Thursday, July 10, 2008

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

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