Wednesday, June 14, 2006


the groundwork costa rica granadillo

ok, as promised yesterday, i leapt outta bed this morning, fired up the chemex, and brewed ric rhinehart's groundwork costa rica shb "granadillo."

i don't have an exact roast date, but i think this coffee is now 8 days old. i would describe the roast level as vienna-, since the occasional bean shows small patches of oil; ric didn't send me an agtron number, sorry.

i ground these beans at setting 11 out of 15 on my saeco 2002, using 1.75 oz fresh ground coffee to 30 oz. water. the water temperature measured out at 198 degrees f.; while total brew time in the chemex was 4 min. 25 secs.

got your scaa flavor wheel handy? ok, here we go!

this full coffee offers a classic costa rica bright, nippy taste. the dry grounds were nicely floral, in a tea-rose kinda way, beautiful scent.

as the water cascaded over the grounds in the chemex, the coffee bloomed in a rushing tide and released pleasant malty, toasty aromas into the air. the granadillo seemed primarily caramelly to me, towards the maple syrup on the wheel.

and the aftertaste followed up with a heavy vanilla-like syrup character -- think this is an example of "butter," but i'd like to talk to ric about that some more -- one that also left the back of the mouth slightly dry and powdery, with an almost nutmeg-like spice feeling.

in short, it's a nicer-than-usual costa rica, made notable by its clean and balanced character. sometimes i think i don't go out of my way here to appreciate balance enough.

ken davids describes balance as "tasting term applied to coffees for which no single characteristic overwhelms others, but that display sufficient complexity to be interesting," which likewise doesn't really give the full sense of how pleasing good balance can be.

balance is really a lyrical quality, you know? it's what makes the coffee feel like music when you drink it; it's what takes these disparate feelings i mention and knits them together in a flow, i think.

the chemex gave the coffee a medium body, maybe even a bit silky. it's a delightful coffee, and i loved it for breakfast.

with a splash of light cream and simple, unflavored splenda syrup, it was a graceful morning cup.

Tags: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

posted by fortune | 8:02 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments