This November, we only cupped 36 coffees in the roastery. That number feels small compared to previous months when as many as 60 coffees graced our cupping table.
November was also the month that we started the arduous process of moving into our new headquarters. Paired with the Thanksgiving holiday and our growing wholesale roasting program, we were stretched thin during the month and only evaluated a few new samples.
Most of the cuppings in November were to check in on production roasts and complete paid customer evaluations. We also took on two private-label customers and took on sourcing for their new menus. That work allowed us to bring in some exciting coffees including several Robustas.
Still, we're counting the month as a sensory success. We always enjoy the chance to check in with our profiles, focus on flavor and aroma, and record our experiences with these coffees. And at the end of the month, I look forward to sharing some of those notes with you all.
Here are a few highlights from the table:
Roasted Samples from Japan
Sometimes, customers bring us coffees they love as a way to show us what they want their coffee to taste like. It's less about copying profiles exactly and more about sharing what inspires them, what they like to drink, the style of coffee they'd like to roast. This was the case when, in November, a customer in California sent us five roasted samples from a small roaster in Japan, where she had visited and purchased multiple bags after having a great experience. .
As I scanned the notes on the bag through Google Lens, which helped me translate the labels into English, I recognized the origins and processing methods. A washed Pacamara from Guatemala, a natural process Sumatra, an award-winning coffee from Brazil, and the adorable little Peaberry from Kenya.
These coffees were all roasted similarly. They were dark in color, well developed, but cupped out as sweet and smooth cups with very little smoke or char. The natural processed coffees still displayed fruit characteristics like pink lemonade, cranberry, and pineapple, even at a darker roast level. The more traditional washed coffees were balanced with great sweetness and restrained acidity. Chocolate syrup, butterscotch, cane sugar, graham cracker.
Granted, the roasts dates were a few months out, but the coffee had been vacuum packed so the flavors were still strong. This was a great flight of coffees to help us understand the kind of coffee our customer wants to sell: coffee that's familiar, that's welcoming, that's accessible. The dark color of the beans without the bite of smoke or char in the cup led us to think that the profiles are all low and slow, roasted for a long time without a sharp peak in ROR. We're moving forward with sourcing a profiling green coffee for her online store.
Honduras Marcala, image courtesy of Cafe Imports
Honduras Marcala Finca Las Flores, Natural
We have purchased this coffee in years past and were excited to become reacquainted with it as a fresh crop offering. We had a first glimpse of it at the very end of October, when a sample roast showcased nice minerality, cocoa, and sweet peanut butter cups.
This month, we started to explore it as a profiled coffee. Roasted to a medium profile, we tasted chocolate, maple, cherries, fruit punch, peaches, apples and a heavy, syrupy body. We have a fun idea of how to utilize this coffee in a future Roasters' Brew Box, but we also plan to add it to our green coffee retail page.
This is single-estate coffee that will serve as a great options for a higher-price point coffee on your menu, something a little different and a little fancy. Honduras is a small producer but is known as one of the best origins in central America, so we're very happy to have it back in our inventory.
Vietnam Robusta Dak Nong, Honey Process
We've had multiple customers in the past few months who brought us Robusta coffee to profile for their private label brand. In our September Cupping Recap, I talked about a customer highlighting coffees from India. We worked with an Indian Robusta for his menu as well as an Arabica and a chicory coffee blend.
This month we tasted a few different Robustas from Vietnam for a different project. Of the few that we sampled, one option from the Dak Nong region stood out. This honey processed Robusta was pleasant and rich, with some of the characteristic bitterness we've come to expect in Robusta along with balancing complexity and sweetness. Aromas of honey, toasted walnut, and cocktail bitters paired with flavors like brown sugar, cocoa, root beer, and cherry bark. This was a winning Robusta for our customer's project and will become part of her flagship blend, celebrating the culture and history of Vietnamese coffee.
Coffee cherries in Tanzania, image courtesy of Cafe Imports
Tanzania Peaberry
This was (yet another) special project for a private label client. Tanzania is well--known for producing Peaberries. These small, round, adorable coffee seeds are the result of a genetic mutation where the seed doesn't split into two "beans". We roasted this coffee a few different ways and were delighted to find complexity and versatility in this coffee.
Tanzania coffee tends to be very dense, and Peaberries especially so. This density can make it difficult to "unlock" flavors in the seed and the resulting cup can sometimes taste underdeveloped, malty, and grassy. These roasts, however, showcased very nice acidity, like green apple and cranberry, along with sweet notes of fruit leather and hot chocolate. The tactile notes were some of the coffee's strongest attributes with a nice tannic quality, like a good light-bodied red wine. This mouthfeel created a quick, slightly drying finish that prompted you to go back for another sip.
As we wind down operations in our current facility, we're reflecting on the thousands of great coffees that have passed through these doors. Each month is another chance to evaluate, profile, brew, taste, and consider new coffees, each with their own unique story. Next month will likely be over before we know it, but the coffee will remind us to stay alert and pay attention to small wonders.
