Star Pours: May the Froth be with you

Star Pours: A new Hepa

From Papua New Guinea to Nepal, then from Germany to Canada (and for completeness,  I suppose originally from Ethiopia) the Nepal Mount Everest Supreme beans travelled most-way around the world before finding their way to our cups.

Papua New Guinea:  Forty-six years following Hillary and Tenzin's surmounting of Everest, a humble PNG bean made the attempt. It ascended 500 m before taking root.  

Nepal: Grown on Mt Everest?- well actually 100 km away in the foothills of the Himalayas. Still, the Plantec Coffee Estate in the district of Nuwakot is the northernmost coffee grown in the world.

Germany: Hepa Roastery, Wiesbaden is a tucked away, nondescript establishment, who have been roasting for more than sixty years. It is still unclear whether their name is an acronym for an air filter or the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act.

Canada: Home to the GCL, where we espressed the Hepa NMES (perhaps also the name of a Navy vessel) and expressed such cries as: acidic, orange, chocolate and mmm. Most strikingly, this is a very acidic coffee, a far cry from its New Guinean roots. 

Star Pours: The Coffee Bandit Strikes Back

The Coffee Bandit

The Formula: A short while ago, in a Coffee Lab not far, far away, a new blend was made: Ethiopian Harrar from The Green Beanery (27.5%), Guatemala Guataloupe from Discovery Coffee (27.5%), Ethiopian Amaro Gayo from Discovery Coffee (20%), and Costa Rica Coffea Suarez from Discovery (20%).

The Result: God in a cup. (And we don't achieve that every day- on average only every 3.5 days). Tasting notes: liquorice, anise, orange, grapefruit, nutty, chocolate, slight malt, cherry, hint of banana, caramel, beautiful cocoa-coating mouth-feel, orange liqueur with dark chocolate, cigarette ash, hints of God...A five star pour! 

The Reproducibility: The very next day with the very same math, bore but a demigod in a shiny demitasse. 

Star Pours: Return of the Yemen

D(a)r.(th) Coffee?

This morning a guest came for the morning session (SOP @ GCL is TSCY- DED is TRD).* At their request for a chocolate-flavoured coffee (and with the restraint to resist serving cocoa) we blended the classically chocolatey Yemen Mokkha with an Ethiopian Harrar (both from Green Beanery, Toronto). The result was as predicted. Perhaps my palate is dull to the subtleties, but it seems that the greatest range of the beatific and strange is borne to the brain in the acidic note range. In speaking with caffeicianados, we have observed a pattern in the development of the palate- preferences generally tend over time away from the dark side and towards the bright, citrus, fruity end of the bean palette. In the broadest of brushstrokes, the coffee connoisseur's tongue takes a trip from Africa to South America. That said, many bottom-heavy brews are spectacular, and an "intercontinental" blend can be Glory in a Cup (to use the secular term). There are no rules, many exceptions, and infinite vagaries as to what constitutes The Good. The proof is in the drinking. 

*Our SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) at the GCL (Galiano Coffee Lab) is TSCY (Two Session Coffee Yoga)- one after breakfast, one after lunch. DED (Dessert Evening Decaf) is somewhat RTD (rare these days).