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This week’s roast at Oriole…Sweet columbian!

Roast Date: 29/9/09

Tasting Notes

Dry aroma: Toasted bread on the dry aroma

Wet Aroma: Carmelised muscovado, orchids

What a nice diversion! Finally we’ve got some great Colombian back into our blend. It’s been a loooong wait but all is worth it. On first pull we were getting overtly bright notes. But alas we down dosed, fined it up and set the brewhead temp at 93.6C. Once we really allowed for expansion the sweet notes finally came bursting forth. It really put a great big smile on our faces and a spring in our step.

Recommended as:

Espresso:

Sweet chocolate and burnt caramel aromas. Lively citrus and lime acidity overlaid over dark herbs and ginger root flavours. Syrupy thick textures with very long and  distinctly  dark chocolate and nut finish. Frankly we’re amazed at the the current state of this week’s roast. Perfect for espressos now till hopefully another 6 days, afterwhich we should see a reversion to just sweet chocolates.

Macchiato:

Suprisingly intense and sweet hazelnut flavours sprang forth with only a light touch of foamed milk. Amazing how cream changes the nature of coffee! Highly recommended…

Part 2 - Lost in SF

It's nice to forget about the real world...to loose yourself in the blue bottle...had a nice chat with ben...of syphons and 17ft ceilings...it was extremely memorable. Thanks to ben for that berrylicious ethiopian siphon and to emilly for that chocolicious cap.


The Buena Vista Cafe...


I just had to do the tourist thing. Although I must say the irish coffee did put a spring in my step for the rest of the sun drenched day...is it true they make 2000 cups a day?


But the ritual of dosing, tamping, levelling, pulling, sniffing, drinking (repeat indefinitely) just doesn't get boring, does it? Everytime you get the shakes...how many times have you said " never again...?".

then you smell the probat's waft and suddenly something switches off. God my memory span must be that of a goldfish.








Was it four barrel or four boars? Whatever it was the vibe was grounded good. Of special mention was the sumatran, totally unexpected,...what a treat!

Part 1 - lost with caffeine in the city of angels

customized toe-rings, super sized-burgers and the flip-flops of venice beach. was it a mirage? an unreal oasis? a mirage of my withdrawal symptoms?

Curiosity pulled me away from the boardwalk and into the intelligentsia of addicts. Where baristas take you on one-on-one...melissa did me a machiato. Spotted the four leafed clover and almost jumped over to rub it for luck. Somehow there was a haze in the place as there were mirages of synessos and robur E's everywhere...the buzz was oh how do they say it in california? "FAR OUT MAN!"












And so I braved the !@@##%$ LA traffic and made it to a lake shining in sliver and that black powder. To a world of mist fans, mosiac bars and very tall baristas. That sweet black cat had a twin, and all was well and buzzing. ..until my bladder came a calling, that is.