OzGreens

This is an unusual bean. Kept back from the award winning 2005 crop, this is a special Brazil

Last year, good Kenyan coffee was a rare thing indeed.

I was wondering where I was going to find a good replacement for the Kenya Fine Estate AA I was using, when along came a sample of Kenya AA Premium Gallia. This is a new shipment only just clearing quarantine…

Relating to fresh supplies of Kali hot chocolate being made available shortly on Ozgreens, Nathan Wakeford – the man behind the product – give his recipe for using Kali to make great hot chocolate using the steam wand of an espresso machine:

This is a washed bean (wet processed), A little unusual for an Ethiopian. This mean it’s more evenly graded than many similar beans.

Appearance of the bean is remarkably even for an Ethiopian. Good colour, some variation but leaning to being more green than the yellow-green of many similar origins.

Dry fragrance is clean and gives hints of the floral overtones.

Wet aroma gave hints of the unusual body this bean has – there is something ‘low down’ about the aroma.

As mentioned, this bean has good body (above average for a Limu). It shows medium-high acidity, and an intense sweet floral presence in the cup.

It drinks very well as an SO, even as a milk drink (acidity is strong enough to cut through the milk). Would also blend very well with stronger bodied, but low acidity beans – perhaps a good Central.

Offered April 2007 @ $5.95Kg

A quality Robusta bean to be used in small amounts to add body and some ‘punch’ to a blend.

Sourced from the ‘Merthi Mountain’ plantation in India, where we have sourced a number of quality arabica beans on other occasions.

As mentioned, we have not been able to actual taste this ourselves, but are buying it on the recommendation of the chief buyer at the wholesalers.

Here are some notes from other tasters with some thoughts ofmy own:
_“This is an ultra clean, wet processed Indonesian coffee with good acidity.
‘Blue Batak’ is a triple-picked, high quality Mandheling that exhibits different characteristics to ‘normal’ Mandhelings._
“The aroma is clean, dominated by cedar, brown sugar, and distant flowers.” The taste is similar. There is an absence of the earthy, ‘forest floor’ notes one expects in Sumatras. The acidity is not as low as regular Mandheling, the body is heavy, but not quite as heavy as regular Mandhelings, but the brown sugar/molasses sweetness is the outstanding positive note here.”

As the notes suggest, don’t expect this to taste like all other Mandhelings you’ve had before. It is different – but in a very nice way.

There will be 80Kg available when the offer goes live at 8:00pm on Thursday December 14th

Tasting notes coming very soon…

There will be 50Kg available when the offer goes live at 8:00pm on Monday February 26th at 8:00pm AEST

Tasting notes coming very soon…

There will be 50Kg available when the offer goes live at 8:00pm on Monday February 26th at 8:00pm AEST

The unrest in East Timor has badly disrupted the coffee industry, so it’s good to see supplies flowing again.

Note this is a certified organic and Fair Trade bean.

Again, we have not been able to taste this prior to the offer, but here’s what our taster at the wholesalers says about Timor coffee in general and this bean:

“Organics particularly from the AIFU region have a pleasant degree of acidity with medium to full flavoured body. AIFU coffees are preferred due to their superior cup, which we normally see early in the season from April through until end December. In this crop, the green bean appearance is comparable to PNG’s, well balanced bright clean tasting. Most suitable roast is either light through to medium dark”

An initial 60kgs of this will be available through the December 14th offer.

*Update December 24th:* First impressions from batch roasted to just shy of second crack, and rested 4 days.

Very impressed with this bean. Excellent body, some elements similar to a good Java bean. Balanced acidity, with a hint of chocolate in the lingering aftertaste.

Very pleasing as an SO – not sure what I would do with it in a blend!

This is a slightly unusual Brazil from my own stash.

It has a strong flavour than you would expect, and slightly higher acidity. But still with a full, sweet flavour and outstanding body.

This is will be a good bean for some blending – I’m currently using it 50/50 with another Brazil as the base bean in a blend.

Note that this is a peaberry (PB).
A normal coffee cherry contains two beans. Peaberry beans form when the two beans fuse into a single, denser bean shaped like a little football. Peaberry’s are usually much smaller than the average ‘normal’ bean.
In my experience the extra density produces more concentrated flavours, and this is true of this coffee as well.

There will be 30Kg available when the offer is available at 8:00pm on Thursday November 16th

Roasting Notes: Not sure if I have found the sweet spot with this bean yet, but it does seem to take a deeper roast than I would normally use for a Brazil.
So far, the best batch has been to the early to mid stages of second crack.