On your marks, get set, review Feb 6th

Introduction

I love coffee. As in, my wife is a little worried about me kind of love. I used to hate the stuff, until one day a couple of friends undertook an intervention and forced me to drink a flat-white WITHOUT sugar!

A while later those same friends introduced me to syphon coffee and I have been drinking syphon and chemex (filtered) coffee ever since.

For the last couple years I have been trying a lot of different coffees, from different roasters and I thought it might be fun to start a journal of my tasting experiences.

So, what better way to kick things off than by reviewing some coffees by one of the friends who performed the intervention in the first place!?

Disclosure

Before I give you my early review of Sleepless City Roaster's latest batch of Single Origins, let me first disclose that SCR's roaster, Tim, is a very dear friend of mine and he sent these to me without charge so I could tell him what I thought. But, I've decided to publish my notes here as well.

With that little disclosure out of the way, let's get down to the royal biznik!

The Process

I ran all 5 of these coffees through a syphon, using a medium grind, one after the other until I had all five glasses sitting on the table side by side.

I used 13 grams of coffee and about 250 grams of water.

This is by no means a "scientific" process and I'm sure any true coffee taster would cringe at my methods. But, I wasn't going for what's considered proper; I was going for a process that's a bit closer to what someone at home might perform when making a coffee for themselves.

The Coffees

Tim sent me 5 coffees:

• Ethiopian Yirgacheffe GR2
• Brazil Daterra Sunrise
• El Salvador Finca Suiza
• Kenya Gethumbwini Estate AB
• Guatemala San Julian COE #13

The Taste

Let me say right up-front that these coffees were magnificent drinking (even at just 3 days after roasting). They were all very clean, with no hint of bitterness whatsoever, almost even verging on sweet.

I've had the Guatemala San Julian COE at a well-renowned coffee shop here in Brisbane and I had found it a bit off. I don't know much, if anything, about roasting. But, it seemed to me like the flavours were there and wanting to get out, but couldn't. Whereas, the SCR roast was full flavoured and was surprisingly good. I say "surprisingly" because I don't normally enjoy Guatemalan coffees that much. This one was full bodied, full flavoured and very easy drinking. It was close to the Kenya Gethumbwini in flavour, but slightly less fruity.

The El Salvador Finca Suiza was a nice surprise too. I had previously tried this same coffee roasted by a well known Melbourne outfit. They discribed the taste as "hot strawberry jam and cream". Though, I personally found it to be a much darker flavour than that description. The SCR roast was warmer and much more like "hot strawberry jam and cream".

The Ethiopian Yirgacheffe was just as it should be — acidic and vibrant. It's not a coffee that I'd recommend to people who like lattes — it's a pretty gnarly flavour [read: very acidic].

The Brazil Daterra "Sunrise" was new to me. I haven't really tasted much Brazilian coffee before. But, I found the Sunrise to be a bit more earthy and nutty than the other samples in this bunch. It was a lovely coffee. But, it paled in flavour compared to my favourite of the bunch...

I had first tried the Kenya Gethumbwini Estate AB as a chemex from a well-known Sydney roaster a few months ago and it was just delicious. It is a full flavoured coffee that's bright and ultra fruity. It's possibly my favourite Single Origin coffee, with the only exception being a Costa Rica Finca Las Lajas "Black Pearl", which has a similar flavour. The SCR roast really hit the nail on the head for me.

Side note: I really ought to find some Kenya Cup of Excellence considering how much I enjoyed the Gethumbwini.

The Conclusion

My first experience with Tim's roasting was an unknown Nicaraguan coffee that tasted just like toffee. He and I are both still trying to figure out which one it was and I am getting increasingly excited that Nicaraguan "season" is almost upon us. Needless to say, the anonymous coffee was amazing and I have continued to be impressed with the Sleepless City Roasters product ever since.

SCR recently got an award for their roast of the Costa Rica Finca Las Lajas "Black Pearl" and I have no doubt there'll be more awards to come.

I like filter coffee (syphon, aeropress, chemex, pourover, etc), so it stands to reason that I like Single Origins. They're not for everyone, especially if you have an espresso machine at home. In that case, I recommend you check out SCR's Crowd Pleaser blend.

But, if you are like me and you do enjoy intricate flavours, these 5 coffees are worth running some water through.

Coming up...

I have two single origins from Single Origin (a.k.a What's In The Hopper) in the mail. So, expect another review very soon!