Despite the majority of the espresso I drink is either straight or caffé americano style, milk frothing is an art I’ve always admired. Sure pulling a perfect shot of espresso is an art itself, and as an enthusiast (I don’t consider myself an aficionado yet) a whole other level that’s part of the coffee experience. There is something about being able to hand a guest a cup of coffee they wouldn’t be intimidated by. Once the word “espresso” enters into the offer of coffee, people seem to immediately be put off. And this is something I totally understand, but at the same time wish they would trust me.

So how does milk frothing help the intimidation problem? First, a properly prepared latte or cappuccino looks beautiful! Presentation is half the battle. While I think a wonderfully tiger stripped/speckled double espresso is a sure sign of pleasure, some people just see something thick in a cup. Properly steamed/frothed milk adds a layer of sweetness beyond just plain ol’ milk. There is also fun to be had creating iced drinks with frothed milk. In all, I think even the shyest coffee drinker might give a latte or cappuccino a second sip before turning it away completely.

And now I can get to what I really was aiming for, my ability to reproduce a decent cappuccino has arrived. With a little finesse my presentation and foam will become more presentable, but the first step is to be consistent.  Thanks to Paul over at KoffeeKosmo I’ve a technique that I understand every step in order to reproduce steady results. You can find a break down of the KoffeeKosmo frothing method at Coffee Snobs.

You can see how well my progression is going, I posted my first real cappuccino earlier this year. The big problem with that cappuccino was the foam being too stiff. Today’s pictures show a nicer, more velvety foam. I’m hoping with some more practice I can create some simple latte art and nicer a cappuccino presentation. I’m a little rough around the edges.

Panama "Sieta Dias de Bellota" Bottomless Extraction

I absolutely adore coffees from Panama, they are intense! The “Sieta Dias de Bellota” has left me with just that, a week of wonderfully beautiful coffee.

This coffee carries itself very well at a Full City. When iced the explosion of fruit and slight chocolate is amazing! I tasted fig, mango, even apricot. Was just deliciously smooth. Hot it lends itself more to the fig side, but still quite enjoyable. I wanted to bring out more of the chocolate notes and brought a second batch to a Vienna. While it lost a lot of the fruit notes I saw having it iced, the Hershey chocolate notes was well worth it. Straight espresso had an intense chocolate aroma, and held a nice slight fig after taste. Reminded me of Italian cookies dipped in chocolate.

On a side note, I need to work on getting better light in my espresso station’s corner for photos. I love bottomless extraction photography. The way the espresso can twist and stripe as it’s pulled amazes me. Ah, physics!

Guatemala Bourbon, Full City+

We’ve tried quite a few Bourbon cultivars, and this Guatemala Bourbon is probably the best and most distinct I’ve had so far.

I absolutely love when coffees distinguish themselves right off the get go. Most of the time when roasting a coffee goes through the same stages of smell. But once in awhile you get one that adds something special. This Guatemala made the entire house smell like baking apples. I decided to bring the roast to a Full City+. I think the apple aroma would have brought a nice brightness at a City+, but you know me and my darker roast tendencies.

When you’re presented with a caffé americano the first thing you notice is the heavy vanilla and caramel aroma. This has got to be one of my favorite combinations. The only thing that topped it off was the combination of the flavor in the cup. A single sip yields a dominate blackberry note accompanied by slight chocolate. The overall cup is balanced and smooth.

If you’re going to make milk drinks, I would keep it too cappuccinos. Milk definitely brings out the chocolate note more, but if you make a latte you’ll end up covering the blackberry.

Yemen Mokha, Vienna roast

I’m always trying to find coffees we’ve never had, especially from different regions. The Yemen Mokha is the first coffee we’ve tried from Arabia.

The first thing that hits me with this coffee is the dark herbal notes mixed with anise and licorice; two flavors I really can’t stand. I knew this coffee was going to be an iffy purchase, but I always try and keep an open mind. It had promise during roasting, I could smell cinnamon and clove. Sadly neither were in the over all flavor profile of the cup.

My very first reaction to this coffee while visiting some family was rather disturbing. We brewed it up as drip and my first sip made me think of gravy. I was kind of embarrassed of my choice of coffee to bring to dinner when every one’s reaction to their first cup was “wow, this is meaty.” I really can’t think of a better way to describe that night’s coffee experience but,  a cup full of coffee gravy. Once I got home to try it as espresso, I wasn’t gaining any ground with it. Peppery, herbal, and anise. Sorry, that really doesn’t make a happy espresso for me.

But don’t let me totally detour you from this coffee. It was actually quite nice in milk. Some black walnut came through in a cappuccino I made and a hint of spiced chocolate. It was rather enjoyable.

Rwanda Dukunde Kawa Musasa, City Roast

This is my first time with a coffee at a City roast, which is as light as you can go in the roast spectrum. What makes this special is that the cup is going to have all the character of the bean and none of the roaster.

It’s amazing how much coffee varies. We’ve tried so many coffees from so many origins all over the globe without even leaving the house. And there are even more blends out there. It’s fun to see our coffee tastes narrow down to a certain region. I’m just starting to pay attention to taste depending on how the coffee was processed. But getting into that will have to wait for later.

The Rwanda Dukunde Kawa is really the first coffee I’ve raised an eyebrow too from Africa. I’m not much for floral coffees, and they tend to be a bit more bright and intended for light roasting. While the Rwanda is a City roast, the brightness is rather pleasant in an iced americano. The overall cup is sweet with a salt water taffy tanginess. The vanilla and caramel are more present to me in something like a caffé americano than having a straight espresso shot. The cherry hard candy notes really come out with slight florals straight up.

I have a bit of experimenting to do with my Behmor and lighter roast levels. But I feel the Rwanda Dukunde Kawa was a pretty easy coffee to roast, but pulling was a bit tricky. I’m not sure I have the perfect dose/tamp/heat figured out even after a full pound has been consumed. I’d be willing to give this coffee another try after I’ve grown a little more in experience. I won’t give up on coffees from Africa.

I’m still opening up to blends (and yes I know I need to do my write up on blends vs. SO) and when Sweet Maria’s comes out with a new one I have got to try. Consonanza really could benefit from a light roast like a City+, but I just couldn’t help myself bringing it to a Full City+. At a lighter roast you’ll get some nice chocolate orange accents, but darker leaves you with nice caramel and malt tones. Which made a fantastic cappuccino.

A few things I noticed while getting used to pulling (making espresso) with this blend. It loves hotter temperatures. I don’t actually measure what temp my group head or water sits at while I pull a shot, but my Europiccola is notorious for becoming too hot after three or four consecutive shots. This blend got better the more shots I pulled. Ok, I suppose that really is only one thing.

I always thought I liked coffees from Sumatra. When I first got into making press pot coffee I always tended to enjoy the Sumatra blends by Peet’s, or even Starbycks, depending on how I was brewing (believe it or not, it works well for toddies). So, once I started roasting and saw that green coffee from Sumatra was offered, I got very excited.

The coffee itself has a very nice body, heavy with low acidity. It even has a nice sweet caramelized sugar aroma. Where the coffee goes wrong for me is when you start tasting the black pepper and truffles. Kind of starts feeling like a V8 gone wrong. Perhaps this coffee is meant more for blends to bring out those caramelized sugars, fruits, and semisweet chocolate. As it stands for me, the Sumatra Takengon Classic is a coffee I won’t be using again unless I start doing blends.

The Salvadorian Bourbon has a nice smooth dense body with a slight citrus that makes it nice for iced americanos. I always appreciate sugar sweet and clean fruit coffees when it’s hot, even when they tend to be a bit more dense. I liked to let this coffee go a bit more into a Light Vienna roast to pair the fruit with a tangy chocolate. If you want to keep the citrus notes, bring it down to a Full City+.

The very first thing that hits you in a cup of the Colombia Tolima is the cinnamon aroma. And I mean real cinnamon, like when you’re baking cinnamon rolls from scratch. Since I primarily brew coffee as espresso this was an excellent caffé americano. As a straight shot it didn’t lend so much to the cinnamon as it did the fig and nutmeg notes.  The acidity was perfect. A very balanced brightness. It really has worked out for the end of summer. The body is silky and light.

As far as roasting goes, I tried a Full City and a Full City+. I think the Full City kept the nutmeg more, and bringing the roast into second crack started to simplify it down. Both were very good.

Now, I’m sure some people have noticed I tagged this as a blend rather than single origin. This coffee is a blend of microlots. There are some who would still consider this a single origin.

I’m starting to learn I really like dry coffees. Juicy coffees are nice, but there is something about a coffee finishing in your mouth with a nutty dryness that is pleasant to me. The Yellow Bourbon has this accompanied by a very almondy aroma. When roasted it filled the house with toasted graham cracker. When brewed it was more herbal with slight chocolate notes. Over all this was a very mild tasting coffee with a nice body. I kept the roast at a Full City+, but I imagine the acidity would be bearable at a City+ and might expose more of the coffee’s notes.