Today's Cup of Coffee 4/12/2013

At the Copa...Copacabana...the hottest spot north of Havana.... or so goes the lyrics to the great Barry Manilow tune. When I was at Metropolis a couple weeks ago, I saw a coffee called Bolivia Copacabana. Well being the gay man I am, I thought, "Oooh if they can name it after a Manilow song, I should give it a try." Yes, I know, not the most coffee refined reason to try a coffee - so sue me. While the good folks at Metropolis have a great sense of humor, Copacabana refers to the town in Bolivia near Lake Titicaca(that will make my partner laugh, we have a joke about that lake).

I was curious about this coffee, so I looked into the history of it. Specialty coffee is recent to Bolivia. USAID introduced Cup of Excellence programs in the country in 2004. This coffee comes from Caranvai region, from various small farmers, using more traditional growing practices, in shade, and with no chemicals or pesticides. Metropolis feels this coffee is a "showgirl " coffee for the country.

Before I get into my review, as always I share what the coffee company has to say about it:

Flavor: Floral, orange, cinnamon
Body: Balanced
Acidity: Clean, bright, citric

This is not a heavy coffee. I agree that it is a bright coffee. With other Metropolis coffees, there is sometimes a woody sense to the coffee. That isn't evident here. That brightness, does lend itself to a citric taste. I am assuming this is a light to medium roast. It doesn't have the feel of a dark roast, or a fuller medium roast.

I do get a sense of the floral taste. When I had the Ethiopian coffee from I Have A Bean, I thought that one was so floral, it gave the coffee a tea like quality. This isn't that kind of floral. I don't get a tea sense with this coffee. As I finish the coffee, I do sense that hint of orange(see I am developing my coffee palette). No cinnamon, but there is a dash of spice in it.

Now on my face slapping scale, 0(is a tap) to 10(Cher slaps Nicolas Cage in "Moonstruck"), this is a 4. If I needed this coffee to really wake me up in the morning, it wouldn't. This is an ease into the day coffee. There is a mellowness about it, that I think would go well with a nice brunch.

Overall I enjoy this coffee. To be honest, I preferred Metropolis' Falstaff Blend I reviewed recently; however I would buy this coffee again. This is a very limited coffee. I hope Metropolis brings it back. Definitely worth it.

Charlie