Saturday, May 13, 2006


so much to say today

so busy, so busy!

of course i've been remiss in discussing how kevin's wonderful gimme ethiopian fares in the chemex and in the cafetiére. you'd think from reading this that i had completely neglected peter g. (hi to you peter, are you still in nicaragua with oren?) and his counterculture rwanda.

also, the great syrup tasting is underway, as i put da vinci's white chocolate syrup head-to-head with routin's 1883 version of that flavor. not to mention discussing the other routin flavors i've been sampling: hazelnut, sugar-free chocolate, sugar-free vanilla.

when i have coffee parties the most requested drink is surely the white chocolate or vanilla latte. i will make these for guests, altho' i will politely hint that the right coffee needs no flavoring.

but! signature drinks do have a place in the coffee pantheon, as you can see from the originality pro baristis display in competition. of course, caffè del professore in naples -- a traditional temple of espresso -- has possibly the best flavored signature drink on the planet, which relies on hazelnut and chocolate.

so i'm not going to completely condemn the occasional, special use of flavors. they just shouldn't be habitual.

if you want some kind of berry-vanilla coffee concoction, my friend, you know from reading here that you can find a gorgeous, high-quality, single-origin varietal that offers such an experience to you naturally. and in a more intense, delicious and mind-blowing form that most syrups will ever give. . .

but let me catch up on the important business first. of course this morning i began the day with my usual delicious batdorf dancing goat cappucino.

but the last several days i've been tinkering with the best way to brew kevin's ethiopian longberry m.a.o. horse harrar. of course i've been pursuing the best way to get that tobey-maguire blue into the cup.

and after careful consideration and much grinding, i think pressing it makes the most of the blue and maximizes its heavy, velvety body. that vintage-port/spray-dried marsala aftertaste, that's its own thing. . .

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