I've really only been into coffee since February 2005. I'm 16 now and I have been completely consumed from head to toe by the coffee bug and baby am I lovin' it or what?! I started out finding recipes for Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino, and soon, thanks to espornographers, I had a Gaggia Espresso in the house. Later, I bought a Super Jolly and have been doing some minor tinkering ever since. I now work at the Elysian Room in Vancouver. I hope you all enjoy reading my blog and leave some comments!

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Cupping Coffees from... J J BEAN?!?!

Okay, so J J Bean having coffee aint no anomaly. However, there's more to it than that. For those of you who don't know about Hines Public Market Coffee, they were a great roastery/cafe in Seattle (in the East Lake area I believe). They were home to former US Barista Champion Bronwen Serna, John Hornall (according to Mark Prince, aka Jonny Nitro), and John "don't call me the Colonel" Sanders. At Elysian Coffee & Tea, we used Hines Espresso. Unfortunately, they shut down their roasting location a few monthes ago. They've been doing what I like to call (I heard this from someone, likely on the Portafilter Podcast) the Probat Tour of America (and Canada). It seems that they have temporarily, at least, settled at J J Bean. I don't remember which location of JJ they're roasting at, but that's not very important. Thansk to the JJ crew, they have begun roasting all of their coffee there. Last week, they roasted 750 lbs (at least) of coffee and brought back a bunch into Elysian Coffee. Luckily, I was given some espresso blend, Nicaragua Agua Fresca, and some Colombian Cauco (sp?).

Two days ago, I cupped each... just two days out of the roaster.

Here's a pic of the whole bean Colombian Cauco...

Here's a pic of the whole bean Nicaragua Agua Fresca...

Ground and ready to go... I hurried up with the water after snapping this pic!

Poooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuriiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

Me about to realize the meaning of life:

Almost ready to break the crust!

Breaking the crust. I found heavy chocolate overtones in the wet aroma for both coffees, especially in the Colombian where it leaned towards nakhla tobacco smell. I could tell it was going to be a thick bodied cup, don't even ask how. It smelled of all the bass tones, but the florals weren't exactly abundant. As for the Nicaraguan, I found the same bass tones present, along with a nice caramelized molasses smell. I also got some dried prune and maybe a pineapple acidity smell There's an orgy of aromatics in these here coffees. Good work John.... oh and Alistair of course!

It's time to taste! Colombian first...


The Colombian's ripe floral fruit punch-like aromatics were completely lost in the cup. It was all chocolate, pretty thick body, and not an offensive or "defective" cup at all. It had little of the caramel flavour that I find characterisitic of a good Colombian coffee, but had a nice sweetness to it. It did not develop acidity well, which I am a big fan of. I love acidity. Overall it would be about an 8-8.5 out of 10 coffee for me.

The Nicaraguan started off the same way. Medium bodied, some nice semi-sweet chocolate overtones... make that LOTS of semi-sweet chocolate overtones, hints of maybe some rhubarb. Here's how it differs. It had wonderfully acidic and lively undertones. It consisted of all the volatile and delicate florals that I love in a coffee. It had some nice bergamot/tea-like aspects, some slightly detectable spice (sage?) flavours, and a nice balanced acidity. However, it still wasn't in the acidity/floral range that I like. Couple this with a Kenyan and then we're talkin.... or I'm talkin at least. These are great coffees that may come off from my cupping as being boring, but they surely are not. I have high standards is all! I'm gonna go make a press of the Nicaragua and do a ridiculous amount of bio homework. I sign off with this cappuccino that I made the yesterday using the Hines roasted at JJ. By the time I got the camera, I was getting bubble action... oh well... Goodbye!


1 Comments:

Blogger The Artist Formerly Known As JakeTheCoffeeLover said...

I think I might, when I get the chance to couple it with anothe order. It was a really nice coffee that I'd love to get more of, but the shipping kills me. I think it's too good to resist though. Once my parents forget about my last coffee orders, I'll give you a shout.

12:50 AM

 

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