General Update

A few weeks ago we got a bunch of new coffees from Royal Coffee Importers in Oakland. It's been really fun to get to know these beans and hone in on the perfect roast for each. Here are some quick notes on some of our new offerings:

Sumatra IKA Organic
Sumatra has been a main bean for us for ten plus years, but last time around we switched it up and got a bag of Sumatra Golden Retro instead of the usual IKA. It was fun to try something new but ultimately I'm happy we've gone back to the good old stuff. If ever a bean were to be described as psychedelic, it would have to be Sumatra IKA -- there are a dizzying number of flavors going on in this coffee and each roast seems to highlight different ones. The first time out I took the roast to the level of Full City Plus (see Sweet Maria's super handy roast guide here.) . The result was a dark tasting cup with a distinct floral note. This last time, I stopped the roast at Full City, and ended up with a cup almost Central American in nature. There was a nice, bright acidity up front and a thick, raw sugar sweetness running down the middle. Surpisingly, the floral quality I got last time was nowhere to be found. Next time out I'll shoot for somewhere between the two and I think we'll have a winner.

Honduras SHG* EP Ocotepeque
This is our second round of Honduran coffee. I wasn't thrilled with the first bag initially, but by the end, it's charms were apparent. This second bag, however, has been killer from roast number one. I'm particularly happy that this bean shines with a lighter roast -- in general, our MO here at Java Mama has been medium to medium-dark roasts, so this Honduras is a really nice way of shaking things up a little. Vibrant without being edgy, delicate without being insubstantial, this is a very classy bean. (*note: SHG stands for "Strictly High Grown," meaning 4000+ feet, i.e. WAY up there. This means the beans have a very dense cellular structure -- another designation meaning roughly the same thing is SHB, Strictly Hard Bean.)

El Salvador SHG Cerro de las Ranas
In our decade plus of roasting coffee, we've had the pleasure of serving many different coffees from El Salvador, and for the last four or so years they've been without exception, well, totally awesome. Cerro las Ranas means Hill of the Frogs and it's an "estate" coffee, meaning that the coffee is grown and processed on one farm. (The equipment needed for processing coffee is expensive, so it's much more common for all of the small farms in a region to take their coffee to a central processing location. That the red coffee cherries are turned into dry, green beans in a timely manner is critical for the quality of the coffee. That process is more likely to be done right with estate coffees, where the coffee doesn't need to be transported and doesn't risk sitting around waiting it's turn to be processed.) Every roast has gotten me a little closer to where I think this coffee should be, and the last roast was just about there -- medium-full body, piquant acidity, a core of dark, brown sugar sweetness, and a clean finish. Any wonder that people are crazy about this coffee?

Karnataka Coffee from India

We just picked up two new coffees from the Karnataka state of southern India (capital Bangalor) imported locally in Hillsboro by Karnataka Plantation Coffees. If importing excellent coffee were not enough, Karnataka works closely with its coffee growers to ensure the coffee is grown in an environmentally-conscious, sustainable manner, as well as paying them a fair price for their beans. Like all of our coffees, it is grown in the shade, preserving natural environment. We have roasted coffee from Karnataka for a couple years now but the latest batch is certainly worthy of note.

KATTEHOLLAY ESTATE WASHED ARABICA PEABERRY
I just roasted the last of our previous bag of Indian peaberry and was in the mood for something new. When we went to visit Mike at the Karnataka warehouse in Hillsboro he suggested this coffee from the Kattehollay estate, the most highly elevated estate of those he imports at 5000 feet. His recommendation was spot-on -- the test roast was vibrant and sweet in the way I remembered our Indian coffees once tasting. In years past they had quite a following among our customers and I have no doubt this Kattehollay peaberry will turn a few heads.

KPCI PREMIUM ESTATE ARABICA - TREE DRIED "AMARITA"
Before I talk about this coffee, I'll need to detour into an explanation of green coffee processing. As you well know, the place where the coffee is grown has an enormous effect on the qualities of the coffee -- coffees vary from country to country, from estate to estate, from one side of a mountain to the other, even. Many of a coffee's characteristics stem from climate, altitude, soil and growing practices. But the other major factor determining the flavor of the brewed coffee in your cup is how the coffee is processed -- how it goes from being a small, red fruit to a pale, green bean, dried and ready for roasting -- which is far from standardized, often largely dependent on natural resources (fresh, clean water, for example) and availability of proper equipment, and which can be the difference between a good and bad cup of coffee. Briefly, many coffees are designated "washed," meaning after a short fermentation, the pulp is washed from the bean before it is dried. This method minimizes off flavors -- mustiness, earthiness -- and leads to a "cleaner" cup. Another common designation is "natural," meaning the coffee berries have been allowed to dry on a patio, then raked to remove the dried pulp from the bean. "Natural" coffees are often more unique in their flavors -- fruity, floral, chocolaty -- but run the risk of off flavors. OK, back to the Indian coffee at hand. What we have is a "tree dried" coffee and in the world of coffee processing, this is certainly unconventional. You might remember excellent Indian coffee we were serving a little over a year ago -- that was the prototype "tree dried" coffee, ultimately a mistake of the growers who left a corner of the plantation unharvested. By the time they remembered, the berries had dried on the tree, the growers blessed with an absence of rain that would have washed the berries away. The result was an outstanding cup -- floral, chocolaty and complex. This time around, the tree drying was controlled. The coffee cherries were allowed to dry almost completely, harvested, then finished on the patio. You could call it the ultimate natural process. Here's my ungrounded theory about the remarkable characteristics of this coffee: because the berries are allowed to dry on the tree, they are well exposed to air and sunlight, minimizing the development of musty or earthy flavors that might stem from a poor patio job. I have been enjoying this coffee at home, made in a french press, but I think it will really shine in the espresso, so expect a new blend on the way.

En Fuego!

I nailed the Sumatra. It is spicy but smooth. Very spicy. Very smooth. I can't stop drinking it. If you don't buy it I will be mailing it to my brother in Providence, it is his favorite.

Jumpstart!

So Seth and I just had a double shot of Da Shizzle each. It is a straight Indian Robusta espresso. Not the freshest roast, but it was like drinking creme. I think a little aging let the grassiness it usually has mellow out. In any case it was delicious and it lit us up like pinball machines. I'm not kidding. I was having a hard time focusing and Seth couldn't feel anything above his eyebrows. For a little while longer you can get it instead of Java Machismo. Ask for it. Enjoy it. Don't be surprised when it kicks your ass.

Buy the Peru!

I tried a little experiment, roasting the Peru a little lighter than normal. It turned out fabulous, if I do say so myself. Buy it before we serve the rest of it this weekend!