Posts Tagged ‘finish’

Guatemala Finca La Florencia

November 23, 2008 in tasting notes | Comments (0)

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This cup starts off with a deep, dark, fruity aroma that says “sweet.” The dominant flavors that stand out are milk chocolate with a touch of hazelnuts and brown sugar. The body is exceptionally smooth and silky, with a rich, buttery mouthfeel. There is a cocoa powder dryness on the finish with a real coffee taste mixed with a light citrusy tartness. This is a very elegant cup of coffee. Single Estate.

November 2008 Peregrinations: Costa Rica Santa Lucia Estate

November 3, 2008 in coffee club,cup of excellence | Comments (0)

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This is a wonderful example of a balanced, elegant cup of coffee.  The smells are familiar: coffee, flower-perfumy, citrus, with a touch of caramelized brown sugar.  The initial tastes are bright and crisp, like the first apples of Fall.  The dry mouthfeel doesn’t come across as acidic, but more high and bright, and it finishes slightly metallic. There are hints of dry nuttiness –a blend of almonds and cocoa powder with a slight malty-coffee-caramel thread. A new range of flavors emerges once it cools: complex layers of unusual fruit and spices.

The Santa Lucia Estate in Costa Rica took 16th place in the 2008 Cup of Excellence judging.  Farmers Ricardo Perez Barrantes and Rodriguez Villalobos have more than 30 years of coffee farming experience.


Peregrine Coffee Bespoke Service: Brazil Pocos de Caldas

October 5, 2008 in special | Comments (0)

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The first smell from the cup is winter spices: slight nutmeg and cardamom.  That leads into a sweet caramel-toffee aroma which combines to evoke sticky-toffee pudding.  There is an initial caramel taste that quickly turns dark, revealing a leather earthiness and caramelized almonds.  What is most memorable about this cup, though, is the rich, luscious creamy mouthfeel that contradicts itself as it becomes dry at the very finish – if you close you eyes while drinking it black, it feels like there is milk in it.  It really is all about the mouthfeel.  Additionally, it is very smooth and there is a juiciness at the end and as it cools it becomes even thicker and the profile more pronounced.

 


October 2008 Peregrinations: India Anokhi Liberica

September 29, 2008 in coffee club | Comments (0)

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This India Anokhi is a different species of coffee, Liberica, and unlike Arabica and Robusta, rarely finds its way into mainstream markets. This is not your everyday coffee. The green beans immediately tell a story. There is a wild, pronounced fruity smell and visually, they are a mess, with an unexpected variety of shapes and sizes. Out of the roaster and into the grinder is when the 1970’s flashback happens: Boo Berry Cereal — an undeniable artificial blueberry smell. Things progress into the curiously bizarre once brewed, when the aroma emanating from the cup is a combination of funky-organic-sweetness with digested fruits (unfortunately, think baby poo). Once you get over the shock of everything going on with the smell and actually taste it, you realize that it is indeed coffee: sweet, sweet blueberries with a very slight woody/earthy note with a hint of chocolate. The overall impression also brings to mind the inside of a chocolate covered cherry; not the cherry or the chocolate, but the liquid – this coffee is just that sweet. Even with its strong smells and flavors, it is an exceptionally easy cup of coffee to drink since it is so low in acidity and so very smooth with light body. The finish is very long and surprisingly subtle.



September 2008 Peregrinations: Panama Guyami Indian Robusta Rustico

August 23, 2008 in coffee club | Comments (0)

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At Peregrine Coffee we love to explore. Not only the different regions of the coffee-growing world, but also the variety of coffee species. The high-quality Arabica and the low-quality, weed-like Robusta are most common. Robusta is typically used to “fill the bag,” boost the caffeine content and add bite to cut through milk and create denser crema in espresso. Alone, Robusta typically has a burnt rubber, wet cardboard taste. However, this month, we have a small lot of Panama Guyami Indian Robusta — an extremely high-quality Robusta that has been tended more like a prize plant rather than a weed. This very atypical Robusta has a singular flavor of dark, dark chocolate. The aroma is more complex with some spices, nuts, and cedar-y tones. This leaves a bone-dry mouth feel — the opposite of silky — and the finish has a slight nutty, papery taste. The french press brewing method works very well with this unusual bean.