ROASTe Blogs

1. Remember Portola's wafflegato? Last time I wrote that variations on that theme were expected. Indeed, there have been two so far. See below for the recipes.

- a. Featuring organic goat's milk caramel, salted caramel gelato, and aleppo pepper seasoning

- b. Incorporating peach gelato, peach balsamic, the return of the Dauphinoise, and Murray River sea salt

If I absolutely had to choose, I'd get my goat on with (a). You?

I had a rather busy yet unproductive weekend. I drove around with the family getting a few errands done in San Francisco, and took a few longer drives to go out to a few places to eat. All of that car time really adds up, especially when a drive that normally should take 15 minutes, takes closer to 45 minutes. However, that is beside the point.

I had a lot of work cut out for me this weekend, so I thought this Sunday morning I deserve something special! How about some Kopi Luwak? I'm having some aging away for a week or so waiting to be made into delicious espresso. I have find that the kopi Luwak which I received as gift from Vietnam is best left to age for at least a week after roasting for best tasting. If it is brewed up too soon, it can taste undeveloped and have off taste that ruin the whole experience. 

The Unroasted green Kopi Luwak coffee beans can look quiet horrible:

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I realize it is pure folly to exclaim this coffee is the best, or that coffee is the best, particularly in print. The best one could hope for is to give an indication that some coffee is in the top tier. And, of course, everyone has their own preferences, so even more of a word to the wise: careful how you rate your latest tasty brew.

So what do I do about Velton's Twilight Blend?

This is an update about the condition of the Olympia Cremina 67 that I recently acquired through ebay. 

Beehouse is a Japanese company that is perhaps best known for their ergonomic ceramic teapots. They also make ceramic coffee drippers, in a small and a large size. The drippers are wedge shaped and have two small holes in the bottom. The small takes #1 or #2 filters, while the larger model takes a #2 or #4. I use the large for 750 mL batches, and like the small at around 200-250 mL.

A few days ago, I hit up a big order from Espresso Vivace Rosteria on two of their well know and well reviewed blend from Roaste and was very excited for its delivery. The order was placed on the 14th of June and arrived promptly two days later on the 16th. And true to their promise, the coffee was roasted on the same day that it was shipped; applause to roaste and to Vivace Roasteria for keeping their promised!

When brewing espresso there is one critical element to the puzzle, and it is grinding it fresh to a nice grainy powder. To do that obviously you need to have a grinder in your home, the problem being most grinders that are designed for home use don't do a great job of grinding for espresso. Probably, the best line of home grinders on the market are by Baratza..

Natural coffees can be funky, as can Sumatras. So one might expect a naturally-processed Sumatra to be particuarly funky. It might be, but the one I have from PT's is remarkably clean.

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So, someone asked me a while back to post my current Aeropress method, and I’m just now getting around to it. This is the method that I use to make my coffee in the morning. There are some (marginally) better methods out there, but they’re a bit too fiddly for my taste (and the early hours).

Would you pay more than $500 for a pound of coffee? Someone did yesterday in an online auction of Guatemalan coffees that included six micro-lots of coffee estimated to be among the best coffees in the world.

While I would say that I have not been wow'd lately by a lot of coffees, I have gotten use to getting lots of good coffee so perhaps that my problem! The good coffee has just kept coming from Mtn. Air Roasting and of the three that I got the Rwanda Coko Coop was my favorite.

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This is the twelfth post on the coffees I’m working my way through. Up this time is Costa Rica La Amistad Organic Coffee by Jim’s Organic Coffee.