3 Goddesses of Hawaiian Coffee

Sitting in the center of the pacific ocean the volcanic archipelago that is a rugged, majestic & lush tropical paradise forms the state of Hawaii.  The Hawaiian islands with her difficult terrain promises beauty and protection. The energy of the land also known as "Aina" allows for food cultivation, while waterfalls provide year round irrigation for the Aina and the seas have been blessed with ample amounts of food for fishermen.

Early settlers would pay tribute to the Hawaiian Gods by building temple sites or "Heiau" a place of worship and prayer where they would also provide offerings. Normally Heiau's  are long rows of stacked rocks and there are many ancient worship sites across the islands.

Still to this day Spiritual energy is alive on the Islands and Hawaiians believe it has power from the source of life the Aina gives off. Whether it is Grain of Sand under your feet, a powerful crashing wave on the coast or the calming winds moving across the surface, they all have power.

 Heiau in Hawaii (Photo Cred: American Travel Journal) 

Before Pan Am clippers brought intrigued tourists to enjoy the spirit of Aloha and before trade ships arrived in the 1700's there is a  different story to tell of heritage and ancient mythology that created the Aina and Inspired the Heiau's.

A story of Gods inspired by the Islanders nature-myths.

This is the story of Namakaokaha'i, Haumea & Pele and how each goddess contributes to the tradition of Hawaiian coffee.

Haumea: "Mother Earth"

Haumea: Goddess of Earth- Haumea the Mother of Pele and Namaka provides beauty, fertility, abundance and She is symbolized by fresh flowers and/or Lei's.

Haumea provides bountiful foods to the Islanders through the land including coffee plants would thrive in the conditions set by Pele with rich volcanic soil guiding the plants nutrition and Namaka providing the right amount of rainfall and waterfalls for irrigation.

Namakaokaha'i: Goddess of Water

Namakaokaha'i: Goddess of Water & Sea- Hula drums rain with acoustics that ring through the rugged cliffs and greeted by the changing surf dancing across the sand and gracefully making her presence know to the Land.
Namakaokaha'i is also know as Namaka and is Pele's older sister. Namaka will send waves crashing into the coast almost quarreling with her sister and showing force.  Namaka provides us with the water the brew coffee and that water may come in different forms. Waterfalls and rivers navigating through the islands from the Snow melt at the top of Mauna Kea a dormant volcano allows Namaka to shown her presence at high elevations 13,796 Ft. above sea level.  The Islanders embrace Namaka being on the ocean for sea voyages in outrigger canoes and feasting off the gifts below the waters surface.

Pele: Goddess of Fire

Pele: Goddess of Fire- The most active and famous Goddess unpredictably erupting blazing the sky red and sending fire to the heavens creating new land mass that continues to stretch the Archipelago into new rugged land. The volcanic soil Pele produces will then give ground and porous drainage for Haumea to produce wild plants such as coffee trees to bear fruit. Volcanic fires are always burning in the mountains showing Pele's direct creativity & Passionate personality. Pele resides at the Halemaumau Crater.


Many years ago I was inspired by a coffee tasting that took place in Hawaii that sourced Namakaokaha'i's fresh snow from the volcano mountain top. The snow was melted in a french press in Pele's boiling hot springs.  Kona coffee provided by Haumea was added to the press for the freshest and most bountiful press the Goddesses would have given energy to provide.

Sources:
Pele - Goddess of Fire (Winter 1999) By Betty Fullard-Leo

Pele, Volcano Goddess of Hawai'i: A History by H. Arlo Nimmo
Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith 

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Sulawesi: Champagne of Indonesian Coffee

Indonesian fans are deeply passionate for the taste characteristics of Indonesian coffee: Earthy, Wild Mushrooms and Brown Gravy. However, there is another side , a side that is rare in semi-washed coffee, a voice that dominates with grace, finesse and has manners to back up its robust profile. Enter the elegance of Sulawesi Coffee.


Sulawesi is the 11th largest island in Indonesia and can easily found on a map due to its unique K-Shape and sometimes coffee buyers wax poetic and refer to its old name of Celebes and/or Celebes Kalossi. The Portuguese were said to first refer to Sulawesi as "Celebes" and over time coffee from Sulawesi was also known as Celebes Kalossi. The Town of Kalossi often was the collection point for all coffee farmers bringing coffee down from the mountains  acting as the capital of coffee in Torajaland.  Sulawesi beans are a rare collection of riches since Sulawesi beans are produced at a much lower rate compared to the fierce tasting Sumatra coffees.

Most Indonesian farmers have grow and harvest coffee in their backyards usually on just on a couple of acres. The coffee is Picked, washed with very little water where ripe cherries sink to the bottom and unripe cherries float. Next, coffee cherries are pulped with a hand cranked depulper and then the coffee seeds are laid out to dry in their parchment. once the seeds reach about 30% moisture content, the seeds are hulled to remover the parchment and dried again. This unique process gives the Indonesian beans that green-pea hue.


Starbucks Stamp:

The Original Sulawesi stamp celebrated Heritage-Building upon the past, Strong Focal point-Key memorable Image, and Legibility with an electic attitude.  The color of the oriignal stamps communicated taste profile such as the green and brown in Sulawesi signaling earthy and herbal tones. These were visual indicators for Coffee Masters on the sales floor.

The image on the Sulawesi bag is a mythical creature that is 1/3 cat, 1/3 monkey and 1/3 human wearing a Sulawesi funeral mask similar to the above image from Indonesia.
















Tasting:

Kalita Wave
30 grams coffee to 450 Grams water
#16 grind Setting on Baratza Virtuoso (drip)
Pre-Wet Filter
50 Gram water to bloom, 40 second bloom time
1st Pour 200 Grams water
20 Second wait, then add 200 grams water

Notes:
Grounds have slight herbal notes not directly present in the wet aroma of the coffee.
Wet Aroma has mingling roasted coffee, damp pipe tobacco scent.
Herbal flavor comes through after coffee cools to reveal itself.
Herbal taste makes the Sulawesi coffee appear lively and fresh like a vegetative bouquet
This coffee has a Creamy full body that coats the roof of your mouth and lips. The best way to tell the body of a coffee is to rub your tinge on the roof of your mouth.

Pairing:
Einstein Bros. Spinach Florentine bagel and Onion/Chive cream cheese.

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.

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.