Tuesday, April 12, 2005


ravishing indigo

long-time readers may recall that i went into various kinds of blonde raptures over terry's doma espresso, the ruby blue with harrar. that's a fantastic coffee.

so how do i convey to you my feelings about chris' stumptown blue harrar? how about: i wish my heart could pump this majesty?

how to describe the incredible ravishing cool indigo blue-ness of this blueberry harrar? how about: this coffee is bluer than the water around i faraliogni in capri?

or: this coffee is bluer than tobey macguire's eyes?

you might say this coffee's got me a little carried away. it's just that this harrar actually surpasses the hype.

let's calm down and take a look at the scaa flavor wheel. . .

stumptown's 2005 ethiopia mao horse harrar, as stated yesterday, appears to be a full-city-minus roast, without a speck of oil. since i didn't have time to cup this 5-day-old coffee formally this morning, i decided just to make it up in my vac pot at the usual 55g coffee to 1 liter water.

the dry grounds of the stumptown harrar were richly floral, perfumy, like pink day lilies.

i was sure that at 5 days old, there wouldn't be any problems with excess bloom. hah!

if i hadn't been watching it carefully, the bloom -- even over the lowest heat my gas stove supports -- woulda put coffee on the ceiling! i had to hold the lid down with my hand!

which is a way of saying this is some very fresh coffee. as the bloom came curling over the lip of the pot, already the brew broadcast its pronounced blueberry scent.

the vac pot tends to highlight the subtle nuances of coffees, but does sometimes attenuate their body. despite this effect, the coffee possessed a fine medium body/mouthfeel.

as i sipped the first drops of the stumptown harrar, it was just blue, blue, blue. as the coffee cooled a bit, another fruit came to the fore: yes, this coffee offers a surprising passion fruit feeling!

chris called this just "tropical fruit," but no way -- it was pure passion fruit to my little bejeweled nose. lemme also toss in some caramel and a dutch cocoa-y aftertaste.

when hot, as chris promised, it's a sweet coffee, but as it cools, a light winey-ness appeared.

with a little light cream and raw sugar, i thought the caramel and chocolate feelings were enhanced -- you lost the passion fruit, but above it all drifted that magnificent sparkling blue.

this coffee is eff-ing ravishing. buy it now and bathe in it.

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