Rwanda Cotecaga

Name: Rwanda Cotecaga
Roaster:  FourBarrel
Roasting degree: Medium Dark
Area: Macuba, Nyamasheke, Rwanda
Variety:  Bourbon
Grade: N/A
Screen: N/A
Altitude:1,500-1,700m
Defect: N/A
Processing Method: Washed

【Impression】
Light to medium, light smooth texture, fruity, earthy, spice, blackberry, dark cherry, black currents, high passion fruits acidity, refreshing freshness, layer of condensed fruitiness of tropical fruits and dark cherries bottomed with flat stable sweetness, dark sugar, soothing bitterness as a long lasting aftertaste with juicy, clear finish.    

【Note】 Fourbarrel beans at RedRock in Mountain View.  I would say, this may not be as fresh as the one sold in Mission, the main location, but still good enough to sense the roaster.  Although RedRock serves good enough coffee for Mountain View, always wish there are investors to support Fourbarrel to open their own roastery in Silicon Valley.   

Barista Championship Southwest regional

It's time for Barista Championship!!

Barista Championship Southwest regional is held in Santa Cruz hosted by Verve coffee from Mar.15th to 17th.  There are the finalist:
Charles Babinski, G&B Coffee, L.A
Eden-Marie Abramowicz, Intelligentsia, L.A
Truman Severson, Portola Coffee Lab, Costa Mesa
John Martin, Intelligentsia, Pasadena
Stacey Kock, Verve Coffee Roasters, Santa Cruz
Kevin “Tex” Bohlin, St. Frank Coffee, SF

Needless to say, this competition is pre-competition of USBC, The United States Barista Championship, prior known as NABC,  the North American Barista Competition.  USBC has been organized in 2003, honored Heather Perry of Klatch Coffee as the first champion .
USBC has grown rapidly together with SCAA, Specialty Coffee Association of America, as the third waver overtake the market.  Barista does not mean an expert in "espresso" but an expert in coffee with several serving skills.  Nowadays, there are variety of serving skills to compete.   

In Southwest regional, there are two categories; espresso and pourover.  As usual, there are barista from notable cafes/roasters such as counter culture,  Intelligentsia, Klatch and, certainly, Verve.  
USBC is not only the path to WBC, The World Barista Championship, but the premier competition in the States.  Now the USBC regulation has becoming more and more comprehensive and unified to measure barista's brewing skills to knowledge of coffee in general.  Certainly.  This competition, - maybe these competitions since Barista championship is the world wide phenomena, - is the tool to spread the gospel of specialty coffee, and  had worked as it designed.  A national coffee roasters/cafes is more advantageous than a local to be recognized having an champion or the final stage nominees.  I assume this is the one of the reason has caused temperature difference toward USBC in the industry.  There are issues behind the curtain, which nothing to do with competitors.
USBC has raised the bar of the barista profession and brought fantastic/high quality/accessible coffee market to the States.  If good flavor and high quality coffee became more and more available, that benefits our coffee life in general.  
      

Bolivia

Beans:  Bolivia
Roaster: Anada Coffee 
Varietal: 100% Typica

【Impression】
Medium dark to dark body, citric, high lemony aroma with jasmine, a tint of roasted almonds, silky, smooth texture, deep soothing bitterness, flavor of FORASTERO cacao beans, bottomed with sweetness of raw cashew nuts mixed with pistachio nuts, matured red wine like rich flavor, light acidity of lemon and yellow grapefruits on top, juicy sweetness and growing rich bitterness as a long lasting aftertaste.

【Note】
 There are no information given the origin of this beans, but this might be Copacabana Estate, Bolivia.  Flavor of this beans given less acidity and mellow sweetness/bitterness produced through processing methods.  Bolivia has developed processing methods and Copacabana Estate has blessing of nature both to cultivate rich cherries and to process clean coffee beans.

Anada Coffee is known as Tanpopo, means "Dandelion" in Japanese, located very coutry side of Kobe city.  This coffee shop & cafe, closes on Sundays and Holidays, always show something new with every visit.  

Tanpopo
６０８−４ Kandecho Hirotani, KobeNishi Ward, 
Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Brumas Del Zurqui Honey

Beans: Brumas Del Zurqui Honey
Roaster: Akai-mi coffee
Roasting Degree: City
Area: San Francisco de Heredia, Central Valley,  
         Costa Rica
Altitude: 1,300～1,600m
Varieties: Caturra
Processinng Method: Honey Methods
Screen: N/A
Grade: N/A

【Impression】
Light to medium body, clean and pure, lemony soothing aroma with dark cacao, sweet and mellow, slight lemony acidity as a top,  milk chocolate like bitterness, maple syrup like juicy sweetness as the core, a long lasting aftertaste with juicy sweetness.

【Note】

Brumas Del Zurqui is the Micromill established  in 2004 which adds and guarantees an excellent quality of coffee.  Due to the poor value of the coffee, this area decided to contracts a boutique coffee mill enables to promise sustainable production, environmental conscience and so on.  The mill contributes to elevate quality of Costa Rica, through developing honey process.  Their effort has been proved in COE.       

Finca Santa Sofia

Beans: Finca Santa Sofia
Roaster: Akai-mi Coffee
Area: Santa Ana, Apaneca, El Salvador

Altitude: 1,488m
Screen: N/A
Grade: SHG
Processing methods: Semi-wash
Varietal: Burbon, etc

【Impression】
Light to medium, light texture, citric aroma, fresh fruits, grapefruits, orange, lemon and lime as top note, citric soft and mellow acidity, clean bitterness, dutch cocoa, white grape, a short lasting clear aftertaste with mellow fruity sweetness.  

Central and South America ~ Akai-mi

Costa Rica and El Salvador.

Akai-mi coffee surprises us with something new.

The owner always selects the highest quality in the handy price range as a coffee freak.  Although origin are same, estates often varies.  

Both Costa Rica and El Salvador are single origin and well selected, which the name of estates has gone from my memory...Let's see, how they taste.

Mandheling ～ Blue Batak

Beans: Sumatra Mandheling - "Blue Batak" ~ Micro lot
Raster: Akai-mi Coffee
Region: Dolok Sanggul, Lake Toba Region, Sumatra, Indonesia 

Altitude: 1,350-1,550m
Varietal: Arabica
Screen: 17 up (90%)
Grade: SG
Processing: Sumatra traditional Method

【Impression】
Medium, clear and smooth, bitterness with a touch of acidity, sweetness of apricot on base taste, full body but sharp, clear aftertaste.
Chocolaty flavor with well matured Chinese pair flavor.

【Note】
Second batch of Blue Batak, the same lot but different batch from the last one in Dec.  Homogeneous flavor tendency and quality, but the first impression differ.  Roaster creates consistency in flavor and quality even with difference in "conditions", such as water contents of beans, roasting machine, and roaster himself.
Taster's condition also varies.  Tasting is "Treasure every encounter, for it will never recur."