swiss Water Process is a patented water filtration decaf method, not a chemical solvent method. The plant is in Vancouver, Canada. ...more process in Vancouver, Canada. They had little to no brightnessA euphemistic term we use often to describe acidity in coffee. A bright coffee has more high, acidic notes. : A euphemistic term to describe acidity in coffee.... ...more of the original coffee in the cup, and since that’s what Centrals are about, no brightness means no origin character (well… it means a huge part of what the Guatemalan coffee is about has been removed. Props to SWP who has made great strides forward in improving technique in the last 2 years too, and recently opened a new production line for smaller decaf batches with good results.) This is not from Swiss Water, it is from the plant that uses a non-contact water method of treatment in MexicoMexican coffee originates from South-central to Southern regions of the country. For that reason, coffees from Coatepec and Veracruz are much different from Oaxacan Plumas, which are in... ...more … what we refer to as WP on our list since no Swiss were involved (joke, but true I am sure). Here we have a cup with remarkable brightness intact after the decaf process. And it is a non-contact, non-chemical water process decaf to boot. It has a backdrop of almond in the roast tasteThe set of flavors that result from the degree-of-roast.: Roast Taste is a term we started to distinguish it from "Origin Flavor". We use the "roast taste" term... ...more to balanceSuggests a harmony and proportion of qualities, and implies mildness since no one quality dominates.: Balance is both an obvious and slippery taste term. It implies a harmony... ...more out the cup. It is a lighter-bodied cup with short, pleasant aftertasteAftertaste refers to lingering residual sensations in the mouth after coffee has swallowed. It might be distinguished from "finish" which is the final sensations of the coffee while... ...more. This cups is lively, and the bodyAssociated with and sensed by mouthfeel, body is sense of weight and thickness of the brew, caused by the percentage of soluble solids in the cup, including all... ...more fairly light. It has a good cirtus acidity![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma![]() |
3.3 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 2.9 | ||||||
FinishSimilar to aftertaste, but it refers to the impression as the coffee leaves the palate. Aftertaste is the sensations gathered after the coffee has left the mouth. We... ...more – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | IntensityWe have a simple scale to rate intensity in our coffee reviews, from Mild to Bold. Low intensity does not mean low quality!: We have a simple scale... ...more/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity/Bright tones at City+ roast | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ for the best of this fairly sweet, delicate cup, can take darker roasts too | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85 | Compare to: Excellent bright notes for a decaffeinated Central coffee – a lively cup. |
Guatemala Huehuetenango – Finca![]() |
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Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB, Strictly Hard Bean | Region: | San Pedro Necta, Huehuetenango | Mark: | Finca La Providencia (estateA "coffee estate" is used to imply a farm that has its own processing facility, a wet-mill. In Spanish this is called an Hacienda. A Finca (farm) does... ...more) |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | September 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Bourbon, Typica (unsure of percentages) |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.6 | Notes: Finca La Providencia is located in the DepartmentA Department is the term used in some Latin American countries for a State or County. For example, Huila Department is the state in the South of Colombia. ...more (state) of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. That means little, since Huehue is a monstrous entity, and coffees from one sub-region can be quite distinct from another. We had bought El Injerto (actually our Cup of ExcellenceThe Cup of Excellence is a competition held yearly in many coffee-producing countries, designed to highlight the very best coffees from each origin.: The Cup of Excellence (COE)... ...more lot this year is the #1 Injerto) and Finca Huixoc in the past, but those are from the area of La Democracia. We had bought FTOFTO is shorthand for a coffee that is certified as both Fair Trade and Organic. ...more lots from Asobagri Cooperative but those are from the Barillas area. Now it seems that the really exciting coffees I have been cupping![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Body – MouthfeelHow a coffee feels in the mouth or its apparent texture, a tactile sensation : A major component in the flavor profile of a coffee, it is a... ...more (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / unique fruitedIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... ...more character, spice accents | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City + is where you will experience the most here, FC is nice and bittersweetBittersweet is from the language of chocolate, and describes the co-presence of positive bittering compounds balanced by sweetness. It is directly related to caramelization, but has inputs from... ...more too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.7 | Compare to: Has character of high grownHigh Grown, or HG, is a coffee designation that can mean different things in different countries. : High Grown, or HG, is the highest quality Mexican coffee designation... ...more Bourbon Guatemala, although I can’t verify the Bourbon content of the lot. |
Guatemala Quiche – La Perla Estate | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB, Strictly Hard Bean | Region: | Quiche | Mark: | La Perla Estate |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | Oct 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .8 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Typica, Bourbon |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.5 | Notes: La Perla is a fairly large coffee estate in Quiche, and has a rather controversial past. We offered this coffee once before, a long time ago. I “rediscovered” the coffee as a judge at the 2006 Guatemala Cup of Excellence (#4 position – but this is not the CoE lot we are offering here though), but I was unaware of what a central place the farm played in the civil unrest of the 80’s in Guatemala (Quiche was at the center of the conflict). While it is tough to decide, based on the information out there online, what the facts are, the owner of the farm was basically assassinated by a Mayan woman in the course of the conflict, and the farm served as a stronghold for fighting Indian guerillas in the area. Later, as part of reconciliation, a good chunk of the farm land was given back to the community, and is now operated as an employee-owned enterprise. It makes me realize how the coffee trade, simply because it is a form of rural employment with (in the case of Guatemala) estate owners of a richer class who often live in away from the farm, it is a flash point for class conflict. It’s not a comforting thing to think about while you sip coffee, but it is the reality, no matter what your opinions or politics. I will try to learn more about Quiche and La Perla, for my part. Anyway, this review is about the cup of coffee: From the start, I thought that this coffee is to Guatemala what La Minita or La Magnolia is to Costa RicaCosta Rican coffee is typically very clean, sweet, with lots of floral accents. hey are prized for their high notes: bright citrus or berry-like flavors in the acidity,... ...more; sweet, delicate, clean, nuanced … all the classical qualities of a Central. Being “classic” doesn’t make it easy to disect the flavor profileFlavor Profile implies a graphical impression of a particular coffee, whether it be an artistic portrait or data graph of the perception of flavor compounds. In the case... ...more: it is one of those “coffee-flavored coffees”, an inscrutabley balanced cup that can, at first, leave me pleased but without a word to explain exactly why!!! The fragrance is florally sweet, outlined with a bit of hazelnut (City+ roast) and butter. I could write and emphatic “ditto” for the wet aroma, which is unique in itself because usually there is a shift from dry aromatic qualities to wet. But it is very much “sweet, floral![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild (City roast) to Medium (FC roast) intensity / tangyAn adjective modifying a flavor descriptor, describing a sharp effect; tangy citrus, tangy bittersweet flavor, tangy green apple. ...more cocoa-nut roast notes | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: While I appreciate the sweet mild balance of the City roast, I like the roast character of the FC/FC+ roast more. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85.6 | Compare to: Light roasts are comparable to Classic Central American coffees, clean, sweet, mild and balanced. Darker roasts have a nice cocoa bite to them. |
Guatemala FTO Quiche – Maya Ixil | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB, Strictly Hard Bean | Region: | El Quiche Department | Mark: | Fair TradeFair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to empowering developing country producers and promoting sustainability.: Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach... ...more and OrganicGrown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, etc.: Organic coffee has been grown according to organic farming techniques, typically without the use of artificial fertilizers. Some farms... ...more Certified |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | Sept 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Typica, PachePache is a mutation of Typica cultivar that orginates in Guatemala: Pache is a dwarf mutation of Typica coffee first observed at Finca El Brito, Guatemala. It is... ...more, Caturra![]() |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.3 | Notes: Maya Ixil coffee cooperative is in the mountains of the tropical Ixcan region in the department of Quiche, Guatemala. It’s an interesting region in Guatemala, where there are more small-holder farms than the large estate-oriented coffee cultures of Fraijanes, Antigua, or parts of Huehuetenango. And the farmers in the area are of ethnic Quiche Maya ancestry, maintaining a traditional way of life for the most part. The problem is that quality coffee requires some degree of training to avoid defects associated with old style traditional agronomyScience and study of crops and soils: A branch of agriculture dealing with field-crop production, soil management and physiology of crop plants as its focus. ...more (for example, picking only ripe cherry![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.3 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Balanced, lower toned, nuts and chocolate | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City + (once again) is where you will experience the most here, but I liked the more chocolaty roast taste at FC and FC+ too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85.9 | Compare to: Milder Central profile, not such a high-toned acidity as other Guatemala coffees. I felt like brewing this a bit strong benefited the cup. |
Guatemala “Blue Quetzal” Bourbon | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB, Strictly Hard Bean | Region: | Chimeltenango | Mark: | Blue Quetzal |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | November 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | 100% Bourbon CultivarCultivar is a term used interchangeably with Varietal in the coffee trade to indicate plant material, although there are distinctions.: The naming of a cultivar should conform to... ...more |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.8 | Notes: I received the sample from an importer who is the one who truly “discovered” this lot … I did little but to immediately recognize that I had a gem of a coffee in front of me, and buy up all that I possibly could (given that I need another Guatemala offering like I need to catch the flu – we are overloaded!) I can’t resist a good coffee, even when it makes no “business sense.” And I can’t even tell you much about the coffee since it is from small farms, and had to be combined to form a lot big enough to export (with this important distinction: the small farms were pure Bourbon cultivar, and they were cupped before combining). But it was the cup, and watching this beautiful coffee roast, that got me all worked up: I found this coffee has a very wide range of roasts that have great results, from a light City roast through Full City +. It’s a very high-grown, dense seed (I think Bourbon cultivar also has greater densityThe density of a coffee bean is often taken as a sign of quality, as a more dense bean will roast more with a better dynamic. The density... ...more than other types, which greatly improve the way the coffee absorbs and distributes heat in the roast chamber). You will notice a very wrinkled surface appearance after first crackFirst crack in one of two distinct heat-induced pyrolytic reactions in coffee. It is distinguished by a cracking or popping sound in the coffee, and occurs between 390... ...more ends, and a relatively dark surface color given the degree of roastDegree of Roast simply means the roast level of a coffee, how dark it has been roasted.: Degree of Roast simply means the roast level of a coffee,... ...more at that stage. The lighter roasts have a punctuated fruitiness to them, bright tannicHaving the bitterness or astringency of Tannins. Tannins are plant polyphenols found across the flora kingdom. The term Tannins refers to the use of wood tannins from oak... ...more grape, floral aromatics, and sweet malt syrup roast taste. I really enjoyed watching this coffee take on a bit more color, passing into the Full City range, but not into 2nd crack at all. Here there is a unique balance between chocolate and raisin sweetness, with clove spice hints, concord grape, and a floral flavor (I know, we don’t eat/drink flowers for the most part, but the finish has a strong floral, almost rose-like aspect to it, like a potpourri). Anyway, as a cupperOne who cups, or tastes and evaluates, coffee.: A cupper is a person who performs the somewhat formal analysis of coffee quality, called cupping. See the definition of... ...more, this coffee exudes immense cup quality, as a roaster you can see that dense, tight-fisted little bean take on heat and color just beautifully, and as a guy who just likes a great cup of coffee, this is one I take home on the weekend. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.2 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / beautiful roast character and seed density, complexThe co-presence of many aroma and flavor attributes, with multiple layers. A general impression of a coffee, similar to judgments such as "balanced" or "structured" ...more cup | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: City – Full City to FC+ – I like the lighter roast too but they have a fairly rugged surface texture to the seed. This coffee really performs well with a huge range of roast, C to FC+, even light Vienna | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 88.7 | Compare to: Bourbon Guatemala – classic cup profile, great complexity. |
Guatemala Cup of Excellence #1 -El Injerto | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB, Strictly Hard Bean | Region: | Huehuetenango, La Libertad area | Mark: | Cup of Excellence 2006 1st place, Finca El Injerto |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | September 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | 100% Bourbon |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 4 | Notes: This lot was prepared only from the traditional Bourbon cultivar planted at the well-known farm El Injerto. This is a farm I visited from back around 7 years ago, and whose coffee we have offered in some seasons. El Injerto means “The Graft” (aka agricultural grafting) and is owned by Arturo Aguirre Escobar, representing the third generation of his family. He has worked the farm since 1956. Most of the coffee is planted between 1500 and 2000 meters, on a farm that dedicates a huge portion of its total land to an uncut old-growth forest. I know this farm: In fact I remember offering the pure Bourbon coffee in the past, but man, it didn’t cup like this. I was a judge at the 2006 Guatemala Cup of Excellence and this coffee stood out in a dramatic fashion from the other lots. The aromatics gave it away from the start: intensely sweet fragrance from the dry grounds, golden raisins, sweet malt syrup. A group of us from the US, Europe and Japan got together and decided we had to get this lot, at any price. Well, it sold for more than 4x the number 2 lot in the competition, but I still think we did well. After all, when a coffee is $30 a lb. each cup still costs well under $1 each! Anyway, lets get off the subject of home economics … this is a special lot and deserves special attention for it’s cup quality. As with other top coffees we have bought this year, we had the shipment flown out from Guatemala to our warehouse, to be assured that nothing went wrong with the transportation. And as I cup it here, it still rings all the same bells it did on the competition cupping table. I kept my roasts on the lighter side, as I always do with cupping, and is my preference for brewing too. This City roast does not have an even surface appearance, still rather wrinkly, but the fragrance is so much more lively than the FC roast I did. Wet aromatics are again intensely sweet: lightly caramelized sugars, and maple syrup on buttermilk pancakes (seriously!). When it comes to cup flavors, sweetness strikes first, but also a strong floral, jasmine![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.2 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 2 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-to-bold intensity / Extraordinary aromatics, sweetness, complexity. | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: City – City + (once again) is where you will experience the most here, and what the review comments are based upon | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 91.3 | Compare to: Well, it’s the number 1 coffee from the CoE, what’s to compare it to? It had an average score of well over 90 points from over twenty international cupping jurors. |
Guatemala Antigua PeaberryA peaberry is a green coffee "bean" that has a rounded form: Coffee is the dried seed from the fruit of a flowering tree - each fruit having... ...more “Maria Especial” | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Antigua | Mark: | Prepared for Sweet Maria’s |
Processing: | Wet ProcessWet-processing starts by removing the outer skin of the coffee cherry with a machine called a pulper, then fermenting the remaining fruit (with green bean inside) in water... ...more | Crop: | June 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, Peaberry![]() |
Varietal: | Guatemala bronze-tipped Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: Another coffee we secured by special arrangement, and a Guatemala Antigua that really cups like one! As some who follow the offering carefully will know, it is not often we offer an Antigua coffee, surprising to some since you might call it the “Grandpa” of specialty coffee![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Classic Antigua profile with exceptional body | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City – you can get the most of the bittersweetness at the verge of 2nd crack | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.0 | Compare to: Archetypal Antigua cup character. For this, a +1 correction! |
Guatemala San Marcos -Finca Maria Elisa | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | San Marcos | Mark: | Finca Maria Elisa |
Processing: | Wet-Process | Crop: | June 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .4 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Bourbon, Old-Growth |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.8 | Notes: Finca Maria Elisa is basically an antique working farm. It is in the San Marcos region of Guatemala, very, very close to the Mexico border, and has been a family-owned farm for many years. The problem is this; as coffee prices fell several years ago, no money was available to reinvest in the farm. But a farm like this is built upon the old, sustainable model of coffee farming; old-growth Typica and Bourbon cultivars with massively thick trunks are planted under a healthy cover of shade trees. The mill is a traditional wet-process layout; everything about this farm is as one might find it 50 years ago. In other words, it is a coffee-producing system that doesn’t require technological improvemnts or fertilizer/herbicidal inputs to function. It is by definition, sustainable. The problem with the lack of improvements in this farm are more of the physical nature: the out-buildings are being destroyed by termites, the walls are paper thin. When a coffee broker friend of ours tried to walk up stairs to the loft in the mill, the farm manager warned him off: you might come down in a heap of rotted , termite-holed wood. Now the farm is selling the coffee into a better market that recognizes the cup quality of this classic flavor profile, and the premium price we are paying should go for some lumber, or at least some bondo! Anyway, this is a beautiful cup: The fragrance from the dry grounds is very sweet! It is floral (much like the bloom of the coffee tree itself) and fruited. The wet fragrance shifts to a mildly chocolate aromatic base with sugar cane sweetness. Cup flavors are very mild and the aftertaste is rather short; the appeal of this cup is its fine aromatics, and delicate, clean personality. The body is light but has a creamy texture. The cup has a clean coffee cherryOriginally coffee literature referred to the fruit of the tree as a "berry" but in time it became a cherry. It is of course neither. Nor is the... ...more fruit quality and honeyIn coffee, honey-like sweetness is often found, but we use terms such as refined honey (highly filtered and processed) as opposed to raw honey rustic honey sweetness. This... ...more sweetness (orange blossom honey). This is the classic, clean, Central American cup, refined, fragile, and seductive. Don’t expect flavors to leap out and clobber you over the head. Rather, this is a coffee you can approach, hold on the palate, consider, enjoy. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity/excellent sweet aromatics | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ for the best of this delicate cup | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.3 | Compare to: Classic clean-cup Central with mild flavors and superior aromatics |
Guatemala Huehue FTO -Asasapne Coop | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB, Strictly Hard Bean | Region: | North Huehuetenango, San Pedro Necta | Mark: | Asasapne Cooperative, Fair Trade and Organic Certified |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | August 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Bourbon, Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: This coffee comes from the very north of Huehuetenango state in Guatemala, near the border with Chiapas, Mexico. ASASAPNE is the name of the cooperative, (another incredibly long acronym that coffee coops are known for). The coop is comprised of growers from 10 different communities radiating out from the town of San Pedro Necta. There are 260 growers in the cooperative, with only 45 of them as certified organic at this point which means a they do not produce much Organic: 2 of the 10 communities are certified organic – Rio Ocho and Agua Blanca. These 2 areas are over 1400 meters, and all coffee from these 2 communities is Bourbon and Tipica. It might explain that, when I cupped the conventionalConventional coffee means that a coffee is not organic certified, in the coffee trader parlance. ...more non-organic lots vs. the organic, I found solid cup character in the former and really exceptional cup character in the organic. The aromatics are lively and floral, qualities I look for in great Huehuetenango coffees. The cup flavors are quite crispUsually used as a modifying flavor term, such as "crisp acidity" : Crisp can have several meanings, since it modifies other flavor terms. Crisp acidity might mean bracing,... ...more, but not simply acidic. It is a bright coffee as al, great Guats should be, but not out of proportion with cup flavor, body, and aftertaste. There’s a citric accent in the cup (tangerine, mandarin). Behind this, there’s a very unique sweet cedar note, accented with vanilla bean and caramel sauce. I have trouble defining it satisfactorily; it’s one of these compound flavor attributes, combined/blended tastes that are a bit difficult to separate and describe. I also get warming spiceA term indicating a spice blend with ingredients such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, anise pepper. While it is not exactly the same thing, warming spice blends... ...more aromatics in the brewed cup as it cools (cinnamon stick, mulling spiceA spice mix for adding flavor and aroma to a warm beverage, apple cider or wine. This mix might include all or an assortment of the following; allspice,... ...more). And the finish has a good lingering bittersweet quality. It’s a surprising cup, with more complex character than a first encounter, that initial smell and sip, might indicate. As it cools the cup becomes brighter and a citrus sweetness lingers on the tongue. I find it takes a wide roast range: although the comments above are for a City+ roast I enjoyed FC and FC+ too, which were perhaps less complex but more pronouncedly tangy and bittersweet. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / delicate but complex flavors, great acidity | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: City + (once again) is where you will experience the most complex flavors and brightness. FC and FC+ work well too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.4 | Compare to: Classic bright Central, great HueHuetenango. |
Guatemala Huehuetenango WP Decaf | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Huehuetenango | Mark: | MAM |
Processing: | WP Decaf, Wet Process | Crop: | December 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17 screen | Varietal: | Typica, Caturra, Catuai |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: The advantage of knowing exactly what coffee goes into your decaf is great, and surprisingly rare because a lot of decafs are sold simply with an origin name, and not even a regional designation to boot. But with this Guatemalan we know the exact region (Huehuetenango) and cup quality prior to decaffeination, quite nice! More remarkable is the cup after decaffeinating though, because this bright, lively character survived the orderal intact. I always expect some loss in acidity and the top end of the cup flavors after the decaf process. With the lots sent to Swiss Water I expected very dramatic losses. But this new process (similar to SWP but performed in Mexico at the Cafiver facility) is proving out with good results. They call it Mountain Water Process or something, and I am refering to it simply as Water Process (WP). And it is a non-contact, non-chemical water process decaf to boot. It has a backdrop of almond in the roast taste to balance out the cup. It is a lighter-bodied cup with short, pleasant aftertaste. But it’s all about the bright notes in the cup, and this one has them. Simply incredible decaf for an indirect-contact, non-chemical decaf method. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.3 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.0 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Bright, high-toned Guatemala character | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: I had very good roasts at City+ up to Full City+. Remember roast times, and roast color are different with decafs, and a normal pause between 1st and 2nd crack may not exist. The lack of chaffChaff is paper-like skin that comes off the coffee in the roasting process. Chaff from roasting is part of the innermost skin (the silverskin) of the coffee fruit... ...more changes the way the coffee behaves in air roasters too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 84.9 | Compare to: A bright Guatemalan SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) coffee |
Guatemala Coban FTO MaragogypeMaragogype is a mutation of Typica coffee and was discovered in Brazil. The Maragogype is a large plant with big leaves, low production and very large fruits (and... ...more | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Sierra de las Minas, Coban | Mark: | Sierra de Las Minas Fair Trade, Organic |
Processing: | Wet-Process | Crop: | April 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .8 d/300gr, 19+ Screen | Varietal: | 100% Maragogype (Elephant Bean) |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.2 | Notes: This coffee originates from the Coban state, Guatemala. This is an organic, fair trade project coffee from ForesTrade de Guatemala , who launched an organic and Fair Trade coffee project in the buffer zone of Guatemala’s Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve. Our project partners with two coffee producer associations APROCOM and APODIP. APROCOM and APODIP include over 1,200 micro producers of Mayan Q’eqchi and Poqomchí ethnicities, who live in remote mountain villages within a cloud forest. ForesTrade has actively helped these farmers develop a quality coffee program, receive organic and Fair Trade certification and commercialize their product for the specialty coffee market. Prior to our presence in these communities, these farmers sold their semi-dried parchmentGreen coffee still in its outer shell, before dry-milling, is called Parchment coffee (pergamino). In the wet process, coffee is peeled, fermented, washed and then ready for drying... ...more to local middle-men at far below the market prices. The benefits of organizing a co-op are not only for more equity in selling coffee; in this case it results in shared knowledge, access to outside agronomical expertiese, and improved cup quality. This coffee is not so dynamic in the dry fragrance and wet aroma, but the cup flavors are where it’s uniqueness can be sensed. This coffee has mild fruited notes, an excellent milk chocolate roast taste, soft-full body, and a one-of-a-kind smokeyUsually a defect of roasting, or of green coffee processing, smokey notes are sometimes found as a positive flavor in a few exotic coffees; This smell and flavor... ...more flavor that derives from the origin flavors of the coffee … not from roast. And this is not some sort of ashtray smokiness, but a clean, distinct and very pleasant flavor quality. The body is notable too, more dense than most Guatemalan coffees. Together with a tangible, moderate acidity, the cup has great balance and proportion. Remember that these huge Maragogype (also spelled Maragogipe_ beans will not move as readily in a hot airstream of a home roaster as lighter, smaller coffee seeds. It is wise to back off on the batch size by 20% or so, to aid in good bean agitation and avoid scorchingPatches of discolored burn marks on the coffee bean, due to a high-heat roast environment or other roast error.: Scorching refers to a roast error that can be... ...more or tippingTipping refers to a roast error that can be discerned by inspecting the roasted coffee, where the ends of the elongated bean appear burnt. It can easily be... ...more the beans in roasting. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.3 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity (brewed) / smokey, milk chocolate, balance | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: For brewed coffeeBrewed Coffee refers to all coffee preparations produced by adding non-pressurized water to coffee grounds. Contrasted with espresso coffee, which is produced under pressure, brewed coffee is primarily... ...more I have best results at City + roast, but enjoyed the FC to FC+ roasts too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.7 | Compare to: A unique profile among Central American coffees, higher body than most Guats, and that unique smokey note. |
Guatemala Huehuetenango -La Maravilla Estate | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Huehuetenango, La Democracia area | Mark: | La Maravilla Estate |
Processing: | Wet Processed | Crop: | Sept 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Bourbon, Catuaí, Caturra, Typica y Pache |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.5 | Notes: La Maravilla is a farm we have not carried before, but Huehuetenango is a coffee-growing region of Northern Guatemala that we can’t get enough of! Huehue. is still under appreciated for the range of cup characters, usually with a more fruited profile than the Antiguas. And within Hue hue there are many subregions with distinct cup profiles. La Democracia is one of them, and that is where both El Injerto and La Maravilla are situated. When I received this sample it was more of a burden than a blessing: we had already bought all the mid-crop Guatemalans I needed for the year and I didn’t want to re-roast all the Guat.s for a comparative cupping. But I did and I am glad. This cup is bright, and if that is not apparent at first, you will realize the high acidity as the cup cools. This gives it a real lively cup character, tangy and in lighter roasts the fruitiness is like barely ripe mango. Behind the brightness and fruit is an almondy nuttiness with a bit of not-too-sweet Dutch cocoa. It sounds like an odd combination of flavors but somehow it spins itself into a really cohesive taste profile. I all, this is not a sweet cup and leaves me with a chocolate aftertaste as if I had tasted unsweetened cocoa powder. (I remember what a shock it was as a kid to learn that the Hershey’s cocoa powder my mom kept in the kitchen was not like like eating a package of instant cocoa, like Swiss Miss.) But despite childhood trauma, this time the unsweetened cocoa taste comes off as a good thing! This coffee is not screened for seed size as much as other Guat.s, but the presence of some small seeds should not be an issue, even in the perforated drum roasters. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.7 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 2.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild-medium intensity /crisp , clean cupClean cup refers to a coffee free of taints and defects. It does not imply sanitary cleanliness, or that coffees that are not clean (which are dirty) are... ...more | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: This can take a wide range between City + and Full City ++, a bit into 2nd crack. The character really holds up throughout the roast range, and good chocolate notes develop a bit into 2nd with some muting of the fruit and acids![]() |
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Score (Max. 100) | 86.8 | Compare to: A balanced Huehuetenango, crisp and clean Classic cup profile. |
Guatemala Antigua Peaberry “Especial” | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Antigua | Mark: | Prepared for Sweet Maria’s |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | Late June 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, Peaberry screen | Varietal: | Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: Another coffee we secured by special arangement, and a Guatemala Antigua that really cups like one! As some who follow the offering carefully will know, it is not often we offer an Antigua coffee, surprising to some since you might call it the “Grandpa” of specialty coffee. To my mind, Antigua was the first region-specific coffee offered on the burgeoning Specialty Coffee market back in the ’70s. It was certianly the first one consumers started asking for by name. The valley around the town of Antigua, the original capital city of Guatemala and less than an hour from the new capital Guatemala City, was ideal for coffee. It was widely planted as far back as the 1880s by mostly German immigrants, and had borad, fertile, well-draining volcanic soils since it was the watershed for the facmouas Agua and Fuego volcanoes. But as Antigua gained a reputation, and the price was driven up, the quality dropped, and much coffee sold as Antigua was not truly from this limited area (sometimes Acatenango, sometimes Fraijanes, sometimes from Honduras!) Because Antigua is an “old school” specialty coffee, it is an arechtype of flavor, in a sense. This is what we call “classic” cup profile: clean, aromatic, good bittersweet coffee flavor. That doesn’t make it the most “exciting” cup in the world, by todays standards. But it is the epitome of the classic specialty coffee cup profile, and this special Peaberry lot truly has that correct Antigua character that is increasingly rare. The dry fragrance has cocoa vanilla, hazelnut; add water and the wet aromatics sweeten up a bit, with noticeable spiciness (clove-allspice). Cup flavors are clean, balanced and (it sounds ridiculous to say) very “coffee-like,” meaning archetypal coffee bittersweets. The cup flavors feature soft chocolate tones and avery impressive butteryA mouthfeel description indicating thickness and creaminess, and can also be a flavor description.: Buttery is primarily a mouthfeel description indicating thickness and creaminess. It indicates a high... ...more body (moreso that any Antigua I have cupped in recent years). There’s traces of tobacco in the finish, with a bit of mint. So why is this lot “Especial”? Because we basically had a very good cupper (who I cannot nam, sorry!) pick and choose through all of the peaberry lots coming into the respected Pastores mill in Antigua to create this coffee. Peaberry is a small percentage of the harvest, and each farm might not have enough to offer as a distinct exportable lot. So essentially our hired gun “cherry-picked” the best of the best to create a lot just for us. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.3 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 4 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Classic Antigua profile with exceptional body | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City – you can get the most of the bittersweetness at the verge of 2nd crack | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.1 | Compare to: Archetypal Antigua cup character. For this, a +1 correction! |
Guatemala Huehuetenango -El Injerto | |||||||
Country: | Guatemala | Grade: | SHB | Region: | La Libertad area, Huehuetenango | Mark: | Finca El Injerto |
Processing: | Wet-processed | Crop: | October 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18+ Screen | Varietal: | Bourbon, Caturra, Red Catuai |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.3 | Notes: Once again Finca El Injerto has that solid, classic quality cup character this year, as it did in 2003. Injerto, in a way, reminds me of what an Antigua should be, but 9 out of 10 times is not. Injerto has really has the structure, the classic Guatemala character, the acidity, that Antigua rarely has now. Ironic that a very nice Antigua doesn’t come from there …but then again brokers are talking about fraud in the high-priced Antigua region anyway (shipping in Acatenango and Fraijanes and selling them as Antigua). A while back we stocked the 100% Bourbon coffee from Injerto, meaning that all the trees are of the coffea![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.3 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild to Medium intensity / Classic profile, “clean cup” | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: This can take a wide range between City + and Full City ++, a bit into 2nd crack. The character really holds up throughout the roast range, and good chocolate notes develop a bit into 2nd with some muting of the fruit and acids. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85.9 | Compare to: Classic, well-structured Guatemala cup profile. |
HawaiiThe Kona district on the big island of Hawaii produces the best coffee from this state - clean, sweet and mild. : Ah, Hawaii... what a nice place.... ...more |
Hawaiian KonaKona coffee comes from farms along the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii: Kona coffee comes from farms along the Kona Coast on the Big Island... ...more – Kowali Typica XF | |||||||
Country: | U.S.A | Grade: | XF (Extra Fancy) | Region: | Hawaii, Big Island, Kona, Honaunau district | Mark: | Kowali Farm |
Processing: | Wet-processed | Crop: | June 2006 arrival | Appearance: | .2 d/300gr, 19 Screen | Varietal: | Kona TypicaA variation on Typica grown in the Kona region of Hawaii.: Kona is a special cultivar, Kona Typica, a traditional varietal that cannot be grown at low elevations. ...more |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: Kona Coffee is grown only in the district of Kona on the west side of the Big Island of Hawaii. While coffee is also grown in other districts and on other islands, it does not develop the same flavors nor receive the same attention in the process as true small-farm Kona coffees. Kowali (which means Morning Glory in Hawaiian) is a smaller, more remote Kona farm with the right kind of altitude to produce exceptional Kona coffee. This coffee is grown by Skip and Rita Cowell on their 12 acre Kona farm, up an old-time coffee road winding along the steep hillsides of Honaunau in Southern Kona. It has been consistently acclaimed one of the top 10 coffees in Kona, and in fact received an honorable mention in the Kona Coffee Competition. “The funny thing about that,” Rita told me, “is that I didn’t enter the competition!” The Cowell farm is grown on carefully tended land, using no pesticides and 100% hand picked. In 1998 the farm was recognized by the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District as the co-operator of the year for continuing conservation practices. Skip is an expert in this area and lectures on Soil Conservation at mainland conferences. In terms of cup character, the coffee reflects the Kona heritage (this is 100% Kona Typica, which was brought from Guatemala in the ’20s) and the altitude. This cup is a classic Kona in all respects, with a big, sweet flavor that somehow matches the immense blue-green appearance of the coffee seeds. The body is silkyA mouthfeel description indicating a delicate, light, elegant softness and smoothness. Usually refers to a lighter body than terms such as velvety, or creamy. ...more, and (oh it sounds like a cliche, but I must use it) … smooth! It really is! It has the brightness that is lacking in so many low-grown Hawaiian coffees, and a floral aromatic accent to the cup. Earlier this season, I prefered an FC roast on this coffee, but with this micro-lotA term that designates not only a small volume of coffee, but a lot produced separately, discreetly picked or processed to have special character. Read the full definition!:... ...more I found a real “sweet spot” at City+. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1.0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Classic Kona Typica character: silky body, clean, floral brightness | |||||
Roast: C+ : I like a lighter roast, ceasing the heat with no sign of 2nd crack on the horizon, right when the texture of the seed surface becomes smooth, even brown. You can also get a nice cup just a few snaps of second (FC+), but I find it takes a longer time in most roasters to achieve this level of roast. Set the roaster at a high number and roast manually. | |||||||
add 50 | 50.0 | Compare to: Sweet, juicy, classic Kona cup character, accented with bright floral notes. A luscious and attractive cup. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.9 |
Hawaii Kona XF – Kealakekua Coffee Co. | |||||||
Country: | US, Hawaii, Kona | Grade: | Extra Fancy | Region: | South Kona | Mark: | KCC XF |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | June 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 19+ Screen | Varietal: | Kona Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: Kealakekua Coffee is a farm in the neighborhood of Kowali Estate in South Kona … in fact it is the farm of Rita and Skip Cowell’s son, Fred! It’s a family affair in Kona coffee farming, and especially among the truly “high elevation” or “Mauka” farms. Fred’s farm is even a bit higher up than Kowali Estate and has much the same soil and climate conditions. It’s small (20 acres) but certainly not the smallest farm in the area. What impressed me with this late arriving lot was the sweetness and body. In the fragrance you pick up the sweetness immediately. Also, I found that I actually liked the darker roasts on this coffee (yes, in fact deviating from my City+ roast mantra!). Seriously, the FC, FC+ and even light Vienna have sweetness, balance, body … but you still know you are drinking Kona coffee. There’s a creamy body, and an interesting fresh tobacco flavor lurking in the cup. The sweetness is rather rustic, reminding me of a medium-dark malt extract syrup used on beer making. I haven’t tried firing up the espressoA small coffee beverage, about 20 ml, prepared on an espresso machine where pressurized hot water extracted through compressed coffee.: In its most stripped-down, basic form, this is... ...more machine to make single-farm shots from this but you can bet I will. There is incredible balance in this cup that suits SO espressoShort for Single Origin espresso, meaning using one origin specific coffee to make espresso, as opposed to using a blended coffee. ...more very well. There are very good milk chocolate notes that emerge at Full City, just at the verge of 2nd crack. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1.0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-Bold intensity / Sweetness, good body | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City, Full City+ and even a light Vienna are very nice! A few snaps into 2nd was my favorite. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.3 | Compare to: Sweet, full-body (for Hawaii) Kona from a small, high elevation farm. |
Hawaiian Kona – Kowali Farm Typica | |||||||
Country: | U.S.A | Grade: | XF and F | Region: | Hawaii, Big Island, Kona, Honaunau district | Mark: | Kowali Farm |
Processing: | Wet-processed | Crop: | June 2006 arrival | Appearance: | .2 d/300gr, 17-19 Screen | Varietal: | Kona Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: Kona Coffee is grown only in the district of Kona on the west side of the Big Island of Hawaii. While coffee is also grown in other districts and on other islands, it does not develop the same flavors nor receive the same attention in the process as true small-farm Kona coffees. Kowali (which means Morning Glory in Hawaiian) is a smaller, more remote Kona farm with the right kind of altitude to produce exceptional Kona coffee. This coffee is grown by Skip and Rita Cowell on their 12 acre Kona farm, up an old-time coffee road winding along the steep hillsides of Honaunau in Southern Kona. It has been consistently acclaimed one of the top 10 coffees in Kona, and in fact received an honorable mention in the Kona Coffee Competition. “The funny thing about that,” Rita told me, “is that I didn’t enter the competition!” The Cowell farm is grown on carefully tended land, using no pesticides and 100% hand picked. In 1998 the farm was recognized by the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District as the co-operator of the year for continuing conservation practices. Skip is an expert in this area and lectures on Soil Conservation at mainland conferences. In terms of cup character, the coffee reflects the Kona heritage (this is 100% Kona Typica, which was brought from Guatemala in the ’20s) and the altitude. This cup is a classic Kona in all respects, with a big, sweet flavor that somehow matches the immense blue-green appearance of the coffee seeds. The body is silky, and (oh it sounds like a cliche, but I must use it) … smooth! It realy is! It has the brightness that is lacking in so many low-grown Hawaiian coffees, and a floral aromatic accent to the cup. We hope to receive more of this great coffee later in the season because this lot is quite small. Note: We had this coffee certified and graded before shipping into Extra Fancy and Fancy screen size, then here at the shop we blended the two in a ratio of 2 XF to 3 F. Seed size (which is all XF and F are) does NOT matter for cup quality. I cupped them separate, they are the same. In fact, somtimes F outcups XF. At the competition this year, all the top 10 coffees would grade out as F! We pay Rita the same high price for both, and we pass that on to you. Honestly, I wish they would just make a 17 to 19 screen grade and forget these meaningless size designations. Now, Kona Prime and even No.1 can sometimes have poorer preparationPreparation refers to the dry-milling steps of preparing coffee for export: hulling, grading, classifying, sorting.: Preparation refers to the dry-milling steps of preparing coffee for export: hulling, grading,... ...more, more defects, and that DOES affect the cup. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1.0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Classic Kona Typica character: silky body, clean, floral brightness | |||||
Roast: C+ to FC: I like a lighter roast, ceasing the heat with no sign of 2nd crack on the horizon, right when the texture of the seed surface becomes smooth, even brown. You can also get a great cup just a few snaps of second. But I find it takes a longer time in most roasters to achieve this level of roast. Set the roaster at a high number and roast manually. | |||||||
add 50 | 50.0 | Compare to: Sweet, juicy, classic Kona cup character, accented with bright pineyA slightly resinous pine sap flavor, unusual but attractive in some cases. ...more notes. A luscious and attractive cup. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.9 |
Hawaii Kona – Mountain Thunder | |||||||
Country: | US | Grade: | Fancy | Region: | Hawaii, North Kona (Koloko Mauka) | Mark: | Mountain Thunder Farm |
Processing: | Semi-WashedAn uncertain term to describe a coffee processing technique somewhere between wet-process and dry-process: Semi-washed has been used, most commonly in Brazil, to describe a hybrid coffee process.... ...more Process (Eco-Washed) | Crop: | December 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | .6 d/300gr, 17-18 screen | Varietal: | Kona Typica (Guatemala-derived) |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.4 | Notes: Mountain Thunder is true estate coffee since it is grown and milled entirely on site by the Bateman family. This is very high altitude (well, relative to other Kona coffee farms) from the North Kona area of Koloko Mauka. This is traditional Kona cultivar Typica, which was brought to Kona between 1900 and 1920. You can learn more about Kona coffee farms and Kona cup quality by checking out my Hawaii travelogues: I have judged at the Kona Coffee Festival for the past couple years. In fact, that is where I met Trent Bateman. Trent has coordinated the competition, roasted all the samples at his facility, and milled quite a few of the top coffees. This is his own estate grown coffee, milled at his farm, meaning he (unlike 90% of Kona coffee farmers) has total control of the process. The preparation of the coffee is great, and the cup is outstanding. I find the dry fragrance to be potent and amazingly sweet; you know you are having a strong positive reaction to a coffee when it makes your mouth water as you grind it! The wet aromatic is very unique among Kona, with a clean aromatic woodyGenerally a taste defect from age; old green coffee, perhaps yellowing in color. This is due to the drying out of the coffee over time, and as the... ...more quality. In the cup, the coffee is very balanced, creamy in it’s mouthfeel, having a nice weight on the tongue. I would not call this an overly sweet cup, rather a classic, bittersweet island coffeeIsland Coffee is our term for coffees from various islands (Hawaii, Jamaica, Australia, etc.). Island coffees typically have a mild profile. They are typically wet-processed and grown at... ...more profile. It reminds me of my favorite 68% cocoa content bittersweet chocolate in this repect, tangy and roasty in character even at the C+/FC roast I am evaluating. Floral hints are evident thoughout the cupping. The aftertaste is not that long (it is not with Konas) but pleasantly tangy and, once again, strikes a great balance between aromatic aspects and bittersweetness. After the roast has rested several days, I get a sweet Meyer lemon finish in the cup; very nice! | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Good bittersweets and floral notes | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+/FC is ideal for the cup I describe, see the description about darker roasts. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.1 | Compare to: Clean, bittersweet, tangy Kona with unique subtle aromas |
Hawaiian Kona -Moki’s Farm | |||||||
Country: | Hawaii, U.S. | Grade: | Estate Grade Mix | Island: | Big Island | Mark: |
Moki’s Farm: |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | March 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 1 d/300gr | Varietal: | Kona Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: Moki’s Farm is near the town of Captain Cook on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii. At 2000 ft, is a “mauka farm”, located on the upper or mountain side of the highway that transects the Kona coffee belt. The elevation at Moki’s assures the ideal amount of rain to water the coffee and sun to ripen and later dry the coffee while volcanic soils nurtures the coffee trees and provide great drainage for the roots. It has been a small privately owned family operated coffee farm for over 100 years. Unfortunately the widower of the coffee farmer was not able to maintain the farm and during the late 1980s and 90s the farm suffered from neglect. In January of 2000, Vivian and Roger Rittenhouse purchased the farm realizing their dream to own property in Hawaii and become part of its diverse culture and economy. Because of the condition of the farm and trees at the time of purchase, the Rittenhouses made the difficult decision to remove most of the existing trees and replant. They were however, able to save approximately 50 trees that are 100 years old, to use as seedstock into the future. I became aware of this very small farm (just 2.1 acres) at the 2004 Kona Cupping Competition. It was a personal favorite, and upon returning to the mainland I contacted Roger to see if he was interested in offering us green coffee![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.3 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Roast: I like City+ roast, and a good 48 hour rest on this coffee. Many people like a heavier roast on Konas. Actually, a Vienna roastVienna roast occurs at the beginning of second crack. The Vienna stage is where you begin to find origin character eclipsed by roast character.: Vienna roast occurs at... ...more is a pretty neat cup and I am very impressed with the single-Estate espresso I get from a Full City+ roastA roast slightly darker than Full City. At Full City+, the roast is terminated after the first few snaps of second crack. The main cue that distinguishes the... ...more of this coffee. | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild to Medium / Balance, subtlety | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85.2 | Compare to: Estate grade Kona from one of the higher elevation farms. |
Hawaiian Kona -Purple Mountain Farm | |||||||
Country: | Hawaii, U.S. | Grade: | Extra Fancy and Fancy |
Island: | Big Island | Mark: | Purple Mountain Farm; The Stiles Family |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | March 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 1 d/300gr | Varietal: | Kona Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: This is a coffee that is uniquely Kona, distinct from any other coffee origin in the world. There are flavors very specific to Kona coffees grown on the handful of farms that actually have the right altitude and the right soils to grow coffee that demands the premium Kona price. The biggest problem with Hawaiian island coffee is not that these few small-farm Konas command a high price, it’s that alot of poor quality coffees and non-Kona coffees are priced according to the reputation of the deserving ones. Some excellent Konas are sold directly by the mills in Kona and they can be quite good too, but they vary to a greater degree than actual farm-specific lots. Judging by the cup, Purple Mountain immediately struck me as the kind of coffee that is first tier Kona, where the coffee is clearly farmed for quality and not quantity, and the altitude is clearly there. In fact, at 2000 feet in the well-drained volcanic soils of Honaunau region of Kona, and the farm has certainly hit its stride in this their 25th year. The coffee is pesticide-free (not organic certified but all by all measures they practice organic farming), hand-picked and totally sun-dried. The farm is limited to 8 acres, and the Stiles family that own and farm it are active participants in the Kona cupping competitions. The coffee is expertly milled by the well-known Tom Greenwell of Greenwell Farms, but there can be an occasional broken bean, or partial defectIn coffee, a defect refers to specific preparation problems with the green coffee, or a flavor problem found in the cupping process. Bad seeds in the green coffee... ...more bean in this coffee. Remove this before roasting for the best cup results. The cup … The KPM has a sweet, soft flowery aroma with a hint of jasmine in some cups. The cup has nice body, a little creamy, and a clean sweet snap to the cup right off the bat. With the lighter roast (City) I prefer on this cup, the acidity is mildly tangerine, and the roast taste is malty-barley… that doesn’t sound like a great combo but it really comes off pleasant and sweet in the cup. But remember, Konas, even the best, are all low grown relative to other coffee origins, and have a very mild cup character. We offer the larger bean Extra Fancy grade (sold out as of 4/15/05) and the slightly smaller Fancy grade (but not the No.1 or Prime grades). The cup quality on the XF and F is indistiguishable! I tried to blind cup them several times and could not tell them apart, so the preference is really toward price and bean size. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.3 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.2 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Roast: I like City+ roast, and a good 48 hour rest on this coffee. Many people like a heavier roast on this. Actually, a Vienna roast is a pretty neat cup! The larger XF grade needs a little more roast time. Its best to set the roaster at full time, then manually stop it at the degree of roast you want. | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild to Medium / Balance | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 84.7 | Compare to: Classic, small farm Kona. This can make great single-origin espresso at a Full City roast or a bit darker! |
Honduras |
Honduras PacamaraAs the name implies, Pacamara is a large bean cultivar, a cross between Pacas and Maragogype with unique flavor properties. This variant originated in El Salvador in 1958,... ...more -Santa Marta Estate | |||||||
Country: | Honduras | Grade: | SHB | Region: |
Yoro,
Montana el Pijol Range |
Mark: | Santa Marta Estate |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | August 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 2 d/300gr, 18-20 Screen | Varietal: | 100% Pacamara (PacasA mutation of Bourbon cultivar that appeared in El Salvador in 1949: Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon cultivar that appeared in El Salvador in 1949. It... ...more x Maragogype cross) |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.6 | Notes: I visited this farm in April this year to check out their coffee. It is run my Munir Hawat, Santa Marta was actually the winning coffee in the 2006 Honduras Cup of Excellence; it was their Pacamara that really impressed at the competition. This is not the CoE lot, and frankly it is not as well prepared as that prize winning lot, but it did originate with the same coffee. I found a small percentage of defects in the coffee, which is mostly due to the fact that the large Pacamara tends to get nicked up in the pulpingThe first step in processing wet-process coffee, pulp natural or forced demucilage coffees. Pulping simply refers to removing the skins from the coffee fruit, leaving the parchment coffee... ...more machine when they take the skin off it, before wet-process fermentationA key part of the wet process of coffee fruit is overnight fermentation, to break down the fruit (mucilage) layer that tenaciously clings to the coffee seed, so... ...more. The defect count totals 2, but i found no need to cull the green coffee before roasting. This coffee really has unique Pacamara character, but it is not for those who want a more traditional, typcial “clean and sweet” Central American cup profile. The dry fragrance is unusual: there is sweetness there, herbal sweetness, and cinnamon stick, but also an alfalfa-like note (an aromatic that raises red flags when I cup some coffees). But knowing this is a Pacamara cultivar, I not only expect some unusual green herbal/vegetal aromatics, I would worry if there wasn’t some oddball, exotic aromatic there. Initially the cup seems like most good Centrals: sweet, good brightness, medium body, clean finish. But as it cools you really taste the Pacamara difference; in fact this is one of the few cases in coffee where cultivar can be sensed so clearly (as with GeshaGesha is a long-bean Ethiopia selection with unique cup character.: Gesha (often wishfully misspelled as Geisha) is a long-bean Ethiopia cultivar selection with unique cup character. It is... ...more/Geisha in PanamaPanama coffee ranges from medium quality lower altitude farms to those at 1600 - 1800 meters centered in the area of Boquete in the Chirqui district near the... ...more). There are unusual herbal notes, those hinted at in the fragrance and wet aromatics. There is also a distinct roast nut flavor, creamy and a bit drying ( like good roasted peanut). The coffee has a more rustic sweetness than it does when the cup is blazing hot. And I get a very clear, sweet, clean tobacco note in the aftertaste of the cooled coffee … not a Sumatra-like rustic tobacco, not an earthyEarthy is a flavor term with some ambivalence, used positively in some cases, negatively in others.: Sumatra coffees can have a positive earthy flavor, sometimes described as "wet... ...more tobacco. And yet there is something rustic about this cup as it cools; aromtaic bark, cedar, cinnamon stick, sassafras. | ![]() Like much of the coffee in Honduras, Finca Santa Marta has extensive natural shade trees over the coffee. You can see the Pacamara trees directly behind me (with some white flowers!) but you would never guess that the ridge in the background is completely planted in coffee too – it looks like natural shaded forest. |
||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild to Medium Intensity / Crisp, clean fruits and floral elements. | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City to Full City+; if your roaster has the ability to profile the roast, warm the coffee slowly and steadily to 1st crack, then slow the roast until FC, or FC+ (the verge of 2nd crack). | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.8 | Compare to: A very refined Honduran cup profile; clean, clear, crisp. |
Honduras Cup of Excellence -Nueve Posas | |||||||
Country: | Honduras | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Santa Marta, San Marcos, Ocotepeque | Mark: | Finca Nueve Posas (also sp. Pozas) |
Processing: | Wet Processed | Crop: | October 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | 80% Typica, Bourbon and 20% Caturra, Catuaí |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.3 | Notes: Some background Information about this extraordinary farm: “Nueve Posas is an old farm, established originally in 1910. The farm was originally named “Finca Santa Marta”, this gave the origin of the village’s name (Santa Marta), but the farm was subdivided an sold to many families. The Espinoza family renamed the land which they kept, Finca Nueve Pozas. Many of the original plants remain from 1910 and In the first quarter of 20 century, “Finca Nueve Posas” was the only job source in the area and Lencas Indigenous communities in the region. The farm took its name from 9 Posas- the nine natural pools formed by nine waterfalls which fall in succession from the top of the mountain which bounds the farm on one side. Fernando as his father did takes great pride in the natural beauty of his land and cultivate their coffee in a sustainable way in order to protect preserve the land and the ecosystem. A wide varietyA botanical variety is a rank in the taxonomic hierarchy below the rank of species and subspecies and above the rank of form (form / variety / subspecies... ...more of native and exotic trees are used to shade the coffee trees and provide additional sources of food including avocado, liquidambar, peach, oranges, limes, tangerine, blackberryBlackberry flavor in coffee sometimes relates to slightly more developed roast levels.: Blackberry is found as a fragrance, aroma or flavor in some coffees. I find that it... ...more, apples and several other natives trees. Besides coffee cultivation, Finca 9 Posas offers lodging for up to 12 people, visitors are welcome to explore the natural beauty of the farm and surrounding areas. Fernando enjoy giving tours of his finca while explaining coffee production, showing off his orchid collection, visiting nearby indigenous communities, and hiking to “9 posas”. Fernando Espinoza was born in San Marcos de Ocotepeque in 1954. He has been cropping coffee since he was a young boy.He did his elementary school in this small town “San Marcos Ocotepeque” located in the west of Honduras, and then he went to the San Carlos University Guatemala, Where he graduated from Industrial engineering. Besides being an active coffee producer Mr Espinoza works at the “San Marcos Ocotepeque Ecological Association ” (AESMO). which was founded by himself in 1992. From the beginning and from 7 years he managed this institutions which still serves providing his knowledge and experience. In the year 2000 the Natural Resources Secretariat awarded Fernando for his environmentally friendly management system he has in his farm. The producer and his wife Nolvia Fuentes offer the farm to be used as a “Teaching and Learning Center” (CEA). Where they have given many enabling about: How Graft citrics of heights, How prune and handle of the coffee’s shade, organic agriculture, conservation of soils, control of watershed, needlework, manufacture of candies, manufacture of craftsmanship and many others, offer to producers Lencas of these communities: The Armco, Cipres, Magueyal, Peña Blanca, Santa Marta, Gualen and other communities.” Okay – I know that is a lot of reading for someone who might just want to select a good cup of coffee, but that just shows how each farm has a unique story behind it, and admittedly Nueve Posas is a bit more unique than others. Note mentioned: the farm is above 1500 meters (very high altitude) and is 80% Typica and Bourbon, and 20% Caturra and Catuaí.The cup: This is overall a soft, subtle, mild cup with great balance and nuance. The fragrance is nutty, almondy, with aromatics of oak, and mild fruityIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... ...more hints. In the cup, it is red apple![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.7 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild to Medium intensity / Balance, Sweetness, Subtle complexity. | ![]() ![]() Fernando Espinoza and familia |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ to Full City | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.4 | Compare to: Mild, classic Central cup character with caramel sweetness. |
Honduras Cup of Excellence -El Mirador | |||||||
Country: | Honduras | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Los Puercos Mtn, Jacaleapa, El Paraíso | Mark: | Finca El Mirador |
Processing: | Wet Processed | Crop: | October 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-19+ Screen | Varietal: | Catuaí, Lempira, Pacamara and IHCAFEIHCAFE is the Instituto Hondureño del Café, with research facilities and cultivar gardens.: IHCAFE is the Instituto Hondureño del Café, with research facilities and cultivar gardens. They released... ...more 90 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.3 | Notes: This was a unique lot in the 2005 competition, one that every judge did not appreciate but some really liked. We split this lot with several companies (as you can see, it was submitted to www.coffeereview.com by both Terroir Coffee and Stumptown and did really well, for what that’s worth). I was attracted to this cup because it is essentially a balanced blend that includes that unique, large-bean cultivar Pacamara, and that comes through in unique aromatics and aftertaste attributes. Then again, it also has Catimor![]() ![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 2.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.0 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild body, Medium intensity / Unique atypical cup character, very “roast sensitive” | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ to Full City. See the notes above. This coffee is very sensitive to the degree of roast and the method of roast (air vs drum, etc) | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.9 | Compare to: Atypical Honduran cup due primarily to unusual mix of cultivars |
IndiaIndian coffees are under-represented in the coffee market: they are good balanced, mild coffees. You will find the pronounced body, low acidity and subtle spicy notes pleasing, and... ...more |
India Organic Washed Robusta (Parchment RobustaRobusta usually refers to Coffea Robusta, responsible for roughly 25% of the world's commercial coffee. Taxonomy of Robusta is debated: some sources use “Robusta” to refer to any... ...more) | |||||||
Country: | India | Grade: | Parchment Robusta | Region: | Mysore | Mark: | Poabs Exports, Skal Cert. Organic |
Processing: | Wet-processed | Crop: | October 2006 | Appearance: | .4 d/300gr, 16-17 Screen | Varietal: | SL-274 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | n/a | Notes: I was very impressed with the appearance of this expertly prepped robusta when the sample arrived, but it is how it works in an espresso that sold me on it. Really high quality robusta is actually quite difficult to obtain. It is hard to get a processor to put the same care into a robusta as they do with top arabica coffees, because in most cases robusta is grown for the cheap commercial market. Why grow it with care? Why process it in a wet mill to exacting standards? Why hand-sort it like arabica coffees? Well, for one reason only: high quality traditional espresso blends. But that represents a very small amount of the demand for robusta, and a very small part of the coffee market. I tried this out in our blends, roasted at a variety of levels and roast times. What I get is the positive attributes of robusta (a volume increase in cremaCrema is a dense foam that floats on top of a shot of espresso. It ranges in color from blond to reddish-brown to black. Blond crema may be... ...more, a rich crema color, a good “bite” to the cup flavor, improved “resolution” of the coffee flavor in cappuccinoAn espresso-based beverage with steamed silky milk on top, averaging 150-190 ml: Cappuccino is an espresso-based beverage with steamed silky milk on top, averaging 150-190 ml. ...more) without the off flavors (rubber, medicine, etc) of bad robusta. In fact, it enhances a tangy chocolate quality in the cup. But it must be used with care, discretely at 15% or less, and requires a longer rest time after roasting. I like espresso rested for 48 hours or more, and find an unpleasant tingly baking powder effect in under-rested espresso. This is a fully wet-processed robusta, which in the India market is called “Parchment Robusta” as opposed to dry-process robusta which is called “Cherry Robusta”. It also happens to be SKAL Organic certified, which is pretty cool since that guarantees it doesn’t get fumigated with methyl bromide! (boo) By the way, “washed” is synonymous with “wet processed”. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | n/a | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | n/a | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | n/a | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | n/a | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | n/a | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | n/a | Roast: This depends on your blend, but I would say that robustas need a minimum of Full City ++ meaning the coffee has audibly reached 2nd crack, and I prefer 465 probed bean temperature (external) which is a Vienna stage. See notes on restingEither the resting of parchment coffee after drying, or for the home roaster, post-roast resting.: Resting might refer to "reposo", the time after drying the parchment coffee, when... ...more the coffee post roast, above. | |||||
add 50 | n/a | Compare to: Premium robustas that are picked and prepared to the same standards as high quality Arabicas, for use in espresso blends only! Not for straight roasts! | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | n/a | For Espresso – Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium / Clean taste attributes, crema Scoring Note: I don’t score robusta by traditional point methods since I evaluate it only as a blend component. |
India Dewan Estate Kohinoor AA | |||||||
Country: | India | Grade: | Kohinoor Plantation AA | Region: | Karnataka State | Mark: | Dewan Estate |
Processing: | Wet Processed | Crop: | Jan 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .1 d/300gr, 18+ Screen | Varietal: |
not known
|
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.3 | Notes: Dewan Estate is an estate we haven’t worked with before, but since the Pearl Mountain Estate is scarce we started looking around. As soon asI cupped this coffee I knew it was the one for us. This coffee has such a soft, mild, balanced cup – the overall “flavor portrait” it paints is so pleasing. At a Full City roast the cup has a nutty (almond) and cocoa fragrance, and the wet aroma has slight fruit hints (cherry). In the cup it is the silky body, paired so well with mild milk chocolate and nut, very slight winey notes, as well as spice (mild pepper). It finishes with Dutch cocoa, and suggestions of the previously mentioned winey note, and pepper. It’s a hushed coffee, a quiet coffee, with low acidity and no sharp edges to the cup. Oftentimes, this would just add up to a boring cup character, but with this lot of Dewan Estate it all works together, very harmoniously. I went for a lighter City roast and enjoyed some Mango-like fruited notes, but the cup did not taste “fully developed”; the roast-taste was sorta baked in flavor, grainy![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 4 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Balance, low-acidity | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City to Full City +; see the review above | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.9 | Compare to: Perhaps similar to wet-processed in mildness Java![]() |
India Matadakad Estate Peaberry | |||||||
Country: | India | Grade: | Matadakad Plantation PB | Region: | Karnataka State | Mark: | Matadakad Estate |
Processing: | Wet Processed | Crop: | Jan 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .1 d/300gr, 18+ Screen | Varietal: |
not known
|
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.2 | Notes: I admit, I have trouble with this name – I just can’t read it correctly … ironically even the importer was writing Mattakad on all the samples. What’s wrong with me? Matadakad. Matadakad. Matadakad. Oh well, I felt the same way trying to remember the names of beaches and bays in Kona. The cup is mild, balanced, low acid, but not at all dull. It has some very interesting nuances in it, starting with a sweetly nutty dry fragrance, and a wet aromatic I can only describe as miso! The cup has a strong dry-roasted almond. I was trying to ask myself whether this was a “sweet coffee” or not, and oddly it seems not to be in the aromatics, then it is in the cup, then in the long aftertaste it has a very unusual unsweet herbal quality. In fact, herbal flavots of sage and rosemary are all over this cup. Although the acidity is low, there is a spiciness in the cup that gives it some punctuation. This adds up to a mild cup, but one that is funky too, perhaps more Indonesian in cup character than other Indian coffees. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 7.9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Low-acidity, unusual cup flavors | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City to Full City +; I roasted it light (City) and enjoyed a dry-peanut quality but preferred the FC or FC + roasts. At FC + it becomes an interesting single originSingle Origin refers to coffee from one location, in contrast to blended coffee. This term is particularly useful in discussing espresso, since most commercial espressos are made from... ...more espresso too with toffee and cherry notes, and great aroma. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85.1 | Compare to: Indian character leaning toward Indonesian funkiness though. |
Indian Robusta -Belmany Devaracadoo Estate | |||||||
Country: | India | Grade: | Kaapi Royale Robusta | Region: | Coorg | Mark: | Tata Exports, Belmany Devaracadoo Estate |
Processing: | Wet-processed | Crop: | January 2005 arrival | Appearance: | .2 d/300gr, 18 Screen | Varietal: | SL-274 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | n/a |
Notes: This lot of single-origin, wet-processed, Estate-grown robusta is the result of a new initiative by the India Coffee Board to identify and promote great coffee estates. Coffee author Ken David’s did a lot of the work to travel and cup these lots, but they were already distibuished by winning top places in the 2004 Flavor of India Fine Cup competition. An estate robusta like this is totally unlike a comodity-grade robusta: they are hand-picked, wet-processed and sun-dried, like many good arabica coffees. They are also carefully prepared to remove defective beans and grown at high altitudes and in sustainable environments, usually intercropped with fruit, pepper and other spices. This lot is from the Belmany Devaracadoo Estate in the Coorg state of southern India. The average growing altitude is 3000 feet, and it is the product of heirloom 60 year old trees! This is the highest robusta grade for screen size and preparation: Kaapi Royale. In addition to the typical wet-processing and sun-drying, this lot uses the newer demucilage |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | n/a | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | n/a | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | n/a | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | n/a | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | n/a | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | n/a | Roast: This depends on your blend, but I would say that robustas need a minimum of Full City ++ meaning the coffee has audibly reached 2nd crack, and I prefer 460 probed bean temperature (external) which is a Vienna stage. See notes on resting the coffee post roast, above. | |||||
add 50 | n/a | Compare to: Premium robustas that are picked and prepared to the same standards as high quality Arabicas, for use in espresso blends only! Not for straight roasts! SCORING NOTE: While I don’t score robusta coffees (the scoring system is made for arabicas), Ken Davids scored this as 90 on the his modified Robusta Scale form. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | n/a | For Espresso – Intensity/Prime Attribute: BOLD / Crema, bittersweet pungent flavors |
Indian AA Monsooned Malabar | |||||||
Country: | India | Grade: | AA | Region: | Malabar | Mark: | Monsooned, Coehlo’s Gold, Silver Cloud Estate |
Processing: | Wet-processed and Monsooned | Crop: | January 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 1d/300gr18-20 scr | Varietal: | arabica KentsA cultivar resistant to Coffee Leaf Rust introduced in India: Kent was the first useful CLR resistant cultivar; it was developed on the Kent estate in Mysore, India.... ...more |
|
|
82/83 | Notes: Monsooned coffees are stored in special warehouses until the Monsoon season comes around. The sides of the structure are opened and moist monsoon winds circulate around the coffee making it swell in size and take on a mellowed but aggressive, mustyOff aroma and flavor that reminds one of a dank, moldy closet. This flavor can hint at a dangerous coffee mold and should not be consumed.: Off aroma... ...more flavor. Our source for Monsooned Malabar is the Coehlo’s Gold brand from the Silver Cloud Estate. Silver Cloud Estate was founded in 1950 by Gregory Joseph Coelho, the scion of an illustrious family of planters – whose coffee growing traditions, date back to the early part of the 20th century. In thier monsooning process, arabica coffee is spread on the floor of the special monsooning warehouse in Mangalore, raked and turned around by hand to enable them to soak in moisture of the humid winds. The monsooning process takes around 12 to 16 months of duration, where in the beans swell to twice their original size and turn into pale golden colour.Then there are additional hand-sortings to remove any coffee that did not expand properly, and the coffee is prepared for export. This is an extremely earthy, musty, pungent cup with a unique combination of caramelly finish and potent flavors. It is not for those who like a “clean” cup, or sweet coffees! It has some use in espresso blending with a preparation of longer drum roasting and resting (after roasting) of 3+ days. There are Italian espresso roasting companies that use this coffee in their “exotic” blend offering, along with 2-3 other non-monsooned arabicas to even out the cup and provide aroma and some sweetness … for example Cafes Trottet. Even as a drip/infusion brew, the coffee mellows after 2 days and the cup is more balanced so resting is key to best cup results. A note: I cupped a lot of Monsooned coffees (and in fact, quite a few different lots of Coehlo’s Gold) to find this particular lot. There are some VERY nasty lots of Monsooned Indian Malabar out there – I really think this represents the true cup, what it really should be… -Tom | ||||
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78 | ||||||
|
87 | ||||||
|
85 | ||||||
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86 | Roast: City if you dare, Full City for maximum drinkability, and no darker or you lose the funk. | |||||
|
83.5
|
Compare to: Liquor of the gods or sewer water, depending on who you ask. I love it, and think everyone should try it!. | |||||
Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold / musty, pungency, body |
Indonesia (for each specific island, see that section e.g. SumatraIndonesians are available as a unique wet-hulled or dry-hulled (washed) coffees. Giling Basah is the name for the wet-hulling process in Bahasa language, and will have more body... ...more, SulawesiSulawesi coffees are low-acid with great body and that deep, brooding cup profile akin to Sumatra. The coffee is sometimes known as Celebes, which was the Dutch colonial... ...more, TimorTimor-Leste (East Timor) is a tiny island between Australia and Sulawesi, annexed by Indonesia and liberated in a referendum several years ago. Small scale coffee farming was jump-started... ...more, etc.) |
Indonesia![]() |
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Country: | Indonesia | Grade: | Estate | Island: | Flores, Bajawa region | Mark: | None |
Processing: | Wet-Processed | Crop: | Late January 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 1.6 d/300gr, 18 screen | Varietal: | Sumatra Typica |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: Flores is a small island (360 km from tip to tip) in the Indonesian archipelago around 200 nautical miles East of BaliCoffee from the Indonesian island of Bali was formerly sold mainly to the Japanese market. Perhaps it is the changing face of world economics that finds the first... ...more. Flores was known as Pulau Nipa (Snake Island) before the Portuguese arrived and they renamed it Flores (Flower Island). A very long thin Mountainous land with incredibly diverse terrain, and numerous active and inactive volcanic peaks. The Bajawa Highlands are one of the most traditional areas of Flores. Bajawa is a small town nestled in the hills and is the centre for the Ngada people of this high, fertile plateau. The coffee is grown between 1150 and 1400 meters, which is actually quite respectable altitude for Indonesian coffeeIndonesian coffee is known for its unique earthy, potent flavors. Some like it, some hate it, but it's certainly distinctive. Much of the coffee in Indonesia is processed... ...more farming. This is not the first time I have cupped coffee from Flores, but it is the first time I found it so (appropriately) floral, clean in the cup, and pleasantly akin to a good Timor or Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, part of Indonesia. The two primary areas for... ...more wet-processed coffee. It’s not easy to get smallholder farms in remote areas to process coffee carefully; the results from these hinterland growing regions usually reflect this. But here we can really taste the character of the area without defect. The dry fragrance is mildly floral and has a foresty![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Balance, body | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: My review notes are based on a City+ and Full City roast, and yes, the FC+ single-origin espresso worked out great; very floral and aromatic! | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 85.7 | Compare to: A cross between other wet-processed Indonesian, with hints of Timor, Java and PNG. |
Java |
Java WP Decaf | |||||||
Country: | Indonesia | Grade: | One | Region: | East Java | Mark: | Private Estate: Prince |
Processing: | Wet Processed | Crop: | March 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .4 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Typica (Sumatra), Catuai, Catimor |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 2.8 | Notes: This is the Water Process Decaf lot of the same coffee we carry in “regular” non-decaf, that is, the Java Prince. Private Estate Java farms are supposed to be inferior to the 4 Government Estate plantations. They are supposedly lower-grown, not processed or prepared as well, for those who want to save a few pennies. But I received this sample and was impressed with the beautiful appearance of the green (I know, “eye-cupping” is not encouraged) and later by the cup. First thing to note here is it is still NOT an Indonesian ala Sumatra or Sulawesi, AND it is also distinct from the Governemnet Estate (Djampit, Blawan ….) coffees. The cup starts with a dry fragrance of raw bittersweet chocolate. Raw? I mean to say that it is more like cocoa nibs, raw chocolate ingredient, than a fancy bar of Vahlrona or Sharfen-berger chocolate. There is some sweetness there too, but this coffee is all about bitter![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.3 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 7 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.2 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 4.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 7.8 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Low acidity, heavy body | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City to Full City + to Vienna. Roast it to develop the maximum chocolate bitterness without making it ashyThe smell or taste of ash, such as an ashtray, cigarette smoke, or fireplace. Often a roast defect.: A quality in aroma or flavor similar to that of... ...more or carbony![]() |
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Score (Max. 100) | 83.9 | Compare to: A silky, heavy body cup with extremely low acidity. Blend with a EthiopiaEthiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, or a coffee cultivar: Ethiopia, or more specifically the Empire under Haile Selassie, was known as Abyssinia. The name is Latin, derived from... ...more Decaf 50-50 to make a balanced Moka Java type blend. |
Java Government Estate -Pancoer | |||||||
Country: | Indonesia | Grade: | One | Region: | East Java, Ijen Plateau | Mark: | Government Estate Pancoer |
Processing: | Wet-Process | Crop: | May 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 screen | Varietal: | Typica (Sumatra), Catuai, Catimor |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: Javas can be hit or miss; there was a time when I wouldn’t buy Java coffees based on outrageous prices and extremely poor, no … absolutely crappy … cup quality. For me, not stocking a Java came to symbolize the fact that I wouldn’t bow to pressures to offer a major origin if I didn’t think it was good; quality would reign supreme! That was a few years back and despite a lot of competition to buy the really good Java coffees from the 6 Government estates, we have been able to stock some outstanding lots from this origin. There are 3 names you will see here; Djampit (Jampit), Blawan and Kayumas. In any given season, one is better than another and I cup them all regularily to determine which is the real winner. Djampit and Blawan lie along the road from Bondowoso to the volcano of Kawa Ijen (also spelled Kawah Ijen). It is on these volcanic slopes of the Ijen plateau that the coffee prospers from the required coffee altitudes and well-draining soil. The IJen Plateau lies in the centre of a large forest reserve, which extends over much of the mountainous region to the west of Banyuwangi. A luminous blue/green crater lake lies at the far eastern end of the plateau and is without doubt one of the most impressive of East Java’s natural wonders. The Kawa Ijen summit is 2,300 metres above sea-level. The enormous lake, which is 200 metres deep, contains approximately 36,000,000 cubic metres of steaming, acid water … needless to say this is an active volcanic cone! Okay, back to coffee … there is “Government Estate” Java, from the 6 old farms in East Java that date back to Dutch colonialism, and “Private Estate” Java. Government Estate is invariably preferred, and Kayumas, Djampit, Pancoer and Blawan are all Gov’t Estate. In the cup Java is largely about thick, oily body, and very low acidity. A really good Java will be deep, with a touch of spice in the cup, and when the roast is right it will have subtle bittersweet chocolate tastes. When roasted dark, the low acidity can make the cup taste flat. You can roast a good Java to a City roast, and achieve a measure of balance in the cup; City is my preference for straight roast. But often you get this great chocolate roast note, bitter chocolate, at FC+ or light Vienna. Of course, you can take it darker to accentuate depth and body, and you can add mid-range and brighter note qualities through blending with a Java; hence the historical MokhaThe Yemeni type of coffee, both in terms of the family of cultivars planted there, and the general trade name.: Mokha Yemeni type of coffee, both in terms... ...more Java blend using either a Yemeni coffee or a good floral Harar. This lot is a bit of a surprise, coming late in the Java crop cycle, and from the one Government Estate I had never before offered, Pancoer. But I hold no preconceptions when it comes to cupping, and everything is tasted blind and randomized. This was a stellar Java cup. I noted fresh tobacco in the dry fragrance and the wet aroma, and it lingers throughout the cup into the aftertaste. There was a “good earthiness”, fresh humus, combined with herbal flavors; sage in particular. It has that oily body, and very low acidity, as is the neotypical java cup profile. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 7.8 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 4.5 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / fresh tobacco, humus, herbs, thick body. | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Commercialy you will see this offered as a Full City coffee, but try it lighter and be amazed! Allow proper resting period for full body to develop. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.1 | Compare to: Java differs from the semi-washed Indonesians, Sulawesi (Celebes) and Sumatra. It is more similar to Timor, and Papua New Guinea … but those both tend to have more acidity. |
Kenya AA Auction Lot 438 – Hiriga | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | AA | Region: | Karurumo, Ngorano, Nyeri District | Mark: | Hiriga Coffee Factory![]() |
Processing: | Wet-Process | Crop: | July 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .4 d/300gr, 18 screen | Varietal: | Not known |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.8 | Notes: Hiriga is a cooperative “coffee society” for small farmers located on the plateau around Mount Kenya, between the towns of Nyeri and Karatina. The region is on the leeward side of Mount Kenya and despite the forests, it suffers occasional drought during the dry season. In fact, coffee needs a dry season as much as it needs good altitude, temperate climate and well-draining soil. This area, and Nyeri in particular, is the locus of some distinct Kenya coffees, in particular, bright citrus/floral cup character. In this regard, Hiriga has plenty! The cup has an amazing balance between the sweetness of citrus fruit and the sourness. It starts with some very unique fragrances from the dry grounds: white cake and sweet honeyed ham. I know the later doesn’t seem like it fits, but this is an aromatic component and not literally the flavor of ham! Adding water, the wet aromatics began to reveal the sweet citric balance. There is bright lemon aroma, and then grapefruit rind – very lively and nippy aromas. What strikes me first in the cup is a very clean thyme herbal quality, but I don’t get that as much as the coffee cools. Overwhelmingly, the flavor alternates between tangerine, and a sweet lemon (I wrote lemon custard actually). The body is juicy and light. In the finish, it remains lively, and has a refined, elegant sweetness to the final note. It is a classic Nyeri coffee through and through, but not one of those mouth-puckering, lemon peel types … it is more polished than that. In any case, this is a very bright and lively cup, especially in the lighter roast range I prefer (City to City Plus), which has a more malty, grainy sweetness than the darker Full City roast I tried. It can take an FC+ roast or darker, but you end up with a Peets style of Kenya, a bit sweatyUsually a taste defect, reminiscent of the smell of flavor of sweat, sometimes considered mildly positive.: Usually a taste defect, reminiscent of the smell of flavor of sweat,... ...more tasting. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 2 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/bright and citric | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: A City+ roast has the most lively cup, but see my notes above. I did not enjoy the sweaty sweetness of the FC+ roast. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 90.1 | Compare to: Bright, citrus Nyeri-region Kenyas, but this one is refined and quite sweet too. +2 correction for refined cup qualities. |
Kenya Auction Lot 405 -Mchana Peaberry | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | PB 1 | Region: | Ruiru District | Mark: | Mchana Estate |
Processing: | Wet-Process | Crop: | April 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .6 d/300gr, Peaberry 17 screen | Varietal: | Not known |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.6 | Notes: Many of the Kenya auction lots we compete for are cooperative lots (called “coffee societies” in Kenya), and it is not often we buy Estate lots. Estates are larger single-owner plots usually, and while they can exert a greater control over the uniform quality of their coffee production, there is not necessarily any cup quality gap between estates and societies in Kenya. Mchana Estate is an example of a medium sized Ruiru district estate, totalling 442 hectaresWe use this metric term often to discuss the size of coffee farms. 1 Hectare = 10000 Square Meters = 2.471 acres: We use this metric term often... ...more according to my records. Interestingly, they are also certified with Utz Kapeh, the “fair trade lite” organization as I have referred to it elsewhere. I cupped several lots of Mchana this year in the auctions (along with countless other untold small lots) and what impressed me was how distinct this coffee was from the rip-your-toungue-out acidic, citric Kenyas. I rated the Mchana lots from 85-87, not stunningly high, but the problem with scoring Kenya auction lots is that too often it becomes a race toward the highest acidity on the table. That’s not a good method to judge Kenyas, and by those rules I might score another lot higher, but THIS is the one I am going to want to drink for my own personal pleasure. After all, it is not very day you want your tongue ripped out. Mchana is toned down, balanced, and totally delightful. It has a ripe, sweet quality from start to finish; the dry fragrance hints at it, but it is in the wet aromatics that the coffee comes to life. Sweet plum, raisin-currant, grape, cocoa, sweet black tea; those are the descriptors I list for wet aroma! Thes follow through in the cup, in particular the sweet black tea, the plum and raisin. Mild cocoa is there too, with a dark honey sweetness. The body is medium, but comes off a bit heavier than it really is because of a really pleasant silky quality. This is an approachable, relaxed Kenya, and a vivid contrast to the bolder, brighter, more citric lots we will have this year. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4.2 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.5 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity/balanced, sweet, riped fruit | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: The review reflects a City+ roast – completely through 1st crack, still far from entering 2nd crack. At this roast, the coffee has a ruddy, non-smooth surface texture still. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.5 | Compare to: In relation to Kenyas, this is a “relaxed” version, a layed back, So-Cal Kenya, a … okay, it’s a joke. But it is a fine contrast to intensly bright Kenya lots. (Note: we roasted this 7/5 for our Roastmaster coffee in the Probat and it was INCREDIBLE!) |
Kenya AA WP Decaf | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | AA/PB | Region: | Mount Kenya Plateau | Mark: | AA + PB, Euro-Prep |
Processing: | Wet processed | Crop: | May 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .3 d/300gr, 18 Screen | Varietal: | (not known) |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.8 | Notes: The secret of really good decafs is a properly processed coffee that begins with a really good, high quality green coffee lotCoffee can be separated by lot in any number of ways usually by the processor to distinguish one area of the farm, a particular altitude, particular trees, a... ...more. This is a Kenya AA EP (euro-preparation …that means it has gone through colormetric and several passes of hand sortingPracticed around the world, with both wet processed and dry processed coffees, hand sorting is generally the final step in the preparation of specialty coffees. Whether on conveyor... ...more, along with the usual machine sortingCoffee is sorted by size, density, and color in its preparation for export.: Sorting refers to several steps performed in the preparation of coffee for export. Coffee is... ...more size and density methods) lot …not an auction lot but a coffee that was cupped for quality, then sent to the decaffeinator. I cupped all these Kenya lots and this was one of the that out-cupped a lot of the discrete farm-specific auction coffees this year. (Yes, there were great auction lots, but there was an undue amount of really mediocre ones too.) This lot has really good acidity that you would anticipate in a Kenya and a caramelly roast taste in the City roast setting. That is what matters in a decaf – good origin character. This is aromatic, lightly bodied and spry, with a good top-end brightness to the cup, and malty-caramelly-mollasses mid-tones that develop in the roast. If you don’t overroast stop it right at or right before 2nd crack) it’s really a zippy cup, although I admit it does not have a heavy mouthfeel. But I really liked this coffee because, given the flavor character, it would taste quite wrong if it DID have a ton of body! If you like the aromatic and vividly flavored Ethiopian decafs we have (and you really should try those) then this coffee will also be up your alley. This is a remarkably crisp cup for a decaf, with an almost marmalade fruitiness to it. The lack of body is not to be taken as a negative here… | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 2.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 8.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Roast: See the notes above. This coffee caramelizes nicely right at 2nd crack, and I don’t like it roasted much more than that … but that’s me! | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Compare to: Bright, lively, light-boded and spry coffees – this is like a Kenya without too much muscle (which can sometimes be overwhelming…) | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 86.3 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium / Clean and Bright |
Kenya Auction Lot 705 -Gaturine Peaberry | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | PB Auction Lot | Region: | Meru, Mt Kenya plateau | Mark: | Gaturine Society |
Processing: | Wet-Process | Crop: | April 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .4 d/300gr, 16+ PB Screen | Varietal: | Not known, probably SL-28Scott Labs selection 28 Kenya cultivar, a preferred type with Bourbon and Mokka heritage. It supposedly is selected from Tanganyika DR cultivar, found by A.D. Trench on a... ...more Bourbon hybrid |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3 | Notes: I don’t have much background on the Gaturine lot, except that it is a co-op society, not an estate. This is a well-prepped, peaberry lot, and our first main 2006 crop arrival from our extensive Kenya cupping sessions. Folks, I will be frank; I hope subsequent Kenya lots this year (and I already have won 6 lots in the auctions) can be as wonderful as this Gaturine Peaberry. It is not often I tell people what to buy; after all, YOU need to read the reviews and decide what you like. But unless you have an intense dislike of brightness/acidity in coffee, I highly recommend you sample this Gaturine. And even if you think “acidity” sounds bad, try just 1 pound anyway. Do a City + roast. Be ready to be amazed. This is not a coffee to be missed. There, I said it. The dry fragrance is a bit odd; slightly citric, a little like soy sauce! Wet aroma is where you start to get a hint of the wonders to come … bright, floral, lemon; this coffee is intensely aromatic. When the cup is hot you might immediately notice the brightness, the rindy citrus notes that range between lemon and tangerine. As the cup cools, it actually becomes more intense; fruited notes emerge (peach, mango), the lemon zest lingers, and vanilla comes out. The finish has a pungent twist; a bit of citrus rind, and spicey bittersweetness. What a truly amazing cup! The City + roast is the most outrageously fruited and bright, with darker roasts taking on a more pungent and bittersweet aspect. I highly recommend a lighter roast treatment, even if you eventually deceide you prefer the roasty, darker levels. At a City+ the fruit and citrus are screaming at full volume; they are what makes this coffee so remarkable, and unmistakabley Kenyan. These are cup characteristics I expect a bit later in the season, and usually from the Nyeri region. But this is from the earlier part of the ’06 main crop, and from the Meru district. Well, as is usually the case in coffee, as soon as I think I have a handle on something, I get re-schooled on it! Note: this coffee MUST score over 90. The dry fragrance is not that impressive, the body is fairly light. But when I taste this coffee at it’s best roast (City+) there is simply no way I can score this overall cup at less than 90. It is too good. Hence I must fudge the score with a +3 cuppers correctionThe cupper's correction is a term we use to measure the "intangible" qualities of a cup: if, for instance, a coffee totals 88 points, but it is high... ...more. But that is why the correction is there: to correct for numbers that are deceiving. It would be a sin to score this cup under 90 points! | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9.7 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.4 | ||||||
Body – Movement (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 3 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity/ brightly fruited and citric cup | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: Give City + a try; this is by far the most dynamic roast level for this incredible coffee. If that is too screaming bright, you can tone it down with an FC treatment, but you lose some of the alto notes, and that is a shame. For me, the FC roast here turns it into a “good” Kenya, but not a GREAT 90 pt. Kenya. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 90.9 | Compare to: Stellar, bright Kenya coffees, with a Nyeri-like citric quality. This is a great one, folks. (Despite the fact that the name has been a source of some yucks around here; change the G to a C and you see what I mean)! |
Kenya Auction Lot 622 Peaberry | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | Auction Lot 622 | Region: | Thika District | Mark: | Co-op unknown! |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | October 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 3 d/300gr, Peaberry 17+ screen | Varietal: | SL-34Scott Labs selection 34 Kenya cultivar, a preferred type with French Mission Bourbon heritage. It supposedly is selected from French Mission Bourbon trees at Loresho Estate in Kabete... ...more / SL-28 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.5 | Notes: All we have is a number, 622. I don’t know how this happened, but since I can’t directly access the Kenya Coffee Board auction logs, I can’t go back and track the source of this coffee. But we cup coffees blind … and this is an awesome lot that was really impressive among the waning late season lots! It is possible that this is blended at the mill from several farms, since Peaberry lots tend to be very small, and oftentimes you can’t even get a 100% peaberry lot from a single co-op or estate due to restricted amounts. But for now, it is 622 Peaberry, and all I know for sure it is a Thika Coffee MillA coffee mill might mean a coffee grinder, but we usually use the term to refer to a coffee processing facility, either a Wet-Mill or a Dry Mill.... ...more. You can tell the origin (and the cultivar) by the cup profile. This is one of those citric, bright, piquantMeaning pleasantly pungent or zesty in taste, spicy, provocative, sapid. ...more Kenya cups, with complex undertones. The cup starts with citrus floral aromatics, and finishes with unique , lingering spice notes (coriander seed, aniseAnise seed is highly aromatic and has a flavor similar to fennel and licorice, used to flavor various foods and liquors: Anise is a flowering plant in the... ...more). In between is a real orange-peel citrus burst. I find nuances of strawberry, and a little taste of parchment too, probably just from residual chaff in my cupping samples (sloppy, sloppy). There is also a very nice tea-like finish to the cup, which reminds me of some very fine Taiwanese tea I enjoyed several years ago, but cannot name the exact type. In the aromatics I felt is was an Earl Gray tea. It’s a brisk cup, and ends with a bittersweet spice note – very interesting! It’s remarkable how good these Peaberry lots have been this year … well, actually I panned about 30 PBs to find these so it’s not a shoe-in, but it seems some cuppers simply aren’t interested in the Peaberry Kenyas, and on the other hand they are googie-eyed about buying defective TanzaniaIn terms of the Tanzania coffee character, it belongs to the Central/East African family of washed (wet-processed) coffees, bright (acidy), and mostly aggressively flavorful of which Kenya is... ...more peaberry. Go figure. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9.2 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.4 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.2 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.3 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Bright acidity and many nuances. | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: I did 3 roasts on the arrival sample of this coffee, and would recommend something around Full City to Full City+. This can go a few snaps into 2nd too and definitely stand up to the roast. At this stage, the coffee is actually more fruity-winey than at lighter roast stages. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 89.4 | Compare to: A bright, citric Kenya, with great complexity when you target the right roast range (see above). Special Note: there are a few defective seeds here: don’t remove flat beans etc, but if you see one broken in half, or with a tan or dark spot on it, you might want to yank it out. When I did, it removed a distracting note from the cup, a sort of hay-like note. This would be about 3-5 beans per Lb. |
Kenya Auction Lot AA – Gethumbwini | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | Auction Lot | Region: | Thika District | Mark: | Gethumbwini |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | Jan 2006 Arrival | Appearance: | .6 d/300gr, 18-19 screen | Varietal: | SL-28/-34 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 4.5 | Notes: Here’s a name I was looking for in the auctions. I have cupped Gethumbwini coffees in the past, and usually been a day late or dollar short in obtaining them. This time I was lucky, sort of. I got the lot, but it is a very small amount. This is not from the main crop harvest, but rather the small off season flowering/fruiting, oddly called the “fly cropFly Crop is a term used in chiefly in Kenya to mean the second, smaller harvest. There are no flies in the "Fly Crop"! But the term is... ...more.” (I have no idea why!) But who cares, it’s all about the cup and this lot is amazing. It is a ripe, deeply-fruited Kenya, not the Nyeri type coffees that have screaming citrus brightness. The cup has an almost candylike sweetness in the wet aromatics, lushly fruited with a winey accent. The City+ roast has a toasty caramelly quality in the aroma that comes right through in the cup flavor, with ripe red grape. Juicy is a descriptor that makes a lot of sense in characterizing the cup. My Full City roast seemed to have more body than lighter roast levels, and had more moderate, more winey acidity. Frankly, it seems like a coffee that is going to let itself be heard through any level of roast (well, *bucks excepted). The finish is sweet, with ripe fruit (I am repeating myself here), blackberry, black cherry, red grape. Unfortunately, this lot was very small so Gethumbwini may come and go in a very short time. I will be cupping other main crop Gethumbwini lots as they are entered in the auction, so there’s a chance it could reappear. I have to give this a +3 cuppers score just because… because … I can’t stop drinking it. This is a small lot, so there’s a 5 Lb limit. Please respect it, so your fellow roasters have the chance to try this coffee too! | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4.5 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 8.8 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.8 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.6 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.6 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 3 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity / Ripe fruit with winey accents | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ or Full City. I enjoyed both but Full City (the verge of 2nd crack without going into it) had a very deeply sweet aspect – the total package! | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 93.8 | Compare to: One of those fruit-bomb Kenyas, lower-toned than citric type Kenyas. |
Kenya AA Auction Lot 661 -Mbaranga | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | AA Auction Lot #661 | Region: | Meru District | Mark: | Mbaranga Society (Cooperative) |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | May 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 18 screen | Varietal: | SL-28, SL-34 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.8 | Notes: We are really proud of our Kenyas, mainly because the ones we stock represent over 150-200 true Auction Lot Kenyas we cupped this year. But some of our Kenyas are really too potent, too over the top, for some people’s palates. I definitely won’t apologize for stocking potent coffees … but there are times in cupping Kenyas when you wonder if you have started cupping more for potency than for subtler cup qualities. The brash Kenyas can overshadow a real gem than may not broadcast its cup quality to an impatient cupper, but will emerge over time as a charming, seductive cup. It would be funny if I followed this speel up with saying the Mbaranga is just an obnoxious over-the-top Kenya cup profile. But actually it is the perfect example of a low-toned Kenya, one that does not have the bracing acidity, but has all the sweet aromas, fruit, mild acidity, depth and balance. At a City+/Full City roast I had an initial impression of sweet blueberry![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.2 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.7 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / sweet blueberry essence, spicy finish | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City (expect dark surface bean color for corresponding degree of roast)if you ant the more aggressive cup. This has a softer, more lush orangey character at the City + stage than you might expect too. See notes above. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 88.5 | Compare to: A Kenya with a rounded cup – not overly acidic… (the acidity rating of 9 is for quality of acidity, not quantity.) |
Kenya Auction Lot 668 -Kiaguthu Peaberry | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | Auction Lot 668 | Region: | Nyeri District | Mark: | Kiaguthu Society (Cooperative) |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | September 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | Peaberry (note: some flatbeans) | Varietal: | SL-34 / -28 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.9 | Notes: Kiaguthu is our second coffee this season from the Nyeri district (on the south-facing slopes of Mount Kenya), known for bright citric coffees. NYeri boasts high altitudes and Out first, Thiriku, was a very small lot and sold out in days. Kiaguthu is also a peaberry and luckily we have a little bit more of it. It has other aspects in common with the Lot 660 Thiriku. It is bright, very bright, with the aromatics, flavor and finish of grapefruit. These citric qualities are backed up by floral rose aromatics and rose hips in the cup flavors, and there is a lingering jasmine floral hint too. All these are present in abundance – this is a potent, bright, lively coffee that does a tap dance on the palate! Part of the character of these Nyeri region coffees is the very high altitude: Kiaguthu is located at 5600 feet (1705 meters). Another note on this lot is that there are some flatbeans in there – let’s call it between 90-95% peaberry. This has little affect on roast and not affect on cup quality. I can explain why Nyeri coffees are so nice – they are small-holder farms that are cooperatively milled and a lot of care goes into the growing and preparation. They are also farther up the mountain than other regions, or than the estate coffees of Kiambu, for example. I can’t explain why we have had such good results with our peaberry auction lots except that, for no reason I can imagine, there are some bidders who turn their noses up at peaberry Kenyas (at the same time paying a lot for baggy![]() |
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Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9.4 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.2 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.5 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity / Bright grapefruit acidity and flavor. | ![]() |
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add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ to Full City+ (expect dark surface bean color for corresponding degree of roast). City+ is a very bright cup, and if you want to moderate the acidity a bit, you need to reach Full City. This certainly works going a few snaps into 2nd crack too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 90 | Compare to: A bright, citric Kenya, especially in the lighter roasts. |
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![]() The award – the “factory” means the cooperative wet-mill for the Githiru farmers |
The presentation of the award to the Githiru Coop. |
Kenya Auction Lot 660-Thiriku Peaberry | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | Auction Lot 660 | Region: | Nyeri District | Mark: | Thiriku Society (Cooperative) |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | August 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, Peaberry 17 scr | Varietal: | SL-34 / -28 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.8 | Notes: I don’t have much specific information about this cooperative society, except that their lots have turned up in previous years in the offering lists of some very fine roasters. This lot, which was the smallest Kenya auction lot I have ever seen listed, just knocked me back a few feet from the cupping table when I hit the cup. From the get-go, it was heads above the rest. The Thiriku starts with a wet aromatic that is very unusual, in my experience, especially for a Kenya: it is nutty. To be specific, it has a lively pralined almond/pecan. I anticipate citrus, floral aromas from Kenyas. The aromas, rather than a hint at what’s to come, are a bit of a smokescreen in the twisty “flavor tale” this coffee tells. The cup flavors are not nutty. This coffee is exhilarating, bright, inscrutably clean (meaning that it is both straightforward in one respect -brightness, citrus, and a complex, showy coffee in others. Immediately I notice the good intensity and rounded mouthfeelUsually referring to mouthfeel, a sense of completeness and fullness: Usually referring to mouthfeel, a sense of completeness and fullness ...more – this Kenyas has some impressive body. There are floral aspects to the flavor, along with a very melon-like fruitiness. It has a winy finish, with a slight rindy/bittering aspect to it. Wow, what a nice cup. As it cools it has more red grape, wine, grapefruit, lime (not sourSour is one of four basic sapid (in the mouth) tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter (and possibly a 5th called Umami which indicates savory flavors). In coffee, sourness... ...more though), and has a silky body. A heads up: This is our first peaberry lot of the year, and not our last … but it is an unusually small Kenya lot so I don’t think it will last long at all. It is also the first arrival from the Nyeri district. Man, this just has to be over a 90 in the cup, hence the +1 correction, just proving that the numbers cannot always represent the fantastic cup qualities of a coffee like this. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9.2 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.6 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.3 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 1 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity / Complex, fruited, rounded cup profile. | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: City+ to Full City (expect dark surface bean color for corresponding degree of roast). City+ is a very bright cup, and if you want to moderate the acidity a bit, you need to reach Full City. This certainly works going a few snaps into 2nd crack too. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 90.5 | Compare to: A bright, citric Kenya, especially in the lighter roasts. |
Kenya AA Auction Lot – Mbwinjeru | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | AA Auction Lot #673* | Region: | Meru District | Mark: | Mbwinjeru Society |
Processing: | Wet-processed | Crop: | May 2005 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | SL-28, SL-34 |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.5 | Notes: We cup a LOT of Kenyas in the process of selecting the auction lots we bid on, and after a few years of this I start to wonder (sometimes cynically) about all these crazy names on these coffees. Kenyas are named for either small private estates or co-operative milling stations, called “societies”. You see so many unpronounceable names, and you wonder if some fiend isn’t just making these up using scrabble letters (mostly consonants too) in a back room in Nairobi. And each year it seems to be different names, different co-ops, that have the really great coffees. Coffee is the result of many factors, and the idea that the same piece of land produces the same coffee from year to year is way too simplistic. Well, despite that I thought it would be fun to request very specific samples from coffees we have cupped and bought in past years. The results were mostly this: I could see traces of the good cup qualities I remember for the lots we bought, but these new cropRefers to fresh shipments of green coffee within the first month or two of the earliest arrivals ... not quite the same as Current Crop, which means the... ...more samples were largely NOT the excellent, exemplary Kenyas I had been taken by in the past. For example, remember Kora Peaberry and Tegu Peaberry from last year? Well, forget about them this year. Remember Gaturiri? Remember Kiugu. No way pal, they were all very average. And that’s after cupping 150-200 lots over the season, all blind. But here is the exception. Mbwinjeru is a Meru coffee we loved in 2003, and here it is again, as good or better than that 2003 lot, with very much the same deep, complex, seductive cup character. The Mbwinjeru tastes like somebody distilled the essence of sweet ripe blackberry, laced it with red currant, added the slightest touch of Meyer lemon, and infused into a clean, classic Kenya cup profile. It’s awesome, not like those grab-your-tongue-and-rip-it-out citric Kenyas. This is a deep, sly, plush, aromatic cup. and … heh, heh … we bought the whole darn lot! | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 4 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9.1 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9.5 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.3 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9.5 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Primary Attribute: Mild-Medium / Sweet and bright | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: My favorite: a lighter City roast stopped before 2nd crack, but at a point where the roast has fully developed and there is no “wrinkly” surface to the seed. REmember that Kenyas tend to show a darker surface color than other coffees at a comparable degree of roast. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 88.9 | Compare to: Bright, balanced, abundantly sweet -better and better as the cup cools. (* We didn’t use the lot number in the name of the coffee for internal reasons – having 2 Kenya lots that begin with M and lot numbers so similar can create errors when we pull together customer orders! -Tom) |
Kenya AA Auction Lot Kangocho | |||||||
Country: | Kenya | Grade: | AA Auction Lot | Region: | Kangocho, Nyeri District | Mark: | Kangocho Society (Cooperative) |
Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | December 2004 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 18 screen | Varietal: | Unknown cultivar |
Dry Fragrance (1-5) | 3.5 | Notes: I thought we had gone through all our Kenya lots and the Karatina was our last (it has sold quicker than others but it was a much larger lot than the others so that’s why it outlasted the other Auction coffees). Anyway, the auctions are over so that’s that … and although there is “fly crop” Kenya, lots from the smaller flowering and harvest that occurs in the offseason, we usually don’t buy from those offerings. But it turns out that a coffee from the main auction crop, one I had cupped, liked and basically been outbid on, was available from another source. Did they buy too much and couldn’t use it? Why would they be selling it. I don’t know and don’t care – I bought it all! So, unexpectedly, we have a late, late Kenya offering of a coffee I really like. This lot is a deep-toned Kenya that is not one of those “makes-you-want-to-pucker” Kenyas of the citrus/grapefruit variety. With a darker roast treatment it has an almost brutish character, a coffee with swagger and a bittersweet pungency. The character lends itself to heavier, darker roasting than other more floral Kenyas. But at a City + roast it has this very rounded, orange-peel character … both in the aromatics and the cup flavors. It finishes with a rindy nip, but is overall fairly mellowA general primary-to-secondary post gustatory flavor characterization, often called "rich" or alternately "smooth" Coffee that has been hanging out in the warehouse, but not really helping out with... ...more when you think of those really, really acidic Kenyas that want to twist your tongue out and fling it across the room. This coffee is grown at a very high altitude on the Mt. Kenya Plateau, 5013 feet, which explains the bean density and bright lively character. Kangocho is about 3 miles from Gaturiri, which explains the similarities in character between that coffee and this, especially with the darker roast intensity, aggressive cup character, and long aftertaste. | |||||
Wet Aroma (1-5) | 3.8 | ||||||
Brightness – Acidity (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Flavor – Depth (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Body – Mouthfeel (1-5) | 3.4 | ||||||
Finish – Aftertaste (1-10) | 9 | ||||||
Cupper’s Correction (1-5) | 0 | Intensity/Prime Attribute: Bold intensity / dark bittersweet pungency in the darker roast levels | |||||
add 50 | 50 | Roast: Full City (expect dark surface bean color for corresponding degree of roast)if youw ant the more aggressive cup. This has a softer, more lush orangey character at the City + stage than you might expect too. See notes above. | |||||
Score (Max. 100) | 87.7 | Compare to: A Kenya with a rounded cup – not overly acidic… (the acidity rating of 9 is for quality of acidity, not quantity.) |
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