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Posts Tagged Coffee

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 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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The Coffee Problem: Is It Fresh?

Aug 30

Posted by Mike in Coffee | 4 Comments

Fresh Coffee

Is your coffee fresh?

The act of brewing coffee is something that can be continuously varied; water temperature, fineness of grind (or lack thereof), origin of coffee beans, brewing method, and all of the contraptions, gizmos, and apparatuses used to control each of these factors are candidates for tweaking.  Coffee beans need to be high quality, properly picked and washed, etc…

The Problem.  All of these particulars can be in place, but in the end you can still have a horrible cup of coffee if the beans aren’t fresh.  As soon as coffee is roasted it begins dying, losing its precious flavor.  One of the largest battle that the coffee connoisseur will fight is that of freshness.  It’s hard to find a decently fresh bag of coffee at “specialty” stores like Starbucks or Caribou, not to mention a more easily accessible outlet like a grocery store.

Recently, I’m starting to think I’ve found a solution the freshness problem.  Aside from home roasting (which I would like to get into) what one needs is a local roaster.  This roaster needs to be close enough, inexpensive enough, and the coffee has to be delicious to be economically viable.  Enter Whole Foods. Read the rest of this entry »

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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: Starbucks Ethiopia Limu

Jul 15

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

Ethiopia Limu from Starbucks

Ethiopia Limu from Starbucks

After being disappointed with Starbucks Gazebo Blend, I had strong hope for Starbucks Ethiopia Limu to quench my thirst for coffee awesomeness.  Limu denotes a coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia, and generally speaking, coffees from this vicinity have the potential to be very good.  I like the fact that Starbucks offers authentic Single Origin coffees, because even though you buy some of their “Kenya” coffee, you are probably tasting a blend of coffees from different estates and different regions within Kenya.  In the case of Ethiopia Limu, we know all the coffee goodness is coming from the same region.  Furthermore Starbucks makes the claim that this coffee is handpicked and batch roasted.  The batches are most likely quite large to meet nationwide demand, but one can hope the coffee was roasted consistently.

Upon opening the bag the beans smelled reasonably fresh and slightly sweet.  They appear to be roasted at a medium-dark roast.

Nose: Spicy and herbal.  Jets of ripe cantaloupe push through an allspice tinged haze.  Not picking up on much floral or tang in nose.  Doesn’t smell like the body will be huge, but seems like it will be flavorful.

Mouth: Spiciness is the dominant character.  Tastes like allspice and cinnamon roasted in a pan.  There is also the tart, mellow acidic component that Starbucks describes as “tangerine”  I would say its less like biting into a tangerine and more like biting into a juicy cantaloupe on a hot summer day.  The finish is dark tasting, with much of the spicy qualities hanging on the palette for quite some time.  It almost begins to taste like a very dark chocolate before it fades away.

The Big Picture: First things first, Starbucks Ethiopia Limu is a good tasting coffee.  It didn’t blow me away, but I have some very specific things I’m looking for in a coffee.  Additionally, everyone’s palettes are always changing — what I love one month won’t necessarily excite me the next.  Anyways, if you’re looking for a good single origin cup of Ethiopian coffee, then for $12.95 / lb. you won’t be wasting your money.  If you are looking for a smooth endeavor then I wouldn’t start here but this coffee tastes full, rich, and is definitely not one-dimensional or boring.

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Coffee Review: Starbucks Gazebo Summer Blend

Jul 10

Posted by Mike in Coffee, Tasting & Reviews | 1 Comment

Gazebo Summer Blend from Starbucks

Gazebo Summer Blend from Starbucks

I’m a big fan of acidity in coffee.  I’m not only looking for acidity but I do love it.  Gazebo Summer Blend from Starbucks promises to deliver a crisp, bright cup of coffee with acidity aplenty.  I remembered liking it last summer, so I thought I would give it a try and review it now that my palette is a little more adept at tasting coffee.  I bought a 1 lb. bag for $11.95 from a Starbucks near my house.  The beans are roasted lightly compared to what one comes to expect from the ‘Bucks; I would call it medium-dark.  Starbucks ensures its customers that Gazebo Blend is “…crisp and clean, with floral fruity notes…”.  Here’s what I thought:

Nose: There’s not a lot to differentiate here.  It seems fresh, and smells like it’s laced with a lemon acidity.  There’s some roasty sweetness, and  a small pepper-like note in the background.  So far I’m not floored, and hoping that the coffee brings more to my mouth then it does to my nose.

Mouth: Definitely crisp.  First thing to taste is a moderate lemon tinged acidity, which then morphs into a roasted, nutty flavor.  This then washes away into an extremely clean finish.  As I muse at how clean the finish is I realize I’ve been deceived because a dark, heavily toasted taste fizzles back onto my palette.  The acidity dominates the overall mouthfeel, and unfortuntely there isn’t much in the way of body or other flavors that come into play.  A simple coffee can be delicious, but Gazebo Blend is lacking something.  It’s like drinking Coke from a soda fountain where the syrup is running low; lots of fizzle from the carbonated water (or acidity in our case) but not much else.

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