Coffee reviews

Caribbean / Coffee reviews

Coffee review: Larry’s Beans Organic Barahona

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #35.

To follow up on the post on coffee growing in Hispaniola, here is our second review of a Dominican Republic coffee (the first was Café Alta Gracia). Here wer have Organic Barahona from Larry’s Beans. Fair Trade and Certified organic.

Larry’s Beans is one of the members of Cooperative Coffees, a group of 23 roasters who have banded together in a green coffee bean buying cooperative. They directly source coffees from small-scale farms at or above Fair Trade price. You can read about their producers (which provide beans to the member roasters), and best of all, you can access all the purchasing documents — complete transparency. Not every lot is acquired through Cooperative Coffees, but access to the paper trail from outside purchases will also be available as the kinks are worked out of the system.

Cooperative Coffee’s DR producer is the Federation de Caficultores de la Region Sur (FEDECARES), covering 13 provinces in the DR with over 170 member organizations and 7600 farmers. This particular lot came from the El Polo Cooperative, one of the new member organizations, based in the southwestern DR town of Polo, in Barahona province. I believe this puts the elevation of the coffee at 800 to 1200 m.

The beans were a medium roast, with a sheen of oil and some pinpricks. Nobody could adequately agree on much about this coffee. One smelled honey and tasted honey, and was quite emphatic about it — and this is a flavor highlighted by the roaster that is noted on the bag. Another found it nutty, and I thought it had a woody or earthy taste. It was one of the few coffees I’ve had that I thought tasted better cool.

There was no roast date on the bag, but it did have a use-by date. Use-by dates are “X” number of months from the roast date; presumably the day of the month of the roast date and “expiration” date are the same. This would indicate I received the coffee when it was already almost three weeks old. The less-than-vigorous bloom seemed to back this up. I think this coffee would have been much better freshly roasted, or at least we would have been able to tease some more flavors out of it.

Overall, a soft, laid-back sort of coffee, pleasant but unremarkable, coming in at 2.5 motmots. If you’ve tried to convert a grocery-store coffee drinker to specialty coffee via a really refined and elegant bean and been disappointed that the person found the good coffee to be too different or just “didn’t get it,” this DR coffee might be a better place to start. It won’t be offensive,off-putting, or weird — just a big step up and a good price and ahead in sustainability.

UPDATE! Jonathan Bonchak, Goodwill Ambassador from Larry’s Beans, sent me a fresher bag of this coffee. Indeed, it had a much better bloom, and it was pleasantly sweeter than the last bag. Two people gave it substantially higher ratings — “It was delicious!” — and in this set of tastings it earned just over 3 motmots.  Thanks, Jonathan!

Caribbean / Coffee reviews

Coffee review: Café Alta Gracia

In a previous post, I gave background information on coffee growing on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. We gave a some of these coffees a try. First, a selection from the Dominican Republic (DR).

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #34.

Café Alta Gracia — Vermont Coffee Company. Certified organic and Fair Trade.

Finca Alta Gracia is a 25 ha farm located at 1100 m on the slopes of Pico Duarte, the highest mountain in the West Indies, 17 km west of Jarabacoa near the town of Los Marranitos. Although the web site notes “volcanic soils,” to the best of my knowledge the last volcanic activity in the region was in the Cretaceous period. So although this is technically correct, Pico Duarte doesn’t have the types of recent volcanic soils typical of Central America, for instance. As I mentioned in the previous post, Pico Duarte is primarily underlain with granite. These soils are said to contribute to a unique taste.

Finca Alta Gracia was established in 1996 by Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill Eichner. Alvarez, a DR native, is a well known author of novels such as the powerful In the Time of the Butterflies, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, and the great little semi-biographical tale about coffee farming, A Cafecito Story. Fittingly, proceeds from this coffee help support literacy efforts — the farm includes a small literacy center with a resident volunteer teacher. I had read several books by Alvarez before coming across A Cafecito Story. I was intrigued and knew one day I’d have to see if I could track down and try the coffee.

Café Alta Gracia roasted by the Vermont Coffee Company, with about 16,000 pounds roasted annually. I believe great coffee consists of two components: a well-grown bean and an artisan roaster. Nobody can do much with a bean with poor heritage, grown in poor soil or low elevation without proper care, and sloppily processed. And an unskilled or hasty roaster can kill the taste of a perfectly good bean (Starbucks accomplishes this on a regular basis). So I was a bit unsure of what to expect from a little farm and an unknown (to me) roaster.

The coffee was a pleasant surprise. Beans appeared to be a medium roast, with a light sheen and a few pinpricks of oil. The aroma was summed up as “spicy nuts.” In the French press, it was mild, light to medium-bodied, smooth, and sweet with hints of chocolate; one reviewer also noted a bit of licorice. One thing we all noticed was a near-minty zing, especially when slurped. One person said it reminded him of a thin mint cookie, a couple others called it “refreshing.” The coffee lost some character brewed, but overall was quite an interesting cup. It garnered a solid 3.5 motmots.

Finca Alta Gracia is now managed by the Dominican Institute for Agriculture and Forestry Research (Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales  or IDIAF), although Alvarez and Eichner are still involved. IDIAF uses Finca Alta Gracia as a demonstration and research facility to help teach other farmers about organic and sustainable agriculture. This strong commitment to sustainability, literacy, and giving back to the community makes this a unique and important project to support. The coffee makes it a pleasure.

Coffee reviews / Indo-Pacific

Coffee review: Doi Chaang Coffee

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #33.

The vast majority of the coffee grown in Thailand is robusta, grown in the southern part of the country and commonly doused with chemicals. In the late 1970s, planting of arabica coffee (and other crops) in the northern highlands was encouraged in order to replace the cultivation of opium poppies, as well as to counter deforestation from shifting agriculture practiced by many of the local ethnic groups, known as “hill tribes.”

The hill tribes of the northern Thailand have faced extreme challenges in the past several decades. When cultivation of opium poppies was outlawed in 1958, it forced these people to use more land to generate income and sustenance, a situation exacerbated by their increasing numbers, which have quadrupled the last 30 years; the growth rate is double that of the national average. The poverty of the hill tribes is further compounded by their cultural isolation, difficulty in attaining citizenship and land ownership, and lack of good access to education and other employment opportunities.

Until recently, much of the coffee grown in Thailand was typically used in the domestic market. The better arabica beans were mixed in with inferior beans, so some farmers were not receiving the prices their beans merited. Now some of the hill tribes in northern Thailand are working with partners to market their beans for export.

The Akha tribe of Chiang Rai province in the Golden Triangle is one. Their Canadian partners are Vancouver investment banker John Darch, trade and shipping executive Wayne Fallis, and Alberta roaster Shawn McDonald. McDonald’s coffee ventures include Planet Coffee Roasters and import/export company Mayan Winds. They’ve teamed up to form the Doi Chaang Coffee Company. The tribe’s coffee farmers, consisting of over 800 families, retains a 50% ownership in this company, and entirely owns their Thai-based company.

Doi Chaang coffee is grown on over 2400 ha in the vicinity of the village of Doi Chang (20.325, 99.839) in Chiang Rai province (highlighted on map above) at around 1200 meters. It is 50% Caturra, 35% Catimor, and 15% Catuai. The coffee is grown
under the shade of various fruit and nut trees, including macadamia, plum, pear, and peach. Reforestation efforts in the area strive for a 50/50 mix of native tree species and cash crop species (both marketable and consumable crops are necessary to replace the income formerly generated by poppy growing). The photo below shows some of the coffee and shade cover in Doi Chaang: there appears to be liberal use of shade trees and nice variety.

No chemicals are used on the coffee, and it is certified organic. The coffee is wet processed and sun dried.

Doi Chaang offers eight varieties/roasts including aged and peaberry offerings. Green beans are also available. We reviewed the medium roast. Our expectation was that it might be slightly on the darker side of “medium,” since many south Asian/Indonesian coffees are roasted dark. But it was a typical medium roast with just a few pinpricks of oil. The aroma was interesting, and did lean towards an Indonesian bean. It was described by our panel as spicy (several people), woodsy, dry, tobacco/smoke, and (in the spirit of not dismissing anybody’s opinion) soy sauce, and meatloaf with gravy.

Those of us with more coffee tasting experience were anticipating a taste like a Sumatran or Timor. We were very surprised by the Doi Chaang coffee — it started out with more acidity than we expected, a juicy, tart beginning that was more reminiscent of a Central American. It was also much sweeter than we thought it would be, also like a Central, with a little hint of chocolate. As it cooled, it betrayed its heritage, with cedar and especially leather notes coming through, and it had a characteristically Indonesian heavy body. Overall, however, the Sumatran-like profile was muted and subtle, and mingled with classic Central American attributes. It was a really interesting and pleasing combination. Darker roasts, of course, might weigh in more on the Indonesian-like side.

We confess that brewed in a drip machine, it lost much of this intriguing nature. It was still pleasant, but both the bright sweetness and the sturdy leather spicyness were rather lost. It would not be a disappointment, but if you try the Doi Chaang, prepare it at least once in a French press to appreciate the subtle and satisfying interplay of flavors. The final tally was 3.25 motmots. Coffee Review tasted the peaberry and the dark roast varieties last year. UPDATE: We review the Doi Chaang Wild Civet coffee here.

The Doi Chaang project represents part of an effort towards sustainable agriculture and development in northern Thailand to provide economic stability for the hill tribes. Thailand has been losing forests at a higher rate than most other southeast Asian countries. Although mixed agriculture that includes coffee and other crops and native trees is not “reforestation” in a pure sense, it is certainly preferable to illegal logging and unsustainable farming practices. Some ventures to aid the hill tribes have met with criticism and failure, and one of the early problems was an inability to efficiently move and market cash crops. The energetic marketing efforts of Doi Chaang Coffee Company of a quality product, as well as the retention of ownership by the Akha, indicate this project is better concieved and executed, and much more of a success.

More general info:

  • Reclaiming the Golden Triangle — Ecos Magazine (link to PDF)
  • Thailand environmental profile — Mongabay
  • Fragmentation and wildlife in montane evergreen forests, northern Thailand. Pattanavibool, A. and P. Dearden. 2002. Biol. Cons. 107:155-164.
  • Secondary forest succession after the cessation of swidden cultivation in the montane forest area in Northern Thailand. 2008. Forest Ecol. Manage. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.12.022

Coffee reviews / Latin America

Coffee review: Counter Culture Finca Mauritania Microlots

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #32

In our background post on El Salvador, one of the coffees we reviewed was Counter Culture’s Finca Mauritania, from the slopes of the Ilamantepec (Santa Ana) volcano. The Santa Ana region (shaded on map) is a premier coffee-growing area in El Salvador. The Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range where Finca Mauritania is located is in close proximity to one of the country’s most important parks, El Imposible.

Counter Culture still offers the straight Bourbon varietal from Finca Mauritania. They’ve also had a limited offering of Aida’s Grand Reserve, a peaberry selection from all three of owner Aida Batlle’s neighboring farms: Finca Mauritania, Finca Kilimanjaro, and Finca Los Alpes. For this review, we chose another special set of microlots, Counter Culture Coffee’s Finca Mauritania Microlot Gift Pack. This unique set consists of three microlots, all from Finca Mauritania, but each set of beans underwent a different type of processing.

Nearly all coffee from Central America is “washed” or wet processed. After the coffee cherries are picked and sorted, the cherries are sent through a depulping mechanism that removes the skin and flesh. Some amount of sticky mucilage or flesh may remain, and so the beans are soaked in water for one or two days to break down this matter, which is washed away by more fresh water. Beans are then dried, often in the sun on large patios.

Pulped natural is a process by which the cherries are only skinned or partially depulped before they are dried. The climate in Central America, especially the humidity, is such that this drying process must tended to vigilantly, with a lot of raking and turning, not only so the gooey beans don’t stick together, but also to prevent molds or fungi from developing. Nearly non-existent five years ago, this process is becoming more popular in El Salvador because the country grows so much Bourbon variety coffee, according to Counter Culture buyer Peter Giuliano. The pulp natural process and Bourbon beans are great for espresso blends. In Latin America, Brazil dominates the espresso-component market, where the drier climate is more appropriate for pulp natural processing. Conquering this technique opens up new frontiers for El Salvador.

If done with finesse, the enzymes in the pulp transfer flavors to the beans — the intensity will vary depending on the amount of pulp left on, drying time, and other factors. This method lowers acidity and increases body, and introduces an often fruity sweetness.

We indeed found this to be a medium-bodied coffee with a syrupy mouthfeel. Nearly all tasters found some curiously unique flavors in a French press preparation: pepper, salt, garlic (which was not as bad as it sounds), basil, spice, a complicated enzymatic astringency (this from a student who had just taken his chemistry final). As a drip coffee, it struck a couple of us as vaguely Sumatran, with muted woodsy and leather tones. One taster adequately summed up what we all experienced, “There’s a lot going on on my tongue right now.”

I was reminded of the pulped naturals we’d tried from Brazil’s Daterra Estate, although this selection was clearly more complex. I think it had the characteristics that would in fact make it terrific in an espresso blend. It was interesting and valuable to taste beside the other lots, but we were sort of confused by it and agreed that on its own, it was the least compelling of the three to drink straight. It garnered 3 motmots.

The more typical wet processed selection in this gift pack was the peaberry microlot. Peaberries are those coffee cherries which only develop a single, round seed rather than the pair of flat-sided seeds usually produced. About 5 to 10% of coffee cherries produce peaberries. These small, round beans roast more evenly than typical flat beans, but also more quickly because of their size so they must be roasted with care.

Although there isn’t any scientific proof that I know of that each peaberry gets “twice the flavor,” they are commonly thought of as being more intensely sweet and acid. Nor can I say that this peaberry microlot was twice as sweet as the rest of the FM crop, but we all agreed — bright, clean, sweet, deep, and lovely! Various tasters got some malt, baker’s chocolate, nuts, cherry, and honey. I picked up a bit of a floral aroma and tasted sweet apple in the cooling cup (I’m always pretty pleased with myself when I can pick up some sort of unique flavor, and nearly pulled a muscle patting myself on the back when I read later that some of Counter Culture’s cuppers also tasted apple). The finish was super smooth and syrupy when prepared in a French press.

This is a superior example of an exceptional classic Central American coffee. I could drink this every day and not get tired of it, and when I think of great coffee, this is the profile that I hold standard. When we cast our votes on this one, something happened that hasn’t occurred in a long time: it got 4 motmots across the board.

“Pasa” means “raisin” in Spanish, which is what coffee cherries look like when completely dried with their flesh intact. Dry process coffees are dried without removing any of the coffee cherry; the beans are removed, or hulled, after drying. The drying may take up to a month, and as with pulped naturals must be done very carefully — especially in humid climates — to prevent any molds, fungi, or bacteria from tainting the cherries. This process, common in more arid African nations, creates bold flavors, often berry-centric fruitness with heavy body.

Dry process is essentially unheard of in Central America, but it captured the imagination of Aida Batlle. I’ll let Peter Giuliano relay the story:

“Aida has completely innovated the Pasa process, based on things she has heard (but never seen firsthand) about Ethiopian and Brazilian natural processes. Aida has a strong experimental streak, and jumped into the process with her trademark enthusiasm and quality focus. Aida is always innovating, and she decided to experiment with tree-dried coffees. Just leaving them on the tree to dry was a challenge, she had to post a security guard so that people would not sneak onto the farm and pick the coffee while it dried on the tree!  Milling was another challenge — since nobody does dried-in-the-fruit coffee in El Salvador there was no equipment to do the milling, so they had to improvise with a small mill intended to husk samples in a cupping lab. As a result, it was incredibly labor intensive to produce this coffee.”

We were blown away when we opened the bag of Pasa — it was boldly fruity, mostly the familar blueberry aroma of an Ethiopian coffee. There was also a bit of a woodsy/earthy smell. The blueberry translated into the cup, although perhaps not as forcefully as an African. I’d recently tried Counter Culture’s Ethiopian Biloya and the Pasa was its more restrained and modest sister. Other than the berries, tasters commented on hints of apricot, the balance, smoothness, creamy mouthfeel, and overall sweet richness. We would have certainly thought this was a dry-process Ethiopian, but I believe we also would have wondered about the quiet differences. 3.5 motmots.

Post-script: I don’t know what Aida’s future plans are for the Pasa, but I think this a perfect substitute for an Ethiopian coffee. It has the added advantage of having less distance to travel — less fuel for shipping. Whereas Ethiopian coffees come from many small shareholders, we know exactly where the Finca Mauritania comes from, and that it is grown in a shade polyculture that benefits biodiversity. Aida is also in the process of converting all of her farms to certified organic. I know if I had the choice between a dry process African and this coffee, I’d pick the Pasa. Same great flavor, more sustainable.

Tasting these three selections, from the same farm with different preparations, was fun and enlightening…and tasty, of course. Bravo to Counter Culture for putting this package together, at a bargain price.