Got this puppy for Christmas this year but haven’t yet had a day to use it (I’ve been opening at Starbucks and at 4:30 am I just don’t have the will to do a french press - It’s via or death).
Tomorrow is the day! Casi Cielo is going to be this baby’s inaugural grind. Excitement.
Casi Cielo is officially back and brewing at the ‘bucks starting Tuesday. If memory serves, to me at least, this is like the coffee equivalent of butter; smooth, delicious and I want it all. the. time.
Obviously I’m going to starting hoarding it promptly. I can’t wait.
Natural processing is also known as dry processing, because of its absence of water. Beans are dried in the sun for several days, until the skin becomes hard and raisin-esque. The dried cherries are hulled to remove the pulp, mucilage and parchment in one step, then the beans are finished up with final drying.
Because the fruit is allowed to dry right on the bean, these coffees have a strong fruit flavor. Brazil, Yemen and Ethiopia use natural processing. The process can produce berry, spice, cocoa and earthy flavors.
Because of the varying degrees of ripeness and harvesting techniques, naturally processed coffee can be unpredictable and inconsistent. I suspect this is why we have no naturally processed coffees to offer at the moment and my processing tasting will be sadly incomplete.
Semi-washed processing skips the fermentation step. After being de-pulped, the cherries are soaked for an hour or two, then rubbed together to remove the fruit from the bean. Some of the fruit stays on the bean, adding to the flavor. Next the beans are dried, transported to a milling station and then dried some more. The beans are hulled to remove the parchment and any bits of dried mucilage still stuck to the bean. Finally, the beans are dried yet again.
The semi-washed method is often associated with Indonesian coffees. The partial drying instead of fermentation gives these coffees an herbal and earthy flavor and a full body.
For my processing tasting, I’ll be using Sumatra (always a crowd pleaser) as my semi-washed coffee. Sumatra is an extra bold coffee with an earthy and flavor with a low acidity and full body. Cinnamon, oatmeal, maple, butter, toffee and cheese flavors all complement Sumatra. In my favorite bit of vague descriptive work, Starbucks describes Sumatra as “earthy and unpredictable.”
Washed processing, as the name implies, involves a lot of water. First the cherries are de-pulped, then the remainder of the cherries are soaked in fermentation tanks for 18-36 hours, which breaks down the mucilage so it can be removed during washing. Next the beans are dried in the sun, then bagged and rested for 2 months. Finally the beans are hulled to remove the parchment (the last layer of the cherry before the bean, like the papery skin on a peanut).
The fermentation process produces a cleaner bean and a more acidic flavor. Much of Latin America’s coffee is processed this way. This is why Latin American coffees are often known for their strong acidity.
For my processing tasting, I’ll be using Breakfast Blend as my washed coffee. It has a mild, bright and tangy flavor, high acidity and light body. Breakfast Blend is nicely complimented by nuts, apples, blueberries and lemon flavors.
Robusta refers to the hardiness of the tree, not to the flavor in the cup.
From Indonesia comes the most expensive coffee in the world: Kopi Luwak, which loosely translates to weasel coffee. Why? Because it’s already been eaten by this guy.
In the Starbucks Coffee Master training it said the coffee cherries “pass through the digestive tract of a civet.” That’s a nice way to put it.
After that first bit, the beans are collected from the forest floor, cleaned and roasted.
Sounds horrifying and yet I seriously want to taste it.
My first attempt at latte art. Not great, friends. Not great.
While most growing regions only have one harvest each year, Kenya has two. Because Kenya is so close to the equator it experiences the seasons of both hemispheres. The main crop is harvested between October and December and then the bonus crop is harvested between June and August.
Legend has it that coffee in Ethiopia predates the existence of humans.
Even if you believe in Creation, coffee comes first. Word is, God did plants on the third day. People didn’t come around until day six.
Priorities. No people until you have coffee to give them. It’s why we get there first to make the coffee before we let people in.
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