Posted on July 30, 2008 - by deCadmus

Stumptown’s Guatemala El Injerto Reserva

You should know something about coffee people… we’re *constantly* tasting coffee: our own, the stuff from the guy across the street, and across the country. Oh sure, part of it’s about keeping tabs on what other folks are doing — but that’s a small part, really. The larger share is just ’cause we like coffee, and love the origins and flavors of coffee the world over, even if it’s not us that’s selling it.

Consequently, things like family vacations are sometimes interrupted with a brief dash into an unfamiliar coffee shop to sample the brew of the day, or — in the case of a recent trip Don Holly made to Portland — a quick jog in to Stumpies to grab a bunch of beans for the gang back home ’cause you just *know* they’re gonna be good.

“The thing about El Injerto,” says Holly, “is they have the most amazing worm farm.”

I ponder this for a moment.

“So…” I ask, “how do you judge a worm farm, anyway?”

Don shrugs.

“It’s like art. I know it when I see it.”

There *is* something artful about this cup — Guatemala Finca El Injerto Reserva, by Stumptown Coffee — that’s just about as challenging to pin down. It’s something experiential: the rich, spiced cocoa and savory herbal note as it brews, the tremendous expression of jasmine and coffee flower aromas in the cup; the lush, saturated flavors of dark fruit — raisin and plum and ripe mango — matched with ample body and just enough of a bright, crisp, acid snap to counterbalance the richness of it all.

The way I see it, this is one great cup. It’s also, I believe, a limited offering, being a Cup of Excellence bean and all. So get it while you can.

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Available from Stumptown Coffee Roasters.