Law On Coffee

El Salvador Pasa – Counter Culture January 30, 2009

This Counter Culture, El Salvador Pasa was a tough coffee to review. I first bought it during the Winter break, and drank it out of a drip system every morning with the wife. It was good, but it was drip. I really wanted to taste it with a press pot so I could compare to the rest of the coffees I’ve reviewed. Not to mention, it’s the right way to drink it.

So now a few coffees later, I picked up another bag of the Pasa and can finally appreciate it for what it is, a pretty great cup. Very smooth, no beginning or end, just coffee. It’s hard to explain, but picture that point in taking a sip when you know the coffee is past your tongue and you get that aftertaste. This coffee didn’t have any of that. Like a hot Krispy Kreme glazed donut, it just melted.

There’s a nice crisp fruit flavor, but nothing overpowering like a Yiracheiffe. I get a little smokyness, but not a ton. Just a good coffee taste with a hint of fruit, very little acid and no bite. Really great cup.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see this coffee available on the Counter Culture site. Maybe I grabbed some of the last they had, or maybe it’s just not listed.

Peru Valle del Santuario – Counter Culture January 16, 2009

Back to the office after a nice 2 week break, and back to Counter Culture to start the new year off right. My friend John roasted some Peruvian greens from Counter Culture over the holidays and was raving about them, so I figured it was worth trying some pre-roasted.

I’ve never had coffee from Peru before, but I would imagine it’ll taste like most South American coffees, bright and crisp. This coffee comes from a few farms in the San Ignacio area of Peru, so while it’s not a single farm, it’s definitely single origin by my book.

This coffee doesn’t disappoint. It’s extremely smooth with subtle vanilla and chocolate flavors. There’s no crazy finish, what you get from the first sip stays with you, but the flavor lingers a bit in your mouth. It’s really nice for a breakfast cup, I would totally get this again.

Buy Peru Valle del Santuario from Counter Culture

Costa Rica Tarrazu – Uber Geek Coffee Roasters January 2, 2009

This is a weird one. My wife is big into cloth diapering for our daughter. So much so that she makes her own sometimes, knits covers and posts of message boards. The most popular way to sell your diapers or covers is using hyena cart, which is a web service that lets you set up your own store, stock it, etc. Once day cruising Hyena Cart’s site, she found the Uber Geek Coffee Roasters and got me a bag.

Talk about local roasters, these guys are as local as you can get. Not to me of course, they’re in Montana somewhere, but this is what I think of when I hear “small local roaster.” They literally roast in their backyard, and close down the business when it’s too cold to go out. Awesome.

I got a bag of their Costa Rica Tarrazu beans. It’s rated a full city but I felt it was a little lighter than that. Great aroma and color from the bag. Since I was at home for the winter break, we made drip as well as french press. I think these beans made a great drip coffee, strong coffee taste with a mellow ending. The french press however, nothing special to report. Just tasted like Costa Rican coffee, bold and rich.

I’d like to try some of their other coffees, especially their Huehuetenango since I liked Counter Culture’s so much although it is listed as decaf, so I dunno. I like the idea of helping out the little guys, and these guys are definitely little.

Learn More About Uber Geek Coffee Roasters