Equal Exchange Sumatran 945
Co-op bulk Sumatran "Equal Exchange," whatever that means
Made at home in the "Moka"
A walk between the auto mechanic's and the drawing studio had me stopping again at Speeder and Earl's to read the Science Times and to revisit their Columbian Supremo. All's I can say is that the coffee I drank had little to do with the one extensively reviewed earlier on this blog. Not that it was better or worse or anything, it just didn't seem like the same coffee. So maybe this little project is wrongheaded from the start. Then again, that's pretty much the general method of all scholarship: you take an incorrect premise, and build so much on top of it that only the academic structures are visible and the actual facts sink into the mud.
Anyway, we accidentally ran out of Bustelo, and it appears that neither the Coop nor the Chopper carry it. I decided to try this Sumatran from the coop.
This coffee is all about the nose. Right away I get a whiff of what I call the "Oregon" smell, which is, the kind of coffee you drink in your slightly hippyish friend's house out of a wheel-spun cup with no handle. You know what I mean. The nose is fairly assertive although inoffensive. It has some roastiness but not enough to cause problems. Babyshit, Wood Notes, Beef Potroast with Carrots, Brown, Cold notes on top.
The actual flavor is dominated by an astringent bitterness, with little complexity. Also, no real tannin, just bitterness. Is that possible? I hope so. Short finish. Clean flavor, bitter with some burnt... I want to say acorns, but that may not be right. This coffee is great with donuts. I shouldn't have been eating donuts during the taste test, but I was, and I liked it.
This coffee is not good once it goes cold. Maybe undrinkable, even for me.
addendum: I let it get even colder, and somehow it was actually fine, not undrinkable. It kind of took on a chocolatey flavor and richness once it reached room temperature. Not bad at all. I don't know what I was thinking before.
4 Comments:
Equal Exchange is my brand. (It's also their business model)
We make French Roast daily and the way I make it (1/2 cup beans = 2 mugs) it does the trick I tell you what.
Are you using a Moka drip coffee maker? We had one of those until just recently, when the plastic decomposed. We couldn't get the round filters it needed so we had to cut our own and use a tea ball to strain out the extra grounds. Now we've got a giganto normal one and a gold filter.
I found them on Amazon. I can send you some if you tell me which size. You should check out that site some time.
After the plastic filter holder thingy decoposed I soured on the Moka. However, before that, I loved it.
I never order anything from those puds at amazon! Except books and christmas presents and some music.
Thinking about hot-to-cold transition as I was drinking my americano at the coffee joint today. They use Stumptown beans, not my favorite, more of the woody variety than the french roast I prefer. But it tastes identical from very hot to ice cold. And that's good.
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