Coffee Project NY / Colombia / Cafe Milan / Co-Ferment, Honey-Nitrogen Caturra (Hell’s Kitchen Location)

The baristas here were happy to talk about the menu of coffee and were enthusiastic about the coffee. Secretly, I am writing this months after having the coffee, so I recall little about the experience. 

The coffee has a thin body, but it was as if you were drinking a honeydew flavored Melona popsicle. There is no other description that can explain what was going on here. It tasted so fruity and creamy and smooth. The best way you could approximate the flavor is by going to the closest store that has Melonas and eating one, and imagining as if it had a honeydew flavor and was also coffee. 

% Arabica / House Blend

I think I don't like bitter coffee. I prefer acidic coffee. I had espresso from % Arabica, just their house blend, which is all they sell, which is theoretically all grown in their Hawaii farm and roasted in New York. The baristas were hard at working making 8 drinks for one singular order, and the shop was busy, so he didn't seem inclined to engage in conversation, although he did offer to answer questions. The coffee took a while because he was making so many drinks, but we eventually got our coffee.

It was- I don't know. It was too bitter for me. They wrote that they were making a classic Italian-style espresso, which means dark, bitter, and sharp, but I'm unfortunately not into that. I think milk to temper the sharpness helps. The coffee was bitter and thick, with a heavy mouthfeel and a thick body, not light like the coffee from Terremoto (see last post). I just didn't like it, and it gave me that sickly feeling again.

I ended up only drinking 75% of it. I think this means that I might not like espresso on its own. I think I like a pour-over more. Maybe the lady who worked at Hyperion was right, and bitterness and acidity are inherent to espresso, and you can't cancel them out.

But maybe that experience with the Ariel Funez Natural process is replicable, and there's coffee that will taste like bright fruits and flavors. Hoffman explained that, yes, coffee does taste like fruits, ultimately, it is a fruit in itself. But the process of turning a specific of fruits into a drink you yourself drink is what makes the drink. Coffee can be a blurry view of a basket of flavor. There is the concept of flavor, there is something there, but it is obscured by a heavy haze. Great coffee isn't necessarily about what is behind that haze - yes, the actual flavors have an effect. It is however, the process that makes the difference. Someone must grow a seed into a tree in the right spot. The fruit must be sorted, and dried. Then it must be roasted to a specific tune, so the flavor is just right.

Then, the barista must grind the beans and pass water through them just right so that the work of all those people before him may show, (the following was added on 12/25/2024) and his hand is the most important. The barista was sloppy and inattentive at % Arabica, and I don't blame him. Some guy came in, ordered a combination of every drink on their menu, and walked out with 10 cups of coffee. Did the barista have a chance to use the hand he trained for so long? Or did he just have to do his job and get the client out of the door?

I don't have business advice for % Arabica, which seems quite successful with a sprawling global coffee shop empire. But if I were to have a cafe, I'd make sure I'm not selling bad coffee, to anyone.

My favorite part of this coffee was definitely the branded espresso size cup. It was very fun to have a cute little cup.

Native / Columbia / Diego Bermudez / Double Thermal Shock (Terremoto)

The man staffing the small cafe was incredibly happy to talk to us. He offered us some cool, weird stuff - I forgot the exact word he used. He was very into coffee - he showed us a range of beans that he's brewed recently, all of which were incredibly unique. He said he'd surprise us.

He gave us a shot of espresso, beans pictured, which smelled strongly of strawberries and roses, and had a sweet, plummy flavor. I was thoroughly impressed. 

A man walked in the store, big bag in hand, and asked for the manager. He offered the barista a taste of his dairy alternative, which he said he was selling. It was a blend of young and old coconut milk. The salesman was infatuated with his own product, explaining that he's never seen or tasted anything like it since he went to Mexico.

The barista gave us sparkling water in this incredibly heavy cup. There was some sharp acidity at the end, which I don't like, but the flavor was very plummy.

The most notable aspect of the coffee was the strong flavor of strawberries and roses. It was incredible. But I feel like the acidity of espresso that comes at the end, perhaps it is bitterness, makes me feel ill, and I don't like it. Regardless, it was a very interesting coffee. Unfortunately I might like some milk on top of my coffee…

SEY / Panama / Finca Sophia Lot #41 / Washed Gesha

This is the first time I've ever spent a lot of money on coffee. And I am not sure it was well spent, but I am sure my mind was blown. I have never really had absurdly expensive specialty coffee. I have had fancy coffee from the likes of Comet (years ago, I didn't like it) and I've had all sorts of beans from local roasters near me. None of them would be classified as exotic, however.

Now this was exotic coffee. The experience at SEY's Brooklyn location was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, there was a line almost to the door, but it was fast moving. They had a technologically upgraded machine, I assume to monitor the profile of the shot instead of approximating. They had several different options on hand brew, and they had one option on espresso. The hand brew was AeroPress, instead of a pour over one may typically expect. 

The coffee took a long time to make. (Note: I actually wrote this on December 31, and now I get why AeroPress can take so long. The preparation can be fiddly, and sometimes you want to change the grind size and brew time.) They did warn me of how long it would take, but I did not expect it to take so long. 

I was not sure what I was expecting, but when it came, I took a sniff, and I got a nose full of tropical fruit. The coffee strongly tasted of mangos and star fruits. It was acidic, yes, but there was just such a wonderful fruitiness. I loved this coffee, and I am really happy that I was able to try a coffee that was this rare. I was very happy with the presentation, and the little card for reading was enjoyable. 

What is coffeenotes?

coffeenotes is my new blog, which I'll update whenever I have coffee. It is an exploration of coffee, not cafes. I am flexible. If I have a cool speciality drink, I'll do a special post. But the focus will be on the coffee, the roasts, the origins.

Posts will come in the following structure. The title will vary, depending on whether or not the coffee I had was a blend or not. If it is a blend, the title will be:

 < Roaster > / < Blend >

If it is a single origin, then the title will be 

< Roaster > / < Origin > / < Origin Detail > / < Process >

If I had coffee at a multi-roaster cafe, or at a cafe that serves other roasts, I will put the cafe in question in parentheses. 

< Roaster > / < Origin > / < Origin Detail > / < Process > < Varietal > (Cafe)

I will try to include a description of the coffee as I experienced it, how it was brewed or how I brewed it, my thoughts on the flavor, my reflections on whether specialty coffee is worth the money, and whether the cafe I went to was a good experience.