Excellent. Too Excellent?

I am in the fortunate position of being in possession of several hundred grams of Costa Rica Cup of Excellence lot #2 from Finca Sin Limites.  A fragrant, delicate, dainty coffee with a lightness of body and a knife-edge balance.  Brewed correctly, and you do need to brew it correctly you should be refreshed by a well defined juicy apple brightness and lightweight mouthfeel.

 

Not exactly robust then.  Not a candidate for SO espresso of the month.  Probably not but it’s worth a try.  The sample here is four weeks post-roast.  Getting on a bit for this high-maintenance show pony.  The top end has dulled significantly when brewed in a pour-over filter which results in a perceived boost to the body.  The aroma has bulked up and lost it’s youthful vigour, giving way to more of a peachy, tropical note.

 

And so to the machine.  Having dialled-in the grind, the first shot out showed promise.  A little on the sharp side but there was some sweetness that I was sure could be boosted.  Second shot, and with a shorter flush of the HX lever group to raise the brew temperature I was getting somewhere.  Honey and caramel base but a pithy finish.  Tightened the grind a little, produced a very slow drippy shot and nailed it.  Heavy, syrupy, honey sweet, very clean and perfectly balanced with a hint of the white fruit finish this coffee is known for.

 

I was surprised.  I did not expect to get a drinkable espresso from this coffee.  It just seemed so fragile.  Putting it through the espresso machine seemed like asking Darcy Bussell to breakdance.  Well she came out doing headspins.  The age of the coffee surely plays a part in this success.  Any less than 3 weeks post-roast when the acidity is at maximum attack would surely cause major problems, but this suggests to me that a high quality coffee such as this can keep on giving when most would be beginning to taste just plain old.

 

So this coffee rates amongst my favourite espressos.  But the other constituents of that list are mostly blends and single estate Brazils.  Beautiful coffees all of them but significantly none come close in terms of price or acclaim.  The Sin Limites was not an order of magnitude greater than more down to earth coffees when used as espresso.  It was transformed.  There were hints of it’s original character but that delicacy and lightness of body were hugely concentrated into a heavy sweetness, a sweetness and balance which can be assimilated with the right choice of blend components.

 

So it’s possible to make espresso with a fancy top-dollar cup of excellence coffee.  But should you?  Probably not.

New Arrival: Yirgacheffe.

There have been some exceptional new arrivals at the roastery lately. The ones exciting me have been the new crop organic Guatemala from Finca Entre Rios, the latest Colombia from Sr. Octavio Rueda and the one I’m going to concentrate on here, the Yirgacheffe from the Sidamo region of Ethipoia.

Coffee from Yirgacheffe was among the big names a couple of years ago when my interest in speciality coffee began. I found a local source for Sidamo and was instantly disappointed. The citrus notes I had been promised were overwhelmed by way OTT acidity. In fact it was plain sour however I brewed it. The question for me was ‘Is this what I’m supposed to be tasting?’ Was I the victm of the emperor’s new clothes or have I been sold some bad shit?

Now obviously I already had a deeper interest in coffee than the average Joe, but it was my attempts to find a Yirgacheffe which lived up to the hype which led me to this obsession with coffee and a complete change of career and lifestyle.  Quite something for a cherry pip.

All of which is why I get excited by a great Sidamo. It is intolerant of poor handling and to get a great cup everything down the line needs to be just so. On this occasion the hard work of everybody in the chain shines through in the cup. The first thing to hit you is lemons. Not sour like pure lemon juice but sweetened like a lemon tart. This rounds off on your tongue to a blossomy fragrant earl-grey aroma and finishes with a dark chocolate smoothness. Throw some milk into it to transform it into a vanilla-laced chocolate bomb.

Take a look at Yirgacheffe itself in this beautiful video by Stumptown: http://stumptowncoffee.com/videos/6

Brewing method? For me this tastes best in a press-pot but then I have been on a big french press fad for a couple of weeks now. I think the body you gain from a press helps to balance the brightness and accentuate the base tones. I also enjoy a heavier more oily cup as a change to the filter coffee I drink so much of during the day.

My press method for the Yirg is 45g coarse ground coffee to 750ml of water at 89*c (leave the lid off the kettle for about 3-4 minutes after boiling and you’ll be somewhere near). Steep for 3 minutes, sink the scuzz on top, don’t stir, press then serve.

 

Do yourself a favour and get some of this coffee while the batch is still young.  I really have never tasted an Ethiopian coffee such a great balance.  If you have ever been put off African coffee beacause it was described as citrusy and bright but when you got it home it made you pull a face like a tea-towel holder, then this will restore your faith.  You no longer need to fear bright coffee.

If this is gonna be that kinda party…

So, thanks for stopping by.  You should congratulate yourself.  Pat yourself on the back.  Crack open the champagne and stick your dick in the mashed potato because you, gentle reader are a pioneer.

 

You have more than likely been coerced into this corner of the internet by myself.  In which case, thank you.  You will be quizzed on your diligence shortly.  You may have stumbled upon this attention seeking journal of egotism whilst actively seeking information about the diverse world of coffee preparation.  Excellent.  I hope you find something useful.  If not, do come again later.  Least likely of all you may be somebody I have never met.  Never heard of.  You didn’t find yourself here by mistake.  You came here on purpose.  Somebody you know read this blog and said to you: “I say, I read a fascinating web log by a chap calling himself Bombcup.  You really should get your bad self over to bombcup.wordpress.com and take a look.”  If this is you, then come in, take off your coat and sit yourself at the head of the table because you are the guest of honour.

 

So now I suppose you will be wanting some content.  I guess this is going to take the form of an irregular dumping ground for my thoughts on the world of coffee, with occasional sojourns into tangential subjects and deliberately concocted experiments.  To begin with though, here is an article you may have already read on my Facebook page.