Coffee coffee coffee coffee

My in-laws brought us a Starbucks espresso machine that my brother in law had left at their place years ago. They gave it to us a year ago, but I only just set it up today. I had issue getting it to work (it seemed like water wasn't running through) but it turned out the pump was running dry and just needed forced pressure to work again. So, I got it working and can now spend way too much on coffee at home! I still need to figure out how to properly froth milk. I tried, but aside from heating it up to 160F, it didn't froth. I imagine I either didn't have enough milk in the cup, or I just don't know proper technique.

ANEI Colombian coffee may taste like the most coffiest coffee evah! So yum

I bought some Monsooned Malabar beans this weekend. It smells divine. I think it's a mixture of both arabica and robusta beans. I shall report on its flavour profile soon.

Finally got 250G of Monsoon Malabar. I'm thinking it's an arabica bean from this roaster. I brewed in a Hamilton Beech drip coffee maker. The taste I got was deep and woody. I couldn't find the hints of baking chocolate in either half'n'half, straight black, or half'n'half + maple syrup. This roaster's Monsoon Malabar was offered as a light roast.

It's worth trying. I'd love to have it as an espresso to see the foam it creates, citing various YouTube examples as reference to that desire. This wasn't the 'WHAM!' I'd hoped for, but it is a new spin on coffee I hadn't experienced before, which I wholly appreciate.

Meanwhile I have worked through a few small-batch bags from Trader Joe's and am now drinking "autumn spice" blend which is like pumpkin spice but less basic

Minznge PNG


Cupped (and, Christ I know this is pretentious but let me have this, dammit.) as half-and-half with sugar. Also cupped as half-and-half with no sugar which had differences but all stated below still applies.

This is a mile-high grow of Cataui and Mundo Novo cultivars in the Wahgi Highlands of PNG. The described tasting notes on this intrigued me, so I bought some with my concentrated time and effort otherwise called cash. The cognizance that this bean is delivered to me via the power of the global supply chain which is, mmm - thinking positive here, slightly imperiled gives a bit of anxiety and muted first world guilt. Collecting all these variables into the semblance of experience I found my palate did not agree with the strong wild strawberry and peach notes. The overall body of the coffee is light despite it being a darker roast. The aroma, ground and brewed, is highly malic to my olfactory nodules, so I'm smelling the sweetly sour acidity; akin to a good snuffle of Sour Patch Kids' dust at the bottom of the package. The mouthfeel, for me, didn't have the same effect. The finish was light, lingering on the back of the tongue, like a decent cup of cocoa; also stated clearly on the coffee's tasting card. The offered perception matched my reality, but I just didn't dig it. I had another of this roaster's PNG coffees from the same central highlands region in 2019, but it was wildly different *and to my liking*- as its heritage was from the Blue Mountain coffee bean cultivar from Jamaica. 

I've found a few rare, Fair Trade coffees from a group called Trade Aid. They're based in NZ. They have an admirable ethos and corporate doctrine. Anyhow, they had something called CONGO. It's a coffee of various beans in the Arabica family, mostly the bourbon varietal. It's produced by a co-operative organisation named Sopacdi. More here, if interested. Someone else on the planet sells this coffee as the cultivation area of the collective is absolutely massive

The tasting notes list: blackcurrant, tobacco, cocoa. I really enjoyed this coffee. Its tobacco aspects gently reminded me of the smell of cured tobacco in aroma when filter-brewed, and the mouthfeels recall how bright chewing tobacco can feel in the mouth at first flush of saliva when the quid is in the mouth for the first few minutes. I suppose placing a cigar in the mouth is also similar as a point of reference. Not that most reading this would have had such an experience and want to be reminded of it when drinking coffee. 

It's worth seeking out as strong coffee at a medium roast.

Muriama Estate - Single Origin Coffee 

Beans are of the SL28 and Ruiru 11 varieties. Do I know what that means? No. Am I parroting marketing facts to appear more learned and cultured than I am? Most probably.

This coffee has a wonderful body in its cup. Voluptuous, maybe. Sturdy and forthright? You betcha. Worth a go if you can get it. I don't see any sellers of this estate's coffee in North America or Europe (and, oh, alright, the UK - feckers). Interestingly, I'd like to enjoin those curious to try a Kenyan coffee, because much like Janis Joplin once sang, "Get It While You Can". Kenyan coffee will persist but might not have the touchy-feely provenance it's cultivated over the past 60 years.

I got a coffee club subscription for Christmas, and I haven't been able to open my first bag yet because I had just opened another bag from the grocery store when it arrived! But my first bag is from Ecuador and I'm excited to try it.

PNG Single Origin - Chimbu Province - Siane Organic Agriculture Co-Operative

Consisting of Blue Mountain, Arusha, and Typica varietals, the branding of this coffee states its flavour profile of chocolate and prunes. Pleasantly, both of those criteria were met. This smells to be a dark roast with some strong acidic notes after grinding. The taste at first sip goes to those dark roast twinges on the palate before migrating through the tawnier aspects of a prune, then heading into a chocolate sensation that rests somewhere between the 55-70% cacao solids in a bar or slab. In other words,  dark chocolate but not bitter, mouth-drying chocolate flavours.

Consumed as a coconut sugar and half-and-half cuppa. In the coming days, I will further the experience by having a sip of it alone in a cup before adding the sweet and creamy.

Kintamani - Bali - Karana Coffee Growers

Another coffee grail known internationally for its unique flavour profile and geographical indicator protection status (no, I didn't either). I got this as a medium roast where the dried strawberry/watermelon buoyancy tethered to the high acid piquancy of pineapple and golden kiwifruit is the front-loaded palate wash before a regular coffee nuttiness satiation flows down the throat.  Very much worth the while if you want to splurge on something for yourself.