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

Forty Ninth Parallel - Colombia El Descanso - Inverted Aeropress

We have tried a few Forty Ninth Parallel coffees over time, but I believe this is the first one we have posted online. They roast near Vancouver, BC, and we have found them to have consistently good coffee. Now, we are rating the Colombia El Descanso that they offer, and I will be first to note that my preference for Colombian coffee here has no negative vibes against my World Cup favorite, Brasil this year (GO BRASIL!). However, here we go.

Upon grinding and starting up the inverted aeropress, there was a formidable amount of bloom, indicating the freshness. (We got it five days after roasting). The beans were roasted on the medium - light side, with tasting notes on the bag as follows: "Madagascar vanilla and stewed plum aromatics. Velvety texture, wild strawberries and plum up front, with a clean dynamic finish."

I would concur with some of the notes, but I thought this was an interesting blend of smoke to subtleties, a more earthy ending than one would expect by the color of the roast. But this being said, that's not a bad thing! My notes here: Immediately, smell of vanilla, tasting fades past the floral into a fruity tone, finished by a little bit of smokey s'mores tones. Very complex stuff, goes right along with what  we would suspect from this roaster.

Jay's Rating: 9
Brent's Rating: 9.5

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

New Week, New Klatch Coffee - Colombia Duvier Rivera Micro-Lot, Inverted Aeropress prep

This week finds me diving into the second bag from Klatch, the Duvier Rivera Micro-Lot.  Wow - another excellent Colombian from Klatch coffee!  Dare I say this one is even better than the La Esperanza, its flavor is more robust, richer and all-around extremely satisfying.  The flavor profile is similar to the La Esperanza in that I get a chocolate finish, however the initial kick is less juicy and citrusy - super smooth and rich on the first sip.   I am getting pretty good at this inverted aeropress style, I'm finding it to produce the best results. One tweak is to reduce the brew time down to about 60-70 seconds from the 2 minutes I had initially tried. This tip came from the Aeropress inventor himself, Alan Adler, in an interview I read on the Sprudge website.  He mentions there a shorter wet time for the coffee produced a sweeter cup on the aeropress.
Highly recommend Klatch, and their fine Colombians!

Brent's rating: 9 (A High 9 at that)