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Posts Tagged Coffee Review

Coffee Review: Kenya AA from Coffee Kiss Company

Oct 21

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | 3 Comments

Kenya AA from Coffee Kiss Company

Kenya AA from Coffee Kiss Company

“Kenya AA” seems to be one of those coffees that is known to many people along with Columbia, Sumatra, and Kona.  Despite this fact, I haven’t had very many Kenyan coffees.  I’ve had Starbucks’ version (which didn’t wow me) and an over extracted french press serving from Roast & Toast, a cafe/roaster in northern Michigan.  So naturally, when given the chance to try a Kenya AA from a company with a great track record I was excited.  As for pricing, this Kenya AA is reasonable for a specialty coffee.

Info: The beans appeared to be roasted at the light end of “medium” and smelled extremely fresh when I opened the bag.  The label states that the coffee delivers “…snap, spiciness, and lemony brightness.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Coffee Review: Starbucks Reserve El Salvador Montecarlos Estate Pacamara

Sep 30

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | 9 Comments

Starbucks Reserve El Salvador Monstecarlos Estate Pacamara

A half pound of the latest Starbucks Reserve offering.

Starbucks Reserve El Salvador Montecarlos Estate.  Wow, that’s a big name for a coffee so let’s break it down.  This coffee is one of four coffees to be released this October as part of Starbucks’ Reserve line.  It’s from the country of El Salvador, grown on the Montecarlos Estate farm.  Grown in mineral rich soil at very high elevation, this coffee is out to make a name for itself.  All of the beans in this lot are of the Pacamara varietal.

What the heck is a Pacamara varietal and what is it doing in my coffee?

Coffee plants come in several different varieties.  Think of dog species; cocker spaniel, golden retriever, etc… They are all dogs (or coffee) but there are different types.  Pacamara is one of these “species”.  It is actually a combination of two other species that has been cultivated over the years.  Enough of this coffee geek stuff.

This Montecarlos Estate coffee is grown at 6,000 ft. above sea level on the top of a dormant volcano.  Starbucks says the coffee has herbal chocolate notes with a medium body and some acidity.

Beans: Fresh, and slightly nutty smelling compared to most coffees.  It’s roasted on the darker side, with spotted oils showing on the outside of the beans.  You can tell it’s quite fresh, and I’m sure the one way valve on the bag helps this.

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Coffee Review: Starbucks Reserve Gálapagos San Cristóbal

Sep 20

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | No Comments

Starbucks Reserve Galapagos San Cristobal

It does look "Juicy and Fresh" like they say

The last couple coffees I’ve reviewed have been from Starbucks, ranging from decent to lame to great.  I can’t wait to review some more coffee from local roasters, but my ears perked up when I heard that Starbucks was launching a new line of high-end coffee.  Marketed towards “Coffee Geeks” like myself, Starbucks’ first offering from its “Reserve” label is Gálapagos San Cristóbal.

The island of San Cristóbal only exports 5,000 bags of coffee a year.  Compared to Starbucks’ normal distribution this is quite small, so the coffee is only being offered in select stores.  (They are releasing the next batch of “Reserve” coffees in October, so keep an eye out if you are interested — they sell out very quickly)  I assume that most coffees from this new line will be limited releases.  Galapagos San Cristobal is a wet processed, washed coffee with medium acidity and body.  This bourbon varietal is grown at much lower altitudes than normal, but the climate on the island creates the proper growing conditions nonetheless.

For a cool $12.50 + shipping a half pound of the coffee arrived at my door within a week.  Upon opening the bag, it smelled very fresh and sweet.  Roasted in the mid-range  of a dark roast, the coffee had plenty of oil showing on the beans.  Right away I was wondering what this coffee would really taste like.  Starbucks describes it as “Juicy and fresh with highlights of green herbs balanced by soft cocoa and spice”.  Let’s find out how it really tastes…

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Coffee Review: Starbucks Anniversary Blend

Sep 6

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | 5 Comments

Starbucks Anniversary Blend | Coffee Review from Mikepedia

Is There Anything to Celebrate?

I love autumn. As the air begins to cool, a coffee with a more full body along with spicy and earthy tones becomes more appropriate than a light and crisp summer time brew. Sure, I drink all types of coffee all year round, but there is just something about a full, rich coffee that is paired in my mind with memories of apple orchards, pumpkin flavored delectables, and spiced cider.

Starbucks offers their Anniversary Blend around this time every year. It’s made with aged Sumatran beans to supposedly add a spicy flare to the blend. As Starbucks is known for, Anniversary Blend is roasted extremely dark.  Their description of the blend says that this coffee correctly embodies the overall spirit of Starbucks and celebrates all their years of business.

I wonder, is there really anything to celebrate with this dangerously dark roasted coffee?

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Coffee Review: Tanzanian Gombe Reserve from Green Mountain Coffee

Jul 31

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | No Comments

Tanzanian Gombe Reserve from Green Mountain Coffee | Coffee Review from Mikepedia

Tanzanian Gombe Reserve from Green Mountain Coffee

As the curious coffee enthusiast that I am, I’ve always wanted to try Green Mountain Coffee.  They consistently receive very good ratings from CoffeeReview.com which is impressive to see from a big company.  Starbucks certainly doesn’t score as well.  I ordered two coffees from them for around $7 per 10 oz.  The first one I’m reviewing is called Tanzanian Gombe Reserve.  The beans smelled extremely fresh on arrival and appear to be roasted at medium-dark.  For those comparing to Starbucks, I would say the roast is just a bit lighter than the average Starbucks roast.

Obviously, this coffee come from Tanzania which is south of two other great coffee producing countries in Africa; Ethiopia and Kenya.  The place where this coffee is grown seems to have something to do with Jane Goodall and chimpanzees…but I’ll let you read up on that on your own.  Green Mountain says that the coffee has bold tropical fruit flavors and jungle bloom aromas.

Nose: Fruity, like blackberries.  Smells like this coffee will have some very nice acidity.  Additionally, there are some darker baker’s chocolate scents.

Mouth: Literally, a fruity explosion!  My palette is smacked with berry-fruity acidity much akin to strawberries.  It’s sweet and tart at the same time.  After the berries roll smoothly off my palette a spicy vibe kicks into action; almost like cinnamon and cloves.  Not many chocolate flavors here…

The Big Picture: This is a great coffee.  It was fresh and flavorful and puts to shame most of the coffee I’ve had from other big companies like Starbucks or Caribou.  There is something about this coffee that just puts it on another level.  I did find the body to be lacking a bit but with bold acidity like this I don’t miss it too much.  It’s so savory and exotic tasting.

Sometimes I specifically plan a pairing for a certain coffee, but most of the time I pair it with whatever I happen to be in the mood for.  This time I tried a toasted blueberry bagel with butter on it.  The bagel was great, and it actually went well with the fruity nature of the coffee.  It smoothed it out, and made the body seem a little bigger that it really was.

Tanzanian Gombe Reserve is a definite recommend.  I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of Green Mountain’s coffee and look forward to reviewing the other coffee I ordered. (It’s a Kenyan).

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Coffee Review: Trader Joe’s 100% Kauai + Pairing

Jul 23

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | 2 Comments

Trader Joe's 100% Kauai

Trader Joe's 100% Kauai

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Up for review this week is some coffee from Trader Joe’s; 100% Kauai.  Coffee from Hawaii’s Kona district is one of the world’s highest valued beans, yet I’ve never heard much about coffee from Kauai.  It’s obviously not in high demand as is Kona.  100% Kauai sells at Trader Joe’s for $7.99 per 13 oz.  Their Kona sits on the shelf right next to it and sells for $19.99.  I’m very interested to see how the profile of this coffee compares to that of Kona, because they are located in the same geographical region.

Trader Joe’s sells all of their coffee in nitrogen sealed cans, so as always it smelled very fresh upon opening.  It smelled just as fresh when I ground and brewed it.  The roast ranges somewhere within the medium category, with a bit of oils showing on the beans.  Trader Joe’s says that 100% Kauai has a “sweet earthy aroma and a delicate taste”.  They also recommend is for breakfast and morning coffee breaks.  Now, let’s see if this coffee actually tastes good. Read the rest of this entry »

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