The Cup

A Kalosi – seasonally available
Sulawesi, Indonesia
Varieties: Typica & S795
Elevation: 1200 meters
Harvest: unknown
Process: Semi-Wash
Roaster: Starbucks Coffee Company
Use Before Date: 11 April 2010
Catadors: Rebecca, Joy, Lamarie, Lindsay, Jenny, Kimmy, Nikki, Ilenia
Liked: none
Disliked: Rebecca, Joy, Lindsay, Jenny, Kimmy, Nikki, Ilenia

Notes:
Beans – very dark brown beans, raw sweet corn kernels, pure sugar and “coffee”, barley, dark (x2), toasty, musk like skunk, burnt (x2), chocolate covered cherries (x2), raspberries, hazelnut, chocolate, tomato soup (x2) cream, deep red brown, parsley, “decadent” smell like very rich dessert, caramel popcorn, butterscotch pudding, vegetables (x2), sharp, faint seafood/shrimp, ashy, uncomplex, carrots, sour, no salt, rose, gaseous, very dark brightness, dull brightness, dull sparkle, not dull brightness, blah, med-high brightness, high brightness, burned dirt, burnt seaweed,burnt charcoal, scorched earth, burnt but not unpleasant, burnt corn kernels, burnt, watery (x2), burnt celery, bean soup with no herbs or spices, nothing, smoky, thin body, flat and limp body, light medium, medium body, full body (x2), heavy body (x2), watery, tacos, bitter, generally burnt and gross, Folgers, wood chips, unpleasant chalky, burnt toast (x2), blah – the taste is so bad that you don’t notice the aftertaste, burnt madness, disappointment as a flavor.

Like:
The hearty fragrance smells like a meal. Creamy tomato, autumn. Fragrance and fullness. None. I liked aroma and break, but that’s about it. Didn’t really like this one at all. Aroma, scents, etc.

Dislike:
It’s a dark roast, no real aftertaste. Tasted a little burnt but not unpleasant. Astringent. Tastes yucky but tolerable. I feel like I drank roadkill. Unpleasant and burnt tasting, and left a film in my mouth. No flavor yet burnt, bland, smells sweet, deceptive. Tastes burnt, tastes like it’s been sitting on a burner for like 12 hours. Everything but the aroma.

Descriptions:
This cup of coffee is a dark roast with a hearty fragrance to keep you warm when it’s cold. The aroma of vegetables, barley and herbs, such as parsley, makes this coffee a delightful surprise – to your nose. This full-bodied cup is for the serious coffee drinker.

Thick and creamy, like fresh tomato soup, this coffee is sure to warm the body. The high acidity is a great pick me up. A balanced body moves across the tongue and provides a pleasant flavor of deep earth.

This medium-bodied coffee captures a dark and rich taste with fragrances of toasted hazelnuts and raspberries. It’s slightly tart yet calm and smoky aftertaste flavors will give you an enjoyable cup of coffee.

Dark & musky, this full-bodied coffee is not for the timid.

It begins with a chocolate-covered cherry fragrance, then breaks to a rich dessert aroma. The flavor is dark and deep: good for the bold coffee lover.

The sweet fragrance of this dark-roasted coffee is unpretentious and a fit for the everyday drinker.

For those who enjoy darkly roasted coffee, the Kalossi is sure to deliver flavor and satisfaction. Its’ lighter body carries flavors of crisp, burnt toast. Its’ strong black coffee for a hardened palate.

This coffee begins with fragrances of sweet corn kernels and caramel undertones. Its’ heavy body adds to the intensity of the bittersweet nutty flavor this coffee provides. The aftertaste retains its’ nutty flavor throughout your moments of post-sip.

Jay’s Notes:
The word from a trusted friend is that the green coffee buyers at Starbucks source and purchase some truly exquisite coffees, perhaps some of the best in the world. What a shame that the size of Starbucks requires them to essentially burn their beans to offer a consistent flavor profile for the roughly one year their “use by date” promises. Add to that what must be a logistical nightmare managing a coffee supply to 8,000 plus locations worldwide and the dilemma for delivering quality coffee becomes apparent.

While many of my contemporaries bemoan Starbucks for their quality problems, I understand. If I had to supply 8,000 shops with coffee, I can almost guarantee we would have to incorporate many of the compromises that Starbucks has to contend with on a daily basis. Luckily, we’re a small company that mainly deals with other small companies that can manage their smaller supply chains to deliver truly amazing coffees within a narrow freshness window, but every once in a while, I think it’s important for us to sample coffees from companies like Starbucks to taste the difference.

And as you can see from the notes above, this Kalosi leaves a lot to be desired. A heavy roast that burns away all of the nuance and delicacy that we look for in a coffee – such a shame!

Dien Bien Phu <
Vietnam
Varieties: Robusta (?)
Elevation: unknown
Harvest: unknown
Process: unknown
Roasted: Greencastle Coffee Roasters on unknown date
Catadors: Rebecca, Joy, Lamarie, Lindsay, Jenny, Kimmy, Nikki, Ilenia
Liked: none
Disliked: none

Notes:
Fresh bread, wood chips, pencil shavings, almond, vanilla (x2), spices, oregano, alcohol, papery dry, bland savory (like British food), savory, chocolate (x2), melted marshmallow and wood like a campfire, almost musky, raisin, tropical, red dirt, velvet, wheat, warm, wet, poor quality deli roast beef, milk chocolate, caramel (x3), toffee, wake up, pie crust, dry leaves, rice crispies, grainy malt, peach, red apple, subdued, tingle, lemon rind, medium bright, bright (x4), very faint, flat (x2), icky , light acid, very acidic, vegetal (x2), floral, fruity – like rhubarb, pie crust, rosy, tart (x2), tangerines, blonde wood, cooked apples, burnt papers, smelly bugs, grainy oats, light body (x4), insignificant, heavy (x2), (unfortunately) quite full, full body, watery, calcium, crisp, burnt bugs, bland, orange-y, floral, not bad, pleasant, mellow, semi-sweet.

Likes: The aroma of milk chocolate, the heartiness of grains and oats. Baked goods. Everything was okay. Grainy malt flavors wouldn’t be bad if they weren’t drowned out by all the other nastiness. I like the body though. Nice sweet flavor with a little tartness. I feel like the flavor would get lost in anything not black but definitely sippable. Sweet, vegetables, grain, rice. Flavor, body, aftertaste.

Dislikes: None! Astringent. Aftertaste of Boxelder Bug smell, ew. Disappointing aftertaste. Not personally exciting. Kind of like the Greencastle Tarrazzu. Flavor, body, aftertaste – I half like and half dislike this coffee.

Notes:
This light cup of coffee is savory and will remind you of your favorite local bakery with smells of fresh bread and wheat. This is a bright, crisp cup that is best paired with a sweet dessert to balance out the flavor of grains and oats.

Like grandma’s apple pie this coffee can be taste light or heavy. This chameleon of coffee sits on the tongue with a cooked apple and honey taste. Blended with hints of peach and brown sugar it is sure to satisfy any coffee drinker from the novice to the expert partaker.

This coffee is great for all coffee lovers. It’s sweet caramel and floral accents travel straight onto the palate with a light and crisp flavor. Its’ smooth full body and slightly tart aftertaste finishes the coffee.

A dark and strong roast with flavors like malt and autumn forests. This formidable coffee is sure to wake you up!

A daring blend of almonds, sugared vanilla and tangerines. With a smooth base of caramel and a bright burst of tartiness, this coffee is full of surprises.

The fragrance of cooking spices draws you to this airy, pleasant coffee. The tart sweetness of lemon rinds is complimentary to soothing notes of grapefruit and citrus. This light body makes for a great black at any time.

Is a sweet and savory blend with aromas of milk chocolate, caramel and creamy goodness. It reserves sweetness in flavor and brings smooth nutty notes to the drinkers taste buds finishing cleanly.

Marshmallow, campfires and sweet, earthy undertones are abundant in this cup – but only as aromas. It’s brightness and light body makes this a perky drink full of flavorful delight. It’s aftertaste still maintains the earthy sweetness and marshmallow undertones, but in a more mellow and settled state.

Jay’s Notes:
As we were perusing the selections at Greencastle Coffee Roasters, this Vietnamese coffee grabbed my attention simply because it’s just unusual to see coffee from Vietnam. Sadly, Greencastle provides very little information about this or any of their coffees, so I have no idea when it was roasted or whether or not it truly is a robusta coffee. I can only guess.

For a coffee roaster that seemed to be a bit “second wave”, I was surprised to find coffees with lighter than “dark” roast. The Dien Bien Phu turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant coffee. While it didn’t rock the boat, it was way better than I expected. I expected to find a really bad cup of coffee but this one actually featured a level of delicacy that was pleasant.