Toraja

Name: Toraja
Roaster:  Kasyu
Roasting degree: Medium Dark
Area: Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, Indnesia
      TOARCO TORAJA Plantation
Variety:  tim tim, typica 
Grade: N/A
Screen: N/A
Altitude:900 -1,500m
Defect: N/A
Processing Method: N/A

【Note】
Queen of coffee!  Deep sweetness and chocolate flavor has been fascinating coffee buyers for a long time...   TOARCO TORAJA shows a long time domination of high quality beans by Japanese buyers.  

【Impression】
Medium, hickory, smokey, woody, clean, fresh tuned, juicy, cocoa, pure chocolate, lemon & orange with white grape, smooth, very sweet acidity as apricots, hint of nuts, fruity earthiness,  rich, low-toned acidity, lively mouth feel, a long lasting aftertaste of full layer of round sweetness followed by lively light acidity.

Kobai ~ Spring blend

Beans: Kobai（紅梅） 
          Seasonal Blend～After Blend
Roaster: Kasyu

【Impression】
Medium dark to dark, mellow, nutty, fresh apricot, matured plum, peach, light texture, dark chocolate, sweetness of fresh fruits, boiled red barley, roasted nuts, cashews, almonds, touch of orange, a long lasting after taste of bitterness and sweetness, juicy sweetness gradually grows. 

【Note】
Fresh roasted batch may brings "handy&easy" morning coffee with a coffee machine.  Kasyu always gives antique names to their blend coffees, some of which are named after "The Tale of Genii" written in the 11th Century.  Their flavor does not cue any line of the story but the names somewhat successfully add elegance to their image.

Colombia Maragogipe

Beans: Colombia Maragogipe
Roaster: Kashu
Roasting Grade: Full city

Here is my favorite coffee from daily, friendly choices.

Is this specialty coffee?  Is this single origin??  Is this from COE winning farm?

I do not know and I do not bother to ask those questions, because I know how good they are.

They select wonderful beans, so called “premium beans”, all over the world and always offer freshly roasted.  They also carry 2 to 3 seasonal offer of single beans, together with their regular selections, both blends and single beans.  Maragogipe is one of regular selections, which has clear fine taste with light silky body, and dark cacao like bitterness/sweetness with a touch of yuzu-citrus like sourness. 

Maragogipe, also called "elephant bean", is a variety of Arabica which produces extreme large size beans.  As picture shown, Maragogipe has almost three times bigger than usual coffee beans, but has rich and dense flavor.  Due to the size, roasting is often "challenge" for the roasters.  Flavor of coffee always depends on roasting and this beans show it more obvious.  If your favorite roaster has Maragogipe, maybe it is the one to try.    

Highland Harrar Bold

Beans: Highland Harrar Bold
Roaster: Kasyu
Roasting degree: Medium
Origin: Ethiopia


【Impression】
Medium Dark, well matured, sweet aroma, scent with matured dry fruits, mixed with Madagascar vanilla, Bergamot and Barley Malts, mellow rich bitterness, a tint of lemony acidity hidden,  dark chocolate like, blackberries infused with matured red wine, soothing moderate bitterness, mouth-filling, rich, a fragrant juicy sweetness as a long lasting after taste.

【Note】
Ethiopia is the paradise, maybe the heaven, for coffee lovers, which is often referred as where native coffee threes grow.  Unlike Kenya and Tanzania, Ethiopia barely escaped from influence of Modern European agriculture and has preserved their traditional cultivation which enables them to produce higher quality of beans.  
Highland Harrar is grown in Eastern area of Ethiopian Plateau, 2,000～3,000masl, where blessed with the ideal environments for coffee cultivation.  Their beans are fully matured on trees and picked by hands. 




   

Honduras HG (High-grown)

Name: Honduras High Grown
Roaster:  Kasyu, 
              ("珈琲庵 珈集", Cafe Kasyu)
Roasting degree: High 
Area: N/A
Variety: N/A, Arabica 
Grade: HG
Screen: N/A
Altitude: 900-1,200m
Defect: N/A
Processing Method: Washed

【Impression】
Medium to heavy body, watery texture, nutty aroma with caramel, juicy but flat flavor, high citric acidity, mix of orange and tangerine, sweetness of almond together with coconut butter and caramel, tangy bitterness, watery light tone, a short lasting aftertaste of smoky sweetness and tint of acidity.
Balanced but flat, w/o significant character to be noted.  Light like water, which may be favored by non coffee lover.  


【Note】
Honduras used to be high status, and still is.  Coffee in Honduras originally has been brought by the Spaniards in 1700's from the Ethiopia area of Africa, where coffee were originally grown.  Most of Honduran coffee is a rich arabica, grown in highlands.  Honduran government has been strictly regulating "branding" of their coffee in terms of elevation, about 1,500m ( 4900feet).  The highest criteria is SHG, which is given to beans grown 1,500 - 1,950m.     

Kasyu ~ neighbors coffee roaster

Sometimes, freshness has higher priority then flavor.  Needless to say, flavor and freshness must be united and valued evenly, but this happens.

The selection for this time:

Honduras HG (High-grown)
Highland Harrar Bold
Columbia Maragogipe

This roaster sometimes over-roast, so hope this lots are lucky ones.