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

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

PT's Coffee, Sihereni, Papua New Guinea - Inverted Aeropress

My amazing wife decided to make me a special Father's Day breakfast, and went all out, heading to the good ol' Tougo. She spotted a bag of the Sihereni, Papua New Guinea by PT's Coffee Co, and upon verifying its quality with the proprietor, promptly brought it back home. I prepared it initially on the French Press, which shocked me due to the lightness, crispness and acidity that it had for this region (normally it's charred up, earthy-smokey-herby monolith for my taste). So, I could only hope that the Aeropress would bring out further subtleties. This morning, we had that chance.

The foam on this was probably about a 1/2 inch thick, although I couldn't find a roast date on the bag for the life of me. But oh yes, it is fresh.

The black tea notes were forefront, followed by some fruit (you could call it peach, or cantaloupe), and the flavor rapidly evolved as the coffee cooled. This stuff definitely redeems any shortcomings within the Fazenda Rainha from Brazil which we weren't too keen on. Note to self: my wife has excellent taste in coffee.

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

Colombia v. Guatemala, or Sight Glass v. Kuma, Inverted Aeropress

Preparation for the World Cup? We wish Guatemala would be in this time around. So, let's just call it the spirit of the game. Today, we try the San Francisco based Sight Glass to our classic Kuma in Seattle. As these are both Latin American Coffees, we are probably going to get a close flavor profile, and the roasts don't look too different. I will say I found two quaker beans in the Kuma, but plucked them to not spoil the treat (shoutout to Brendon who introduced me to the concept and term).

The crema looks pretty close:
here is Kuma:

here's the Sight Glass:

Tasting notes: the Sight Glass El Meridiano, Tolima from Colombia came off slightly less fruity, but a lighter body, with elements of spices such as nutmeg . The Kuma Guatemala Hunapu came off much more cherry-like tone, with a crisp bite of tang. I think both Brent and I are feeling more into the subtleties within the Sight Glass, whereas the Guatamala's boldness would be best for those who like hibiscus tea, or something citric as such. 

Notes: 

Sight Glass El Meridiano, Tolima

Brent's Rating : 8

Jay's Rating:8

Kuma Guatemala Hunapu

Brent's Rating : 8

Jay's Rating: 7

Current Ranking: TBD

PT's Coffee, Fazenda Rainha, Brazil - Inverted Aeropress

After a slightly disappointing first round of the Fazenda Rainha, we tried an inverted Aeropress method which yielded much more interesting results. This time, I got some nuances akin to the notes on the bag which discuss fruit tones, like dates and raisins.

Verdict:
Me: 7
Brent: 8

I'm curious now: does the Aeropress smooth out darker roasts better than lighter ones?

PT's Coffee, Fazenda Rainha, Brazil - Clever Coffee Dripper

Upon my return from Brazil, I'm figuring that I'd start out our work week with some Brazilian Coffee. Tougo has been carrying PT's Coffee from Kansas City (yes, I know we have a surprising amount of midwest roasters), so I figured I'd give it a try. The barista at Tougo, when I asked about this PT's Coffee Fazenda Rainha (Queen Plantation) had noted the roast was a bit dark but it was good.

Arriving at work, my coworker had left me some water from the well on her property, which tastes great! As coffee is mostly water, it does matter what you use, so I am very curious of this impact on our coffee.

 We tried this on the Clever, which I don't think provided much subtlety. As the coffee cooled, I got a citrus like tang in the aroma and it proceeded to get sweeter, from the initial bold, smokey notes.

My ranking: 6-7

Brent's ranking: 7

Ritual Coffee, Organic Quilanga, Ecuador - Clever preparation

Again, we perused the Tougo Coffee Co for their offerings and stumbled across a Ritual Coffee Co, from San Francisco, the Organic Quilanga, from Quilanga, Loja, Ecuador. This one caught my eye due to the flavor notes of "Dried Mango, Limeade and Cola." My father was thirsty, so I ordered the only Ritual on a pour-over that Tougo had, the El Manzano Bourbon, which was spectacularly subtle and fruity. Even my father had it without cream or sugar, his normal vices. 

We prepared the Quilanga on the Clever for our first trial this morning, but I unfortunately ground it too fine. This being said, it ended up unsubtle, but sweet. I fear my misstep on the grind may be the culprit of the said blandness, so we'll have to try this on aeropress shortly (heck, it is Monday anyhow).

Brent's Rating : 8 (he said high 8, but we are not rounding up here)

Jay's Rating: 7

Current Ranking: 26th of 53 Coffees Scored since October 2013

PassionHouse Guatemala La Bolsa Mirador - Clever preparation

No, this isn't a repost! We decided to see if the PassionHouse Guatemala La Bolsa Mirador had more subtlety on the Clever coffee dripper. We steeped it for three minutes, and used a courser grind. Compared to this morning's aero press, this had more crisp acidity and juiciness, lighter and a little less chocolately. 

We had different ideas on which preparation mode was better; I figured that the lighter  clever version was better, Brent preferred the aero press. No change in rating.

Brent's Rating : 8

Jay's Rating: 8

Current Ranking: 25th of 52 Coffees Scored since October 2013

Afternoon's Brew - PassionHouse Guatemala La Bolsa Mirador

Another mid-western roasted coffee, from Chicago from PassionHouse. This one was procured from the Tougo Coffee Co., which are a great source, with shifting micro-roasts.

PassionHouse Guatemala La Bolsa Mirador.  Preparation method was Aeropress.
Not brassy, like the band, rather smooth and sweet. Notes infer that we should taste some cherry, which was observed to be almost floral.

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

Current Ranking: 25th of 52 Coffees Scored since October 2013