Ethiopian Organic Yergacheffe FT

Ethiopian Organic Yergacheffe FT

At the Horn of Africa just under Yemen where the Mocca Matari is grown (Oh YUM!!!) is Ethiopia.  Ethiopia has a wide range of altitude that has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas and allows it to produce some mighty fine coffee.

The aroma in this coffee is woody and wild.  It possesses a charred smell but not burnt - more like a wisp of smoke from a camp fire.  The coffee is viscous (thick) as it seems to want to hold to the side of the cup and this produces a wonderful mouth-feel that invites us to swirl it on our palette rather than just gulp it down.

The flavor of this cup is a sweet and winey with a fruit note.  This is where the character of this coffee lies as the flavor brings up nostalgic images of times spent in nature.  I personally kept visualizing my past of days walking the Belle River only to rest a while with a fire made from damp wood.  Yes, I know it sounds sappy, but I do love remembering my times in nature like that.

And It Begins...

I have been contracted to supply VOX Church with Fresh Roasted coffee each week.  This means that the people who come to church this Sunday (and each Sunday going forward) will be enjoying the (dare I say it?) the very most awesome best coffee available in the whole Anchor Bay area.


This week I will be roasting up a Yemen Mocca - Sanani and a Peru Organic Royal Select Decaf.  The Mocca is an excellent coffee which sports a faint chocolate flavoring that becomes more dominant as the brew cools.  The smell is like the smell of a warm chocolate pudding that grandma used to make on the stove when I was a kid.  


The Peruvian has a fantastic flavoring which when roasted dark makes the taste-buds do a little dance.  This decaf has been water treated which is the mildest and most natural way to remove caffeine from coffee beans.  So if you do not have plans this Sunday join us at VOX Church and experience freshest cup of coffee in town.


And oh yeah, in case you are wondering.  When coffee is this good, you'll find that worshiping our creator takes on a whole new relevance in your soul.

Marcala (Organic)

Honduras

When the first rays of sunlight caress your face and you smell nature before any deer have awoke to take the day's first drink from the lake - you will only then most intimately know this coffee. It's aroma can only be described by feeling and its flavor can only be realized with the methodical rhythm of Argent's Hold Your Head Up. This is a coffee that demands to be experienced and begs to be beheld.

I sure wish I sold this stuff so that you too could experience the very best of God's glorious creation.

El Salvador Organic - Cuzcachapa

The fun of this coffee began the moment that I tried to pronounce its name. I finally have it phonetically but I am quite sure that my accent is way off. ;-)

I roasted this bean to just through the 1st crack and it ground just slightly darker than cinnamon. The flavor is very full and is supposed to have a definite chocolate note. I did not notice this, what is dominant to me is the floral qualities of this bean. I am sensitive to the florals because I'm especially fond of them.

The body of this cup is wonderful! As it cooled and I could take a full swallow I realized that this is a very viscous coffee which makes it more a meal than a warm and comforting drink.

The next time I roast this bean I will take it through the 2nd Crack and explore the flavors through caramelized sugars.

Indonesian - Timor (Organic)

This has been a nice tasting coffee (it could be the coffee or is could be that I drank the Columbian House from the freezer for a week before I got around to roasting). I roasted these beans just seconds into the second crack which gave me a grind that smells faintly of cocoa. Even my 5 year old daughter commented how good it smelled.

This is an organic coffee which always leaves me skeptical but the coffee is surprisingly flavorful. It has a fruity note and as it cools there is a definite chocolate flavor that emerges.

I gave this coffee to friends as a gift and one of the recipients emailed me that they really loved the coffee. i suspect that it is the first time that they ever had a coffee that was roasted less than 24 hrs of its brewing and consumption.

Cepicafe - Peru

This is an organic Peruvian coffee. It has been quite a few weeks since I last sampled it but what was noteworthy was that the flavor in this bean required that it be roasted well into the 2nd crack. If it was not French Roasted then the flavor was not pleasant, but after it had been roasted to very-dark the flavor was indeed good.

An Experience Experiment - Pt. 1

The next couple of posts come about because of a reader's request. Van (the reader) wanted to know what happened to the flavor of coffee based upon the brewing method. So, I put my 7th. grade science class thinking cap on and devised the following science experiment. (I hope you are reading Mr. Kawalski)

• HYPOTHESIS: The same exact coffee brewed by different brewing methods produces differing results. (Mr. Kawalski should be proud)

THE STANDARD METRIC:

1. COFFEE: Bolivean - CIAPEC (100% Organic)
2. ROASTED: Full-City+
3. WATER/COFFEE RATIO: 5 oz. (liquid) : 1 Tbsp. (ground)
4. WATER: Filtered by Brita

TOOLS:

• Green Beans
• Popcorn Air-Popper (coffee roaster)
• Coffee Grinder
  
• Weight Scale
• Pyrex Liquid Measure
  
• 1/2 Cup Measuring Cup
• 1 Tbsp. Teaspoon
  
• Knife
• Sauce Pan
• French Coffee Press
• Drip Coffee Maker
• Percolator Coffee Maker
• 4 - Coffee Cups
• Filtered Water
  

Tomorrow I will begin to describe the variables of the experiment. Stay Tuned...

CIAPEC (100% Organic) - 2

Bolivia

All I can say is "YUM!!!" I re-read the post of the original CIAPEC tasting and it still holds. This bean is a very flavorful bean roasted at Full-City and it smells wonderful. I know because my wife commented to the fact.

Bugisu (100% Organic) - 2

Uganda

I have drank this City Roasted brew now for the second and third pots. Again it was dominated by a woody unsophisticated flavor. After a few cups I found that I looked forward to the next cup but that is (I suspect) due to the fact that I love coffee and not because this coffee is all that special.

In fact, the Bugisu is quite boring in that it does not have any attributes that are worth exploring. The experience of this cup is only a bit slightly better than McDonalds coffee.

CIAPEC (100% Organic) -2

Bolivia

This round was roasted to firm Espresso. The beans were so oily that they stuck to each other when they dried. It made for a very dark coffee and it lost some of the nuance in flavor that it had before but it did retain its extravagant aroma.

The body was not as deep as I had hoped it would be with this dark of a roast. I am still trying to decide if Body quality is a function of the roast or the ground to water ratio.

All in all, not a bad coffee but not one that I consider great either. The next time I roast this bean I am going to try a lighter City-Roast to examine its more raw qualities.

Bugisu (100% Organic)

Uganda

I roasted this bean somewhere between city & full-city. The aroma was natural and the flavor was earthy and nutty. I liked this coffee, for the flavor was good and the balance was quite focused. However, there was nothing that screamed "drink me" as with say the Paupa New Guinea Peaberry. If you want a cup of regular Joe then this is the bean for you, however if it is uniqueness that you seek then you need not look here.

From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 2.

What Makes "Organic Coffee" Organic?

Earlier I wondered what constituted an organic coffee. So I did some poking around and this is what I found. This is an excerpt from the article from the Organic Trade Association.

What is organic coffee?
Organic coffee is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Third-party certification organizations verify that organic farmers abide by the law.

What does it mean to be certified organic?
In order for coffee to be certified and sold as organic in the United States, it must be produced in accordance with U.S. standards for organic production and certified by an agency accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. requirements for organic coffee production include farming without synthetic pesticides or other prohibited substances for three years and a sustainable crop rotation plan to prevent erosion, the depletion of soil nutrients, and control for pests.

CIAPEC (100% Organic)

Bolivia

The aroma of this Bolivian brew was very enjoyable. If you have ever smelled chocolate pudding on the stove-top while it was cooling (but only not so sweet) then you can begin to imagine the richness of this brew's aroma.

I roasted this bean to a full-City roast and the flavor is earthy and floral with a touch of fruity sweetness which blends this coffee together nicely for a balanced feel in the mouth and palette. I like this coffee and really expect it to perform well when served over ice but I do not think it unique enough to enter into a contest.

What makes coffee organic? I will have to do some investigation into this question. In my naivete I have visions of Juan Valdez walking leisurely around a mountain picking a bean here and a bean there from wild coffee bushes to deliver to me organically grown coffee. I will post when I learn about this.

From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 4.