11/12/2015

Las Moras Farm/NOZY Coffee

Beans: Las Moras Farm
Roaster: The Roastery
Roasting Degree: Mdium
Origin/Area: Pozo Negro, 
  Municipality of Masaguara, Intibucá, Honduras
Grade: N/A
Screen: N/A
Defect: N/A
Altitude: 1,750m
Variety: Catual
Process: Fully washed
※Winner of COE Honduras Program 2014 

【Flavor scale】
Aroma: 3
Sweetness: 5
Acidity: 3
Bitterness: 3
Richness: 4    
 ※Grade 1 to 5
【Impression】
Bold, lightly smokey, deep, acidic, bright vinegar like, immature apple, green, slight note of boysenberry, fresh lime juice, grind cacao, dates sugar, muscovado, rich, milky mouth-feel, creamy, smooth, a touch of spice, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, paprika hidden, dark chocolate, Valrhona MANJARI and Callebaut semi-sweet, bright bitterness over rich sweetness, well balanced, plum, delicate acidity, pomegranate, a drop of cranberry juice, tangy sweetness, slight impression of dark caramel, black cherry, deep and rich sweetness as a long lasting aftertaste.
【Note】
Crop of Discovery...as it says.  This was delivered just for Nozy coffee, the Roastery, then roasted and sold JPY 2,500/200g.  Drip tool is on your choice, but my recommendation is either paper or Nel Drip.  Mesh coffee filter, French Press and AeroPress add too much oil into a cup to confuse, to dim, detail of flavor with their roasting.    


11/10/2015

Nozy Coffee


Glad to pay a visit to one of the most popular and growing Japanese specialty coffee roaster: Nozy Coffee, the Roastery in Shibuya, Tokyo.

This roaster was somewhat popular as so called Japanese third waver and it was my very first visit to there.  It was nearly 17:00 and cafe was packed, filled with people.  It was a drizzling evening, getting darker and darker, but the weather had not much to do with the cloud inside.  To be honest, it was awkward moment to stand in front of this cafe, even to step inside the cafe.  If you are familiar with San Francisco and Los Angeles rosteries, we may share the feelings: The exterior resembles Intelligentsia Coffee @ Venice, and the interior architecture/accessory mixture of Four Barrel and Sightglass in SF.
The cafe space is narrow and deep, the island style coffee bar, espresso bar, is surrounded by the counter at near the entrance;then, a roasting machine and a pourover bar is at the end.  As usual, the espresso machine is LA MARZOCCO and a roster is Probat.

As they define themselves, there are series of single origins displayed.  Small but neatly displayed beans even have a bean aroma samples for each.  For pourover, they use "Cores Gold Filter", a metal filter plated with pure gold, with 18g:250g of beans/water ratio, medium/coarse grind.

Though a cup of espresso drink seems more charming, the first choice was "pourover" to check the roasting and brewing skills with "Gahahe/Burundi", Winner of COE Burundi program 2014, and "Las Moras/Honduras", COE Honduras program 2014.  

【Profile of Gahahe/Washed】
Region: Kayanza, Burundi
Farmer: Webcor
Varietal: Bourbon
Altitude: 1,800m
Cup Comment: mandarin orange, passion fruit, sweet long aftertaste, honey, syrup, round mouth-feel.

The flavor was weak and the all of "cup comment" was too sheer to enjoy details in the cup there.  Coffee flavor, as all we know, also depends on a barista, so the choice was to bring a bag of beans and to check the flavor.  The choice was "Las Moras/Honduras".  The conclusion is it is better to check a Barista first before asking a pourover at Nozy Coffee, or buy a bag to make a cup at home.