Friday, October 06, 2006


just beautiful

that's my 2-word feeling about jessica's batdorf colombian c.o.e. el lechal from yesterday. it's another one of these beautiful coffees that changes your idea of what colombians can be.

to my mind, it's not on the level of the los lirios -- what could be? -- but it is a decidely lovely and superior colombian, well worth trying.

got your scaa flavor wheel handy? why not?

this now 3-day-old coffee looks like full-city to me -- the rare bean shows the slightest streak of oil. opening the bag causes the beans to waft out an enchanting aroma of vanilla and sweet nuts, think maybe brazil nuts.

the dry grounds are strongly floral. as the water hits the coffee in the chemex and it blooms, the aroma's toasty!

the nose is strongly mexican vanilla, if you ask me. scott describes the aftertaste as nutmeg-y, and i can see that, we could quibble between just-grated nutmeg or fresh-ground allspice, some intense wood-y spice.

the coffee's nicely balanced, but not in a boring way, and in the chemex at oren's proportion offered a medium body.

the taste is in fact perfectly sparkling, as predicted, and in the cup this morning i thought i found a touch of white grapefruit (see the sparkling below). this may be the best sensation in the coffee: that dancing brightness, like fresh-squeezed citrus juice at the tongue-tip.

in short, it's just a super example of colombian, still neatly in the colombian categories, but definitely a step beyond "what you expect" from a colombian. recommended for those who love variations on the colombian theme or for those who are interested in introducing themselves to better colombians and want to see the range.

stop the presses: and what just now arrives? peter g's counterculture kenya aa gaaki central, roast-dated oct. 3rd. if i'm thinking about the batdorf above as a champagne cocktail (i think the one with champagne, a dark brown sugar cube and grapefruit juice is called a jazzmatazz), peter's telling me this kenyan's a kir royale.

now, does anyone really wonder why i think coffee's heaven?

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posted by fortune | 8:04 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments