It was a regular coffee-cupping, soccer-ball kicking how-down at Sweet Maria’s on September 27th, 2008 as the touring herd of Costa Rica Farmers slash Micro-Millers crashed the gates.
We are going long on these coffees (meaning buying a lot this year) , but they seemed to be stopping at every single roaster who ever bought a bean of 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 coffee all up and down the West Coast.
My buddy Aleco at Stumpertown had just spent 4 days in a van with them, doing Seattle and Portland. Phil up at The Goat had them the night before, and he says that Tico’s do like wine, a lot. But I wanted to rock their world with my intense seriousness (eh), so I set up a cuppingCupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... ...more for them which paired their micro lots (can we kill that word yet?) with other coffees of the world.
The point is this …as Costa Rica expands their coffee styles, do they have flavor awareness of coffees from other origins, ones that have similarities with these new Costa Rica flavor profiles? If you do a dry-process in Central America, do you know what a really good dry-process 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 is like, and what a defective DP Ethiopia is like? If your coffee has high acidityAcidity is a positive flavor attribute in coffee, also referred to as brightness or liveliness. It adds a brilliance to the cup, whereas low acid coffees can seem... ...more and berry, do you know what KenyaKenya is the East African powerhouse of the coffee world. Both in the cup, and the way they run their trade, everything is topnotch.: Kenya is the East... ...more profiles with berry fruit and currant are like? Or a very clean, 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 BrazilBrazil is a coffee giant . As Frank Sinatra sang, "they grow an awful lot of coffee in Brazil".: Brazil is a coffee giant . As Frank Sinatra... ...more Pulp NaturalPulp natural is a hybrid method of processing coffee to transform it from the tree fruit to a green bean, ready for export. Specifically, it involves the removal... ...more from Carmo de Minas area.
I was impressed with the familiarity and skill of the farmers with tasting. And we all got a hoot from Guillio, who seemed tired or hungover or a little bored. We like that level of honesty, especially when he told me he likes his coffee with sugar.
I won’t hold it against him … and he bought a Freshroast to test his own coffee with greater ease. In fact, it turned into a heck of a shopping trip as they bought Behmors and iRoasts and Freshroasts, so they can avoid asking one of the labs to roast for them.
(Be assured we gave them a discount as deep as the Marianas trench). So here is the list of trouble-makers below who came (most of them I already have met in Costa Rica), those who got free Sweet Maria’s soccer balls and cap cups, did a lot of cupping, loaded in a van and were gone.
I feel satisfied that a lot of information was shared, and we sent them to their next visit (Blue Bottle, I think) over an hour late. Sorry James.
Our visitors were:
Juan Ramon Alvarado – Brumas del Zurqui, Central Valley
Timoteo O Brien – CAfetin de San Martin, Tarrazu
Francisco A. Mena – Exclusive Coffees S.A.
Emilio Gamboa – Montes de Oro Micromill , Tarrazu
Laura Gamboa – Montes de Oro Micromill, Tarrazu
Hector and Pablo Bonilla – Don Mayo Micromill, Tarrazu
Guillio Francesa Ferraro – Guillio«s Micromill, West Valley
Ricardo Perez – Helsar de Zarcero Micromill, West Valley
DNS List (sadly, because I like their coffee a lot)…
Manuel Antonio Barrantes – Herbazu Micromill , West Valley
Leonardo Barrantes – Herbazu Micromill , West Valley
On the worldwide tour, we had a great cupping, pairing Costa Rica Micro Mill lots with their counterparts from other origins. from L to R: Emilio Gamboa from Montes de Oro, Juan Ramon Alvarado from Brumas del Zurqui, Francisco Mena from Exclusive Coffees, Guillio Francesca Ferraro from his self-titled mill, Hector Bonilla from Don Mayo, and Ricardo Perez from Helsar de Zarcero mill. Hector Bonilla, Don Mayo Beneficio Hector Bonilla, Don Mayo Beneficio, with a pound of Sweet Maria’s Coffee Exclusive Coffees and Sweet Maria’s Home Coffee Roasting.