Jun 13 2008
Brazil Carmo de Minas-Fazanda Esperance
To paraphrase Bill Shakespeare: “What is in a name?” A lot of commercial coffee tends to come from Brazil, which is the largest producer of low grade arabica beans( according to Tom from Sweet Marias) . If you buy a can of cheap coffee from the grocery store, chances are around 90 percent that some of the stuff within it was grown in Brazil. So what is it about the Fazanda Esperance that sets it apart from the stuff found in a can at the good ol’ 7-11? With a name as long and distinctive as Brazil Carmo de Minas Fazanda Esperance, you cannot call this coffee generic right? Or, A cheap arabica by any other name, does it still taste like muck?
I roasted my first batch for 25 minutes, with the second cracks just kicking in as the cooling cycle went on. At least, I assumed it was the seconds cracks. I was busy cleaning up my living room and did not really note if and when the first crack went off. A great feature or potential problem of my little Nesco coffee roaster is that it is pretty much fully automatic. Although the booklet strongly recommends that you never leave the roaster unattended, the temptation to multi task is usually too great for me to pass up. Once I know what I want from a particular coffee bean, I usually set the time and go off to to do other things coming back every couple minutes to check on the progress and to make sure no fires have started. I know that this is not very scientific of me, but hey, what can I say, I am a busy person.
Anyhow, the beans came out a bit too dark at 25 minutes making me second guess the whole “set it and forget it” theory. I guess I should have paid more attention to the process, Tom suggests roasting this bean to a city plus roast to get the best flavor out of it and I went ahead and got all full city up on it. The taste was barely even noteworthy. I made a vow to pay attention to the process next time.
The next time…
On my second attempt to tackle the Fazanda Esperance, my inattention once again gave me a sub par cup that is chalky and unforgettable. It was my day off, and I was busy cooking up a couple batches for a friend in Michigan, while plucking away on my on the computer working my work in progress novel. In my distraction, I kinda, sorta forgot about the chaff cup that is supposed to sit on top of the glass chamber. I ended up getting another dark batch, loaded with messy chaff. Curses! I still have not gotten a good batch of beans from this selection. I know its not the beans fault, but rather my own blase’ attitude that is keeping from tasting some good Brazilian coffee. I made a vow to be more careful with the last of the beans that I have.
