Archive for July, 2006
Posted on July 31, 2006 - by deCadmus
Tasting: Kenya Gethumbwini Peaberry
- Rating: Rating:
So many Kenyan coffees of late cup heavy on citrus notes (lemon, and in particular, grapefruit flavors abound right now) so it’s a real pleasure — and a welcome change — to find a richly fruited coffee that features a different hue from Kenya’s vast palate (palette?) of flavors. (more…)
Posted on July 26, 2006 - by deCadmus
Tasting: Seattle’s Best Organic Sumatra
- Rating: Rating:
This is the story about a coffee that got its big break: a spiffy new package — with birds and butterflies and lots and lots of green leaves — and brand new positioning in the organic aisle of your local supermarket. It had the look. But on the inside… really it was just the same ol’ bean. A little earthy. A little nutty. A little sweet. And just a touch confused. (more…)
Posted on July 25, 2006 - by deCadmus
The View From Up Here
Living in a valley nestled up against the Green Mountains I guess it’s only natural to want to to get a little closer look sometimes — to see the world from up there, to reach out and tickle a cloud or two. I haven’t yet mastered the slopes in the winter-time (honest, I’ll take snowboarding lessons this year!) but it’s an easy enough trek to the summit in summer… given a reasonably capable vehicle. (You didn’t really think I climbed, did you?)
Here then… the view from the top of Mount Mansfield.
Oh, and Mom… remember how you didn’t much care for Lincoln Gap? You’d *hate* this road. ;)
Posted on July 25, 2006 - by deCadmus
Want Decaf? Swish and Flick.
It reads like an invention of Hogwart’s own Professor Flitwick, but this magic wand appears real enough. Introducing… the decaffeinating swizzle stick.
More:
Posted on July 25, 2006 - by deCadmus
Tasting: Uganda Bugisu Mbale
- Rating: Rating:
Pondering my coffee cup, my thoughts inevitably turn to the land where the coffee was grown. And when that land is locked in a civil struggle I’m frequently curious and wary… Who grew this coffee? Which side are they on? Which side is right? (That’s rarely an easy answer.) And most importantly, are my coffee dollars part of the problem, or a potential solution? (more…)
Posted on July 25, 2006 - by deCadmus
Wayback: Romancing the Bean
Five years ago today on Bloggle I was expressing my admiration for the ideas of one Lindsey Bolger, the mistress of the roast at a faraway little coffee company…
Once a year Fresh Cup Magazine produces a special issue packed to the gills with articles and resources that highlight one particular segment of the coffee trade. This year it’s the Coffee Almanac 2001, an issue that delves into coffee production, cupping and roasting–issues near and dear to the heart of any coffee roaster, but stuff that’s generally on the other side of the counter from the consumer. Of the articles they’ve made available online, I’m keen on Lindsey Bolger’s “A Cupper’s Covenant.” Lindsey is Batdorf & Bronson’s Master Roaster and green coffee buyer, and what most impresses me is her relationship based approach to developing sustainability. In her position, she’s perfectly capable of simply cornering the market on a given grower’s bean; instead, she advocates methods that ensure a continuing supply. That’s good news for all of us–grower, roaster and consumer, alike.
I wouldn’t have imagined five years ago that I’d regularly share a cupping table with Lindsey… or what a treat it is to do so. Five years on and her vision hasn’t changed.
(P.S. Shame on you Fresh Cup for taking your archives offline. “A Cupper’s Covenant” is as relevant today as it was then… I hope I can dig it up somewhere.)
More:
Posted on July 24, 2006 - by deCadmus
Creeping Featuritis, Part XVII
In which I make some progress… and in so doing change my mind.
I have long asserted that I don’t much care to assign numbers to coffee, and for a host of reasons. First among these is that origin coffee is altogether unique stuff. It speaks of where it was grown — lush cloudforests filled with exotic birdsong to treacherously steep volcanic slopes to shade-dappled hills above vast, beast-covered plains. Its flavors and aromas reflect the soil, the rain, the sun and the care of its grower. (more…)
Posted on July 23, 2006 - by deCadmus
Wayback: When Flavors Attack!
From two years ago today in Bloggle’s wayback archive…
For her morning cup, herself brewed some of Green Mountain’s Wild Mountain Blueberry, which as flavored coffees go, doesn’t suck. This is not faint praise, but my own inner struggle with flavored coffees. [Yes, I know folks have been flavoring beans since time began… but too many flavored coffees strike me as so much potpourri.] And then, herself kind soul that she is brewed some of ye ol’ Mocha Java of Yore for my to-go cup. (more…)
Posted on July 21, 2006 - by deCadmus
Tasting: FTO Ethiopian Sidamo
- Rating: Rating:
“You’ve already won me over-in spite of me. So don’t be alarmed if I fall head over feet. And don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are. I couldn’t help it — it’s all your fault.”
– Alanis Morissette
I’m back at the roaster after too long away, working my way through a care package just arrived from Sweet Maria’s. First on my roast list, a dry-processed Ethiopian Sidamo. This bean is Fair Trade Certified and Organic, and it bears a familiar name — Oromia — the same coop that processes the Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe we roast at Green Mountain. (more…)
Posted on July 19, 2006 - by deCadmus
Tasting: Green Mountain’s Special Reserve Colombian Dos Quebradas
- Rating: Rating:
I’ll admit some prejudice — not altogether unwarranted — against Colombian coffee. Let’s face it, we’ve *all* been told for years now how Colombian coffee is mountain-grown; that only the ripest beans are picked by Juan Valdez (and his faithful little burro). And even while the Colombian Coffee Federation was feeding us this hugely successful marketing campaign they were rounding up beans from all over and carting them to vast processing mills and creating a single, homogeneous flavor profile. And we consumers were most all of us buying our 100% Colombian coffee — the best coffee in the world, mind you — pre-ground in its little red vacuum-packed can and we were satisfied, perhaps… if a little underwhelmed. (more…)
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
