single origin options

So, at Bradbury's we have two espresso grinders... in one we have Kickapoo's espresso crema, which is our default espresso for drinks with more milk than a few ounces. In the other grinder we have been pulling various single origin shots roasted by Kickapoo. However, it seems like it would be fun to try serving espresso (in general focusing on single origin shots) from some other roasters - this week we ordered 10lbs of black cat espresso from Intelligentsia, and we now have an account with them so we can begin ordering some other coffees as well. We also have some samples from Verve that we are going to play around with at the beginning of this week, and we may start ordering from them soon. My goal is to be able to find about eight different roasters who are willing to sell to 10lbs of coffee to us every two months or so, and rotate through these on a two month cycle. That being said, I'm curious if anyone has any input about roasters, and specifically coffees that you have tried as espresso, that you are excited about (if you have any idea about what temp/extraction time/etc. that would be really helpful). I've been contacting various roasters and some are open to this idea, while others are not willing to sell this small of an amount of coffee to a cafe. Thanks for any input you may have! (fyi, stumptown and blue bottle are not willing to sell in this quantity...)

Yemen (Roasted by Lighthouse Coffee Roasters, Seattle, WA)

Region: Yemen is about as specific as he gets
Variety: Unknown, probably similar to Ethiopia Moka varieties
Process: Natural (dry)
Roast: Full City
Style: Drum (Gothot)
Days From Roast: 12

This was a pretty interesting coffee. It definitely had a fruit quality reminiscent of Harrar. It wasn't as delicate as coffees from Yergacheffe, but it did have a nice acidity to it. It had a savory quality, but I couldn't nail it down specifically. When you have a nice cut of beef you get kind of a tangyness on the upper part of your palette from the juices...I guess you could say there was a similar tangyness to this coffee, but meaty didn't jump out of my vocab. It was very full bodied which was a nice balance to the complexity in flavor. Overall, I enjoyed it. I'm curious what it would have been like at a lighter roast, but I fear it would be pretty weird and potentially overwhelming!

More Coffee Please

I love getting coffee in the mail!

I'll be tasting the following courtesy of my family in the west:

Lighthouse Roasters: Yemen
Batdorf & Bronson: Dancing Goats Blend

I also have some Fiddleheads Guatemala to try.

I'll try to post my thoughts soon!!

rp

Guatemala: San Pedro La Laguna (Rstd by Verve Roasters, Santa Cruz, CA)

Region: Atitlan
Variety: Bourbon & Caturra
Roast: City-
Style: Drum (Probat)

Lots of lemon, bright acidity...ok body but lacking compared to my expectations. Subtle caramel sweetness as it cooled. Missing the warm chocolate I like in a Guat and the lemon bordered on sour as the cup cooled. I think it would have benefited by a city+ or even full city roast.

I haven't cupped many coffees from Atitlan, but with the elevations and amount of rainfall I've heard of some stellar coffees coming from this region. Granted, this was probably from a harvest that was starting to go past crop...and it was probably from the Federacion de Pueblos Mayas...a quality cooperative in San Pedro. Not that quality isn't available from coops (that another post!!) but I do believe that generally consistency is tougher to achieve. I didn't get anything dusty or baggy, but maybe the body would have come through and provided some balance (even at this light roast) had it been a few months ago. The acidity however, wasn't muted at all despite any aging. Overall I enjoyed it, but I think we have some better local choices.

Out Running

Well, I came out of the gates hoping to un-load a bit of what has been bouncing around in my head since I started in coffee a few years back. I'm hoping I didn't offend anyone reading, as that would never be my intent. I was merely hoping to make some sense of things I've witnessed and conversations I've shared across the coffee landscape. I constantly feel lucky to be able to work with a product that's ever changing and applies to so many people's lives. I feel fortunate to be, what I think I would consider, on the cutting edge of quality in coffee and roasting. I'm able to talk to a lot of different people that are a lot smarter than me but that always have time to talk about coffee and discuss the finer points of this heady brew we all so enjoy. Mostly I just enjoy waking up and knowing that I get to enjoy good coffee every day; I'm not really sure what I would do if I couldn't have coffee, good coffee, every day of my life.
That first smell of ground coffee or of hot water just passing over grounds and wetting them are like the first real day of summer to me. Like going out and firing up the grill to enjoy a barbeque and cracking open some local beers. I like trying coffee from different roasters to see what their take on a particular coffee or origin is. Do they prefer to exemplify the Black Currant notes or mute that in favor a richer body? Can you coax out a nice Lemon/Citrus component within a Central American. Is it possible for a Sumatran to be both Citric, Pipe Tobacco-y and also rich in Body? I say yes but how well can it be found and can it with any consistency? All the joys of an ever changing product and market place. Mostly I just love coffee and the people the love coffee too. It's good to know there's groups of these types of people in my back yard, in your back yard, in other parts of the country and to know that we can all get together somewhere like this, or at our favorite cafe and discuss the finer points of coffee.

New Dawn, New Day

Sometimes it's wild to me to think about this crazy industry we're all involved in. A few years ago I was working in a bar, partying hard and serving food. Then I decided to try and up my professionalism and make some more coin and got a job running a warehouse in Texas. It was valuable life experience but certainly not everything I had hoped it would be. Now I find myself working in coffee, surrounded by a bunch of people that for the most part don't always seem to fit together.
Sometimes I find myself wondering if I fit in; I'm pretty sure I was never more aware of that then when I was at the GLRBC two weekends ago. I don't think I would ever consider myself to be progressive or "hip" but then again I'm not even really sure what those words mean, at least as far as fashion and life goes. As I looked around at the sea of baristi, I found myself thinking that the competition seemed more about "cool" then coffee. That was a bit of a bummer to be honest, we work hard to find great coffees; we try and be down to earth and connected to the coffee and the competition is more about Flannel Shirts, Emo Jeans and Suit Vests. Is that really what a farmer in El Salvador wants their coffee represented by? Maybe? But then again maybe not?
This is a weird industry, so many moving pieces that are all supposed to fit together into a whole. So often it feels like there are just a bunch of fragments that randomly aligned and then break apart again for no apparent reason. It's strange. It's strange especially from the perspective that in most normal industries the best product is usually clearly evident to everyone, aside from the few in the minority that want to be "progressive", but normally the best product wins. In coffee I don't think that's always true. The best coffee may not get the best price at origin, may not sell the most in a cafe, may not win a blind cupping with random people on the streets. Nowadays maybe that's becoming less true but around here (Madison), that is still often the case. Cafe owners that think an Espresso Roast brewed coffee, served over-extracted and watered down is the best coffee or Joe-Six-Pack who believes their cafe owner who serves that coffee. Pretty much every day I try and figure out how to make sense of this, because frankly, my livelihood depends on it and so do a number of other peoples'. It's funny to me, only because if I don't laugh I'd probably have to go and put myself through our drum roaster and call it a day. Maybe then Espresso Roast Cafe owner or Joe-Six-Pack would like what I'm trying to sell. It's anyone's guess really.

Coffee Tasting

Coffee arrived today...I'll try to post some thoughts on it over the weekend!