Due to the Kopi Luwak incident, I found myself wanting some good coffee. Normally I try to keep only one bag around but, given the flavor profile of the Kopi Luwak, I needed my good coffee fix.

Today’s coffee comes from Mexico. I think this is the first time I’ve had a Mexican coffee. Similar to a lot of the previous coffee’s I’ve tried from Aomi, the main flavor profile they list is “Refreshing”. It’s described as, unsurprisingly, a very honey like coffee.

The background of the coffee is interesting. Grown near Oaxaca, the beans are selected, refined, and blended over the course of various tests. They check and re-check each level of the process in order to try and create the perfect blend of beans. The beans are then dried on Petate sheets. Petate sheets are made from the key thatch palm and are used for a variety of things in South America, including sleeping pads and drying of various grains, fruit, and other perishables. It is said that some of the flavor profile of the beans is due to this very traditional drying method.

The Beans:

Smell – Very interesting smell. Strong wheat and grass notes to the beans. Quite pleasant on the nose. Gives me high hopes for the coffee.

Taste – These are some good beans to eat. The front is very mellow and soft, with a roasted wheat taste coming out. The flavor transforms after the initial bite to a slight bitterness then some good wild berry-like flavors come through. I would not mind eating these on their own just as a snack. Here’s hoping the actual coffee matches the beans in deliciousness.

Minor update, I ended up doing something I normally don’t do. I ended up sucking on one of the beans just because I had a few in front of me. The honey flavor is really strong when just sucking on the bean instead of biting down on it. Very interesting indeed.

The Brewing:

Ah, this coffee had a very satisfactory level of bloom. Basically doubled in size from the off gassing. I love to see and hear it.

Drinking

No real strong smell to the coffee itself. Not surprising. It’s only now that I am chronicling my coffee journey that I’ve noticed how generic the main coffee smell is. The actual smell I associate with coffee is the roasted bean smell. I wonder if they make a coffee bean cologne or similar?

The taste is very much roasted or caramelized nuts. There is an acidic and pungent twinge in the background that helps give it a more fuller flavor profile. Really smooth in the mouth. As with most light roast specialty coffees, it is lacking the more earthy, darker tones some might expect. This particular bean may benefit from a a medium roast to help pull out the toffee like flavors that are hovering in the background.

When allowed to cool to a warm, not quite hot temperature, some of the more nutty flavors come out with a lot less sweetness to the edges. A very standard, good coffee flavor. It loses some of its specific traits but it also comes through as a nice, good, solid coffee. I put it that way because sometimes I don’t want to think about the very specific, delicate tastes or analyze a coffee to death. Going too far can ruin the fun. That’s partially why I stopped measuring and go by eye/gut when making coffee.

When cooled to a more lukewarm temperature, the bitterness intensifies quite a bit. The tang of metal is also present. Not bad to be honest. For those who don’t mind the sharper taste, letting the coffee “age” a little is not a problem.

All in all thought, this is a very good cup of coffee, especially coming off of the Kopi Luwak. The cost of these beans was 810 yen for 100 grams, roughly 7-8ish US dollars. As such, from both a taste point of view and a price-performance ratio, I can definitely say I enjoyed this cup of coffee. It may become one of my regulars once I finish going through all of Aomi’s selection.

9/10

I am going to preface this one with a general note. I did not actually intend to get these beans. It was my fault for not reading the label properly. I do not recommend or condone the current Kopi Luwak coffee trade and would say to steer clear of the trade in general.

Kopi Luwak, also called cat poop coffee. Coffee cherries are eaten by civets, partially digested, and pooped out. This process allows enzymes to mellow out the harsher flavors and acidity of the coffee beans and create a reportedly great cup of coffee.

When this type of coffee was first discovered, this may have been true. Now, the story is different. Instead of letting civets naturally eat the coffee cherries at their own pace and intermingled with a proper diet, companies are capitalizing on the hype and capture civets for mass production. These civets are fed a steady diet of various coffee cherries at various states of ripeness, destroying the civets diet in the process. Quite a few factors here mean that the flavor Kopi Luwak is known for doesn’t exist in the modern world. And, doesn’t need to exist in the modern world now that we’ve gotten so much better at coaxing out the finer flavors of coffee in general.

For more information on this topic, I suggest looking up the Cut the Crap campaign, or the various BBC or National Geographic articles on the subject:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/04/160429-kopi-luwak-captive-civet-coffee-Indonesia/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-24034029

For the coffee itself, it was at least interesting to see what the hype is about and get a feel for if the result is desirable or not.

The Beans:

Smell – Very nutty. Reminds me of peanuts with a little bit of hazelnut in there. Not much else there. Pleasant enough though.

Taste – The beans have a very berry-like taste but it quickly becomes a more dry, flavorless texture. Interesting. Normally beans don’t lose their flavor as quickly as this one did. It may be do to how the enzymes affected the make up of the beans in general.

Brewing:

Very little CO2 off gassing even though they are freshly roasted. There is a thin, generic coffee smell when performing the pour over but very little specifics.

Drinking:

The main part, the big one. The whole reason the world requests this “rare” coffee in such large quantities. The first flavors are very light, almost metallic at first but not quite. No real specifics jump out at me. There is little to no acidity in this cup. Mellow. Almost tea-like in some aspects. Reminds me of a much less sophisticated a Port of Mokha coffee I had from Blue Bottle a while back. It has minor hints of sweet lemon and berries but very much on the edge of the flavor profile. It is really easy to drink but not super interesting or

It gets more generic if you let it cool down too much. The hints of flavors are washed away by the oddly acidity-lacking base coffee flavor.

All in all, this is much better than grocery store, most Starbucks, etc. But, it is a disappointment when compared to specialty coffees and even the Starbucks Clover specialty coffees. For the price, this is not worth it and there are many better, more nuanced coffees out there. If you are looking for a tea-like coffee, The Port of Mokha/Yemen coffee is the better luxury coffee choice in my opinion.

The Kopi Luwak comes in at 4320 yen for 100 grams, roughly 40 USD. It is priced high and the taste is just not worth it. Even if the coffee was produced humanely, still not worth it.

4/10

Today’s coffee was roasted on July 14th. It is the Sky Hill Coffee from Aomi Coffee. The coffee itself originates from Rwanda. According to my sheet, Sky Hill coffee is a blend of the best beans from 18 different coffee processing plants in Rwanda. It is considered a refreshing and clean coffee. Let’s see if that is the case.

The Beans:

Smell – There is not a lot to the smell. It is a very good, “coffee” smell. Slightly earthy and fragrant. Not very telling aside from the fact it is does smell very good. No real distinctive notes that pop out.

Taste – Bitter is the first thing that comes to mind. Not in a bad way. Very similar to a dark chocolate. There are some light, berry like tastes in the background along with the general earthiness you get from beans in general. Very pleasant to eat and I would not mind eating these beans as a snack, something I can’t say for most beans, even beans that make great coffee.

Brewing:

I had these roasted today so the CO2 is pretty high. The off-gassing from this batch in general was very high. The volume appeared to almost double. Very nice sign as that means these beans, even if I kept them for a while, should stay decently fresh compared to some of the other freshly roasted beans I’ve bought. Again, no real specific notes in the smell which is interesting on its own.

Drinking!

Ah, the important part. Making coffee is fun, cathartic, and all that but the taste is what we are really aiming for.

The taste is very clean and refreshing. Exactly as noted on my information sheet. Aside from that, it is hard to get very specific quirks or more delicate notes from this coffee. The berry flavors from the beans are in the back and that is probably what gives it the “refreshing” feel. Very easy to drink and maybe a good coffee to introduce people to fresh, non-instant or grocery store coffee. For someone looking for more nuanced notes, it may be a little disappointing.

The acidity comes out more if you let it cool down a bit and the berry flavors come in more. It is close to a sharp cherry flavor that is a good accent to the simplicity of the coffee.

Overall, I enjoyed this coffee. It is simple and therefore not as stimulating as some of the other coffees I’ve had in the face but sometimes something simple and easy to drink is nice. I would give this a solid 7.5-8 out of 10.

The first coffee I will be looking at is a bit of a surprise find for me. The shop that I mentioned in my introduction post carries green, non-blended Kona coffee beans. I’ve bought Kona beans in Hawaii from a reputable store in the past but it was a blend and it was a dark roast. I wanted to see if the more pungent flavors I tasted from the dark roast beans was due to the dark roast or not.

The beans I bought were roasted that day, May 13th, so as fresh as you can get. Leagues above the Kona beans you get from Amazon or most other online shops. The green beans are apparently sourced from Hawaiian Queen Coffee. The coffee itself is the Extra Fancy line from HQC, their highest priced coffee, along with the Peaberry line.

The Beans:

Smell -The beans do have a very earthy aroma. There is some notes of charcoal there as well despite the lighter roast. Unfortunately, so far I don’t get that pungent smell just yet.

Taste – The beans taste very much like soil smells. A very interesting taste. I can start to get the pungency I was looking for earlier.

Brewing:

Not much additional to notes came out when brewing the coffee. There was a touch of that ash in the aromas. One thing that was interesting was the bloom. It was a very subtle bloom so not a lot of CO2. The final smell, once everything had time to settle a bit, did start showing a little more character, a very pungent and almost sour smell.

Taste:

I first want to address the pungent taste. Kona coffee has a very distinct taste that matches my previous encounter with it. It has a very deep, earthiness that reminds me a bit of a matchstick or firework smoke. My theory is that this is due to the richness of the volcanic soil, which gives it a very unique personality. Because it is such a distinct flavor, I think I would be able to guess a Kona coffee from others even though I am on an amateur level.

A lot of people seem to describe this coffee as chocolatey. I did not find it very chocolatey due to how pungent it was. It has some of the bitterness of dark chocolate but it’s not enough for me to call it chocolatey. Instead, I think more of a ripe, acidic and sour fruit along with the very deep earthy, almost phosphorus like taste. It is definitely an experience and is very unique.

In more personal terms, I find it a little lacking in balance and taste overall. While very unique, it doesn’t have a flavor profile that I would consider drinking as a treat. And it is a treat level coffee. I paid 2700 Yen for 100 grams. That is part of the price I pay for getting guaranteed Kona beans as well as freshly roasted beans. This coffee is one of those things I am glad I had the chance to try and find the experience very valuable but also something I probably won’t seek out again.

For me, this would be a 6-6.5 out 10 level coffee. If it was the choice between this and, say, a more premium Blue Mountain , Kilimanjaro, or Colombian coffee, I would pick one of the others over the Kona. However, if you have a chance to try the Kona Coffee and want to, give it a go. There is definitely a crowd for the flavors in Kona coffee and I am can see part of the appeal. I just prefer more light, refreshing style coffees compared to the deep, pungent, slightly rough flavors you get in the Kona.

Part of being a computer savvy person as well as an aspiring writer is the need for some sort of stimulant. Most people choose coffee to be that stimulant. For good reason. Coffee is one of the great treasures of mankind, if drunk responsibly.

Coffee is something I enjoy on a mostly daily basis. I enjoy being what some may call a coffee enthusiast and what others may call a coffee snob. Coffee is a vast world of flavors of scents that just make me happy. As such, I do have some snobbish tendencies when it comes to things like Starbucks coffee or the vast majority of grocery store coffee.

I am lucky enough to live next to a place that will roast beans on demand. I can order 100 grams of coffee that day and pick up a still warm bag in about 20-40 minutes. They also have a decently large selection of single origin beans available so I get the best of both worlds, tons of variety to taste as well as precise control over the roasting level.

I like to try most coffees light roasted at first to better understand the characteristics of the bean before going into the medium and dark roasts. Like anything really, I consider coffee both a great drink and an ingredient. Some people may turn up their noses at certain types of blending techniques or roasting styles but, per the ingredient, it may fit well with a particular kind of bean.

For this section, I want to do very simple reviews of the coffee I can order and maybe a few additional musing articles at some point in time.

These reviews are going to based on the fact that I am tasting near the best quality coffee you can get. My pour over technique is probably not the best but the beans themselves are as fresh as you can get and roasted quite well. As such, even if I give a particular cup/batch a lower score, these coffees are going to be leagues above the grocery store beans or the normal chain store coffee shops.

Note note, I may also do a few bits on instant coffee here and there. WHAT!!!! The horror! Why? Why would I do this? Well, like most foods, instant coffee is a form of coffee but not nearly the same thing as brewed coffee. As such, I consider instant coffee its own thing with its own set of desired flavors and aromas that are different from standard coffee. I also would like to camp sometime in the near future so having a good instant coffee is ideal for light camping.