Explore Aroma w/ Starbucks Gold Coast Pour Over

Here is a Coffee tasting I Completed with Gold Coast pour over on the importance of utilizing whole bean and ground coffee for aroma attributes during a tasting.  

Whole Bean at 70 degrees releases certain CO2, when I  grind the coffee on my Burr Grinder it elevates 5 degrees increasing the amount of CO2 released introducing new aromas. 

First pre-wet your filter to warm the cone, remove paper taste and loosen fibers for great extraction then add coffee grounds, shake to flatten the bed and add a small dimple using a spoon in the middle to direct your water.

The introduction of Hydrolysis (Hot water to coffee bed) elevates temp, since CO2 repels water there needs to be a 30 sec bloom time to allow gases to escape and prepare the coffee bed for the remaining water. Only then will you unlock flavors on your second pour and create unique slurry, adding water in circular motion starting in the middle and working you way out without touching the sides of the filter.

Enjoy!

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.

Colombia Nariño

Coffee Loyalty- Colombia through time has always been the branded face synonymous with coffee. If Ethiopia represents royalty as the Queen of coffee and Sumatra creates a cult following with its earthy/herbal lusciousness, then Colombia truly represents adamant loyalty.



First offered in 1990 Colombia Nariño Supremo referred to the country (Colombia), the region (Nariño) and the bean size (Supremo).



Colombian coffee is often celebrated for its milk chocolate taste and dry nutty finish similar to the skin of a Walnut.



The Nariño region for Coffee in terms of Harvesting, soil composition and altitude is all about Location, location, location!



With perfect jeans and T-shirt weather (60-75 degrees) the Nariño region in Colombia has the most outstanding attributes to create an outstanding harvest.



The region benefits from a great deal of sunlight since it is located near the equator and achieves a nutrient rich organic soil composition from the Galeras volcano. A considerable amount if rainfall and mix in one of the highest altitudes in the world for growing coffee at 2300 meters (2nd to Kenya, also depends on who you're asking a Kenyan or Colombian) you have all the variables on your side to create something masterful. Tons of sunlight, the right genetic material, soil composition, and now you just need proper nurturing and pruning!



When you think about high altitude farming, consider the hot days and cooler nights that will slow down production for these coffee trees and allow for fruit with deeper more concentrated profiles.

This high-altitude theoretically would have conditions that do not favor exceptional coffee practices, however the trapped in the heat from the bottom of the valley rises as the day goes on creating warmer air turbulence in the evening so that the climate doesn't get cold overnight.



This coffee is ethically sourced working towards a preferred status through C.A.F.E practices ensuring prerequisites of quality and economic standards are met followed by social and environmental responsibility.



This is a Pre-Roast region blend that achieves with the washing process a medium body with medium acidity and can impart herbal flavors as well as rich chocolate notes and nutty finish.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Deconstructed Tribute Blend

The Art of Blending- Starbucks most complex roast originally created in 2011, definitely has a compelling story to tell. Howard Schultz tells the story best in Onward.  "I stood in the cupping room across from my office and tasted the new blend for the first time. The coffee hit my tongue with a beautiful aged cedar note that gave way to a robust fruitiness and ended with a balanced acidity. This is exactly what I was looking for,  I said to Dub, Andrew, and Doug Langworthy, who had led the development. “This is a big, bold, knock‐your‐socks off coffee.” It really was spectacular. We hugged and shook hands, and I took a sample home to make for my wife, Sheri, and me in my French press. Sipping the coffee the next morning, I knew it was exactly what I had hoped for and like nothing I’d ever experienced." —Excerpt from Onward: by Howard Schultz.



Each portion of this blend played a specific role in why it was chosen and truly displays a culinary skill of roasting and blending.  To tell each coffees individual story we deconstructed the beans and measured out 15 grams of coffee for each profile.  For brewing them separately we used Hario V60 Size 02 pour overs ground on 14 in Virtuoso grinder with SCAA standard ratio of 1 gram of coffee to 16 grams of water.

The Coffees:

• Colombia

• Natural Processed Ethiopian

• Aged Sumatra

• New Guinea Peaberry

The washed high altitude coffee from the Colombia Nariño region are great for blending and was selected since it is where Starbucks first contributed to social projects to improve the life of the farmer. The Colombian beans are the largest beans in the bag. These beans are most likely Supremo bean size, the next size down would be excelsior. In the Pour over this coffee displayed Mild nutty taste similar to almonds and walnuts with an astringent clean finish. The acidity was present and did not dominate the cup profile, instead would play nice with another coffee.

I would imagine of the Sun has a favorite coffee it would be Naturally processed Sun‐dried Ethiopian coffee.  These coffee beans are actually roasted separately to achieve the complex berry taste and are the smallest coffee beans in the bag.  These beans were selected for the Skill in traditional natural process coffee. Natural processing concentrates the sugars and flavors in the Cherry as they are allowed to dry traditionally on raised tables. The raised tables can regulate heat and airflow while reducing moisture similar to the "Passito" Wine making techniques.  As this coffee drys often it smells like raisins and provides the most risk as coffee begins to ferment 2 hours after it is picked from the tree. Rotting in the sun can occur if weather variables are not regulated. As we brewed this portion the grounds it gave off a strong fruity (raspberry and cranberry) aroma. The taste profile on its own definitely had wild blueberry component similar to Ethiopia Harrar with a sturdy body and quick tart acidity.

The Washed Peaberry coffee beans comes from Papua New Guinea and was on the Starbucks coffee menu when Pike Place first opened.  Papua New Guinea coffee farms are identified by eastern and Western along a continuous mountain top. The varietals are bountiful with Typica, Kent, and Bourbon, however its the processing of the coffee that can taint such a great harvest.  Peaberry only makes up 5% of all coffee and occurs when only when seed inside the cherry is fertilized and develops a round shape since there is not another seed to flatten it. Tribal Knowledge and some experts say these beans roast better and evenly.  These beans have well rounded shape and are plump full oval coffee beans in various shapes and sizes. The washed process is unique to Indonesian coffee and really brings forth the acidic complexity.  This coffee still had a coriander spice component and actually sweetened up when it cooled down similar to Sugar in the Raw on the finish.

Aged Sumatra which was the first coffee chosen for this blend, is semi‐washed coffee that tells the story of High Sea romance of nature and coffee seed chemistry. The green coffee is aged 3-5 years in Singapore to replicate the aging of coffee on dutch ships sailing the Indian ocean. Aging Indonesian coffee has become a Starbucks trait to showcase the big velvety cedar and spicy profile. Aged Sumatra mostly makes up the tangible broken pieces. As age coffee is roasted it often breaks up since it is brittle.  Tasted Separately this coffee demonstrated a heavy full body, deep woody notes with a unique cinnamon spice smoothness.

Yes the pour over stand is home made.

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!