Sumatra Tarbarita Peaberry

One of my favorite coffees is the Peaberry.  This coffee has a unique flavor like the added chicory of Louisiana but it is not as dominant and it is natural to this type of bean.

The aroma is very pleasant sporting a mocha scent that is a touch sweet.  The flavor is so good and smooth that it makes me want to cry with delight.  Alright, maybe crying is a little much but it really is a great flavor.  It has a smoothly sweetness that finishes very clean.  We tried it with some 90% chocolate and the sweetness of this brew exploded and brought a generous cacophony of flavor to be delved into by the taster of deep exploration.

I have always been partial to the Peaberry from Papau New Guinea but this Sumnatran ranks right up there with one of the best.

NEW Easter Egg...

The winner of the October Easter Egg is Darlene L. from Chesterfield.  Darlene will be getting a pot of Sumatran Iskandar Premium.  This is a hand-washed bean that is both wet & dry processed and its flavor is truly premo.  I am betting that her toes are going to curl at the first sip. ;-)

There is a NEW easter egg on the web page.  Go to www.anchorbayroasts.com to find it and you too could win FREE coffee.

Happy Belated National Coffee Day!

I had never heard of such a thing but then a friend of mine told me about it, then I saw that another friend and his wife got "their free cup" at a popular doughnut shop.  I guess I should have jumped on the bandwagon huh? Well, it's not yet too late.


For everyone who submits an original poem about their love of coffee at the Anchor Bay Roasts website between now 11:59pm tomorrow night - I will put into a drawing for a 2.5oz package of my new Sumatra -  Iskandar Premium.  This Sumatran will not only make your vocal chords reflexively say "YUM" but I am betting that the lucky winner will become a coffee snob for life because all other coffee will pale in comparison. So let me hear the depth of your coffee love.  (Sorry, no international shipments or Alaska & Hawaii.)

Sumatra - Iskandar Premium

When the farmers (all women) pick the Iskandar berries they immediately remove the beans from the pulp and hand wash them in order to remove any excess pulp.  Then it is sent to the processor where it is sun dried and cured being raked and turned many times.  After the beans have dried they are hand inspected for quality and then only the best beans are allowed entrance into the Premium bag.  


It would take an economist to figure out how many man hours goes into each bean and then how many beans goes into each cup!


First off I noticed that the aroma shouts the character of this cup.  It rolls along with a rich earthy scent that begs you to come back for more.  My wife wondered if I was drinking her cup as I brought it to her but I merely had my nose buried in and smelling the wonderful promise.


I sat with my cup and blew and smelled for a while.  Then when I took a sip it was a perfect temperature.  I was delighted with a deep-earthy flavor that was pregnant with botanicals - but not flowery.  The body was creamy and rich setting heavy on the tongue and not at all watered down.  It was one of those coffee that illicited an audible "YUM" from me.


When I start my monthly coffee klatch roasting club (something that is begging to be begun) I think I will certainly be presenting this Sumatran.

BINGO! I Call It "Manna" (Blend #5)

Have you ever wondered how some flavors were developed? I suppose much of it is just like it happens in the commercial where one idiot is walking down the street eating a chocolate bar while some other fool is walking down an adjoining street eating peanut butter from the jar, both so engrossed in their snacks that "POW" they run into each other and the chocolate accidentally got into the peanut butter and the Peanut Butter Cup emerges. OR... Some chemical engineer needs to come up with a new flavor to save his hide from the unemployment line and starts mixing all sorts of wacky flavors until "BINGO" they invent a winner.

Well I, like the chemical engineer, keep putting coffee beans together in the hopes of finding a Bingo. Yesterday I found a winner and I call it "Manna"

1 oz. Zimbabwe Salimba
1 oz. Kenyan Gichi Kiambu
1 oz. Sumatran Aceh Gold

I roasted this batch to a Full-City+ removing the heat just as the second crack was starting. I brewed it in the french press which created a very full body cup but not (as my wife commonly refers to it) chewy. And the aroma was mildly sweet and fragrant with no hint of a rogue acidity.

The flavor was full, deep and rich - free of free floating background taste-nuances and bitters. This cup was so good that my wife suggested that I make this for her tea-party this Saturday. Even though my wife is developing a taste for good coffee, this is a huge compliment to the flavor of this blend.

I am going to blend this again to make sure that I get a consistent cup and when I do I think I will take on Timmy Horton's.

Sumatra - Mandehling Gr. 1 - 5

Indonesia

I just made the final pot of the Mandeling that I had beans for. This pot had a wonderful body and mouth feel as I ground it quite fine. This finer ground seems to have released a really deep flavor that seemed to be dominated by a hint of spiciness but what really stole the show was the body. The richness of the body made this cup more of a meal than a beverage. Yum, yum.

Sumatra - Mandehling Gr. 1 - 4

Indonesia

I made this cup using the one-cup french press. The grounds were a mix of popcorn and stove-top roasted beans. I set the burr grinder to 15 for a coarse ground and only ground 2 cups of grinds.

The taste is strong but yet very smooth and pleasing. The flavor of the Mandehling is classic which makes me think it would be a great base for a blend with the right bean which has a sweeter attribute.

As this cup cooled the body became quite dominant and a woodsy flavor emerged. I really began to appreciate the deep simplicity of this cup. I suspect that I have to grind this bean a little finer for the 12 cup coffee maker and add enough grounds to make it stronger.

Pastoral Gold - BLENDED

Guatemala
Sumatra

This is my first blend - 50% Antigua-Patoral (Guatemala), 50% Aceh-Gold (Sumatra). The actual blend is unknown as I roasted 50/50 green beans but the moisture that cooked off of each bean is different and so the actual blend may be 49/51, 48,52 or some slight variation from 50/50. The roast was a standard City Roast in order to allow each bean to retain its intrinsic flavoring.

The aroma possesses the smell of nature, not like goat-cheese but more like the smell of a wood pile at the cottage up North. Mixed in with a smell of nature is a definite smell of warm chocolate pudding. I, however, kept smelling this blend hoping to discover more but to no avail.

The body is normal if something like "normal" actually exists. I am always hopeful that I will discover a mouth-feel that wows me and need search no more. Alas, the "wow" is not here.

The flavor is fun as a single cup runs a gambit of flavors while cooling. My first sip demonstrated a bitterness that was not really bitter but rather it was a lack of sweetness. I could detect no notes of chocolate even though the aroma screamed of it. I thought this cup was a bust but as I sipped and the brew cooled I realized that the flavor changed significantly. As the cup cooled it demonstrated a sweetness that was not noticeable at first. I also detected a floweriness in the nose during the lingering flavors.

Blending the two coffees together was a nice experience as it made me try to detect the individual coffees in this blend. If I had to rate this blend it would be bottom shelf for sure - a Johnnie Walker Red

Sumatra - Mandehling Gr. 1 - 2

Indonesia

The aroma of this Sumatran Mandehling stands out to me just as it did the first time. The smell is earthy and deep. It is comforting and inviting. I wish I could explain it better than this but words allude me as I try to describe it.

I roasted this as a Full-City+ or maybe even Espresso roast which made it seem more like a cup of Tim Horton's coffee though I would not presume to suggest that it was as good.

I am a little concerned with this bean as I suspect that it may be a little defective. The green beans themselves seemed to be a little too dried out, these beans appeared to be slightly what a raisin is to a grape. After I roasted them there was relatively little chaff to blow off which also makes me suspicious. However, I am sure that it is my lack of experience which causes me concern. The coffee itself tasted good.

Sumatra - Mandehling Gr. 1

Indonesia

The aroma of this Sumatran Mandehling stands out to me as a firm coffee that is classic but far from basic. As I took in its fragrance I could detect the rich earthiness that is imbibed in the flavor.

I roasted this as a City roast (removing the beans from the fire just seconds after the First Crack) as I desired to experience the raw flavor of this bean (I do that sometimes). The flavor is long and earthy which is free from any hint of bitter. Although it is not listed as one of the attributes I sensed a hint of butter, though that could just be the creamy feel of the body upon my tongue.

This is certainly a pleasurable cup.

From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 5.

Aceh Gold

Sumatra

The flavor here is full with a Full-City roast - Highly chocolate, semi-sweet, and quite deep. The flavor lingers after the cup is gone suggesting a heavy body.

My lack of enjoyment of this cup is not because of the coffee but rather because I was not mentally prepared to fully experience it. I am learning, as I go, that I need to be ready to take some time to smell and taste the coffee that I make. Also, I think I need to drink some regular coffee for a while to find my baseline again.

I will post updates in the comments section as I try this bean again/

From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 4.