My favourite coffees of 2010

My favourite coffees of 2010

There have been some great coffees on offer in 2010. I have had the opportunity to taste a number of them, thanks to the speciality roasters and cafes of Sydney and Melbourne. Here are a few of my coffee highlights and ‘wow’ moments for 2010.

My first coffee ‘wow’ moment was at Market Lane Coffee in Melbourne. I know one of the baristas there, Matt. He asked if I was after “an insane coffee” – I was highly caffeinated by this time, but knew I should say yes! I had a coffee from Bolivia, called Café Palmeiras 3. I enjoyed this coffee as a pour over.

Café Palmeiras 3 entered the Cup of Excellence competition and finished 8th (out of all the coffees in Bolivia that entered, at least 30-40 farms) – an excellent result. In the cup this coffee was clean with plum and cocoa flavours and a creamy mouthfeel. A very enjoyable coffee.

Another of my favourites for 2010 was the Ethiopian Nekisse. This coffee comes from Sidamo region of Ethiopia. This microlot coffee received a great score when it was cupped (the term for a formal coffee tasting). I had this coffee a few times this year – at The Source Espresso in Sydney, and at De Clieu in Melbourne. The Nekisse tasted best for me via the Clover coffee machine. This coffee was very clean and sweet with berry notes (maybe blueberries, some think strawberry and some say musk!).

I only had it once this year but I clearly remember having the Kenyan Gethumbwini AA. I had this at The Source again via the Clover (one of the staff had actually brought in this coffee – but Russ offered it to me anyway – thanks Russ!). This coffee was very juicy, very viscous in mouthfeel, with clear blackcurrant flavours.

The last coffee highlight for me was the Costa Rican Las Lajas “Black Pearl” Micro Lot. I had this coffee at Monk Bodhi Dharma. This coffee is a natural processed coffee, and only coffee cherries of the desired size are picked. I had this as a double ristretto. It was really clean and vibrant with a lively acidity. There were great flavours of dark fruit and chocolate. Truly a brilliant coffee.

So…they were some of my coffees highlight for the year! What about you? Why don’t you sign in (or create a google account if need be) and add your comments. What were you favourite or most enjoyable coffees this year???

Christmas Coffee Gift - Video Production

Thanks to everyone who bought one of the Christmas coffee packs!

For everyone else I've made a video of the production process, of these packs being assembled by my wife.

Enjoy

Here it is

Monk Bodhi Darma

Monk Bodhi Darma

A very Melbourne experience – a café hidden down a lane way! Just like many great Melbourne restaurants and cafes, unless you are told by a friend and prepared to do a bit of hunting, you wouldn’t stumble across it!

I’m so glad I was told to check it out by two mates who I work with at my Sydney café. When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by some of the staff who rearranged a table to accommodate for us. It had a great atmosphere and real warmth about it with its timber tables (including a communal table) and distressed brick walls.

The first coffee I had was a Kenyan AA – served as a pour over filter coffee. It had some grapefruit and tomato flavours. The tomato flavour was only semi-sweet. It also had a pleasant acidity.

Once I began to chat to the barista some more, and our mutual passion for quality coffee, they suggested that I try the Costa Rican Las Lajas “Black Pearl” Micro lot. Wow… definitely one my best coffees of the trip, and one of my favourites for the year! These coffee cherries are hand picked – and only the ones that are the required size are selected. This coffee is a natural processed coffee. This means once the coffee cherries are picked off the trees, they are sun-dried with the skins still on. They are rotated regularly so that they don’t ferment. This process goes for two weeks!

I had this Costa Rican as a double ristretto. As I said, wow! It was really clean and vibrant with a lively acidity. It had some great flavours of dark fruit and chocolate. A coffee of high quality – well picked, processed and roasted.

On a side note, Monk Bodhi Dharma serves vegan food, including an amazing range of cupcakes. Excellent coffee and food, together with fantastic staff and a really cool fit out = a Melbourne stand out. Can’t wait to go back!

Dead Man Espresso

Dead Man Espresso

I was so looking forward to returning to Dead Man Espresso in South Melbourne. I went with my wife and another friend for breakfast. I had their French Toast, served with baby figs in a curry caramel sauce and a poached pear. The curry in the caramel sauce worked well, keeping it from being too sweet. Very enjoyable breakfast!

I then had a piccolo of the Seven Seeds espresso blend. For those of you who’ve had this blend, it was again delivering its dominant flavours of caramel and cocoa notes. Low acidity, good body and a pleasant sweetness.

Then I had an espresso of the Dead Man Espresso blend. The current Dead Man blend is comprised of Kenyan Gachami, Tanzian Songea and Ethiopian Nikesse. For me, this coffee was a good reflection of what some of the specialty coffee roasters are up to – coffees that are quiet bright with a good amount of acidity. When I had my espresso there were dominant grapefruit flavours, maybe some tomato flavours as well. It was lively in its acidity, bright and upfront.

Dead Man Espresso – well worth a visit.

Christmas Coffee Gift Packs - Pictures

Here are the photo's of the completed Christmas Coffee Gift Packs. For more details visit my Facebook page

For the order form click here