Finca San Jose

Nicaragua / Coasta Rica

The San Jose is now the second coffee bean that I have been roasting. This bean seems to me to be less finicky about roasting (or perhaps I am getting a little better at it?) and I think that it tastes the best when it is roasted to a little less than Full-City but a little more than pure Cinnamon.

This coffee has a red-wine attribute that comes to the forefront of your taste buds as it has cooled a bit in the cup and is at that perfect drinking temperature of "less than hot" but cannot yet be considered "cold". It is noted for its flowery, winey, and earthy attributes but also has a touch of chocolaty and nutty qualities as well.

I like this coffee enough to have given it to friends as a gift. I would buy this bean again but I did not "love" it enough to make that purchase now. From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 5.

Flores - Bajawa

Indonesia

The Flores Bajawa bean is the first coffee that I used to learn how to roast coffee with. So far I have roasted 7 batches with this bean and have discovered that I have enjoyed it roasted to a City/American roast the best. The Cinnamon roast was too grassy and mild for my taste while a Full-City/Vienna roast seemed too well done to taste anything but the flavor of the roast itself.

The aroma from the City roasted cup was earthy and simple and the flavor had a great body. It was well balanced and it portrayed a complex but non-complicated taste. I experienced a chocolaty attribute from this bean during the aftertaste but I really noticed it when I poured the coffee over ice.

All this having been said I really do not have a desire to purchase more of this bean. From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 3.

The 8th Day

I often joke and tell people that "a little known fact is that on the 8th. day God roasted coffee - and it was very very good."

Coffee roasting is, for me, an art form rather than a science as each coffee bean crop possesses its very own unique flavor due to weather conditions as well as elements of the environment. Each type of bean has its own unique attributes for flavoring and these attributes are cultured with each type of roasting style (Cinnamon, City, Full-City, Espresso, and French). Roasting coffee by machine replaces art with science and thus replaces a good experience with a mundane methodology.

I admit that I am a coffee snob and for that I will not apologize. I learned to love coffee in the ARMY even though it was always bad and never meaningful and even to this day I would rather drink a cup of 6 hr. old Speedway coffee than a plastic bottle of flavored water-soda but my heart's desire is to experience coffee rather than just consume it day after dreary day.

This blog is dedicated to sharing those experiences with any other coffee snobs out there who actually care.