Posted on February 14, 2006 - by deCadmus
On Today’s Tasting Table
In which your author drinks bad coffee so you don’t have to…
Imus Ranch Coffee… claims to be “100% Colombian Coffee”. I don’t see anything on the Imus Ranch package to suggest it’s 100% Arabica coffee, and given its wet cardboard aroma and burnt rubber and ash flavors, I wouldn’t doubt there’s significant Robusta content. Icky, unpleasant and a general assault on the senses.
Not recommended, even for lawyers you intend to later spray with bird-shot.
Hawaiian Gold Fancy Kona Coffee Gourmet Blend… a stellar example of why Kona coffee shouldn’t be blended. Virtually no aroma, and only the most subtle of brightness (yeah, I’m reaching here.) Gold Coffee here offers a mild and mellow flavor (probably Colombian) with a rounded body and a decent, if short finish. Nothing whatsoever about its flavor says anything about Kona coffee, and whomever grows this should be apoplectic and shame-faced about the final result.
Not recommended. Remember, kids… just say no to Kona blends.
Equal Exchange Cafe Salvador… actually, not bad. Not bad at all. A slightly nutty and floral aroma with bitter orange / bergamot brightness and predominantly chocolate flavors, this offering from Equal Exchange is round and slightly roasty, and generally quite slurp-able.
Recommended… and a fine intro to an increasingly impressive array of coffees from El Salvador.
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Hello.
Bloggle is the online playground of Doug Cadmus, a usability guy, writer, photographer and sometime dramatist who moved to Vermont for the coffee. When not writing, reading or walking his old, blind golden retriever, he roasts coffee in his garage and is the Web Guy for Green Mountain Coffee in Waterbury, VT.Flickr Photos
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February 19, 2006
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I really enjoyed your description of the Imus Ranch coffee. I think I might try the Equal Exchange Cafe Salvador, that one sounded good. I love to try different blends.
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February 20, 2006
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afaik, colombia has no robusta production, and the FNC is pretty particular about their 100% program. you can probably verify the arabica origins of the imus coffee through mary petit.
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February 20, 2006
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Hi, Barry.
Robusta or no, the Imus Ranch coffee goes in the books as one of the most remarkably bad coffees posing under the specialty coffee label I’ve experience in some time.
It’s a shame, really. There’s so many great Colombian coffees…
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March 27, 2006
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Hello all,
I just brewed my first pot of Imus Ranch and after one whiff, I had to do a search on the internet. After tasting it I have come to the conclusion that for the first time in my life I will be throwing away a bag of coffee.
It is THAT BAD!