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Coffees of 2008

January 12, 09 //
11

2008 - a year of stunning coffee (image stolen from Supreme Roastworks Flickr)

2008 - a year of stunning coffee (image stolen from Supreme Roastworks Flickr)

What a year for coffee 2008 was! I’ve had stunning cups throughout the year, and could probably list 20 or 30 coffees I really liked. I tried to limit myself to coffees I spent a little bit of time with, that I could go back and try again, not just one off tastes. Looking through the list, and the top 3 in particular, it’s easy enough to tell I really like the Ethiopian natural processed coffees. These coffees have changed my expectations to a certain degree about what flavours are possible in coffee, but they’ve also allowed me a better appreciation for the qualities that other processing methods can bring. I expect 2009 to be even better. (more…)

Bean Review: Supreme Roastworks Selection

October 17, 08 //
1

Bags from Supreme

Bags from Supreme

I guess the website, and my ramblings on various forums give away the fact that I like coffee – a lot. At this stage in my learning of making coffee, I am quietly confident I won’t ruin the coffee I use to brew too much. Stephen Morrissey discussed this in his recent talk at the Dublin SHOP Expo. It is so easy to make a potentially phenomenal coffee taste mediocre, or worse. The thing that has driven me in learning and improving have been those glimpses along the way of something better. Whether it was by French press, espresso or other brewing technique, once I tasted something better than I had previously, I wanted to be able to attain that consistently. Right now, I’m happy with the coffee I can make, but in a year’s time I may look back with a mix of embarrassment and curiosity at something which I might no longer deem acceptable. There is, however, a level of acceptance to be had when the issues are technique. Recently I got a glimpse of something better, something which left me speechless. However, this “advance” was not due to a better technique or some mysterious process; it was due to a particular coffee. That coffee was Aricha #17 from Supreme Roastworks in Oslo. (more…)

Bean Review: Ristretto Espresso Blend

September 29, 08 //
0

Priorities... Priorities

Priorities... Priorities

I feel like I’m going to develop a music analogy theme on these bean reviews that I may not be able to dig myself out of. Nonetheless for the purposes of this review it’s all too apt, but I’ll try not to overplay it. Here we go. Was there ever a band or an artist that people kept telling you to listen to, but through a mixture of either lack of effort or preconceived notions you didn’t get around to it? For me that artist was Bruce Springsteen. My impressions of Bruce Springsteen (before I really listened to him) were of a bombastic, catchy songster, occupying the same creative space as say… Garth Brooks. I , like many before me, had fallen into the trap of thinking that his best known song Born in the USA was a vulgar pro-American pop tune (not helped by Ronald Reagan using it in his 1984 campaign). Of course if you listen to the words of Born in the USA it is an indictment of the USA in Vietnam. When it comes to Ristretto coffee in Co Down, people had been suggesting it to me for some time, but I never got around to it. Also a part of me probably thought that this until then unknown (to me) roaster in Northern Ireland probably hadn’t much to offer me. Bruce Springsteen now ranks among my top 5 artists of all time. (more…)

Bean Review: Square Mile WBC Espresso

August 29, 08 //
0

Great logo!

Great logo!

Not since members of Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds and The Hollies came together has so much been expected from something so new. Stephen Stills, David Crosby, and Graham Nash each a superstar in his own right, came together to form a supergroup, redefined music for a generation and spawned countless imitators. Hoffman, Moldvaer and Morrissey like CSN have individual legacies prior to their union under the banner of Square Mile Coffee Roasters. Stehpen Morrissey: buachaill Éireannach, 2008 World Barista Champion. James Hoffman: 2007 World Barista Champion. Anette Moldvaer: 2007 World Cup Tasters Champion. Impressive awards, but they only underline the years of industry experience each member brings to the table. The newly opened webshop offers access to the fruits of this ménage a trois. Will it be a Déjà Vu masterpiece, or a Live It Up debacle? I took delivery of some of the WBC espresso blend to find out. (more…)

Bean Review: M&D Java

August 8, 08 //
1

Earthy you say...

Earthy you say...

I wasn’t sure if I’d write this review. In fact, I had completely scrapped it. In the introduction / mission statement of this website I said it was the intention of this site to draw intention to what we thought was great, not to criticise what we didn’t like. At a certain point though, if everything is positive, there is no context and it becomes one big generic advertisement for coffee. We didn’t seek out some coffee so we could break our negativity cherry; there are far more obvious targets for that. Instead we ambled down to the M&D stall in Georges Arcade fully ready to buy some nice fresh coffee beans, make a few cups of this and that, and start singing the praises. Reality got in the way though. (more…)

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