Saturday, November 19, 2011

Honduras Luis Alphonzo Hernandez - Farm Aguas Dulces, San Luis Planes, Santa Barbara Cup of Eccellece Lt 14

well the response to our current Honduras Cup of Excellence Coffee - lt 14 has been excellent, and has seen us move a lot of this product in a relatively short space of time

It's a lighter roast with a slow roast profile which is excellent for aging - and I found myself drinking this wonderful coffee both at home ans at work every day for seven days post roast, although,I found myself thinking,

"Wow... the nose is really tight and the profile's not really giving much away - I sure hope it improves with age"

So naturally I was reluctant to promote the product at work until it had a little age on it - so I resisted doing so - and then, WHAM! Eight days post roast this coffee really leapt out at me - both as a pour-over,and as an espresso based coffee - and I couldn't believe how much it had changed, if not overnight, then at least since I first began tasting it

I know it sounds a bit like floury 'wine speak,' but I began thinking about this coffee pretty early on in terms of a fine red wine, which has been made to last - not in terms of palate structure - but in terms of the nose being quite closed, and not giving much away in its early stages of life

I was quietly confident that it would open up and present better with age - although you can never be absolutely certain, but open up it did in its quiet magnificence, as the early herbaceous notes and malolactic acid structure gave way to ripe strawberries, and subtle tannins

Anyway, it all sounds a bit flouncy, but the main point that I aim trying to get across is that coffee is often touted as 'the new wine,' but in reality very few coffees IMHO live up to this epithet

In this instance however the Honduras Aguas Ducles lt 14 Cup of Excellence lived up to and exceeded all expectations, displaying characteristics and character traits similar to the wine making and aging process - but the main thing is that it tastes great - especially as a filter coffee that has been allowed to cool down to room temperature

It's what we used to refer to when I was in the wine industry as GPM

(Good Piss Mate)

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