Friday, August 11, 2006


andrew b's ecco colombia la virginia c.o.e.

from yesterday. . .got your scaa flavor wheels handy?

andrew roast-dated this ecco coffee the 3rd, but of course i was away a few days, meaning when i drank it this morning it was 8 days old already. despite this when i brewed it this morning in the cafetiére it bubbled and hissed like a geyser as it bloomed.

of course it is andrew's usual roast level, full city+/vienna-, with only pinpricks of oil. in the bag, the beans had a strongly nutty, almost cashew, scent.

the fresh dry grounds were nicely floral and somewhat sweetly spicy as i spooned 'em into the press. as the water hit and the grounds burbled like volcanic mud, that nutty quality re-emerged.

the first sip of this beautiful colombia c.o.e. bean asserted a forthright citrus-lime aroma, which melted in the aftertaste to a wonderful milk chocolate. (long-time readers note that almost all of andrew's coffees emphasize some chocolate in their bouquet somewhere, somehow. . .it's a hallmark of his roasting and buying choices.)

as the coffee cooled, its tart crispness only became more clear. the press gave this coffee a medium body, altho' i wouldn't go so far as to agree with the pro cupper who called it chewy.

in fact, i think the coffee's more elegant than chewy implies. la virginia's not the marvel of balance or incredible fragrance that batdorf's los lirios was, but i do think i like it better than any of the colombian c.o.e.s i cupped with mary pettit at juan valdez.

this coffee shared some of that nice spice feeling i recall from kevin c's gimme el naranjal, actually. . .but that was a darker roast, so the spice there seemed to become more, hmm, clove-y, maybe?

all yummy, that's my considered conclusion.

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posted by fortune | 7:56 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments