Sumatra Lintong Special Prep

Man is work killing me. Every day brings new levels of insanity. Time to blog isn't high on the priority list... Sorry about the infrequent updates.

As an aside, I seem to be moving slower than I used to. It's funny, I am about to turn 40, and I sense a definite change in how I act physically. It is going to sound weird, but I find it much easier to hurt myself these days. I am a fit guy for my age (I think), and it seems to take less and less to strain a muscle, develop some unknown pain, etc. I also seem more likely to burn myself while cooking, cut myself, etc. I suppose it is a combination of getting older and being more distracted with work, etc. I find myself much more aware of my surroundings, how I stand up if I bend down to pick something up, thinking twice about whether to run after one of my kids, etc. It is very strange, and somewhat sobering. Scotto's growing up!

But enough depressing thoughts - on to the coffee. This week I have been enjoying the last of some Sumatra Lintong "Special Prep". In this case, "special" doesn't mean anything weird, like the Jacu Bird coffee, but is more of an indication of the care of the preparation, which is quite good for an Indonesian coffee. The roast treatment was fairly standard:

I admit as usual that I am not a huge fan of Sumatra coffees, but this one really hit the spot. There is an unexpected level of acidity which is very refreshing. The cup is sweetly herbal, sort of like Ricola candies. There is leather and spice, but it all comes together into a coherent whole, and isn't overpowering even at this roast level. It goes to show what a really nice Indonesian coffee can be, instead of the swampy, thick junk that is often passed off on us.

Espresso Blends #2 and #3

Last time I talked about some espresso blending I am doing, or rather green bean blending for espresso. Here is where I started with Blend #1:

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Mexico LaJoya bourbon
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This was a nice blend, but perhaps a bit too acidic from the Mexican coffee. For blend #2, I decided to add some more murky complexity by adding some Yemeni coffee, in this case Yemen Moka Mattari.

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
15% Mexico LaJoya bourbon
10% Yemen Moka Mattari
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This was roasted into second crack for about 30 seconds. As you might imagine from looking at the ingredient list, it produced some seriously rich, intense espresso. It was similar to the Moka Kadir blend that Sweet Maria's produces. Rich and spicy, with most of the acidity of blend #1 gone. I particularly liked this as straight espresso. In milk, however, I wasn't as thrilled. A lot of the complexity was gone and things weren't cutting through that well

Which brings us to iteration #3. Now I went back to #1 and replaced all the Mexican coffee with a "miel" coffee from Panama. Remember that "miel" means honey, and is a wet hulling process sort of in between wet and dry processing. It increases body and fruitiness at the expense of acidity and clarity.

50% Uganda Bugisu AA
25% Panama Lerida Estate "Miel"
10% Aged Sumatra
15% Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley '07

This was a super sweet espresso. The crema was incredible - super thick and mousse-like. I really liked this one in milk; it is perhaps the best of the bunch. Ristretto shots of this were particularly luscious, while normal shots were very good but not quite as stellar.

Lots of interesting data here; more experimentation is clearly needed.