PT's Coffee La Avila

Recently tried a small sample of PT's Coffee from Topeka, Kansas through the Craft Coffee service.

La Avila  is from Santiago de Maria, Usulután, El Salvador and is a Bourbon varietal that is farmed at 1400 meters by Lucia Abrego de Ortiz. This coffee utilizes the washed process to remove the seeds from the fruit.

Usulután is the 5th largest city in El Salvador and sits in a rich agricultural valley with a great deal of humidity.

Brewed with Hario v60 the sweet aroma filled the air nicely with baking chocolate powder and notes of steeping fresh black tea.

The first slurp reminded me of chocolate with fresh grape acidity. This brew definitely lingered with chocolate covered raisin taste and lightened as it lowered in temperature.  The acidity danced and as it cooled became more astringent with cocoa powder taste with slight peach finish.


Photo of San Salvador is courtesy of TripAdvisor.

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!