Hello, and welcome to the Grumpy Mule Coffee Blog.
Here the daily - and when things get a little bit chaotic, weekly – thoughts, feelings and general rants of Ian and Damian will be displayed in their raw state. We’ll do our very best to keep all of our entries coffee related, though it’s possible that we’ll go off on sideways tangents occasionally; that’s stream of conscious thought for you.
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Cupping Panama Esmeralda Special 2010
Fri 14 May, 2010Completely my fault, but was a bit slow in signing up for this year’s Esmeralda Special auction and samples so the Grumpy Mule team has only just got around to roasting and cupping them. The auction – the second Hacienda La Esmeralda has held for their Esmeralda Special coffees – is next Tuesday on 18th May 2010.
This year there are 7 unique batches of this amazing coffee. We also roasted the “Best of Panama” Esmeralda Special sample we had here in the lab to compare with the 7 on offer through the auction.
Louise and Ian were on hand to help me offer a few thoughts on each of the samples. Cupping these coffees always takes me right back to tasting at Hacienda La Esmeralda HQ back in 2008 – I have fond memories of that brief visit up to Boquete.
Mario Carnaval (floral and very clean), Mario San Jose (sweet and orangey), Baru (jasmine, big berry fruits) and the Best of Panama (wine gums, very zesty) lots came out top for us - all delightfully varied - although the Colga batch seems very flavoursome and bright this year too, even though it's from the lowest altitude.
Producer details of each batch below below:1. Mario Carnaval
Harvested in February from the Jaramillo farm (1500-1650m)
2. Mario San Jose
Harvested in March from the Jaramillo farm (1500-1650m)3. Mario Enero
Harvested in... -
Best of Panama Coffee Results 2010
Fri 14 May, 2010Best of Panama 2010
It was great fun to be able to judge the 2010 Best of Panama in the Grumpy Mule cupping room. The SCAP (Specialty Coffee Association of Panama) put a lot of faith in the international cuppers to get the job done and it would seem everything went according to plan. Well, except the ash cloud delayed the shipment of samples around the globe, meaning a late SCAP dinner to announce the results...
The Official SCAP Top 10:1. Esmeralda Special
2. Panacoffee Special
3. Geisha Carleida
4. Carmen Estate
5. Cafe Don Diego No.2
6. Elida Estate
7. El Burro Estate
8. Pakamara Don Julian
9. Cafe Kotowa Don K
10. Cafe Don Diego No.1
Damian's Top 5:
Couldn't argue with the technical supremacy of the Top 2 both of which were fantastic Geisha coffees (and Esmeralda Special remains one of the finest coffees you can find anywhere), , but my favourite was probably from the Carmen Estate and if you love bizarre coffee - as I do - then the Pacamara from Don Julian was a really great example of this varietal which can sometimes come across as a little raw.
1. Esmeralda Special "black cherry jam, floral, mandarin, fantastic ripeness, sweet and citrus balance"
2. Panacoffee Special "very aromatic, super fruits, bursting on break, very sweet and bright"
3. Carmen Estate... -
Where To Buy Oromo Coffee
Thu 13 May, 2010Oromo Coffee Company
Grumpy Mule is pleased to report that the website of The Oromo Coffee Company - a community trading initiative between the Oromia Coffee Farmers and the Oromo community in Greater Manchester - has been re-launched. The company initiative and it's Fairtrade coffees from Oromo Ethiopia have been supported by ourselves, the brilliant Lorna Young Foundation (who pioneered the project), AsOne design, Tameside council and Jurang Fair Trade.
To visit the Oromo Coffee Company website, click here.
To buy packs of Oromo Ethiopian coffee from Jurang Fair Trade online, click here. -
Expanding The Blackburn Estate
Wed 05 May, 2010New Reservoir and Coffee Terraces
Lots going on at the Blackburn coffee estate in Tanzania, where Michael and Tina are expanding the reservoir and irrigation systems which will ultimately help to increase the planted area of Arabica coffee trees.
Michael reports that they've experienced a good rainy season, and that they're due to harvest the smaller fly crop next month. In their quest to expand the planted area of coffee trees on the estate, they've made further improvements for water storage and irrigation the the terrraces.
A new, elevated reservoir has been constructed and has already soaked up the recent rains. Gravity will then allow the water to feed into underground dip irrigation system to help establish the new coffee trees quickly. Around 10,000 new trees of the hardier TC-10 Arabica varietal have been planted in the new terraces, covering about 5.5 hectares of the estate.
Once the trees have established, the drip irrigation is removed to allow the roots to develop deeper. They hope that the trees will produce good yields without the need for non-organic inputs.
All very exciting and hugely impressive! -
BBC Radio 4 Food Programme: Coffee
Mon 19 April, 2010This afternoon, BBC Radio 4's Food Programme with Sheila Dillon has featured an extremely interesting piece on coffee, from speciality to instant coffee. It features many key players in the UK coffee industry, from importers to roasters and coffee shops and is well worth hearing - particularly in the way the industry and consumer attitudes to coffee is changing.
You should be able to listen to the program on the BBCi player or use this link to find the podcast of the program.
Thanks Chris from the Lorna Young Foundation, I wouldn't have known this was on and just managed to catch it live!
