My kit came from Brass Horn in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I’ve tried to get in on James’ large scale tastings in the past, so I’m glad I got a crack at the last one.
I’ve cupped coffee before, but tasting four of the same beans processed differently and roasted the same is delightfully novel. I’ve just done an initial round of tasting and some of them are remarkably different.
The London team mixed up the bags, which makes me feel seen.
I’m familiar with Lucia Solis from her podcast, which I enjoy a lot and offers great perspective on coffee from a manufacturing side. It gets as deep as any coffee podcast I’ve heard.
Edit 1: Just finished the evaluation and grading process, which was fascinating. I found the coffees to be discernibly different but not in ways that were easy to break down 1-5. But the entire process, with as many people as took part, was incredible!
I can’t blame James for not planning to do this again; with how difficult and costly I assume this process is I’m shocked it happened once, much less multiple times with me catching the last one. Everyone responsible executed it beautifully. If James or Lucia attached themself to someone else who handled the logistics I would be there.
Edit 2: A few final thoughts.
One, the fruit and the terroir are paramount. Manipulation after picking uses the building blocks already present from the farmer. I knew that, but I will be able to point back to this tasting as the most stark possible example. No base flavor absent in the mechanically washed coffee was present in the others.
Obviously darker roasted coffees can exhibit roast flavors. Those have their own value, but in third wave/specialty coffee that’s usually as a compliment to the bean’s natural flavor.
Two, and this one surprised me, the native yeast produced something incredibly polished and similar to the saccharomyces inoculation. I’m aware of our many ambient microbes, but I expected a clarity or focus out of the more heavily manipulated coffee. Not the case.
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