Coffee Review Peet's Ethiopian Super Natural

I've been on a Ethiopian tear of late, but that is because a lot of the coffees from that region are now available to buy. Lucky for you there are lots of good Ethiopian coffees out there.

Today I'm going to talk about a company, a coffee and a barista named Melissa. Peet's is known more on the left coast of the U.S. Peet's was founded by Alfred Peet in Berkley, CA in 1966. What an amazing time that probably was. The nation's campuses were full of debate on the Vietnam War. It was in the beginning or the Peace Movement, where hippies ruled the day. Sex, drugs and Rock n Roll was the mood. In the middle of all this was a simple coffee roaster creating come great roasts.

Today Peet's is known for it's high quality coffee and terrific service. This brings me to Melissa. The other day I was in Harvard Square in Cambridge. It was a bitterly cold night, and I dropped into Peet's to use their rest room...and to get a cup of decaf. One of the displays was a series of gold foil bags with the words "Ethiopian Super Natural" written on them.

Melissa was the barista at the counter. She is a fun loving woman, with wisps of purple of streaks in her hair, and various piercings. In my mind, she is the perfect person to ask, if this coffee is any good. "Do you like blueberries," she asked. I do. She went on a two minute spiel about the goodness of this coffee. While this went on the barista behind her was shaking her head no. I laughed, and said, "If this coffee is all that, why is your friend shaking her head no?" Melissa laughed too, and told me her co-worker was such a liar. Truth be told(in case Peet's reads this), no one as lying. This is the fun, playful attitude at Peet's. I bought the the bag of beans and told Melissa if I didn't taste blueberry I was coming back. She told me if I didn't taste the blueberry she would refund my money. Challenge accepted.

According to Peet's:

Processed by age-old natural methods, sun-dried beans burst with wild blueberry sweetness, complexity and unforgettable richness.

In this case the Super Natural is not referring to a coven of witches brewing coffee, but to the process of the beans - natural. It's a dark roast coffee.

When I opened the bag, immediately I was hit with the aroma of blueberry. It was like a merger of coffee and blueberry pie. Ok, who cool is that? Score one for Melissa, this coffee has blueberry.

I have tried this coffee two ways; Chemex and French Press. Melissa told me it was an awesome French Press coffee. Here I disagree with her, I preferred it in the Chemex.

Either way you brew it, this is an incredible coffee. Blueberry is where this coffee starts. Many Ethiopian coffees have a tea like quality to it. This one is more substantial than tea, but I got a tea sense to it. The dark roast brings out a lot of smokiness to it, which in this case works very well.

Sometimes, a larger coffee company doesn't offer the quality of roasted coffee a smaller company can do(Starbucks). In this case, I rate this as an excellent coffee. This is something I would recommend for breakfast, with a bit of granola and yogurt, or after dinner, with a pastry.

On our Bean Scale of Strength, this is a 3.5 our of 5. It's a strong coffee, ready to wake you up, without punching you in the face.

Peet's has something special, not only with this coffee, but with employees like Melissa. Hey Peet's give Melissa a raise....or at least a special something to thank her.

www.peets.com

Charlie

Coffee Review: Dave's Ethiopian Sidamo

A few weeks ago I introduced you to Dave's Coffee, a Rhode Island coffee roaster. I went back to get more coffee, and this time of the coffees that were available for sale, I asked the barista what she would recommend. She told me she loves the Ethiopian Sidamo. She gave me a several reasons as to why she liked it, but the bottom line was, she loved the taste.

According to Dave's Coffee website this coffee:

chocolate dipped apricots and plums come to mind... and across the pallet. a well balanced coffee that delivers and stimulates. roasted chocolate notes with a slight almond undertone. awesome finish that leaves you crisp, clean and fresh.

When you first sip this coffee, you are overwhelmed with that chocolate/apricot flavor immediately. I've had other coffees which describe this, but this is an intense flavor that comes at you right at the start. The roastiness of this coffee comes as you have the coffee in your mouth and swallow. The roastiness makes this a mellower coffee than when you first sip it. 

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and if this is the kind of coffee that had at the beginning, it's no wonder coffee took off. This is an outstanding cup of coffee. This is a coffee you can have morning, afternoon, or after dinner. It's very versatile. 

Is it strong? This is medium roast, which on our Bean Scale of Strength is 4 out of 5 beans. It's mellowness is deceptive as this coffee packs a punch.

In a year of terrific coffee drinking, I place Dave's Coffee on any list of must have coffees, and this one in particular is one you should be drinking. 

www.davescoffeestore.com

Charlie

Honor Cafe

Paris is my favorite city in the world. While I've been there five times, it's been far too long since my last visit. When I did visit, there was very little coffee culture in the city. Cafes were not specialty coffee oriented then. I'm happy to see that is changing though.

This morning I'm reading about Honor Cafe.

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/honor-cafe-paris-outdoor-coffee/?ref=food

Daniel and Angelle Warburton look like they are creating something unique in a city where the bar on unique is always raised. I wish them all the best in the world as they start this venture. Bon chance!!!

www.honor-cafe.com

Charlie

Coffee Battle

This morning I decided to have two different coffees and do a comparison. We'll call this "Coffee Battle." The battle is taking two coffees, brew them in the same manner, same amount, drink the same way, and do a comparison for the better coffee.

Our first two contestants....

In this corner is Honduran High Mountain from Simply Enjoy. Simply Enjoy is a "premium" brand from the Stop and Shop grocery chain. This is a medium roast blend of coffees, of which the package says is 100% Arabica Honduran Coffee.

In the other corner is Guatemala Casi Cielo from the mega-coffee company Starbucks. This is also a medium roast, but a single origin from the Anigua Valley Region.

First up the Simply Enjoy. This coffee is a bit darker roasted than the package indicates. The flavor is a nutty, chocolatey taste. It's clear this is not a freshly roasted coffee, but that didn't detract from the decent flavors this coffee has to offer. It's a pretty strong coffee, which will wake you up in the morning.

Starbucks blend is a bit mellower than it's roast profile indicates. This has a more citrus and chocolate taste. Because it's a limited edition, you can taste the freshness of it. The mellowness didn't detract from the strength of this coffee. This is also a HELLO WAKE UP coffee.

From a taste preference, Mark preferred the Simply Enjoy, which surprised me. He thought his first sip was "Mmmmm." That "Mmmmm" was missing when he drank the Starbucks.

As for me, I liked them both equally. This was also surprising. I do think the Starbucks uses a higher quality bean, as they have a direct relationship with the farm which produces this coffee. Simply Enjoy just had a nice taste. Do I think any of them are superior? No, but for a nice morning cup of coffee, I think you can't go wrong with either one.

If the money is an issue - go with the Simply Enjoy, as we bought 10oz for $7.99. Starbucks was 8oz for $8.69. You get a bit more for your money with the Simply Enjoy.

So in this Coffee Battle, we give a slight edge to Simply Enjoy.

Charlie

Double Shot

In December, I was reading The Daily Coffee News, and I saw an article about Matt Viser of The Boston Globe, and his column called "Double Shot." Typically Mr. Viser writes about more political activities, and reported on the Romney campaign for the newspaper in the last presidential election. I started to read his work, and I was hooked.

Viser is a man who, like me, is a lover coffee. He enjoys learning about coffee, and sharing what he learns. One of his more common postings is about how various people in the Boston area take their coffee.

It's very rare for a newspaper to focus on coffee. For a time The New York Times had Oliver Stand write specifically on coffee, but no more. So I am very appreciative of what Matt Viser is doing.

I've had the pleasure of exchanging some emails with Mr. Viser. Yes, I actually wrote a fan email. I'm a coffee geek who gets star struck, what can I say. It isn't often I write to people whose work I admire. I wanted him to know how much his work, and column is appreciated.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/specials/coffee

What I like about Viser's work specifically is he isn't coming from a place of pretentiousness. Sometimes coffee writers can come off as know it alls and snobby. Mr. Viser writes with an everyman attitude, and it's clear he is a student of the bean. He wants to know as much as he can, and take readers on his journey of discovery. In short, he is a man after my own heart.

I encourage all of you to read this column.

Note - If Matt Viser is reading this....you need to try the following: Stone Creek Coffee, out of Milwaukee;  New Harvest Roasters and Dave's out of Providence; and Bee Coffee Roasters from Indianapolis. I promise you will love these coffees.

Charlie

Coffee Review: Coffee Exchange Guatemalan Chajul

French Roast coffee is always marketed as a dark roast, strong, and full of flavor. Most of the time I think it just tastes burnt. Rarely do I encounter a French Roast that doesn't taste like the roaster burnt it and calls it French. Then there is Coffee Exchange, here in Providence.

I recently bought their Guatemalan Chajul. Here is what Coffee Exchange says about their coffee:

The Guatemalan Chajulense American Roast is medium bodied with a sweet aroma and lemony aftertaste, with the French Roast version reminiscent of dark chocolate and brown sugar. Chajul is in the Ixil region of Guatemala, where The Coffee Trust, founded by co-owner Bill Fishbein, concentrates its sustainability efforts in education, healthcare, food security, economic development and capacity building. With the devastation visited on this community by La Roya, the Coffee Rust disease ravaging Central America, to which Chajul has lost 75% of it’s coffee, a major effort is under way by The Coffee Trust and Cooperative Coffees as well as Coffee Exchange, to help Chajulense coffee farmers get through this terrible time with uprooting bad plants and replanting Roya Resistant coffee plants.

This morning, I brewed some in the Chemex. This is normally not how I brew a first time coffee, but I did this morning. When I opened the bag, I smelled a dark chocolate aroma for sure. As I ground it, I smelled it even more. 

Tasting it was quite the experience. I wouldn't say I got the lemony aftertaste, but there was a hint of fruitiness to it. No this roast was heavy on the chocolate and brown sugar. It was a sweeter coffee than I expected. There was no burnt taste at all. Oddly, I would say this was an intense and smooth coffee. That's not a normal combination. 

On our Bean Scale of Strength, this coffee is a 4 out of 5 beans. It's a strong coffee which will get you going. I had a cup and a half, and I was ready for my run this morning. That's pretty strong.

For people in New England, and especially in Providence, go to Coffee Exchange. They are roasting some really good coffee - every day. 

http://www.sustainablecoffee.com

Charlie