Conduit Coffee Company - Tabletop Yirgacheffe Ethiopia - Inverted Aeropress and Clever

Brent had heard of Conduit, a small roasting company here in Seattle, and heard about the potential to visit for an open house. We finally had the opportunity this week, and were greeted by Alex and  David, who escorted us through a few of their coffees, after showing off their incredibly fancy, expensive and super accurate new grinder. These guys know their stuff, and directed us to their Ethiopia Guji and Guatemala on a quickly pulled espresso shot. The Guji was amazingly tart, citric and full of a spectrum of flavor, something you wouldn't expect from espresso, and probably will be the most unique espresso I've ever tasted. It almost had tones of a sour beer.

Presently, Jesse, the owner, dropped by and we were treated to a tour of the roasting machine,  discussions on roasting methodology, which blended to a broad discussion of business models,  philosophy, all around some exceptional coffee. I took up Alex and David's opinion to try the  Tabletop Yirgacheffe Ethiopia, which they held to be the best that they had, and we waited patiently for the following day (as it had been roasted the day prior, and they suggested we wait til 2 days after the roasting).

Inverted Aeropress

As suggested by David, had ground the coffee coarser than we normally do, stuck to a 30 second brew time, half of what we normally have. Obviously, the bloom was HUGE.

Jay's notes:  Really bright notes, with a tangy cherry, vanilla, rounded out with a touch of earth and roast. Really light bodied, juicy coffee. The floral and fruit comes to the forefront as the coffee cools slightly.

Brent's notes: Really, really nice.  So smooth.  Got a nice juicy-ness, the dark cherry with a little cocoa tone.  This is the way African coffee should always be.  Gets better as it cools.


Jay's rating: 9
Brent's rating: 9.5

Clever Coffee Dripper

Jay's notes: Sweeter, fruit tones; however less contrast. Perhaps from our disuse recently of this method. Ground coarser, and had a 3 minute exposure.
Brent's notes: Didn't like this as much as the aeropress, still good but a tad harsher.  On the clever I'd give it a high 8 or low 9- still quality but the aeropress really makes this shine.

Ritual - La Folie, Antigua, Guatemala - Inverted Aeropress

Well. We blew through multiple coffees last week, and once again, I found my way to Tougo, to seek a new coffee for the upcoming week. There, they had their normal stock of Kuma, Velton's, and had some Ritual back in stock. I took the leap for the Ritual La Folie, Antigua, Guatemala, as we had an exceptional experience with their Ecuador Quilanga back in April (ahhh, how has the year ticked away so quickly?). Outside of Tougo's recommendation towards the Guatemala from Ritual, I liked the sound of Green Apple candy, and the curious name of "La Folie" grown by "The Penny Sisters." French name of coffee, and English name of growers in Guatemala. Curious. 

Soft clean nose, and a mild bloom, as this was roasted 10 days ago.

Really crisp, citrus notes up front, which drop back to reveal a touch of roast, chocolate, and almond tones, with some floral notes. Nice nuances.

Jay's rating: 8
Brent's rating: 8.5

Counter Culture - Guatemala Concepción Huista - Inverted Aeropress

Brent had heard of the distinction of Counter Culture out in Durham, NC as one of the best roasters in the US. So, he took the liberty of ordering some for us to try. Guatemala Concepción Huista was one of the two that he ordered. Perusing their website, it looks like they pride themselves on direct trade coffees, and also work with training and professional development in the coffee biz.

The unground beans smell quite sweet, with a bit of roast to them.

Very healthy bloom, considering that it was roasted 12 days prior.

Cherry - currant notes, with a touch of smoke. Tasting notes to be some caramel tones, however I didn't get it, outside of the fruit. Verdict: enjoyable, but the fruit forwardness and sweetness overcame the other flavors for me. A good Guatemalan, but I'd take today's Ritual over this one.

Jay's rating: 7
Brent's rating: 8

Timbertrain Coffee Roasters - Guatemala, Antigua Juaja - Inverted Aeropress

Brent was doing some research to find some new roasting companies in the area, and somehow stumbled across Timbertrain Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, Canada. Speaking with the Jeff Shin, one of the owners, we learned that their master coffee roaster came to them via 49th Parallel, a company that we deeply admire and indeed have sampled some of their coffees in the past. They kindly sent us some of their coffee to sample. The first one we got to was the Antigua Juaja.

Immediate nose is lightly roasted walnut, with some cocoa.

Tasting notes: On first taste, without waiting. Reminds me of a sandalwood, with dark chocolate, with both a nutty and crisp finish. Upon cooling, plum comes forth in the mix.

Jay's rating: 9
Brent's rating: 9

Timbertrain Coffee Roasters - Panama - Ojo de Agua Natural - Inverted Aeropress

The second coffee we were sent from Timbertrain was a Panama. I don't see much Panamanian coffee on the market, so I was curious on how this would taste. Breaking from the often profile of Central American coffee, this was natural processed, thus yielding an immediately fruity nose from the get go. Interesting choice for the roaster, as many African coffees have this processing and typically have these fruit notes, but we have had very few Central American coffee made in this manner.

Tasting notes: Immediately, a zippy currant taste, rounding out on the end, smoother than their Guatemalan coffee. Per Brent, this is the best natural processed coffee he has ever had. I tried this on the French press at home an got similarly glowing reviews from my wife and mother in law.

These Timbertrain folks have got some heavyweight chops for such a new roasting company, and we will make sure we order some more of their coffee soon!  

Jay's rating: 9.5
Brent's rating: 9.5

Velton's - Mexico Chiapas Grapos - Inverted Aeropress

I procured another coffee from our standard Tougo Coffee, where apparently there were two Guatemalan coffees from Kuma Coffee and a Mexican from Veltons. I had to go with the Velton's Mexico Chiapas Grapos, as we tend to pick up Kuma Coffees recently. Additionally, the lore and history of the Chiapas region in Mexico, heavily indigenous, with some challenges to the Mexican government via the Zapatista rebels, was a factor in my decision. Now, it is worth the point that we had spoken to folks at Slate Coffee, who had spoken highly of Velton's, that reassure our choice of this roaster as a great consistent choice.

Nice medium roast of coffee, looks very consistent.

Bloomed well, at one week after roasting.

Tasting notes: opens with a bright berry / nutty tone, which finishes out as a non-sweetened caramel/chocolate flavor. This is a very "clean" tasting coffee, not to heavily smokey.

Jay's rating: 8
Brent's rating: 8

Spotted Cow Gelato and Espresso - Huila, Colombia -Inverted Aeropress

Brent had been raving about the Spotted Cow Gelato and Espresso for a bit prior, which intrigued me after my visit to Hawai'i and the surprising quality of the coffee from a gelato place there. So, he surprised me by bringing a bag roasted on the prior day, in a spectacularly unlabelled bag, as you can see below. This was from the Huila region in Colombia, a region which apparently wasn't traditionally known for coffee (as a colleague from Colombia tells me), but it seems to be getting increasingly more popular, as we have tried multiple coffees from there.

There is no substitute for fresh coffee, and you can see the massive bloom on this one, that let us know that we were in for a treat.

Crisp bite nice balance to the nutty, midlevel, rounding out in the end to a floral or fruity tone. For a gelato place, this is some pretty serious coffee.

Jay's Rating: 8
Brent's Rating: 8

Ono Gelato & Espresso Co. - Maui, Hawaii - 100% Maui Yellow Caturra -Inverted Aeropress

Stepping off the plane in Hawai'i, and driving into Lahaina, my wife and I walked into a small Gelato Shop, Ono Gelato, the first place we'd entered outside of where we were staying. On a whim, by the design and coffee type, I pulled the 100% Maui Yellow Caturra, after I was informed that this was a medium roast. Never you mind that there was no clue on the roast date.

Notes: Looks like quite a bit of quakers, and smells rather like peanut butter and nutty. Didn't have much bloom, so I would conclude that it had been a whole since it was roasted.

Taste: Shockingly, this brighter than I would have expected. Citrus zap to it, nutty, with a bit of smoke. I'd liken it closer to the tang of a black tea, and some notes of stone fruit.

Jay's rating: 8
Brent's rating: 8.5

Kuma Coffee - Santa Rita, Guatemala - Inverted Aeropress

Brent procured the classic Kuma, going for the Guatamala, but in a different producer than the Hunapu which we have covered in past times. This is the Santa Rita. Brent warned me that he had stumbled across an imprecise, but amazing aeropress of this yesterday, and so we modified the method to wait 2 minutes rather than the 1 that we had stuck to recently with the inverted Aeropress. I'm crossing my fingers that this holds up similarly.

The bloom on this stuff knocked it out of the park on freshness, definitely does not disappoint.

Tasting notes: Nutty, bright, and chocolate. Delicate flavor, good for drinking in the heat. I think it is similarly light to the Ono from today.

Jay's rating: 8
Brent's rating: 8.5

Cafe Cafe - Maui, Hawaii - Whales Tales (50% Maui Mokka) - Inverted Aeropress

Found a little coffee shop, Cafe Cafe, in Lahaina in Maui, Hawaii, and after reading the descriptions of their coffees, was really looking forward to trying some local coffee. Even though they didn't have the 100% Maui Mokka on drip at the time, or means to make a pourover, they were awesome enough to grind me some and make me it. It was worth the wait, and the coffee was more interesting than I had suspected. So, needless to say, I was looking forward to taking a bag back, and our analysis for this blog (and for the caffeine buzz to drive us at work). Cafe Cafe prides itself on roasting 2x per week, so they assured me that they would be fresh, however, didn't have any 100% Maui Mokka bag, so I took the blend with me.





After these good first impressions, at work I opened the bag to see a markedly darker roast than I anticipated. But, I guess this is the mark of Hawaiian coffee, a slightly darker roast, according to Brent. The bloom was good, and definitely spoke to the freshness of the beans.

Smokey, chocolate tones, but a lack of subtleties. Gotta say that the overroasting bummed me out on this one, had higher expectations after my drip of this.

Jay's rating: 6
Brent's rating: 6.5