Firstly, have a brilliant trip. Sounds fascinating.
I'm a simple soul. Still get excited at the thought of opening a bag of Specialty, from some far flung part of the globe, that I will most probably (sadly) never visit. Indeed, up to these more recent developments in processing, I used known characteristics on a geographical basis, to select my brew. Just the other day, I was given a quite superb Colombian espresso, convinced the source had to be Ethiopian! Therefore, I together with many others, will be embarking on a Land of Confusion expedition into the fermentation jungle. Is it progress? I guess with food and drink, it's our sworn duty to develop, fuse and extract as much flavour and nuance as we can. Doesn't always work. Indeed, on more than a few occasions, we've found ourselves going 'back to basics', as sometimes despite our best efforts, we simply can't improve on natures perfection. My only concern in all of this jiggery pokery, is that we musn't lose that simple perfection, in an ever increasing urge to 'make things better'. Don't know about you, I love coffee as it is. In Specialty I've only ever been slightly underwhelmed by a coffee. Never hated one yet. Counterintuitively, given my comments/fears, I've also been blown away by some alternative processing. I just wouldn't want it to become a foggy norm, at the expense of the things that made me love coffee in the first place...
Hi Colin, totally agree and thanks for your thoughtful reply. I have mixed feelings on the need for constant evolution myself, especially when it is already really difficult to produce quality coffee. Why complicate things even further? after today at the wet mill I am starting to debate whether or not these new techniques can be harnessed to elevate lower quality Cherry which unfortunately there is a lot of throughout the season. I like the idea of experimenting because lessons will definitely be learnt but also mindful that utilising nature will always be the best way, unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of ideal growing conditions, agriculture is a tough business. My hope is that there will be a use case for yeast other than just producing the wilder flavour profiles. This is very much a work in progress and we have run some trials on lower grade Cherry today as well. I am very excited about tasting the results which will hopefully be ready in around 5/6 weeks. Thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts it’s very much appreciated. Cheers Burts.
Y'know, I never even considered the potential benefits of fermentation on poorer quality cherry. If as you say, adverse agricultural conditions impact quality on a larger scale, it will I guess, necessarily drive supreme quality Specialty prices up, meaning those current buyers used to reasonable prices, will either have to dig deeper, or aim their quality sights a tad lower. To be fair, I've had some very acceptable robusta, though improved, imaginative processing of lesser quality varietals, is certainly an appealing alternative.
Whatever, the average joe (pun intended!) will I'm sure, readily accept a Finca's best efforts, as long as they get a tasty beverage...without attendant complexities!
Morning (possibly afternoon!) David.
Firstly, have a brilliant trip. Sounds fascinating.
I'm a simple soul. Still get excited at the thought of opening a bag of Specialty, from some far flung part of the globe, that I will most probably (sadly) never visit. Indeed, up to these more recent developments in processing, I used known characteristics on a geographical basis, to select my brew. Just the other day, I was given a quite superb Colombian espresso, convinced the source had to be Ethiopian! Therefore, I together with many others, will be embarking on a Land of Confusion expedition into the fermentation jungle. Is it progress? I guess with food and drink, it's our sworn duty to develop, fuse and extract as much flavour and nuance as we can. Doesn't always work. Indeed, on more than a few occasions, we've found ourselves going 'back to basics', as sometimes despite our best efforts, we simply can't improve on natures perfection. My only concern in all of this jiggery pokery, is that we musn't lose that simple perfection, in an ever increasing urge to 'make things better'. Don't know about you, I love coffee as it is. In Specialty I've only ever been slightly underwhelmed by a coffee. Never hated one yet. Counterintuitively, given my comments/fears, I've also been blown away by some alternative processing. I just wouldn't want it to become a foggy norm, at the expense of the things that made me love coffee in the first place...
Hi Colin, totally agree and thanks for your thoughtful reply. I have mixed feelings on the need for constant evolution myself, especially when it is already really difficult to produce quality coffee. Why complicate things even further? after today at the wet mill I am starting to debate whether or not these new techniques can be harnessed to elevate lower quality Cherry which unfortunately there is a lot of throughout the season. I like the idea of experimenting because lessons will definitely be learnt but also mindful that utilising nature will always be the best way, unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of ideal growing conditions, agriculture is a tough business. My hope is that there will be a use case for yeast other than just producing the wilder flavour profiles. This is very much a work in progress and we have run some trials on lower grade Cherry today as well. I am very excited about tasting the results which will hopefully be ready in around 5/6 weeks. Thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts it’s very much appreciated. Cheers Burts.
Hey David. Thank you for responding.
Y'know, I never even considered the potential benefits of fermentation on poorer quality cherry. If as you say, adverse agricultural conditions impact quality on a larger scale, it will I guess, necessarily drive supreme quality Specialty prices up, meaning those current buyers used to reasonable prices, will either have to dig deeper, or aim their quality sights a tad lower. To be fair, I've had some very acceptable robusta, though improved, imaginative processing of lesser quality varietals, is certainly an appealing alternative.
Whatever, the average joe (pun intended!) will I'm sure, readily accept a Finca's best efforts, as long as they get a tasty beverage...without attendant complexities!