Starting tomorrow, we're returning to having our cuppings on a set schedule. We'll be varying the times and the coffees that we try, so it should be a fun and different experience every time! These are the dates for the cuppings and the coffees that we'll be trying for the rest of April.
4/15 Friday @ 11:00 AM - Latins 4/18 Monday@ 3:30 PM - Sunrise Blend and components 4/21 Thursday @ 5:30 PM - Africans 4/26 Tuesday @ 5:30 PM - Caff vs Decaf 4/27 Wednesday @ 3:30 PM - Light vs Dark
So if you're in town and have some free time on one of these days, come visit us out our roastery and try some of our tasty coffees.
Our address is 1482 Commerce Drive, Suite D in West Laramie, a little past the Biolife.
October's Jamboree will be the best, and possibly the last, in a series of monthly coffee parties here at the Coal Creek Roastery. This month's theme will once again be triangulation -- or should I say, Trian-ghoul-ation! We had a lot of fun with it last month and are excited to do it again this month. A format similar to the World Cupping Championships will be utilized and the winner will recieve a special prize!
The latte art jam this month is also going to be ghoulish in nature -- we will be pouring into baby pumpkins! Bring one to carve up (be careful) or use one that will be provided.
Costumes encouraged! Come out and get down in what may be the end of an era!
The next jamboree date has been announced! Wednesday, September 29th, at 7pm at the Roastery. This month's theme will be an introduction to triangulation, which is the method used for cupping competitions. Basically, three cups are presented and the cupper must choose the odd one out. We will have increasingly difficult triangulations to match, making this a great challenge for the beginner and experienced cuppers.
As always, a latte art competition will follow -- Robin is the two time reigning champ and MUST be knocked off this throne, we think it's starting to get to his head.
Robin was recently elected as the Mountain Region Representative for the Barista Guild of America. We are proud to have him represent not only Coal Creek but the entire Mountain Region for the Barista Guild. Robin's experience in the Coal Creek cafes as well as his competition knowledge will be a valuable asset for facilitating the growth of the Mountain region.
Robin will be at our May Coffee Jamboree on Thursday, May 27th to address his plan for the Mountain region. He will also be throwing down in our latte art bloodbath, so come cheer him on! The May Jamboree will be taking place starting at 5pm, at the Roastery, located at 1482 Commerce Dr. Suite D in Laramie, WY. This event is open to the public so come on down and bring your friends!
Another Jamboree approaches! This month we'll be focusing on Kenya, which may have the most dynamic and exciting offerings available right now. In addition, prices for Kenyan coffee is skyrocketing. We'll talk about why that is and cup some of the excellent offerings we were able to get ahold of (and afford)!
Join us! Thursday, August 26th, 7pm, at the Coal Creek Roastery!
Last week we wrapped up another great coffee jamboree in which we focused on all the different Chemex brewing methods we've seen all over the internet. I personally was skeptical that we'd be able to taste any differences, but was very pleasantly surprised when, in fact, there is a great deal of change occuring in different brewing methods for a Chemex.
To clarify: we compared the brewing methods in these videos, not the brew recipes. Our recipe: 26g Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 420g water @192 Fahrenheit Grind fineness was exact throughout
First up, the Verve vid. Dancing had little effect in the final cup except for during the pour... so don't dance while pouring.
So here we have 3 Chemex guides by 3 highly reputable coffee establishments. All are different in one way or another. We tried to replicate the methods used in as controlled of an environment as possible -- essentially Jesse and myself used the exact same recipe (outlined above), using two of the same sized Chemex and same filters, made at the same time but different in the methods used.
To warm up, we compared methods we felt would definitely yield differences in the cup: pre-wet filter vs. dry filter (we're using Chemex natural bonded square filters by the way). The difference was easily recognizable. For one, the dry filtered coffee tasted, well, papery. Moreover, it really muted the vibrant acidity we love in our Yirgacheffe. So as all these guides stress: always pre-wet your filter. As much as you can.
With that easily-comparable test out of the way, it was time to move onto a more difficult comparison: stop-pour vs. continous pour. This is not really on any of the guide videos above (The Hoff makes two pours after the initial pre-infusion but not to keep levels low), so head over the the entertaining coffeed.com thread on the Chemex to see why Scott Rao believes this method to be the "least-worst." The higher the water level, the more coffee collects to the walls of the cone filter -- and isn't extracting -- while coffee at the bottom of the filter is still extracting. This causes uneven extraction so stopping your pour would lead to more even extractions. Makes sense. But would we be able to taste the difference?
Absolutely! We were surprised to find that everyone at the jamboree could taste the difference. The stop-pour method produced a bigger-bodied libation, while the the continuous-pour produced a higher-acidity in the cup. Some might say this was bitterness caused by uneven extraction, but we quite liked the greater vibrance in this Yirgacheffe. So, for coffees which have a higher acidity, continuous-pouring may give the best results.
Next up, We compared the mad-stirring style offered in the Verve video against a non-stirred extraction:
Check out that cone!
Again, we were skeptical this would cause any difference. Again, we were surprised when it did. The simple act of stirring created a nutty, caramel-like nuance in the cup which was not present in any of the other tests. This was a lot like the nutty, caramel like subtleties we get from almost every siphon extraction. The additional agitation of grounds likely releases more flavor compounds which find their way into the cup. Amazing! We preferred our Yirgacheffe's citrus notes however, so stirring for this particular coffee is not recommended.
I was quite giddy by the end of our educational element of this month's jamboree. I did not expect that I would learn so much about the differences in these extraction techniques. I honestly thought the differences in these methods were more aesthetic or conjectured and would create similar cups in the end. However, this was obviously not the case.
To wrap up: It seems a higher-acidity coffee benefits from a continuous pour of water until reaching the desired amount. Bigger bodied coffees may benefit from stop-pouring and keeping water levels low.
Stirring after reaching the desired amount of water imparts a nuance of toffey, nuts, or caramel in the cup, so stir when you want to emphasize these qualities in your coffee (such as with our Costa Rica Los Lobos).
Always, always, always pre-wet the filter.
We didn't have time to cover the greatest Chemex guide of all time -- as its methods take quite a bit of time to prepare accurately to the guide... so we'll just leave it here:
Finally it was time to put away the glasses and bring out the milk pitchers. The latte art jam was as competitive as ever, with Robin barely scraping by to earn himself a sweet pair of Coal Creek cycling socks.
Starting the jam off right!
Lulu claims he messed this up, but everyone thought it was pretty awesome.
Robin's "foreshadowing" pour.
Josh from Starry Night in Fort Collins came up for his second jamboree, and for the second time he just barely almost won the latte art title! Sweet 'stache Josh!
Anything-but-rosettas were the central theme of the night... including this "crab" pour from Robin.
Steeped in concentration, roaster vs. roaster.
Nothing to see here, just a 180 degree rotated stop pour macchiato.
Ah the Chemex. That little piece of modern art we love and admire. Making a Chemex is a practice like any other extraction method, it requires patience and constant reiterations to master. There are many videos and guides out there to help, and while most stick to the same rough guides all are different in one way or another. At this month's Jamboree we will take a look at these different methods and talk about the extraction science in a Chemex. We'll also be drinking iced Chemex extractions all evening, and finally the ever-bloodier latte bloodbath will commence and Lucas will defend his reign.
Another month, another great night of coffee education and latte art bloodbathiness. We were especially excited to have many folks from outside the Coal Creek crew joining us at this event.
We got deep into the history of Mocha-Java, cupped its components, and had one of the better latte art jams we've hosted in a long while. Let's jump into the pics!
Mocha-Java: history's first coffee blend. Wonderful blend components = a wonderfully blended coffee! A great Jamboree for the first-time cupper -- the contrast between fruit-funk Grainpro Sidama and big-earth Timor-Leste was easy to pick up on.
Big thanks to Jodi for taking these pics:
Lucas "LuLu" vs. Krina "doesn't have a nickname just yet" with Coulter "MC/photographer/3rd person typist" pulling shots.
Taylor "cofee sailor" vs. Autumn "auto-bot 9000"
After a few rounds of artery-clogging pours by a lot of baristas (which we have on video and will be trying to post up soon!), the final 8 emerged: Josh, Jesse B., Taylor, Krina, Jesse C., Larson, Lucas, and Coulter went head-to-head in a gushing flurry of pours no tourniquet could stifle. In the end Josh and Lucas had the most difficult round of the night: the single capp, single macch final round:
The atmosphere was as tense as a... bloodbank? I'm running out of blood references. Lucas "Lincecum" on the left vs. Josh "amazing eyebrows" on the right. Rock on!
In the end, Lucas was given the narrow decision on account of his amazing double-stop macchiato. That's a double stop with 1oz of milk/foam to work with. How did he do that?
Lucas took home a cute little 3-cup Chemex while Josh went home to Ft. Collins with some amazing Yemen single origin, M0cha-Java blend, and wicked cool Coal Creek socks. Oh yea!
Next month's topic will be the GREAT CHEMEX SHOWDOWN! You've seen all the vids, now it's time to test the methods and find out how to make the best Chemex. The date will be announced soon!
The Novo roasting facility opened it's doors outside of downtown Denver on Friday for a night of coffee, latte art jams, ping pong, and mild heat exhaustion. We headed down with a few armfuls of coffee for the Denver crowd, among which was our incredible new offerings from Yemen and the Mocha-Java blend. We also tasted some great coffee - a very pleasant Hartman's Honey, an El Salvador prepared on the new Bunn Trifecta, and many more great offerings from some of the finest roasters in Denver. Here's a recap of the night in pictures:
Just another latte art throwdown... Yup, this seems about right.
We are pleased to be announcing the next in our monthly coffee jams will take place Tuesday, June 29th, at 6pm, at the Coal Creek Roastery! Join us as we drink our exceptional Mocha-Java blend from various brewing methods, cup the individual components, and discuss (debate?) its history. Following that, baristas will be testing their milk mettle on the battlefield in our monthly latte-art jam. Dethrone Jesse, current champ, and claim the top prize (which may or may not be a sweet pair of socks). Save the date, bring your friends, download a poster, and we will see you at the roastery!
It's an exciting and dynamic season for us at Coal Creek Coffee as we're expecting some very exciting new harvests this week -- among them a Yemen origin. We cupped it a few weeks ago and immediately purchased a bag. This origin is relatively difficult to get ahold of, and prices are high, but that's not stopping us from one of our favorite origins -- and vital component of the superlative coffee blend, Mocha-Java.
Mocha-Java has a long history -- in fact, the longest recorded history of a coffee blend. It is a rich history not easily traced but we will be investigating as much as possible leading up to our next coffee Jamboree (June 29th, 6pm, roastery, where Mocha-Java will be the focus).
First we will take a look at the blend's name. Thus far in my research, Mocha-Java appears to be the most accurate name to describe the original blend. Yemeni coffee was traded out of the ancient port of Mocha (English translation). It was purchased by Dutch traders and blended with their own coffee harvests on the island of Java (modern day Indonesia). This was before using regionality to describe origins, so all coffee from the Yemen regions of Moka, Mocca, and Moca were all simply described as "Mocha." Present day blends may be described as Moka-Java (or Mocca, Moca), which is just as correct given that we can trace it to a specific region.
In our next post we'll take a look at why Mocha-Java blends focusing on a historically accurate representation do not use "Java" as part of their blends in the present day. Stay tuned!
Also mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 29th, from 6pm-? This is the date of our next coffee Jamboree where this fabled blend will be the focus of the discussion, and Jesse will try to defend his latte art bloodbath title!
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