First Crack Podcast with Garrick Van Buren

This is the third in the monthly coffee review series at the First Crack Podcast.

This month, I’m reviewing Miguel Moreno Leiva - El Filo as roasted by 49th Parallel Roasters.

It’s a very subtle and floral cup with powerful aroma off the grind. Andrew described it to me as, “technically good.” I quite agree. It’s a perfect example of a good cup of coffee.

As always, special thanks to Andrew Kopplin at Kopplin’s Coffee for putting this Cup of Excellence on my table and resetting my coffee judgement scale.

Listen to Coffee Review - Honduras: El Filo [9 min].

This is the second in the monthly coffee review series at the First Crack Podcast.

This month, I’m reviewing George Howell’s Terroir Coffee: El Salvador: Finca La Montaña

The 2007 Cup of Excellence winner that was completely devastated by near hurricane-strength winds in January. Pushing the next harvest out to 2010. In response to this tragedy, George Howell doubled the price of his last 70lbs and sent all the proceeds to aid the farms recovery:

“This is a farm which won 5th place, then 4th place, then 1st place in succession over the last three years in Cup of Excellence. Preliminary estimates indicate he will not have a crop until 2010! How does a farmer with less than 14 acres survive? The 3rd place and 4th place winners of last year’s Cup of Excellence are his neighbors, and all three use the same mill to strip their fruit and dry their beans. We have yet to hear about them. We want to help in a meaningful manner.”

“La Montaña is scheduled to be roasted on Monday, January 28. We will be offering this coffee, which in my opinion is the purest coffee expression we have, bar none, at $50 for eight ounces (versus the usual $27.95). Terroir Coffee will donate the entire price to Mr. Ochoa primarily and to the mill, his critical support, which may also be facing very bad times from these events. Not a penny will be spent on any bureaucracy. We have approximately 70 pounds of his coffee left. $50 dollars per half-pound would result in $7,700, if all is sold.”

Special thanks to Andrew Kopplin at Kopplin’s Coffee for putting this Cup of Excellence on my table and connecting the world economy.

Listen to Coffee Review - El Salvador: Finca La Montaña [9 min].

Elsewhere:
Cup of Excellence Winning Farm 2007: Raúl Ochoa Hernández - La Montaña
CoffeeReview.com: El Salvador La Montaña - 93 points

This podcast kicks off a new monthly coffee review series at the First Crack Podcast.

This month, I’m reviewing: George Howell’s Terroir Coffee: Kenya Mamuto Kirinyaga

First, it took me a while to tweak the grinder back for a good press pot. In that time, the time was ticking on the coffee itself. Lesson learned for February.

This is a great bean, Andrew called it his favorite bean in the past 3 months. In the press pot I tasted heavy blueberry and banana notes with a trace of cherry and just a whiff of cocoa.

In the Mocha Brew, the cup was sharp and thin, very little flavor or mouthfeel. So, while I had two cups in front of me, I avoided that one.

Special thanks to my wife and Andrew Kopplin at Kopplin’s Coffee for inspiring this series and selecting this month’s coffee.

Listen to Coffee Review - Grand Cru Kenya: Mamuto, Kirinyaga [7 min].

Elsewhere:
CoffeeReview.com: Kenya Mamuto Kirinyaga - 96 points

via Jared on the Sweet Marias mailing list:

Minneapolis area roasters. We have a date, June 30 a time 2pm and a location Black Sheep Coffee Cafe (705 Southview Blvd., South Saint Paul, MN (651) 554-0155)

For those of you who missed the early posts Peter Middlecamp the owner of Black Sheep is both a new shop owner and Barista competitor yet still placed 6th this year at the US championships. He is also a very nice guy. Here is the email Peter sent me today:
“Sounds great Jared. I’ll have some cupping samples and maybe some signature
beverage ideas for next year for you to try…

I’ll be there. Should be fun.

We catch up with Twin Cities coffee legend Jeremy Raths and talk about:

1. Moving The Roastery from a coffee shop in the middle of St. Paul to delivering coffee from an abandon convent.
2. The history of the speciality coffee market - nationally and locally.
3. How the coffee market is changing to benefit the small, local, coffee farmer.
4. The flexibility to choose just the coffees he finds interesting.

Listen to Jeremy Raths and the Search for Extraordinary Coffee [28 min].

Jeremy Raths, from The Roastery, teaches us how to cup - the traditional process for tasting and choosing coffee. He walks through:

• The cupping process
• How he teaches others how to cup
• The need to be emotionally self-aware when cupping
• How to get the cupping experience at home
• The responsibility and integrity of a good cup of coffee

Listen to How to Cup Coffee with Jeremy Raths [14 min].

“It really does taste different: musty, heavy, rich, strangely complex. Hints of chocolate, old wood, hazelnut. Fresh out of the roaster, it smelled a bit like a newborn baby’s urine.” - Sam Buchanan

On the first nice Saturday of the year, Sam Buchanan and I met at Coffee and Tea Ltd for a $10 cup of coffee that came from the backside of the Asian Palm Civet (not something that happens in the wine world).

Listen to Sam and I taste the Kopi Luwak coffee [8 min].

When I’m on the road, Starbucks is where I get my internet access.

My taste for their coffee has gone from dislike to barely tolerable. These days, I spend $1.57 there on a small decaf that I sip for my 2 hours of laptop battery life.

“Put another way, there are two markets for coffee drinkers: those who love coffee, and everyone else. Can Starbucks really continue to try to serve both” - Peter Meehan

That’s the question. Doc says they should go back to their roots.

4) Give your employees better training around what makes great espressos and cappuchinos. (Lattes are too milked-down to serve as a reference point.) Don’t hire them if they don’t grok the basics.

5) Get more involved in local communities. Peets puts on workshops that educate customers on great coffee drinks. That’s a good model. Do the same.

“BREAD MACHINES AND HEAT GUNS WERE NEVER DESIGNED TO ROAST COFFEE”

There are three problems I’ve run into since roasting with the Poppery

1. Small batch sizes (a maximum of 1/2 cup at a time)
2. Inconsistent roast times (the Poppery continually gets hotter - shorting roasts, burning beans)
3. The ambient temperature needs to be warm. So, no roasting in the Minnesota winters

Looks like a new roasting technique solves all three problems at once.

Like podcasting, I’m pretty sure I’ve got all the necessary gear in the basement. More later.

I’m finally making my home office more comfortable, so I can spend more focused and productive time without getting distracted by the rest of the house.

One of the things that crossed my mind was installing a small batch coffee roaster. Then friend of the show Pete T. points me to the NYTimes article on home roasting.

“At the end of a meal at a restaurant I’d like a cup of coffee. But it’s pretty rare that I’ll order it anymore,” he said. It just won’t taste right.” - Chris Becker

I’m with Chris, pretty particular about my coffee. But you know that.