The past few days have been rather busy with new coffees coming in, roast and blend development, and strong sales. This has meant long hours, particularly on the 11th when it was the 12th before I went home.
Two trucks arrived on the 10th, the first was expected and it brought among other things, Ethiopian Moka Harrar, Java Estate Pancoer, Papua New Guinea Kimel, Uganda Bugisu AA, and decaffeinated Brazil. Together with the Guatemala Antigua La Flor del Cafe that arrived the day before, this made for quite a bit of cupping.
Results with the Guatemalan were as I expected. I found a medium and a dark roast profile that I like very much. The medium roast is a little different from its previous flavor profile. It is smooth and sweet with subdued spice notes. Overall, a delightfully mild, well balanced cup. The dark roast has a powerful aroma, full body, and spice notes that are more prominent than in the medium roast. This should make a good substitute for those who have enjoyed the Sulawesi Toraja.
Papua New Guinea held some surprises. There were three very good, very different samples in the cupping. When I verified the cupping results by drip brewing these three, I found that the sample I expected to be most like my previous handling of coffees from this origin was not very good. The other two, both excellent, were not really of the flavor profile I was looking for. At this point, I pulled out the French presses and tried four possible blends that might result in what I want. None of these were quite right, but two came close. A second attempt with three more blends resulted in one that is really nice. It has good body, a sweet, buttery, intense flavor, and a very nice aroma. While the old lot of Papua New Guinea was Fair Trade Certified, this one is not. This means that at least until we switch back to a Fair Trade Certified Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea and Big Island Blend will not carry Fair Trade labeling.
Java Estate Pancoer cupped well. Two adjacent samples were very good and it took a little while to decide which of these was better. We were brewing this for sale today to positive reception. This is a dark roast coffee with a heavy body and very subtle spice notes.
I make no secret of the fact that when it comes to espresso, I am no great fan of the single origin shot. While working to identify the source of an undesireable flavor, it can be helpful to taste the ingredients of an espresso blend individually to identify the component or components producing that flavor. It can also be useful to try possible ingredients one at a time to judge how they might work in a blend. With the Java, I was interested in how it might taste in the new espresso blend, but I was using it mainly to ensure that I had the correct grind before wasting the effort of blending coffees by not grinding it properly. Prepared as espresso, the new Java Estate has a nice aroma, smooth mouthfeel, and a nutty flavor. While I believe Viking Blend Espresso produces a better shot of espresso, especially if it is to be used in milk drinks, Java Estate Pancoer makes a very good SOS.
I recently came into posession of an old book containing a map of Java circa 1897 and knowing the copyright expired, and this particular edition legal to copy, I decided to use a portion of this map with a little digital alteration as the background of for the Java Estate sign. A PDF version of the sign can be seen here (1.7MB). As usual, the GNU Image Manipulation Program was used to transform the 308MB scan into something appropriate as a sign background. Once the image was rotated to compensate for the map not being squarely aligned on the scanner, I selected a region of interest with a 16:7 aspect ratio (to fit on an 8x3.5 inch sign), cropped, then used select by color and invert selection to select everything that was not among the darkest black portions of the map. I cleared this selection to produce an image that was mostly transparent, but still showed coast lines and much of the text. This lightened the map enough that it would not interfere with the text I planned to lay over it. I then created an image layer behind the map and colored it all yellowish. My original plan was to try incorporating some areas that were mottled or washed out, but I decided that it looked good with the flat yellow background, so I flattened the image, adjusted the scaling and resolution, and saved a version appropriate for a high quality printout. I then used Scribus to lay text over the map image.
Of the Uganda Bugisu AA samples I had to cup, several were good, but only one was exceptionally good. This light roast coffee is smooth and mellow. The acidity is good, but the flavor is not winey like a Kenyan. We were brewing this for sale today and several customers had kind words to say about it.
There were a few very good, very different samples in the Ethiopian Moka Harrar cupping. I chose to go with a light roast on this to preserve the intense aroma and fruity flavor of this coffee. The fruit note is not the distinct blueberry that has been present in some prior lots, but it is still delicious.
The new lot of decaffeinated Brazil is quite good. The flavor has a character similar to the last one but the flavor is richer. I've also found a good profile to use once I run out of the current decaffeinated Colombian.
With these new coffees, I have had to check and alter Big Island Blend, Breakfast Blend, Viking Blend Espresso, and Wilson's House Blend. As always, I have attempted to provide a good match to the previous version of these blends and believe that I have done fairly well with this. Breakfast Blend and Wilson's House Blend, while not an exact match, are close enough that only those who drink these regularly and those with an exceptional taste memory will notice the change if attention is not drawn to the change. Wilson's House Blend is a little milder and Breakfast Blend is a little sweeter, but both of these maintain the characteristics expected of them. For example, Wilson's House Blend is still strong, dark, and smokey. I believe I have improved on Big Island Blend and Viking Blend Espresso.
Viking Blend Espresso is currently using three of the new coffees: Papua New Guinea, Java Estate, and Guatemala Antigua along with coffees previously in the shop: Brazil Santos and Sumatra Gayoland. This blend benefits from the current Papua New Guinea being a blend of two different roasts of the coffee as it only uses the darker. This and the Brazil provide enough sweetness and cup complexity that I had no need to introduce an East African coffee such as the Ethiopian Moka Harrar as is commonly done to improve the vibrancy of an espresso blend. I was not entirely certain that this (only my third attempt) was correct as the ideal grind shifted as I was working on this. The improper grind introduced a little harshness, but once the grind was corrected the espresso was fantastic. This espresso blend has been in use for two days now and while I have served it to frequent espresso drinkers, none have commented on the change.
While the Rwandan has not yet arrived, I have a confirmation that it should arrive soon.
I'll want to conduct a roast discovery cupping for the latest lot of Sumatra Mandheling soon. I still have about a one month supply, but if sales start to drop that could go out to two months and I would rather figure it out now than while I am preparing for the SCAA conference.
My other new short term plan is to develop some informational materials to be available at next month's African coffee tasting.