Intro - "The Coffee Song," Frank Sinatra (0:09) - This podcast sponsored by 49th Parallel roasters (0:43)
Giveaway - a month of coffee! - Rules included in the podcast. Contest closes October 22, 2007. We'll announce the winner on the next podcast.
This podcast and the next (2:55) - Interviewed Carl Sara, 3-time New Zealand barista champion, via Skype (3:26) - Look for this podcast coming up next (5:28)
Freezing green coffee (5:49) - Freezing roasted coffee and tuna (6:01) - FoodSaver advanced design model (8:23) - Mark's experiments with freezing green (14:27)
New coffees! (20:01) Guatemala Finca La Perla “Sleeping Woman,” 49th Parallel Roasters (20:09) - Tasting notes: Very sweet for a Guat, balanced acidity. Lots of honey and cocoa flavours; quite amazing.
Nicaragua Las Termopilas, Intelligentsia (22:09) - Tasting notes: Wow. Big time raspberries in the initial taste and citrus fruit. Finish like raspberry bittersweet chocolate; as it cools, more pronounced chocolate. $25 for a half pound; if you want to try culinary coffee, this one is a must try.
Yirg Biloya, PT's Coffee (24:44) - Tasting notes: Possibly my coffee of the year. Immediate nose off the grind was apricots, maybe tropical fruits. In the cup, the more pronounced tropical fruits become. As it cools, more into blue fruits and a more mellow, comforting taste. Very mild but a bit syrupy, awesome acidic-body balance. $24 for 12 oz, but completely worth it.
Articles on CoffeeGeek (30:40) - Three part series on evaluating espresso: importance of having a great barista (31:04) - Liz Clayton's CNBC report and more to come (41:26) - "Let's Talk Coffee" report by Lois Mafeo of Batdorf and Bronson (42:15)
CupaJoeKid Senior Member Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 208 Location: Cary, NC Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Silvia w/ PID, pressure mod Grinder: Mazzer Mini P Vac Pot: nada, french press Drip: See french press Roaster: WB Poppery II w/ control box
Posted Fri Oct 19, 2007, 10:56am Subject: Re: CG Podcast 059 - Freeze Green New Coffees and Websites
Mark,
Just wanted to comment briefly on the comparison of cupping to espresso evaluation. It's a bit apples to oranges.
Keep in mind that cupping is specifically designed to remove interpretation, and further, by design uses roast levels that expose flaws rather than optimize the flavor profile. Cupping is a tool, but to put this in layman's terms, it's not how you would ever drink a cup!
On the other hand, when you talk about evaluating espresso, you point specifically to interpretive methods: barista pulling the shot, temperature, pressure, etc. Depending on who is selecting and setting those parameters, you can have significant differences in intepretation and a resulting significant difference in evaluation during review.
Ultimately, cupping may have proved itself as a useful tool for evaluating quality of a product, and evaluation reviews may be interesting, but that is about as far as it goes.
On the subject of numeric reviews, particularly for evaluative reviews, I could not agree more that the whole system is a bit problematic. The wine industry has been plagued for years by accusations that Parker's numerical scores and taste preferences have moved the industry techniques around, and to many in undesirable directions. The wine reviewers in the Wall Street Journal seem to have a bit better of an approach to things. They pick a category (South African Cabernet Sauv) and a price range ($25-$50) and then go sample the general state of this category. While there may be some bottles that get identified as particularly "delicious", they avoid this whole numerical dilema, and instead emphasize whether you are likely to have an enjoyable experience with that particular category. In coffee I think we could certainly make some general comments about whether Nicaraguan coffees are drinking particularly well this year, but given the range of intepretations with roasting and brewing methods, as well as personal taste preferences, it may be going a bit far to go beyond that.
For professionals needing something criteria based with rigid testing parameters, things like cupping and numerical evaluation may be useful, but for the consumer wanting to drink a quality product it doesn't seem quite appropriate.
Flick Senior Member Joined: 2 Aug 2007 Posts: 149 Location: Earth Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Rancillo Silvia Grinder: Pasquini Vac Pot: Yama 3 cup Drip: Bodum French Press, Manual... Roaster: Iroast2
Posted Sat Oct 20, 2007, 11:59am Subject: Re: CG Podcast 059 - Freeze Green New Coffees and Websites
To me it would seem that evaluating espresso, would be similar to evaluating a coffee blend, even for brewed at different roast levels, while cupping to me seems to be just for examining the how the coffee taste, looking at its attributes and faults, and like some other people said, shouldn't be how you would drink it. But what i am really interested in is if any one else has tried freezing their coffee for longer term storage. Obviously it is best to have them sooner not frozen, but i would really like to know if anyone else had tried it, and how long they think it would take for freezing to be beneficial, and how long it could last for.
coffeeDirtDog Senior Member Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 321 Location: Cambridge, MA Expertise: Professional
Posted Sat Oct 20, 2007, 10:53pm Subject: Re: CG Podcast 059 - Freeze Green New Coffees and Websites
robncindy Said:
Freezing green coffee (5:49) - Freezing roasted coffee and tuna (6:01) - FoodSaver advanced design model (8:23) - Mark's experiments with freezing green (14:27)
I don't get it. I guess you have difficulty telling the difference between freezing green, and freezing roasted?
Or maybe you're offering an opinion here without actually listening to the podcast?
Mark PS - just to be clear here, my opinion on freezing (or refrigerating, or storing) roasted coffee is based on a lot of practical testing and experience for probably more than 10 years now. My opinion on freezing green coffee hasn't really been stated definitively one way or another until this podcast. I introduced many of our readers to the concept of freezing green when I interviewed George Howell about it almost two years ago, and have not offered up much personal opinion on it since, because I didn't have any practical experience in the matter. I do now, and feel comfortable recommending it.
coffeeDirtDog Senior Member Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 321 Location: Cambridge, MA Expertise: Professional
Posted Sun Oct 21, 2007, 10:27pm Subject: Re: CG Podcast 059 - Freeze Green New Coffees and Websites
Freezing roasted coffee is irrelevant to me but preserving green is very relevant. I have watched so many coffees die slowly well before roasted. I'm surprised that you actually tested it and actually offered an opinion. While you did not directly critique, there are times you offered others opinons that rebute the freezing and green storage claims which made you appear a critic. I guess that's irrelevant now though. My position on storage is pretty hard line for a Daterra style bagging, expedited shipping, and cool to freezing temps depending on the coffee/situation and projected roast schedule. Add better sorting to the list and fresher green...
I am often shocked to hear of well known roasters storing their 'prized green' in jute while they slowly fade before even getting stateside only to reside in warehouses that deal the final blow to the coffees. I simply wonder if coffee is ever really in season to begin with or if we are always seeing it's last fading grace before it turns. Imagine how different that coffee was at the farm gate and how much more was in it before shipment if it faded so much in 6 months. I got that experience from my travel to FVH carrying back fresh green and storing it. On the other hand, when I hear about stuff like Jomar at Cafe Imports' project, I think there is hope for this industry.
SonnyFL Senior Member Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 5 Location: FL Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Solis Maestro Vac Pot: French Press Drip: Melita/Aerobie Roaster: Fresh Roast Plus/iRoast 2
Posted Fri Dec 7, 2007, 11:50am Subject: Re: CG Podcast 059 - Freeze Green New Coffees and Websites
You mentioned the holiday gift list auction would not occur but the matching donations to Coffee Kids would. When and how will that happen Mark? I just want to make sure that if I give I can maximize it with the matching donations from CG community.
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