Mexico Organic Chiapas

I often call Mexican coffees my "palate resets". After drinking lots of over the top Kenyas, Ethiopias, dry processed fruit-bombs, etc. it is nice to drink some unassuming beverages that taste like "coffee"; nothing too complicated, just a cup you can enjoy with the morning paper and not spend time analyzing flavor components. If I had a cafe, something like this Chiapas would be my house coffee. It is complex enough to intrigue the hard-core coffee drinker, yet at the same time it is eminently approachable for the masses.



This roast behaved quite oddly. In retrospect I know that it was due to roasting on a day where we were having record heat and humidity. I think that the voltage at the outlet was lower than usual due to power company load, and things heated up in the roaster much slower than anticipated. Still, the coffee came out great.

On the first day, the aroma and taste were very nutty. I think hazelnut is the best descriptor. It is sweet, but with some interesting earthy tones. Several days later, it is a different coffee. If I was drinking this blind, I would almost think it is a dry processed Ethiopian coffee. The aroma is brown sugar and graham cracker, with some coconut lurking around. The taste is pure milk chocolate with a fruity background. The nuts have receded quite a bit.

Overall this is a really good coffee. I like the fact that it isn't too heavy, but it has a unique character true to the Chiapas region.

Uganda Bugisu AA

OK, I am going to say a country name and you tell me what springs to mind. Ready?...... Uganda.

Come on, admit it. You are thinking Idi Amin, despotism, torture, and other unpleasant things. Well, believe it or not, Uganda also exports coffee. And an interesting beast it is, too. Other coffees from Africa are of the citric variety; very acidic, refreshing drinks. Kenya is the archetypal example of that style. This is the first time I have tried a coffee from Uganda, and I was intrigued to find out what it is all about. Word on the street was that this is a low-acid, funky coffee more in the vein of something from Indonesia.

I decided to roast this one to Full City, darker than I would normally start:

I slowed this one down to develop the body and more brooding notes.

The roasted bean fragrance was unexpected. There is a very fruity aspect to it, perhaps papaya of all things. In the cup, it is low-acid, rustic and earthy. At the same time there are subtle fruity notes buried in there which make it very interesting. The papaya hangs around, creating an interesting impression.

It will be interesting to try this one over the next few days to see how it develops, but so far I am enjoying it. It is deliciously different compared to what I have been drinking lately.

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Note: New addition posted to the Rogues Gallery

Ethiopia Korate Natural Sidamo

I couldn't resist adding more Ethiopian coffee to the stash. I was doing well on stash reduction for a few months and had whittled things down to 40 pounds or so. My wife was very happy, and the cabinets were relieved of some extra weight. Lately, though, I seem to be acquiring more coffee...

Anyway, this is an interesting coffee. Very clean, both in preparation, and in the cup. I roasted this one with the intention of mimicking some really good roasts of another Ethiopian coffee, but messed up the initial temperature. Still, the coffee was great, and I have another few pounds to play with.

The profile:


I had intended to start at a lower temperature (300 degrees) for a bit, but I was working from a flawed memory. Such is life. The aroma is pure berries, sweet and clean. The flavor follows suit. This was quite a light roast, just out of first crack, and there wasn't much roast/chocolate character going on. It was all sweet fruit.

The interesting thing here is how clean the taste was. Most dry processed coffees have a bit of funk to them. Call it "rustic" if you will, it is that very faint hidey, baggy, leathery flavor that lurks in the background. Not so here. There is a purity in the cup that I haven't encountered before. I think "simple" actually applies here, although overall there are a lot of flavors. However, there is really nothing to interfere with the fruit. I'll be curious to play with this one in subsequent roasts.

Panama Bambito Estate

Panama produces some great coffee, and some wickedly overpriced ones as well. The most famous coffee of all, Esmerelda Gesha, has gone for well over $100 a pound for the past few years. Yes it is very good, but not worth the price in my opinion.

Bambito Estate is one of those coffees I thought I was really going to like based on the description and the enthusiasm of the folks at Sweet Marias, but I really hate this stuff. Unfortunately I bought several pounds together with an order of other (excellent) Panama coffees last year, so I am stuck with it.

This one got a gentle roast, looking for a light Full City level:

And the taste in the cup? Well, lets see. The smell, I mean aroma, is fairly nondescript. Some flowers, spice, etc. The first thing that hits your mouth? Barbecue sauce. Yeah, you know - ketchupy, smoky, salty. This is followed by some unpleasant brothy notes, and eventually settles down into a sludgy aftertaste. Mmmm, I am really selling it now, aren't I?

I suppose I just may be mangling this coffee during roasting, or my skills are insufficient to bring out its true character, but I don't think so. Perhaps roasting it darker might help as well. In any case, I'll take a big ole' pass on Bambito next time around.

Guatemala Fraijanes - Finca Agua Tibia

I don't know why, but Guatemalan coffee just makes me yawn. It is good enough, I suppose, but I find it unexciting. I find myself a bit bipolar when it comes to coffee. I like really wild coffees like various dry-processed kinds from Ethiopia and elsewhere. At the same time, I like real simple, clean coffees from Mexico and Costa Rica. The Guats have a strange herbal thing going on for me that just doesn't thrill me.

This coffee is good enough, but not one I would buy again. Translating the name into English via Babelfish, we get "lukewarm property water", which is amusing. We'll stick to Spanish where it sounds more exotic. I roasted this coffee hot and fast, looking to preserve acidity and accentuate the bright notes:



The coffee has a very strong aroma of cloves, and something close to rose hips. The body has that typical bourbon creaminess, and a nice amount of bittersweet chocolate in the finish. This is definitely a coffee that would be a crowd pleaser; tastes like most people think coffee should taste, with some potent flavors and a bit of an interesting aroma. For me, I find it forgettable.

Yemen Mokha Sharasi

My wife makes me feel guilty whenever I buy or roast Yemeni coffee. After the USS Cole incident, it was clear (if it hadn't been before) that Yemen is a hotbed of terrorist activity. Should we support Yemeni coffee farmers? Are they all a bunch of terrorists camouflaged as farmers? Unlikely. I suppose if I refrained from eating or drinking foods that come from areas that hate America I would lose a lot of weight....

Anyway, I find Yemeni coffees a pain to roast. They are very uneven, and the cracks tend to be quiet and/or run together so I have a devil of a time getting the roast correct. This one got away from me a bit and was darker than I intended, but it was still quite good.

The profile:

I was looking for just a few snaps of seconnd crack, but things got rolling pretty good before I had a chance to hit the breaks. This coffee has some unusual character - very buttery and deep notes. Perhaps "brooding" is a good descriptor. I was expecting some more fruit lurking about, but perhaps if I roasted it a bit lighter it would be evident. As espresso it was really nice. Deep, deep flavors and that buttery richness that coats your mouth and just lasts and lasts. In milk, it cut right through - a very nice cappuccino. Delicious and different.

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As an aside, I have a bunch of tea stuff I need to post, as well as some notes on coffee brewing techniques. I haven't had much time lately, but hopefully over the next few weeks I can get caught up

Colombia Antioquia -Jardin Cerulean Warbler

Tweet, tweet. Tweet, tweet. What's that sound? It is the sound of a really dumb name for a coffee. You can see the picture of the birdie to the left - the Cerulean Warbler. Apparently this coffee comes from an area where there is some sort of conservation project to help out this bird whose population is declining. That's nice, but how does it taste?

I wanted to roast this one very lightly:


Based on observing the roast, this is one dense little seed. Seventeen and a half minutes got me a City roast, perhaps a tad more. Despite the silly name, this is a really nice coffee. Sweet, balanced, and delicate - this is a good palate reset after a bunch of dry processed coffees I have been drinking lately. There is some peach in the aroma, and plenty of acidity as a backbone. Drinking it later in the week, I find some typical raisiny notes as well. This was dynamite in a vacuum pot also. I would get this one again.