NYCS 3.30.09

So the New York Coffee Society struck once again yesterday, this time for its first ever Queens cupping at Sweet Leaf in Long Island City (It’s actually just one stop into Queens off the 7 train, and one block from said subway stop. Quite convenient). The owner Rich was kind enough to let us temporarily commandeer his shop to cup coffees!

Coffee #1. Plowshares Coffee Carmen Estate

Fragrance (dry): orange x2 , chocolate x4, cherries, wood
• Aroma (wet) & Break: peanut butter, socolate, high notes/bright, sea salt
• Brightness: high, very bright, honey crisp apple
• Flavor: trail mix: honey, apricot, banana, strawberry, moist wood chips, peanut butter, cashew candy
• Body: light
• Aftertaste: dry, sweet, clean

This was the crowd favorite, although it was close between #1 and #2 on the table.

Coffee #2. Stumptown Kenya Ngunguru

Fragrance (dry): pickle, green & woody, spice, molasses, ripe fruit, nice funk, tomato, strawberry, currant, orange zest, nutmeg
• Aroma (wet) & Break: dank tobacco, apricot, wood, tea fruit, vanilla custard, freaking awesome
• Brightness: super strawberry, very high
• Flavor: chocolate, peach, lemon, veggies, daffodils, charcoal, tomatoes, bamboo
• Body: light, medium, more than expected
• Aftertaste: peppery, citrus, good fruit

This was a “2nd Window” Kenyan coffee, which is a new way for buyers to work around the traditional Kenyan Auction system, and therefore provides us at the consumer level with much more information about the specific region/farm the coffee comes from.

Coffee #3. Rich’s Home roasted (city plus roast) Ethiopia Sidamo

Fragrance (dry): chocolate berry, dish soap, citrus, ashy barbecue, toast w/butter, oak, burgundy, overripe cherries
• Aroma (wet) & Break: sour cream, lavender on bedsheets, very dark, bitter chocolate, pure
• Brightness: lowest, medium
• Flavor: dried cherry, blueberry, wood roasted, smokey, chocolate x3, blackberry, pete moss
• Body: denser, heavy x2, thick
• Aftertaste: linger, piney, dark, chocolate

Rich brought us some coffee he had roasted himself, the last of a batch of Sidamo from Sweet Maria’s. Here’s the notes from when it was listed on the website:

“This lot is from a particular coop in the Sidamo region, Fero Cooperative. The process for this special selection involves harvesting ripe cherry, promptly scree-drying on raised beds, and extra steps in sorting the coffee after it is hulled. This differs from other dry-process Ethiopia coffees, which are often picked at the tail-ends of the crop, indiscrimiately picked, and consolidated later (mixing good coffee with bad). It’s also the same process used with the Idido Misty Valley coffee, and the results of this careful and coordinated processing really show in the cup. This lot has both berry fruit and dried apricot.”

Thanks everyone for coming, and look for more NYCS events soon!