Nothing like a end-of-winter bout of bronchitis to put a damper on cupping. I had several samples ready for a Friday cupping, but I was not up to the task. Today, following a visit to the doctor, my sinuses cleared enough to allow a single coffee cupping.
The table held an unusual bean–a Natural, or dry, process coffee from Mexico. Terruño Nayarita, an organic coffee from San Cristobal Coffee Importers.
I had ordered a sample of the Terruño Nayarita after cupping a roasted lot at Coffee Fest. We all had been a bit shocked to be cupping a dry processed coffee from Mexico, and were a bit overwhelmed with the fruited flavors. The roast level for that cupping was fairly light, with lots of bright fruit notes, little body, and a cup that became a bit too perfumy as it cooled.
For today’s cupping, I had roasted the sample a bit darker–past City+ and a bit closer to Full City. Still had lots of fruit in the dry fragrance and on the break, but I noted a deeper flavor in the wet aroma–a tobacco hint. The body and acidity were more balanced, and the cup had a nice combination of the cherry high end notes with a back of the palate tobacco, and chocolate as the cup cooled. Clean finish with hints of chocolate and tobacco, and the cup stayed balanced as it cooled. I found the slightly darker roast level made for a better overall cup, but this coffee would make for another interesting roast level cupping experiment.
Interesting note–all the lots for this coffee are individually bar coded from origin–including the sample. The QA for this coffee is run by San Cristobal’s Mexican QA company, Cafés Sustentables de Mexico. I’ll be grabbing a bag or two of this with my next pallet.
No Quarter Coffee 