(12/10/09)
I put together 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 on Tuesday at a local Fort Collins roaster. It is always a challenge to put together a table for a new group. Is it better to choose a theme and show some coffees that are related in one way or another, or is it better to show as wide a 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 as possible? I went with variety and brought the 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 FazendaFazenda is the Portuguese word for farm, hence it is the term used in Brazil. Fazenda is not a coffee-specific term. ...more Campos Altos 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, El SalvadorEl Salvador coffee had an undeservingly poor reputation for years, marred mostly by the inability to deliver coffee of high quality in an unstable political climate. Unfortunately, agriculture... ...more COE La Montañita 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, 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 DP Haile Selassie Sidamo, and 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 AA Nyeri Tambaya. I set up the cups in that order, but now in hindsight the Brazil and Ethiopia would have been interesting in direct comparison, and the Montañita and Tambaya as well. Both the El Salvador and the Kenya showed full creamyCreamy is a mouthfeel description indicating thickness and soft, rounded texture. See also buttery. ...more bodies, the Kenya a little more 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 and the El Salvador showing what I can’t help thinking of as a saltwater taffy-like 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, this descriptor being even more substantiated by the soft appleAn acid that adds to favorable perceptions of cup quality; malic acid often adds apple-like acidity, and perhaps other taste aspects recalling apples. Malic acid is yet another... ...more and melon notes and a mild saltiness in the middle. We’ve been really into the Tambaya lately for its sweetnessSweetness is an important positive quality in fine coffees, and is one of five basic tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Savory (Umami). In coffee, sweetness is a highly... ...more and 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. It’s a very complete Kenya, without being overly bright, but still showing well stated fruit notes of peach and white grape. Haile Selassie continued to impress with its incredibly sweet fruit and luxuriously syrupy body. Especially as it cools, this coffee is like candy and even the cuppers present who admitted to not really being into 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 coffees couldn’t help but keep going back to it because of what an exotic cup it is. The Campos Altos was the table favorite for this group. This is a really sweet Brazil with some “classic” characteristics. Cacao nibs and nuttiness and while there was a richly layered body I never noticed anything leatheryAromas or flavors reminiscent of leather, a very rustic quality and not necessarily a defect.: This descriptor is somewhat reminiscent of the leather, and is sometimes distinguished as... ...more or mulchy. It was a fun table and I was really excited to be able to share these coffees with others. If you are in the Colorado area, let me know and maybe we can set up a cupping. On another note, you may have noticed that the Brazil Nossa Senhora De Fatima was off the list. We hope that everyone who got the chance to roast this coffee enjoyed it as much as we did.
