3 Region Blend

I remember this blend from 2011 with Beans from Guatemala that highlighted the Bourbon Species Chocolatey characteristics. Coffee from Tanzania provided Floral and lemony components. Lastly the palate pleasing Papua New Guinea adding Depth as well as herbal notes and acidity on the finish.  In years past 3 Region Blend was also classified as a bold coffee not primarily for taste but for the amount of depth and skill of the roaster.  I appreciate this roast when you understand it is a pre roast blend profile that takes in radiant heat, convective heat, and conductive heat for the right amount of time.

We prepared this years batch with a French Press, 10 tablespoons Coarse grind and 30 oz of water.

The Aroma definitely resembles the new artwork on the bag taking advantage of this blends fresh springtime qualities. Often the aroma can smell like a window basket with flowers in the distance or walking through a botanical garden. The body does not linger long however the acidity is vibrant with citrus qualities. As the coffee cools the new Guinea components begin to show with herbal finish very similar to Sulawesi coffee or Indian coffee.

We tried this coffee with Lemon loaf and cheesecake brownie.  The tasters had their "Ahh Ha" moment with the lemon loaf. One person said It reminded them of "Fruit Loops." This could be from the stone fruit like qualities of certain East African coffees.  The cheesecake brownie allowed 3 Region Blend to express its Medium sweet Viscosity and drive home the Bourbon Coffee in this blend.

Kenya Nyeri Gatomboya Peaberry

Exotic Complexity - We were intrigued just by the thought of purchasing and roasting a Kenya peaberry coffee to see how dynamic the cup would be. Just the description of what the final taste could be teased us for 24 hrs as we let the fresh coffee de-gas. We knew peaberry are rare and coming from Kenya after some research peaberry is only about 6% of the entire crop. These beans are from Nyeri region and Gatomboya is a coffee wet mill where the coffee cherries are washed, pulped, fermented, washed and then dried.

Kenyan coffees as we know are the heavyweights of east African coffee and usually roasters use Kenyan coffees as a benchmark for comparing quality.

     We roasted this coffee ourselves this time using a plain ol' rival popcorn popper from your local vendor. They are nice and plump in the raw form and appeared slightly larger after roasting.  We took this coffee to a full city roast as documented on the left.  After letting the coffee sit overnight we took it for a course grind and noticed a very exotic fruit aroma. 

     As we let the grounds bloom for a minute with 8 oz. of water the aroma intensified and gave off a thick jam like scent of berry and possibly mango.  On first slurp these beans shine with an acidity that lights up your palate front to back and dissipates quickly with a mango/apricot flavor rolling in afterward.  Scents of red berries interestingly took over as the cup cooled and the acidity became balanced with the smooth body.  This coffee is very similar to a 3-piece jazz ensemble when it comes to complexity. It was clean as it cooled, bright up front when it was hot, fleshy stone fruit flavor in the beginning, exotic and berry tasting as it cooled.  We paired this Kenyan coffee with Raspberry chocolate cake.  The raspberry flavor gave the coffee a sweet delicate red berry taste with a subtly tart finish.

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.