Cupping of the new Rwanda, Columbia, and Costa Rica Coffees

Coffee professionals cup (taste) coffee in order to find out whether the new or old coffee is worth buying again or at all. We're looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly. When you cup coffee in the traditional way,   you taste the coffee in its completely naked state. Here's a video of what happens during a Chazzano Coffee Cupping Party.

We have three new coffees: Columbia Medellin Excelso, Rwanda FTO, and Costa Rica SHB
Here are my notes for each of the new coffees:

Columbia Medellin Excelso

I rarely buy Columbian coffees because although the name is synonymous with coffee growing, It's difficult to find quality coffees from Columbia. However, one of my coffee importers has high quality coffee and I decided to take a chance on the coffee. First, let's discuss the name. Medellin is the second largest city in Columbia with a great climate for coffee. Excelso is merely a designation for the screen size of the beans. I chuckle when I see Columbia Supremo that is old, stale, and badly roasted. I'm sure that many people read "Supremo" as the supreme and expect it to be supreme coffee. Supremo just means that the coffee beans are larger than most.

Here are the cupping notes:

This coffee is milky, smooth, with fruity papaya-like notes. The fragrance is sweet and flowery, but the aroma in winey and complex. Their is a buttery mouthfeel that arrives when the coffee has cooled down.
Fragrance (unbrewed coffee): 4
Aroma (brewed coffee): 3
Body/Mouthfeel: 5
Acidity (brightness-how it dances on your tongue): 4
Complexity: 3
Depth: 2
Sweetness: 5
Balance: 5

Total Score: 91

The smooth, milky, and buttery notes create a normal coffee tasting experience.
When the coffee cools down you'll experience scotch-like notes with a gritty mouthfeel.

Drinking for the Cycle notes: #FIVEPT
Great as a French Press and Iced.

A private cupping session

Rwanda FTO

We just finished 2 lots of the 2011 Rwanda Cup of Excellence coffees. This coffee is not a COE coffee, but it will make you smile. When you first sip the coffee, the flavor bypasses the front of your palate and it hits you on the back of your throat with luscious high quality cocoa notes. The fragrance is filled with fruit juice and vanilla and the aroma is winey and complex. There is tremendous brightness that mellow when it cools. There is a complexity to this coffee that I will not understand during the first cupping. This coffee will remind you of those high cacoa content bars of chocolate that force you to snap it next your ears and rub it with your thumb.


Fragrance: 5
Aroma: 4
Body/Mouthfeel: 4
Acidity: 5
Complexity:5
Depth: 5
Sweetness:5
Balance: 4

Total Score: 97

Drinking for the Cycle notes: #FIVEPT
French Press: intense dark chocolate notes
Vaccum Syphon: milder notes of chocolate and cinnamon

Crazy amount of violent sniffing and slurping just happened here.

Costa Rica SHB (Semi-hard bean)


I haven't had a Costa Rican coffee that I didn't like...so far. This one is milky with hot chocolate and cinnamon notes. The fragrance has interesting beef stock or beef stroganoff notes and the aroma morphs into straw, hay, and turmeric. It's possible that  the light roast needed for the cupping, brought out its vegetable like notes in the cupping. Cupping coffee is crucial for the coffee roaster or coffee buyer because it unveils all of the coffee's potential notes. In real life situations, the flavor profile will change profoundly depending on the grind used, brewing temperature, duration the coffee and water intermingle, and brew method. I probably should roast this coffee darker to a Vienna Roast, but that will mask many of the notes that I tasted during the cupping.

Fragrance: 3
Aroma: 3
Body/Mouthfeel: 4
Acidity: 4
Complexity:4
Depth: 3
Sweetness:5
Balance: 5


Total Score: 91

Drinking for the Cycle notes: #FIVEPT
French Press: Sweet papaya fruitiness.
Iced: Sweet fruit notes. Tastes like we've sweetened it. (You know that we wouldn't/ couldn't)

Rwanda Cup of Excellence Coffees

All of our coffee is specialty coffee. If you've taken a tour of our roasterie, I highlight the fact that there are very few defects, e.g. over-ripe, under-ripe, black, insect damaged, broken beans. In addition, our coffee is roasted to my version of perfection, and then ground and brewed perfectly. That's a short summary of specialty coffee. Although we roast and serve only specialty coffee, there are some extra special coffees- the Cup of Excellence Coffees.

Below is the description of Cup of Excellence from the Cup of Excellence website, 

The Cup of Excellence is a strict competition that selects the very best coffee produced in that country for that particular year . These winning coffees are chosen by a select group of national and international cuppers and are cupped at least five different times during the competition process. The final winners are awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence® and sold to the highest bidder during an internet auction.

In a few weeks, I expect a delivery of two very special lots of Rwandan coffee. The first is Rwanda Kirorero Lot #11 which has notes of pear, citrus, lemon, with a tea like finish. The second selection is Rwanda Nyakizu Lot #19 which has fruity notes of Rhubarb, peach, strawberry, with tremendous brightness.

Last year, we devoured 66 lbs. of 2010 Cup of Excellence Honduras Finca Fernandez. It had glorious notes of banana, banana foster, vanilla, dark chocolate, pipe tobacco, citrus, currant- let's just say that it was like manna falling from heaven. Anything that you liked, you could taste it in the coffee.  I expect that the two lots of coffee from Rwanda will be equally spectacular.

Yemen Mocca Sanani and Why do the angels drink it?

There are about 100 lbs. of Yemen Mocca Sanani left in my holy green bean room. I'm beginning to miss it like you miss a dear friend who is about to leave town for 4 months. Before we say our farewells, I'd like to share some information about one of my favorite coffees that causes me to claim, "The angels drink Yemen Mocca Sanani."

Mocca (you say Mokha and I say Moka) was the main port for San'a, the capital of Yemen. Mokha was a famous port for coffee from the 15th to 17th centuries. Mocca Sanani also means from San'ai but originally was the name of the special arabica beans found in Yemen. Our Yemen Mocca Sanani has strong notes of chocolate which reminds us why many Americans order Cafe Mochas or Moccachino. These are often a combination of espresso, hot chocolate, and milk. Mocha used to be the port city of San'a, but they moved the city because of some sand bar issues. You should also know that there are some Ethiopian beans that are called Mocca Harrar because of their similar shape to the Mocca beans found in Yemen. It is believed that the Yemen coffee was brought over from Ethiopia Harrar region during the 6th century or earlier. Chocolate was never imported or exported in Mocha.

If you pay attention to what is happening in the world, Yemen and especially San'a are experiencing painful growing pains and the people are revolting in the city of San'a and elsewhere.



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Another fantastic mistake: The Mystic Blend

This week, we shut down the coffee roaster for a few hours and did some much needed maintenance. We replaced some parts before they failed and tuned it up so that it now roasts with a smile. However, we allowed too much space between the face of the roaster and the roasting drum. For 10 hours yesterday, about 5 lbs.beans dropped into a pan inside the roaster and accumulated all day long. There were so many orders to complete that I could not shut off the roaster, let it cool down and then fix the problem. I decided to place all of the beans that accumulated in the roaster pan into a bucket and Julie named it the "Mystic Blend." I roasted the full 5lbs today after fixing the roaster.

So, with mystery blends, there are two possible outcomes. One, it's horrible and barely palatable. Two, it's one of the best coffee blends I have ever tasted. The outcome was fortunately the latter of the two. Get it while it lasts because it tastes like a chocolate milk shake- notes of banana, chocolate, and milky cocoa creaminess. I call this a great mistake.

Cooking with Chazzano Coffee

Here are a few products that use Chazzano Coffee in their ingredients:

1. Atwater Block Brewery, Vanilla Java Porter

2. Bacco Ristorante, Espresso Biscotti

3. BNektar Meadery, Ethiopia Harrar Mead, and a top-secret Mead TBD

4. Dave's Sweet Tooth, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Toffee

5. Royal Oak Brewery, Java Porter

6. Corden's Chocolate, Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans (Ethiopia Yirgacheffe)

The greatest part of working with these awesome companies is testing the products!

New "Frank's Late Night Special Espresso Blend"

We are introducing a new Espresso Blend that we like to call "Frank's Late Night Special Espresso Blend." "Late Night Special" is appropriate because anyone who knows me well, knows that drinking a few shots of espresso at midnight has no negative effect on my sleeping habits. This is an interesting blend of some awesome single origin coffees from Indonesia, Brazil, and India. I love cupping coffee and experiencing the surprise and wonder that comes from blending coffees with their own specific taste profiles. With this new Espresso Blend, you will enjoy a complex palate of dark chocolate and blueberries. Of course, there are many single origin coffees that are wonderful all by themselves as espresso. My favorites include- Mexico Chiapas and Sumatra Mandheling.

New Single Origin Coffee Offering

The description below can not describe the depth of flavors that come from a full city roast of this Peru La Florida. I have cupped this coffee several times and have found sometimes nutty and chocolate flavor profile. This is my favorite coffee available. There is something very shocking when I taste this coffee. I explain to everyone who will listen that great coffee does not need milk, sugar, or flavoring. It would truly be a shame to add anything to this coffee.


Below from www.freshcoffeebeans.com

PERU LA FLORIDA ORGANIC FAIR TRADE
La Florida was founded in 1966. Initially the cooperative consisted of 100 farmers who hoped to combine and market their coffee at better prices and thereby attain a greater level of development. Today the cooperative has over 1500 producer associates, all small coffee farmers, representing 36 communal groups, including Peruvian Sierra colonies and indigenous communities. The coffee comes from the slopes of the Andes Mountains in the region of Central Peru. There are 183 certified organic producers participating in La Florida’s organic program. These members are now training their neighbors to improve their harvest using sustainable agriculture practices. The coffee boast USDA and TransFair USA certifications. A European Preparation grade coffee, grown at 4800 - 6000 feet. Spicy floral aroma with hints of citrus. Full flavored with light creamy body and a clean finish.


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