Posts Tagged ‘Green Mountain’

Posted on April 16, 2007 - by deCadmus

Gombe Reserve and a Curious and Interesting Path

When I was growing up I mowed lawns and raked leaves for pocket money, as most Midwestern boys do. I often worked for Mrs. Werkley, a dainty sexagenarian who tended toward the eccentric. When confronted with the seemingly ordinary — a big-eyed bug, a volunteer plant, or even a weed she didn’t recognize — she would clap her hands with delight and exclaim that it was, “Most curious and interesting!” Folks considered her a bit of an odd bird. They had no idea.

In her parlor Mrs. Werkley kept a plaster maquette of Australopithecus Africanus (wearing a whimsical yet decorous, embroidered fig-leaf.) On her mantle, between framed photos of the late Mr. Werkley and Dr. Loren Eiseley, was the skull of a sabre-toothed cat… just the thing to capture the imagination of an eleven-year-old. Loren Eiseley, of course, was a respected naturalist, ecologist and author. The eccentric Mrs. Caroline Werkley had been Dr. Eiseley’s research assistant for some 20 years… which might have explained a lot to the folks in that small-town neighborhood. (more…)

Posted on April 13, 2007 - by deCadmus

Coffee Notes, Friday the 13th Edition

I really want to continue the organic coffee thread (and I will) but I’m putting in altogether too much time on a super-duper-secret, very special, Special Reserve coffee for Green Mountain. Happily I won’t have to keep it secret much longer (I hate keeping secrets!)

Meanwhile… here’s fodder for your Friday the 13th. (more…)

Posted on April 4, 2007 - by deCadmus

Coffee Notes from All Over

More on the USDA and Organic coffee certification kerfuffle when I can get to it… meanwhile here’s a link-dump of coffee notes from all over:

• Ever wondered what it takes to get to championship levels in Barista competition? Practice, practice, practice. (Youtube.) I really like Jen Prince’s point of view — and her humble approach to the bean — and having been on the receiving end of one of her stellar espresso macchiatos when I was last in Seattle I think she’ll go far.
  

  I don’t really have much of a life outside of coffee.
  – Jen Prince, Zoka Coffee

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Posted on April 3, 2007 - by deCadmus

Green Mountain’s Game-Changing Kenya AA

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I have long been ambivalent — or at least something of a fence-sitter — where the whole single-cup coffee thing is concerned. Single-cup brewers are, by design, a study in compromise between convenience and quality. Do you want cup-at-a-time accessibility? Or do you want the full range and nuance of aroma, flavor body and balance that only grinding and brewing fresh-roasted beans can offer? I’d kinda like both. But the Clover is out of my price range and wouldn’t fit in my kitchen anyway.
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Posted on February 20, 2007 - by deCadmus

Green Mountain Special Reserve Ethiopian Sidamo

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An extraordinary, and extraordinarily fruited, dry process Ethiopian Sidamo.

I’ll warn you right up front that this is one of those coffees that’s simply unavailable at any price. I’ll tell you why in a moment or two, but let’s talk about the coffee first, shall we?
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Posted on August 2, 2006 - by deCadmus

The Coolest Brewer You Never Heard Of?

Bodum has done it again… in spite of themselves. The Bodum Mocca Brewer ups the ante on the traditional Italian stovetop espresso maker in much the same way that the eSantos Vac Pot raised the bar for the traditional vacuum coffee maker. At the same time they’ve made such a mess of marketing the new brewer it’s a wonder they’re actually selling any of them. (I’ll get to that in a bit…) (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 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 19, 2006 - by deCadmus

Tasting: Green Mountain’s Special Reserve Colombian Dos Quebradas

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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…)

Posted on July 10, 2006 - by deCadmus

Hello, Silvia?

Oh, bother.

Since moving to our tiny little homestead in Vermont, what with its galley kitchen and severe lack of counter-space, I’d pretty much given up on home-grown espresso until we’d moved to a grown-up place… i.e. to a home we might someday buy or build here that has a more or less dedicated space for my coffee adventures. Until then my plan was to make-do. Make-do with hit-and-miss espresso beverages from local coffee shops. Make-do with an infrequent dose of espresso nirvana from the coffee lab at Green Mountain (where I too rarely have opportunity to show my face, much less beg a cappuccino.) Oh there’s plenty of brewed coffee to enjoy, sure enough… but for espresso, make-do. (more…)