On Thursday is was about the body…

Thursday’s cupping featured 2 great coffees – Sumtra Lake Tawar and Organic Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. Emily was our cupping leader (check out her profile). Once again, our cupping was a huge success plus an amazing learning experience. Thanks Emily and Aaron. This cupping rocked!

Emily worked closely with Aaron, one of the roasters, at Batdorf and Bronson to select the coffees. As far as coffees go, the Lake Tawar side by side with the Organic Yirgacheffe were two very different beans. Emily’s goal was also to teach us about describing the body of coffees (mouthfeel). The Yirgacheffe has a more full body than the Sumtra Lake Tawar; which means that the Yiracheffee felt heavier on our tongues. The way Emily introduced “body” to the cuppers was to have a series of cups containing half and half, whole milk, skim milk and just plain, filtered water. We sipped and slurped though each of those cups; getting our brains connected to our tongues and experiencing “body”.

We also had a series of food/herbs/spices on the table to help us with the aroma and flavors indicative of these coffees. We could clearly pick out the characteristics of the Sumatra – green bell pepper, white pepper, cucumber, sweet, smooth, very easy to drink, fresh. We experienced the Organic Yiracheffe as more full-bodied, aromas and flavors of dried apricots, lemon zest and corriander. Some of the cuppers also noted the coffee to be more woody or earthy.

To read Scott Merel’s, roastmaster and green coffee buyer for Batdorf and Bronson, coffee reports just click on the names of each of the coffees – Sumtra Lake Tawar – Organic Ethiopia Yiracheffe.

Braden is up next to lead the cupping and we can’t wait!

Remember if you can’t make the 4:30 pm cupping time one of our baristas will be serving French Press samples of the coffee at the espresso bar from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.