Specialty Coffee Association of Uzbekistan / Kenya / Gicherori / Washed

The notes of this coffee, which you most likely cannot read, are "black tea, earl grey, raspberry, and apricot sorbet." It did actually taste like many of these things, although I probably would have cut raspberry in favor of "red fruit." Raspberry feels too specific. 

I did not expect to be able to get specialty coffee in Uzbekistan, let alone find one of the three specialty cafes in Tashkent in the ground floor of my Airbnb. That was a pleasant surprise. They let you order any of their coffees, of which they must have had at least fifteen, in any brew method (which feels risky). I picked mine off the shelf because I had never had the origin, and it was a plus that it had a high number on it. I ordered an AeroPress. I was surprised to find the coffee to actually be very fruity and good. It was also about $2.31 — expensive for Uzbekistan (about two rideshare trips), but a great price for me!

Zingerman's / Sumatra Dark Roast

Siphon coffee is supposed to make a cleaner, brighter cup, so I figured I'd stray out of my comfort zone and order a dark roast. I am not sure if that was entirely a good idea, because when I got the coffee, it was very earthy, not very full-bodied, and just tasted like roast. 

Maybe roastiness is what some people want. But I would have ascribed notes of dirt and cereal to this. "Wild" ascribes emotion to this coffee that I honestly cannot say it has. But I wanted to try a Sumatran coffee, as I have not had one before. 

Onyx Coffee / Colombia / Aponte Village / Honey (Shinola Cafe)

My coworker was visiting the United States for work, from India. It was his first time in the US and I discovered that he enjoys coffee. I gave him a list of my favorite cafes, and told him I could take him to one. Our grateful finance department enabled us to get this with no damage to our personal wallets. My friendly neighborhood barista, Ian, told us he had another Colombia on pour over, and I was feeling Latin America because earlier this week I had an Ethiopia. 

This was a great coffee. Very fruity, rather light, and smooth. None of the brashness that I feel like honey processes often come with, and most describable as good coffee. Nothing memorable either, but I liked it. 

Hyperion / Ethiopia / Oromia Wush Wush / Heirloom Natural

I negotiated my team to go to Hyperion for our morning coffee trip during our onsite. I was actually going to push for Argus, since I wanted to go to the greenhouse, but I decided I wanted to try this Ethiopia Wush Wush roast from Hyperion. I was happy to see they had it on batch brew. I got a big cup, too. 

The mango-iness was certainly more lassi than mango, and it had a silky body that I am starting to think is part of the nature of Ethiopian coffee. I did like it. However, it had this funkiness that natural process coffees have, which in my opinion, covers up the flavor of the coffee that we are all theoretically so interested in. That makes me think that I prefer washed coffee, even if natural processes are more "interesting."

George Howell Coffee / Ethiopia / Worka Chelbessa / Washed (Comet Coffee)

I was nervous going in because I did not recognize this barista. At this point, I recognize many baristas and know whom to trust. I thought I heard this barista explaining the steps to the brew to the other barista, saying she was told to do this or that. That would just be prejudice, though, because this was well made coffee. 

I loved this coffee as it settled into the lower end of hot and the center of medium warmth. The acidity started to sharpen at the bottom of the cup when it got cold. However, in the center 80% of the cup, it was silky smooth, almost honey-like. I was impressed. I am starting to find the florality and lightness of African coffees to be more interesting, but the note here was the body and mouthfeel. Incredible. 

Roos Roast / Colombia / Huila Finca El Recreo / Washed Extended Fermentation Pacamara

This was a disappointing cup of coffee. The extraction was all over the place. The barista did not distribute the grounds, just put then in the portafilter and slapped it in the espresso machine. That is unfortunate because I think that there is nothing inherently wrong with a long pull, but sloppy barista work is always sloppy barista work. Sad. 

Máquina Coffee / Rwanda / Rambagirakawa (Cairo Coffee)

Always trust your gut when you are getting coffee. In this case, this cafe was not my vibe. It was too hipster. I knew it going in - it had the same feeling that I had entering Stepwise... i.e., a mistake. I guess the pourover was good. I am a believer in pour overs being a scam, which the man at Anthology proudly told me over the phone, but this lady took her time and made a presentable cup. Nothing mind-boggling, but the coffee was in itself not mind-boggling. Warm, comfortable, light. Good coffee. I cannot recall more than that.

One thing I noticed here was that there was a grainy-ness to the coffee. I experienced the same with the Hyperion / Honduras / Pedro Zuniga / Washed from January. When ground, it kicks up a lot of white grounds. I think those are the ones adding the weird flavor. I don't enjoy that flavor. 

Roos Roast / El Salvador / Finca El Milagro / Natural Bourbon

I have only ordered a long pull once before and I was disappointed. Roos is the only place I have ever seen it. They do a big coarse dose into a portafilter, then they run like 10 oz of water through the puck for a rather espresso-ey cup of coffee. For a metal filter coffee person, they would probably like this more than a paper filter coffee. It is sort of reminiscent of AeroPress. 

This was actually a really good long pull, good enough that I returned to Roos later for a second (see next post from Roos). The notes on the bag were quite accurate. For a natural process coffee, it was super mild. It was a great coffee for a colder day and I would certainly desire this coffee again. The natural process complemented the coffee very well. 

Metric Coffee / Colombia / Carlos Esteban Cortes

I did a quick trip to Chicago, which may become my new home in a few months. I did research online and one friendly Redditor left a great list of all the most notable cafes in the city. He said:

The only local roaster spots that are specifically worth traveling to for espresso (i.e. you’re a total coffee nerd/in the industry/this is how you usually spend vacations) and are on par with the best spots in the country are going to be Metric and Four Letter Word. 

So, naturally, I went to go see what was up with this cafe that was reportedly so good that it was worth traveling to for some espresso. 

I arrived and found the description online was very accurate. Standing room only, outside patio. The baristas were moderately friendly. The machine was normal, but had some modifications with a monitor on top and a wire running out of it into a small display. They didn't have multiple options on espresso, just the one I ordered. I was in search of great espresso, however, and I was told they have it. Marionberry, Cacao Nib, Tangerine Zest" did not matter to me. I wanted someone to make me great espresso on the merits of the brew.

The flavor was not memorable, but it was a very approachable and well done espresso with very little of the attributes that you find in most cafe espresso. I drank it very fast, which was disappointing to me. I do not enjoy the fascist nature of fast coffee, I like to luxuriate in my beverage. However, they did a good job. I would return and order coffee.