Starbucks - Honduras Premier Reserve

     Great for Blending! - Tonight we got a chance to french press this excellent serving from Four coffee farms in the Los Citrines area of San Marcos, Honduras.  This coffee is grown at 3,000 feet and is classified as Arabica typica.
     As we began to lead the tasting one partner said "I never heard of coffee from Honduras!"  Man, could they have ever been so right.  Its usually very hard to find, most Honduran coffee often make their way into commercial blends.  The best Honduran coffee often are smuggled out of country and get sold as there classy neighbors, possibly a selection from Guatemala to fetch a higher price. 
     I understand for years Honduran farmers often lacked money, proper resources, and tradition to harvest their crops.  When I say tradition I am referring to lack of a household name to strengthen its image. Sometimes even after beans were picked  and processed mold would spoil lots because they were sealed in storage containers at 100 degree temperatures.  Its been 15 years since a coffee from Honduras has graced Starbucks menus but this is a grand offering from this 4,000 person town.  
     As we first took in the aroma we noticed it has a sweeter smell than most central american coffee. After we took our first slurp to get our palates ready, we really dive in and notice it has a subtle sweet finish and pleasant medium body.  Honduras Premier is very smooth and the fleeting honey notes and flavor stand out.  The acidity is different than the typical crisp, tangy, or palate cleansing qualities we are used to from Central American coffee.  The acidity in this feature allows food to be sweetly engaged on the finish. We paired this coffee with the nutty and salty flavors in an aged  Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese drizzled with honey.  Amazing!  

Guatemala Antigua

     Guatemala which means "Land of Trees" is the 8th largest producer of coffee in the world.  Guatemala is also know as the "Eternal Spring" for having perfect year round jeans & t-shirt weather typically staying 75-85 degrees.
     Coffee arrived in Guatemala by Jesuit Priests in 1750.  In the Antigua region coffee is grown on volcanic hillsides about an hour from the capital.  The 3 most notable volcanoes (Agua, Fuego, Acatenango)  dominate the horizon around Antigua and provide mineral rich soil for the coffee trees.  "Fuego" is famous for being almost constantly active at a low level. Smoke issues from its top daily, but larger eruptions are rare.
    Guatemalan farmers preserve their individuality better than most central american countries because Guatemala has more micro-climates which strongly affect the character of the beans.  Microclimates can be used to the advantage of farmers who carefully choose and position their plants  Guatemalan farmers also have preserved their bourbon trees even ripping out other types and replanting traditional trees.
  So much to know about this coffee but the history adds to the depths this cup creates.  On first smell it has a nice praline and chocolatey aroma. Closing your eyes and taking it in you can almost picture the pastel colored houses and a beautiful spring breeze.  Using your worst table manners on the slurp, this coffee is very balanced with a well rounded acidity and a smooth finish.  Its is not as spicy as I expected.  This bourbon species coffee has a great cocoa powder finish.  It coats your mouth like a chocolate baking powder. As it cooled it stayed very balanced, but a little more nutty.  The thick cocoa powder coating still lingers on tongue and roof of your mouth.  We paired this coffee with nothing short of a delicious warmed brownie.

Starbucks Espresso Roast

Created in 1975 to compliment milk.  Starbucks Espresso roast is the center of attention and responsible for creating a variety of crowd-pleasing specialty beverages actually, 65% of Starbucks drinks are created with it.  The first store to create an espresso beverage for Starbucks was on 4th and Spring in Seattle for you history buffs.
     My Favorite is to have this espresso roast in a french press. This roast is darker than most traditional espresso it has a dark but sweet aroma, it is very smooth with a soft acidity.  The roasty taste lingers on your tongue and it developed a caramel sweetness as it cooled.  We paired it with Kraft caramel chews, but if your in a Starbucks store get a spoonful of caramel sauce and pair with a shot of espresso.

Espresso - 15 seconds of energy

     Italians love coffee and we love all things Italian.  Espresso came to its greatest glory during time of invention in Italy.  Remember, Espresso is not a roast but a way of processing coffee.  Espresso shots get the most out of every bean and a coffee masters excellence begins with a shot of espresso.
     Shots of espresso are created by forcing pressurized hot water @ about 190 degrees through fine grounds to emulsify the oils and proteins found naturally in coffee. One shot of espresso is solids dissolved in liquid, solids suspended in liquid, and oils suspended in liquid.  Espresso shots roll on your tongue like a tide coming in and linger for 20 minutes packed with 75mg of caffeine.
     There are 3 parts to a perfect shot of espresso, the crema, body, and heart.  The crema is the holy grail of espresso, most companies use robusta coffee to get crema.  Some high end retailers such as Starbucks do not use robusta at all.

Tribute Blend

     Had a sneak preview tasting of this 2nd year offering and its full of flavor.  There is sound history in this cup for Starbucks. Each of the 4 components were selected to represent a different aspect of the company's past.
     The natural processed Ethiopian coffee in this blend give it its berry flavor with hints of rum. Harrar & Shirkina were selected for its close collaboration with Ethiopian farmers.  The tangible broken pieces of Aged Sumatra were selected by the work it takes to age coffee typically 3-5 years in Singapore. The aged Sumatra adds spice, depth plus a syrupy body.                
     This coffee also packs large Colombian beans selected for sbux because it was where the 1st contribution to social projects took place. Colombian beans are typically used for blending but, Papua New Guinea beans give this coffee life by adding acidity.  Papua New guinea was selected because it was one of the first coffees offered on their menu.
     We paired this coffee with dried golden raisins and cranberries, but it also pairs with chocolate and spice, such as an oatmeal cookie or pumpkin pie.

Allegro Mocha Java

     From the first intake this coffee blows your senses away by captivating you with a sweet berry aroma.          
     The Middle eastern beans definitely add layers of flavor to this blend with an Indonesian component adding depth and a rich viscosity.  
     We had over 10 people show up for this unannounced tasting just because of its rarity and exotic quality.  Usually coffee from Yemen is grown in the wild and not necessarily on farms which adds to the luster of this blend.  
     We paired this coffee with raspberry chocolate cake and were able to pick up the different elements of spice, chocolate, berry, and mildly earthy tones on the palate.

Organic Ethiopia Sidamo

From the Homacho Waeno Cooperative I have to say I was so excited to taste this coffee. Grown at 6,800ft the beans in this special selection feature 2 of my favorite tastes, Ginger and Lemon.  
     The aroma had fleeting notes of sweet citrus I will taste again to pick up on the ginger notes.  The body has a good smooth mouthfeel and the acidity was pleasant compared to its older offering.   As it cools, this cup releases a spicier taste but citrus still dominates and lingers on the palate, the acidity becomes a little more silky and dissipates quickly.
      So much history in my shot glass, the birthplace of coffee did not disappoint as I paired it with Lemon wensleydale crumble cheese, also a ginger mango crumbled cheese.