Jul 19 2009
TB PB
Last year, as you regulars might recall, I could not stop yammering about how much I liked a certain coffee from Tanzania called the Tanzanian Blackburn Estate AA. I still find myself yacking about it and I have been hanging on to the last remnants of a five pound bag that I won off of Ebay (which I will have to get around to finishing up before it starts to get moldy). Anyways, just like the third season of Dexter (which should be out on DVD next month) I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2009 Blackburn estate crop to show up on the Sweet Maria’s site.
Well, the wait is over. Sort of anyways.
According to Tom of SM, who knows way too much about coffee, this years Blackburn AA crop suffered greatly on its trip from Mt. Oldeani to the port and he has decided not to carry it but did pick up the slightly more pricey but still worth it (5.65 a pound) Peaberry from the estate which somehow made the trip without getting faded or old tasting in the process.
Since the guy seems to know what he is talking about (just take a gander at his site and tell me this guy is not a uber coffee nerd), I am going to have to take Tom of Sweet Maria’s word for it that the AA is not worth it and stick with the peaberry for now. At least it gives me an excuse to use the extra drum that I bought for the Behmor (see picture).
I roasted my first 8oz batch of the stuff at P3 (the defacto profile) starting it at 12:00 and added an extra 3:30 after start to help lengthen up the last leg a bit. I heard the first crack at the 2:20 mark but I cannot be sure since peaberries seem to want to crack real quiet like. The cool cycle hit before the second crack came and the batch came out looking pretty Full City.
The taste was not fully there the day after but the next couple days my tastebuds woke up to remember that smooth brown sugary taste that Tanzanian Blackburn estate is all about. It is definitely a good cup, if not as mind blowing as last years crop and I can see myself getting a bit more of it from SM before it runs out, especially since the India KatteHollay already is out already. (hey I just cannot have a paragraph without a statement in parenthesis can I)
If I can find it on theCoffee Buying Club or Coffee Buyng CoOp, I just might pick me up a few LB’s of the AA just for experimental sake, otherwise, I guess I must continue my search for a new favorite coffee (and then make sure I buy enough so that it lasts me).
