Daniel's World of Coffee

I Should Have Been a Funk Singer (Coffee of the Week)

Here's part two of my visit to the CEL. And yes, I sing on this video, inspired by coffee. If you can't understand my hyper-excited babbling at the end, I'm saying, "Thanks Intelligentsia... Thanks Geoff Watts... Thanks Kenyan Coffee Producers!"

This is my coffee of the week, incidentally. Hands down.

Part one of my visit to the CEL here.

If you don't know what the heck I was singing about during the making of the Chemex, Stephen Morrissey's cool Chemex video here.

Not the same Gichathaini Kenya, but another fresh Kenya from Intelligentsia here.

Scott Rao's book here.

Don't forget to drink lots of coffee before you go out tonight, and Happy New Year everybody!

Nib Virgins and Enhancements

You have to see this place. It's lined wall to wall with coffee equipment and knowledge. Plus they let you just pick stuff off the tables and pop it in your mouth. You know... if you're into that kind of thing.

Yes, I Use Performance Enhancers

Heading down to the Coffee Enhancement Lounge this morning for coffee and general goofiness. Taking my camera and I fully plan on sticking it in people's faces. Expect video in the pm.

Love = Coffee People

Totally random post.

I had an exchange with a friend over on Coffee Geek (and if you don't know Coffee Geek, really, what kind of coffee geek are you?) that made me smile. He was checking out coffee in Hackettstown, New Jersey, but then had to adjust everything really fast because of a change of travel plans. I'll let his words tell the rest:

Daniel: Agreed. Especially for a newb like me. Something cool: I decided to order from Clive Coffee because I wont be going to Hackettstown to Greene Brothers for New Years as I thought (hopefully soon though, and I'll let you know how it is). But apparently the owner of Clive Coffee had spotted one of my posts about his company and offered to send me some free samples. Then he noticed I had ordered a couple bags only 30 mins before, so he is giving me one bag on the house and free shipping! I thought that was really cool of him, and thought I'd share. Happy New Year.

I know it's possible to write this off as plain old good business sense (which it certainly is). But it's also just nice. In my experience this is the rule rather than the exception in the coffee world, and that makes me happy to do the work I do. Question: is there something about coffee that attracts cool people? Or is there some chemical in coffee that makes you totally awesome by drinking it? My theory is a little from column A, a little from column B. Anyway... check out Clive Coffee if you're curious. They certainly seem like nice people. And thanks to my new Coffee Geek/Facebook friend.

(Don't go begging them for free coffee now, everybody)

No Pacamara, No Cry

I went on and on about pacamara coffee yesterday, and included some links to places you can buy some. One of those places was Plowshares Coffee in New York State.

A good buddy of Coffee Scholars, coffee expert-roaster and all-around good person Anthony Kurutz, founder of Plowshares, dropped me the following notice on Twitter:

Plowshares_@CoffeeScholar I sold out of Pacamara for the year just before you posted this! Thanks for the shoutout anyway. btw it was delish.

I can vouch for the delish-ness. I had some of this coffee back in — July, I think? — and it was a classic pacamara, and expertly-roasted. Anyway, if you are looking for pacamaras, don't go to Plowshares.

But, ironically, that's a good sign that if you are looking for good coffee, you should go to Plowshares. Anybody who has perfect coffee from every world origin in stock at all times of the year is either lying to you or clairvoyant. Either they are selling you old-crop coffee, or they somehow, magically, sold out of the last bean of one year's coffee on the same day they received their shipment of the next year's coffee.

I'm sure Anthony doesn't enjoy running out of a great coffee like his pacamara. But the very fact he did is a good sign that you should feel good about buying whatever else he has on the shelf. And try the pacamara next year! They usually hit the shores of North America right around June 1st.

For more way-too-in-depth coffee talk, follow me on Twitter, or be my friend on Facebook.

Awwww... a Paper Cup?

When is a coffee almost perfect? When it's a beautiful, world-class macchiato served in a paper cup.

Lovely lovelies: Espresso Vivace

What the heck is Monsooned Malabar.

The importance of the good macchiato.

All I have to say, my friends, is that Coffee should taste good.

Understand Coffee Varieties: Pacamara

What's in a varietal? Everything! The kind of coffee plant determines how your coffee tastes. In this video I explain all about one of my favorite coffee varietals: the exotic and delicious Pacamara.

Try Pacamara coffee from PT's Coffee, "Finca Los Planes."

Try Pacamara coffee from Dancing Goats, the "Siberia Pacamara."

Try Pacamara coffee from Barefoot Coffee, "Tablon 12."

Try Pacamara coffee from Plowshares Coffee, "Las Delicias."

Follow Me on Twitter

I usually have three coffees in a day — sometimes many more — but I only get to blog once a day at the most. If you're on Twitter, follow me here, and we can trade coffee info and insights.

While I'm dropping links, if you're on Facebook and you are a fan of this blog, pop on over and I'll friend you.

Merry Roastmas

Nothing says happiness in the holiday season like a great cup of coffee. I made this video right after rolling out of bed on Christmas morning... all y'all who make fun of me for wearing a suit and tie to the coffee conventions, here you can see me all bleary-eyed wearing my zipper-hoodie and Seahawks shirt. That's organic Daniel there.

In this video I took some medium-high grown Bourbon coffee from El Salvador and roasted it just past second crack. I'm serving it to a big crowd of people (sisters and parents and various suitors of said sisters, natch), so I chose a medium roast for this coffee. It's a versatile bean and could go darker or lighter, but in my experience this style of bean at this level of roast is a real crowd pleaser.

I just had a cup of it while I was waiting for the video to upload, and it's really sweet and chocolatey. Remember... theory is great, but in the end, coffee should taste good!

Happy holidays to everyone. I hope your day is merry and bright.

How Define Winter Coffee?

Today I was a little fed up with some sub-par cups of coffee I had in my immediate area over the last few days (cafés and coffees that will remain nameless), so I decided to cut out the middleman and just roast up something from the stores of marvelous green coffees I have tucked away from travels over the last year.

I picked a classic, strictly-high-grown Bourbon from El Salvador and roasted it a couple minutes past first crack on my Gene Café home roaster. This is pretty standard operation for me; I like that style of coffee a great deal.

As soon as I had it cooled down I went ahead and ground some up and made a chemex. It was quite lovely. Rain was beating on the window as dark clouds swept over the hills of Seattle at this darkest time of the year. As I tasted the bright-n-snappy, yet sweet-n-chocolatey character of the coffee, I remarked to my companion "Now this is great wintertime coffee."

But now that I reflect on that for a moment I wonder, just what does that mean? At the time I meant that liveliness of the coffee was invigorating to me on such a gloomy winter day. But there seems to be a great deal of difference of opinion out there about what constitutes "wintery" or "holiday-time" when it comes to specialty beverages.

Let's take three quick examples of "holiday blends" that I have had recently. Descriptions from the companies:

The Celebration Blend from Intelligentsia (a beautiful coffee, if you ask me). Intelly writes

The first thing to surface is a candied orange peel acidity, almost that of a sweet marmalade. Notes of cassis and juniper berry give dimension while the mouthfeel maintains a clean yet rounded cup. Toasted hazelnuts and anisette yield a pleasing aftertaste with hints of baking spice to ring in the season.

The Holiday Blend from Jim's Organic Coffee:

Three rare coffees; Tanzanian Mbeya, Brazil Poco Fundo, and Celebes Toraja White Eagle make up this year’s Holiday Blend. These coffees; roasted to a full city (medium heavy) roast, combine to yield a festive dark berry character; perfect to enjoy the spirit of the season.

And the Holiday Blend from Zoka Coffee:

This year at Zoka we have come upon many great Single Origin coffees. Our 2009 Holiday Blend is comprised of our roasters' favorite 4 coffees from 3 continents, highlighting their individual strengths while almost simultaneously making each other better. With almond in the aroma, this Holiday Blend presents flavors that remind us of our childhood. Graham crackers, cranberry sauce, and fig cookies throughout the cup warm you from the inside out.

Intelligentsia and Zoka both mention baking, evoking spiced cookies and things of that nature. Jim's and Zoka mention berries. It seems to me that these descriptions are trying to make the coffee sounds like a mug of spiced cider or other warm winter treat. This seems reasonable. I would characterize all three descriptions as generally accurate, though the Intelligentsia one is more spot-on in my experience.

Who wouldn't want a coffee that tastes like these? I like them too.

The funny thing is, though, that in winter time I actually crave more fruity, snappy, acidic coffees. If I'm having a big piece of buttery pound cake on Christmas morning, the last kind of coffee I want to have it with is coffee that tastes like more baked goods (well, ok, not the last kind of coffee, but you get my point). I like something to create a contrast. It's the same reason I'm most likely to enjoy a rich, mellow Brazilian when I can have it with something bright and snappy to eat, like fresh strawberries.

But that's just me. What do you think of when you think of "winter coffee?"