Tasting specialty coffee requires knowledge of some aspects. It's not enough to have a little information about the variety of the coffee bean or its roast level. I share my experience tasting red bourbon coffee (and the screwup I made 🤣).
Kaldi is a Venezuelan coffee company created in 2015. It has a commercial line where it offers a variety of coffee beans grown in the country.
However, it also has a specialty coffee line where it offers in quarter pound presentations coffee beans from some locations in Venezuela and other countries.
It is difficult to decide which package to choose. I wanted to go out on a limb, and I bought a red bourbon coffee cultivated in Panama.
It is a coffee cultivated at 1700 meters above sea level and medium roast, so I expected to have a delicious cup of coffee with sweet and chocolatey notes.
When I opened the package, the sensory experience of the aroma was wonderful. The aroma invaded my kitchen. I couldn't resist taking a few grains in my hands. It is a magnificent sensation!
The packaging is designed to preserve all the sensory properties of this magnificent product. It has a degassing valve that prevents the coffee beans from oxidizing and losing quality.
I like to buy coffee beans because it allows me to photograph them and compare the differences between the different kinds. The red bourbon coffee bean is a medium-sized and round bean. Its color (despite being roasted) is reddish, like the wood of an oak tree.
Without much delay, I proceeded to grind the coffee beans. I made a medium grind for making coffee in a Moka pot.
At home, we enjoy a good espresso, so following the tradition of our Italian ancestors, using the Moka pot is the first choice for filtering coffee.
When the coffee filtered, the aroma was exquisite, but...
When I poured the coffee into a clear glass to appreciate the color and body. It was horrible!
The appearance of filtered coffee was cloudy, with a chocolate appearance. No one would think this was a coffee brew.
When I let it sit for a few minutes creamy ring formed around it. When I tasted this coffee, the flavor was burnt wood. I sensed musty aromas. This coffee was horrible. I thought the rest of the beans would have to be discarded. It made a very bad impression on me. I would never compare a Panamanian coffee or at least red bourbon bean-based. It was not for me 😒.
Despite the bad experience, I remembered something very important: "the filtering method", can sometimes make a difference!
Doing some research, I read that Bourbon coffee beans are rich in glucose and essential oils, so when roasted these particles are in high proportion. When filtering with a pressure method such as an espresso machine or Moka pot, the pressure on the coffee is so strong that the essential oils pass completely into the brew and cloud it. It also detracts from the sweetness.
The most appropriate filtering method for this type of coffee bean is one that uses a barrier that traps the excess essential oils. The method can use paper or cloth filters (Chemex, coffee machine). The French press is also appropriate, although it does not use a filter, a quartz-type grind helps to enjoy the maximum properties of this coffee bean.
I filtered the drip coffee with a cloth filter, and the result was magnificent!
I obtained a delicious infusion of chocolate and woody tones. The infusion was not cloudy, but it had the body. This coffee had been reinvented with this filtering method.
Sometimes, we buy coffee with high expectations, but not all of us are great coffee connoisseurs. That is why I believe that it is important to put on the coffee packaging which is the most appropriate filtering method to be able to enjoy all the sensory qualities of the coffee bean.
I am very curious so I didn't want to keep the bad first impression experience when I filtered the coffee with moka pot. I tried another method, and the result was spectacular.
What do you think?
All images are property of the author
(Camera cell phone: POCO X3 Pro, Xiaomi)
