December Julekaffe from Langøra Kaffebrenneri

I have actually known who would get the coveted "December Coffee" for months because of course, it had to be the roaster in the North Pole. This roaster holds off on releasing over half of their in-stock coffee until late November just to have the absolute best "Julekaffe" lineup in the game. The roaster being Langøra Kaffebrenneri from Stjordal, Norway. Mostly every roastery/brewery/distiller etc. in Scandinavia or even Northern Europe takes the Holiday special very seriously, but Langøra takes the cake for releasing the most outstanding products in the Julekaffe business. I was able to distribute four unique coffees that all were part of the holiday release. They also have the coolest front page video on their website. 

1. Honduras Capucas

Celaque National Park where Capucas Co-op is located

The first coffee comes to us from the Las Capucas region in the western corner of Honduras. This mix of Caturra and Catuai comes from various smallholder microlots and processed at the Capucas Co-op. It is processed as a Berry-dried Anaerobic, which from my previous post on advanced processing we now know means that the entire cherry was thrown in to sealed fermentation tanks. This fermentation lasted 72 hours. This is one of the more simple anaerobic coffees I have had, although it does pack some funky flavors. Which really just means I didn't get slapped in the face with tropical fruits and sweetness. However, the profile is lovely with flavors of Papaya, Cola, Clove, Strawberry. Embarrassingly, it took me almost three tries to brew this coffee right. Turns out I was grinding way too fine which was producing bitterness and I needed to use a lower ratio of water to coffee than anticipated.  I brewed this coffee with a 15.5:1 ratio with a coarser grind setting. I did a setting 2 clicks coarser than a standard setting and poured 3 pulses separate by 35 seconds. My third pour finished at 1:45 and my final brew time was 2:35. 

2. Ethiopia Gedeb Worka

I would not have guessed this coffee to be natural processed. It has such a clean profile with clarified fruit and delicate florals that played tricks on my brain. I have had many coffees in my life from the Worka Co-op in Yirgacheffe, so I initially shook this one off as maybe not being as interesting or traceable with a story as I like to share with everyone. However, delicious flavors will overcome any other selection criteria. I initially tasted a rush of honey, jasmine, and stone fruit. However, I did not receive enough coffee to dial this in. As a few of you know, I did not receive the entire order and I did not get my bag of this coffee and was not able to dial it in. Please check back in a few days for my brewing recommendations. To start I would recommend grinding 2-3 clicks coarser than normal starting point with a 16:1 coffee to water ratio.

3. Mexico Marisela Esperon

This super cool can of beans comes from producer Marisela Esperon from Oaxaca, Mexico. The Esperon family has been producing coffee in the region for decades. While many other neighboring farms and producers have abandoned coffee production due to low income, the Esperon family has invested in their craft and specialty production. They mostly grow Typica and Bourbon varietals like the one in this can, and generally use a controlled Natural Process to produce their award-winning coffee.When hot, I got a mouth full of caramel sweetness with exotic/tropical flavors to follow. Once cooled, it was less sweet but more tart. Everlasting Gobstopper tart. This is the best coffee I have had from Mexico. Strange that we are so close to Mexico yet this beautiful cup was sent to Northern Norway to be roasted and then shipped back here. I brewed this coffee with a 16:1 ratio and ground it a little bit coarser than usual. To offset the coarser grind I poured wider circles in order to push the super finely ground coffee to the bottom of the brewer and slow down the brew. I poured three pulses at 35 second increments with my last pour ending at 1:50. The drop time was 2:45. 

4. Guatemala La Libertad

This classic Guatemala profile comes from high in the mountains of Huehuetenango, the region in northwest Guatemala that seems to produce the best coffee year after year. La Libertad is the name of the town this coffee was processed in. This coffee was processed at a mill shared by many smallholder farmers that bring their highest quality ripe cherries to be blended with other farmers to create a sustainable life for their families. I refer to this coffee as a "crowd-pleaser" profile. Sweet and simple if you want it to be, however if you fancy to go digging there is much to discover. Notes of rich cacao, brulee, and wild cherry. I brewed this coffee with a 16:1 ratio using a slightly finer grind than usual. I followed a 30 second interval pulse schedule, pouring at 40 s, 70 s, and 100 s with a final brew time of 2:50. 

That wraps up the coffee selection this month. If you would like help brewing the two add-on April coffees this month, please reach out to me directly as I will not include the fancy stuff on my write-up for the main subscription. Have a great holiday everyone and see you when we get to say 2021!