Month: October 2005 (Page 5 of 5)

coffee_world.jpg
Originally uploaded by minhi.

Ok, so i’m in San Diego visiting some obscure bakery that my folks need to visit (old friends) and while waiting for them I see this building across the street.

Walk over and there is a cute little note that says: “Taking a rest break, back in 5 minutes.” I hang around and a nice little old lady (not meant to be denigrating, it was very movie like) opens the door and hustles me in. It’s a quaint little shop, only sells coffee beans.

Now there were a number of red flags, no on-site roasting, coffee in bins etc. But I still bought 8oz of mocha yemen, why? Well it’s a small business, been in San Diego for 30 years. That’s 30 years selling coffee. Yes, they don’t do things the ideal way, but they’ve been in business for 30 years so what they’re doing is not completely wrong.

What i’m trying to say is I’d like every time i buy coffee beans to be fresh from the roaster etc.

But it’s rare to get that and if I turned my nose at this nice lady (or worse actually criticize her) what does that do but hurt her business? The mocha yemen she sold me *IS* considerably fresher then what i can get at the grocery store (and most Starbucks) so it is better coffee–maybe not the absolute best but i think the karma from supporting a small coffee beanery makes up for some of that.

And to followup with my last post, sometimes i’ll buy a bag of espresso beans from Murky, even if the roast date is over 10 days past. Generally I want the absolute best but i’ll still support Murky, 10 days old is not ideal but it’s not ready for the garbage either. I know some people will say you have to stick to the absolute freshest but again i think there is some karma in supporting small businesses. I think 21 days is a little old for coffee beans, but it’s still very drinkable.

murky4.jpg
Originally uploaded by minhi.

well, despite the title this is actually the Counter Culture Coffee Toscano blend. Murky started selling their espresso blend recently, which is great but the last two times i’ve been by to pick up a bag–the bags on the shelves are about 10 days old. It usually takes me 2 weeks to finish a bag so i prefer to get them 1-2 days off roast.
I think they only get new bags every two weeks so i need to figure out when the deliveries happen.
So my thoughts on this blend? It’s a light roast but still darker then the Terroir blend. It’s much more forgiving then the Terroir too. As a straight espresso it’s a rich coffee flavor with just a touch of caramel and tobacco–not much chocolate though. So in a cappucino it’s a little too mild in my opinion. I really like the chocolate flavor and right now i think the Caffe Fresco Ambrosia is the best for that.
Next on my list is the Intelligentsia Black Cat and Kid-O blends.