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Saturday, August 12, 2006

fab new bag, same great blend

batdorf's dancing goat blend coffee fun light jade bag (the color of green coffee, get it?) and cool art deco type.

having the goats drawn in that 20s style, with its nod to ancient greek amphorae, and tipped with fancy metallic silver ink for the hooves was a super-nice touch, too.

needless to say, the coffee's still fantastic. same thick crema, wonderful walnut-ty and harrar thing going on! great way to show people the sweet side of espresso.

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.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

whoa! coffee torrent!

and i returned to nyc to find a wonderful lot of coffee waiting for me:

peter g's counterculture organic fair-trade nicaragua matagalpa from the estate of hamilton rivera
jessica's ever-wonderful batdorf dancing goat
andrew b's ecco:
- c.o.e. colombia 2006 #3, la virginia from olga lara
- brazil cerrado, quality competition, #1, the fazenda cruz branca by carlo diamante, which has a certain chocolate reputation

thanks to you all!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

return to new york

but before i did, my husband insisted we hit a very fine argentinian bakery, buenos aires bakery. let me highly recommend their raisin bread pudding (boudin de pan) with dulche de leche, their tortilla de papa (thick omelet with potatoes and onions), and their empanadas.

especially the spinach empanada. yummy.

some empanadas are too greasy, heavy, or with tough, thick crusts. not these.

flaky, delicate, and fresh-tasting, i loved 'em. another excellent point is of course that they have a location here in nyc, altho' alas it is quite far from my house in boo-di-fal bklyn.

in the interests of a truly fair review however, i will say that their dulche de leche mille feuille wasn't successful. the pastry layers were a tad too hard and dry.

my husband also praises their tarta espinaca, a spinach pie with onion and hard fried eggs. the baguette was light with fair-sized holes, altho' i don't think the bread is really notable here.

and of course i'm not going to be able to comment on the coffee, but that's a freshness issue -- few of the latin bakeries serve fresh-roasted coffee and i've seen one serve specialty-grade beans -- as well as a roast-level thing, you know?

long-time readers know that i'm not generally a big fan of ultra-dark roasted coffee, even tho' i understand objectively that such is the latin style.

anyway, since jet blue doesn't serve lunch, loading up on the argentinian delicacies certainly made the flight much more fun. if you, dear readers, happen to be wandering the upper reaches of collins ave., check it out!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

return to miami

wow! torrential rain! thank goodness mr. right is an excellent driver!

there are many fine things about going off-line on occasion: spending time underwater with the fish, watching graceful sailboats on the bay, wandering quaint streets eating gelato and key lime pie, smelling the perfume of orchids, paddling about in the waves at the national park, and drifting thru art museums.

now back to miami beach proper with only a slight sunburn to show for it all! more later. . .

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