Sunday, November 20, 2005


norman's mix of coe2

i first met norman vazquez at an nyc coffee meetup. now, like half of the people i know, he's gone pro.

and he was kind enough to send some, as he says, beanz. (let me also say that besides being a super-nice guy, norman has a beautiful italic hand, which is admirable.) alas, since i've been blessed with so much coffee recently, it took me a bit to get to his c.o.e. blend.

yuppers, you've read that correctly. norman has taken beanz from 2 separate c.o.e. farms -- both colombian. he's put prize-winners together from the aura silva and carlos otera estates, which include a mix of coffee varietals.

so he's roasting colombia, caturra, and typica in this blend. the beans he sent were roast dated the 12th, which means they're now 8 days old.

looking at these beanz, i'd say they were a vienna+ roast -- with a nice sheen all over and some beanz showing heavier spots of oil. got your scaa flavor wheel?

the fresh dry grounds are sweetly floral. the coffee offers a full bouquet, no doubt. because i had the chemex out, i went ahead and brewed it up in that pot.

norman didn't offer any particular brewing hints, so i just used oren's 1.85 oz/ 53 g coffee to 26 fl. oz/ 769 ml water. total brew time: 4 mins, 35 secs.

i found this coffee to be a classic colombian situation -- crisp, clean, balanced; with a pure sweet taste and medium body. the darker roast level gave the coffee a black currant stem-type aftertaste, since his roast's dark enough to go into the "dry distillation" territory.

it's the colombian coffee you've always wanted, the way you know it could be, if you follow me. a fine example of the colombian category at a slightly but not excessive dark roast.

this would probably make an interesting single-origin espresso if pulled at 3 days old too. in fact, i think this blend would be fantastic for an upscale, specialty version of the classic cuban coffee.

i just loved it when i drank it with a generous amount of whole milk and more -- much more! -- than a pinch of raw sugar. ah! café con leche.

everyone agrees that's yummy, yummy stuff. it gives "crying uncle" a whole new meaning.

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