Oct 14 2008
Taking it with me…
Sometimes, I do not know how my girlfriend puts up with my obsession for the go go juice. This past weekend, we went on a little camping trip to Yosemite with her mother, her sister and her sisters boyfriend. I used the trip as an excuse to buy a brand spanking new thermos to , you guessed it, bring along my favorite beverage. I had originally thought of buying a little camping percolator, but had decided that it was maybe going a bit too far. When I came home with this Thermos, my girlfriend just laughed, shook her head and then took a photo of me and my latest coffee related possession…
Well, this is a later photograph that she took at the campsite, but as you can see it is a big ol’ honking thermos.
The morning before our departure, I got up and brewed up a big pot of one of my latest aquisitions from Sweet Maria’s : Guatemala Oriente: Dry Process. It was probably the largest amount I ever attempted to brew in my Chemex and it was just enough to fill the thermos, plus have a cup left over to enjoy as we waited for our ride. I picked this coffee due to the fact that Tom from SM compared it to the Liberica Anohki, as well as the Aged Sumatra Lintong in overall intensity and flavor. Since I happen to really like both of these coffee, I figured my liking for this Dry Processed coffee from Central America was a shoe in.
The GODP does have the same intense blueberry profile that you find in the Anohki, and the smell that lingers out when you are brewing it is almost spot on. However, the initial taste, while still good, is not as mind blowing as the Liberica . It does have a good Harrar like taste to it and it is definitely unlike anything else that I have experienced from Latin America thus far ( an region known for its bright and clean coffee profiles). The aftertaste leaves your mouth feeling a bit dry, like you just finished drinking a good Hefewiezen , with the fruity notes still lingering for a few minutes afterward. Like the Aged Sumtra, this coffee is full of body but rather low in acidity making it more of a evening coffee as opposed to a breakfast cup.
The Yosemite weekend camping trip turned out to be a very cold one, but thankfully the coffee in my Thermos stayed warm until late that night. The next morning, I did wish that I had brought some sort of coffee making apparatus and had to resort to drinking hot cocoa. I did try to down the remainder of the coffee in my mug, but the 20 degree temperatures that occurred that night had turned the last remaining cup into a cold muddy mess that just was not palatable even if I had found a way to heat it up.
I do have a feeling that my palate will probably grow tired of the GODP after this batch, but I still find it an intriguing cup worthy of further examination. I think that it might make a good blending bean. As much as I love my new thermos, I think I might of gone overboard on the size. It is too big to to take to work with me (I bike) and our little camping trips do not occur all that often. But still, I feel justified in plopping down thirty bucks for something that will probably last my lifetime.
