Las Termopilas, Esteli, Nicaragua
Entwined notes of soft citrus and apple over a subtly smoky base of nuts, coconut and a dash of persisting sweet chocolate. Full bodied with medium acidity. The next roast of this fine coffee will be on Monday, October 16th. Supplies are limited.
Roast Style: Full Flavor Roast
Certified Organic
Cup of Excellence winner
Rated 90 points by Kenneth David's Coffee Review, to read the review click here.
Farmer: Milton Canales
Region: Esteli
Altitude: 4,100 feet (1,250 m)
Rainfall: moderate
Soil: N/A
Arabica cultivar: Caturra
Size of farm: 52 acres (21 ha); 7 acres coffee (3.5 ha)
I noticed this the other day. Transparency is a good thing. I am looking forward to the point where this information is on the bags somewhere. My appreciation for this extra info comes a bit from my purist side but also from my sales/marketing side. Being able to go that extra bit and talk about the coffees elevation or varieties can really sell someone on your coffee. That and it's just cool to know!
BTW does anyone question the palate of Ken Davids? Sometimes his scores seem like he rolled a handful of dice and just went with it! Having tasted many of the coffees he has, I read the reviews and just wonder what was he tasting that day?
FYI Take note fellow New England Barista!
Jaime
updates and notes from the founder of barismo coffee roasters in Arlington/Cambridge, MA.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
San Francisco
I have arrived back though still a bit jet lagged. Hong got me a new phone so I am now back in the thick of things. Silas will be back shortly and may give a redux of his trip.
San Francisco was great. the food was great. The shopping was fun. The scenery was amazing. In some ways, it was like stepping into another country... then again, I live in Cambridge.
As far as coffee stuffs, I briefly visited Ritual but very few photos. Had some espresso and a cappa. Got the cappa just to check the milk but couldn't really finish it. Interesting place. Later the next day we found a Cathedral in Nob Hill with a Peet's in the basement. Mouldy cofffee? Well, it's not quite as bad as the Starbucks I saw in the Forbidden City in Beijing. I will try to Flickr some of the good ones later.
The last day I was in San Francisco... Hong, Silas, and I took the car up to visit Andrew. Spent the btter part of the afternoon philosophizing and a tiny cupping. Had lunch with Andrew too which was excellent. A highlight of our trip really was just getting to pick Andrew's brain a bit and hang around him. We really appreciate him playing host and were as usual impressed with his persona.
It was a tiring trip for me, but very interesting. I really felt it was very introspective in some ways and that was a good thing. I am satisfied but it will be hard to get back to projects at hand here.
EDIT: Some photos upped...-Jaime
San Francisco was great. the food was great. The shopping was fun. The scenery was amazing. In some ways, it was like stepping into another country... then again, I live in Cambridge.
As far as coffee stuffs, I briefly visited Ritual but very few photos. Had some espresso and a cappa. Got the cappa just to check the milk but couldn't really finish it. Interesting place. Later the next day we found a Cathedral in Nob Hill with a Peet's in the basement. Mouldy cofffee? Well, it's not quite as bad as the Starbucks I saw in the Forbidden City in Beijing. I will try to Flickr some of the good ones later.
The last day I was in San Francisco... Hong, Silas, and I took the car up to visit Andrew. Spent the btter part of the afternoon philosophizing and a tiny cupping. Had lunch with Andrew too which was excellent. A highlight of our trip really was just getting to pick Andrew's brain a bit and hang around him. We really appreciate him playing host and were as usual impressed with his persona.
It was a tiring trip for me, but very interesting. I really felt it was very introspective in some ways and that was a good thing. I am satisfied but it will be hard to get back to projects at hand here.
EDIT: Some photos upped...-Jaime
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Late night Hines cupping...
Did quick small group cupping with the guys around 9pm. Alex scored some Hines c/o Bronwen. Not much to report. Too tired for notes or anything. Just got a taste of the 'spro, some other sample roasts, and a little perspective on how different things are in each region.
Tamper road show to Cambridge on the Horizon... oh yeah, Hong and I will catch up with Silas in San Francisco tommorrow.
-Jaime
Tamper road show to Cambridge on the Horizon... oh yeah, Hong and I will catch up with Silas in San Francisco tommorrow.
-Jaime
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Hong dropped my phone in soup... and breaking down the NY trip.
I have somewhat recovered from the trip to NY but still feel out of touch with things right now. BenC, Silas, B.Kaminsky, Judson, and I crammed into the car for a good ole road trip to New York.
All of us were working on very little sleep but especially Sleepy was Silas...
We ended up in Brooklyn around 10am. Dropped by Lorimer St. to visit Chris Owens for the first shots of the day. Everyone got a round of shots, which is the routine at every place we visit. When I got my shot, it suprisingly was one of the blends CO brought back from his trip to the Nordic Barista Cup. Caffe Crescendo from Kaffa out of Oslo roasted for Mocca.
It was good. The kinda good you don't expect and don't see very often. The first shot he served was one of those coffee experiences where you have to stop and rethink things. It was simply the best shot I have had in the times I have been visiting cafes... ever (period)
If anything, the trip was worth it just to have that shot of Cresendo:
Colombia Esmeralda Cup of Excellence
El Salvador La Fany(Bourbon)
Sumatra Mandheling
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe...
Perfume and sweet. Aromatic. Smooth and subtle but overtly complex. I was feeling thie Yirg perfume and other florals immediately in the shot. Not even a touch of ferment in the cup or dirt or muddiness. Clarity. That was it and much more. If you had the SOE YIRG, you know where I am coming from here. A lack of roast bitters and a roast that GHH would be proud of. Kaminsky offered to order some when we have reason to celebrate because that was some damn fine coffee*expensive shipping though!!!).
After that, the day was a blur. Toured more coffee shops, more espresso, and just soaked up NY(aka whined about how we miss Boston). Towards the end of the day, we ended up at Grumpies for our final round of shots. At this point we were all tired and very past the point of wanting any more coffee. Shots of old familiar Ecco Reserve and trying to relax a bit.
Before we headed out, Chris and Melissa stopped in to chat. We discussed Chris' trip to the NBC a bit, Teflon portafilters(love it), and volumetric baskets(aka the lack of sizing), and other such stuff. It was cool to chat with someone who knows his stuff and really has a bright future ahead of him.
All in all, it was a good trip. To say we were tired is a bit of an understatement. NY is nice to visit, but maybe it was the fatigue that made me so glad to see old Mass ave again.
-Jaime
All of us were working on very little sleep but especially Sleepy was Silas...
We ended up in Brooklyn around 10am. Dropped by Lorimer St. to visit Chris Owens for the first shots of the day. Everyone got a round of shots, which is the routine at every place we visit. When I got my shot, it suprisingly was one of the blends CO brought back from his trip to the Nordic Barista Cup. Caffe Crescendo from Kaffa out of Oslo roasted for Mocca.
It was good. The kinda good you don't expect and don't see very often. The first shot he served was one of those coffee experiences where you have to stop and rethink things. It was simply the best shot I have had in the times I have been visiting cafes... ever (period)
If anything, the trip was worth it just to have that shot of Cresendo:
Colombia Esmeralda Cup of Excellence
El Salvador La Fany(Bourbon)
Sumatra Mandheling
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe...
Perfume and sweet. Aromatic. Smooth and subtle but overtly complex. I was feeling thie Yirg perfume and other florals immediately in the shot. Not even a touch of ferment in the cup or dirt or muddiness. Clarity. That was it and much more. If you had the SOE YIRG, you know where I am coming from here. A lack of roast bitters and a roast that GHH would be proud of. Kaminsky offered to order some when we have reason to celebrate because that was some damn fine coffee*expensive shipping though!!!).
After that, the day was a blur. Toured more coffee shops, more espresso, and just soaked up NY(aka whined about how we miss Boston). Towards the end of the day, we ended up at Grumpies for our final round of shots. At this point we were all tired and very past the point of wanting any more coffee. Shots of old familiar Ecco Reserve and trying to relax a bit.
Before we headed out, Chris and Melissa stopped in to chat. We discussed Chris' trip to the NBC a bit, Teflon portafilters(love it), and volumetric baskets(aka the lack of sizing), and other such stuff. It was cool to chat with someone who knows his stuff and really has a bright future ahead of him.
All in all, it was a good trip. To say we were tired is a bit of an understatement. NY is nice to visit, but maybe it was the fatigue that made me so glad to see old Mass ave again.
-Jaime
Monday, October 02, 2006
Tea Processing
Jaime has been talking a lot lately about the processing involved with coffee. It is interesting to apply this to Tea. Essentially when you roast coffee, you are bringing out the flavor; making it palatable. When you get to a certain point however, you start to kill the flavors by bringing the oils to the surface and scorching them. When you do this with a very flavorful coffee you are simply scorching the flavor, but when you do this with a less flavorful coffee you create a taste with the roast, simply because the bean has little inherent flavor.
Now the question I am posing in regards to tea is this: Does processing a tea, whether withering, oxidation, or firing, impart bad flavors, take away flavors, or add additional pleasant flavors without killing the flavors inherent in the tea leaf? Is it only certain processes such as heavy firing that impart or take away flavors in an extreme way? Do they shorten the life of the tea? Obviously the flavor is heavily affected by the processing and the degree to which it is taken, but at what point are you taking away from the flavor or manipulating it to a point where it has become less desirable? This is a hard question to answer, because there are so many different tastes and opinions on what tastes good. This is a way in which tea is different than coffee. Tea is steeped in so much tradition and ages of thought, that it is hard to say exactly what is good and bad from an objective stand point. When you take an opinion however, you could be simply ruling out a whole different world of taste different than yours. If you processed all the different varietals from the different places that fine quality tea is grown into white tea, would get the “true flavor” of the tea leaf, or would you just get a single expression of that tea?
Processing tea is an art and a science, as is coffee roasting, so is it my job as a taster to judge and simply express my opinion and expression by selecting teas that I like? Is my job to choose teas based on the criteria for that single type of tea? As a tea server is my job to serve tea in a way I think is correct or is my job to serve tea as a way of expressing the taste of the person to whom I am serving?
I think the key to understanding the flavor in tea, is what type of processing is done as opposed to how much is done. The taste of green tea is dependent on the way it is processed, but also on the varietal used. The main difference in taste regarding tea processing can be highlighted in the difference between Japanese and Chinese green tea. The Longjing green tea is the same varietal as the green tea in Japan, but they are processed very differently. Longjing is pan fired; whereas Japanese greens are typically steamed. Japanese green teas are usually very fresh, grassy, and sometimes sweet, whereas Longjing is more fruity, nutty and a much smoother flavor overall.
The best teas that I have ever tried are Oolongs. They are processed just enough to bring out the flavor without changing it too drastically. Oolongs are very specific and often complicated in processing. The truth though is that white, green, yellow, and Oolong teas all have their specific tastes and are all good in their own right. Black and Pu-erh teas usually have their fair share of flaws because they are processed so heavily. Because of this they have created a certain taste based on their flaw, much like coffee that is too darkly roasted or coffee that is fermented in processing the green bean.
-Silas
Now the question I am posing in regards to tea is this: Does processing a tea, whether withering, oxidation, or firing, impart bad flavors, take away flavors, or add additional pleasant flavors without killing the flavors inherent in the tea leaf? Is it only certain processes such as heavy firing that impart or take away flavors in an extreme way? Do they shorten the life of the tea? Obviously the flavor is heavily affected by the processing and the degree to which it is taken, but at what point are you taking away from the flavor or manipulating it to a point where it has become less desirable? This is a hard question to answer, because there are so many different tastes and opinions on what tastes good. This is a way in which tea is different than coffee. Tea is steeped in so much tradition and ages of thought, that it is hard to say exactly what is good and bad from an objective stand point. When you take an opinion however, you could be simply ruling out a whole different world of taste different than yours. If you processed all the different varietals from the different places that fine quality tea is grown into white tea, would get the “true flavor” of the tea leaf, or would you just get a single expression of that tea?
Processing tea is an art and a science, as is coffee roasting, so is it my job as a taster to judge and simply express my opinion and expression by selecting teas that I like? Is my job to choose teas based on the criteria for that single type of tea? As a tea server is my job to serve tea in a way I think is correct or is my job to serve tea as a way of expressing the taste of the person to whom I am serving?
I think the key to understanding the flavor in tea, is what type of processing is done as opposed to how much is done. The taste of green tea is dependent on the way it is processed, but also on the varietal used. The main difference in taste regarding tea processing can be highlighted in the difference between Japanese and Chinese green tea. The Longjing green tea is the same varietal as the green tea in Japan, but they are processed very differently. Longjing is pan fired; whereas Japanese greens are typically steamed. Japanese green teas are usually very fresh, grassy, and sometimes sweet, whereas Longjing is more fruity, nutty and a much smoother flavor overall.
The best teas that I have ever tried are Oolongs. They are processed just enough to bring out the flavor without changing it too drastically. Oolongs are very specific and often complicated in processing. The truth though is that white, green, yellow, and Oolong teas all have their specific tastes and are all good in their own right. Black and Pu-erh teas usually have their fair share of flaws because they are processed so heavily. Because of this they have created a certain taste based on their flaw, much like coffee that is too darkly roasted or coffee that is fermented in processing the green bean.
-Silas
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