Aug 31 2008
Again with the Gesha
I guess that there is no need to justify myself. I knew I was going to go through with it all along. Besides, it is not like buying an pound of coffee for eighteen bucks is going to break me. Heck, if you break it down by the cup, I am still getting off pretty dang cheap. Let me see here, I get around 16 venti’s per pound of homeroast and figuring that I pay around two bucks for a Starbucks…Umm lets see, I guess I am getting some super primo coffee at about half the cost still. Not too bad. I mean sure, most of the beans I buy run around 6 bucks a pound, one third of the cost of the Panama Esmeralda Gesha lot #10, but then again at 18 bucks, lot #10 is still a heckuva lot cheaper then the two above it which run 66 and 122 bucks a pound repectively. Well, enough of all this number throwing. Lets get down to meat and potatoes of this blog entry: how the stuff tastes.
I roasted my first batch of the #10 for 24 minutes in my Nesco roaster, 24 is the average time I like to start a new batch of beans off on and then tweak it from there. I heard the first initial cracks around the 12 minute mark and the second ones were starting up once the five minute cooling cycle kicked in. I got a nice uniform full city roast that was smelling pretty good. Already knowing that the Gesha tastes better when allowed to sit around for a few days, I resisted making any the next day, resorting to some over roasted Koratie wet Process that I really should have just tossed.
On day two however, I could wait no longer and brewed up a big pot of the stuff in the Chemex. I think I was perhaps a bit too tired that morning, and I ended up making some really strong coffee. Well it did cause me to wake up and say “good morning America!”, I think that taste wise, it was a bit too concentrated to pick up on any little subtleties that would cause my eyeballs to pop and me to say “damn, this is one great cup of coffee!” The next day, I was a little bit more conservative with my beans and my grind, and got a much better cup. This coffee is extremely smooth and has a distinct aftertaste that reminded me of sucking on a Werther’s candy.
On day four, I decided to brew up the remaining beans in my French Press in liue of the Chemex. This was the best coffee yet from this moderately pricey bean. Perhaps, it because I have been French Pressing for a long time now, and brewing a great cup this way has become second nature. Or maybe, a four day rest was what this bean needed to reach its peak flavor. What ever the case is, my eyeballs did pop and I thought to myself, ” damn! this is some good frickin coffee.”
So in conclusion, I guess the Gesha lot #10 is worth the 18 bucks I plopped down for it. Just to be sure however, I am going to really tweak around with the other two bacthes I have left to roast from the pound I bought. At 18 bucks a pound, I am not looking for a orgasmic experience ( I would expect that at the $120 range though ) but I do expect my eyeballs to pop a bit. I guess we will see.
