The Green Strip Harar Horse arrived at 10:00 am today. As I sip the first cup it is 11:15! I was going to say I don't taste any blueberry, but I am about 1/3 down the first cup and bam! some blueberry! First off it starts like a superb rustic Dry Processed Harar! Going back a bit further, I don't know why Tom has to be so understated. Maybe it is the California liability thing, but this is the best prepped Horse I have ever seen. It looks like a nice DP from Brazil. I only had to cull 2 beans in a 1.25 pound roast. For a DP this was one even roast. Now I am getting some of the citrus and prune flavors! Every sip is a new experience. Yee Haw! Ride the Horse! Oh I forgot, this stuff is smooth after the initial cool out of the rustic leather! Now I am getting some of the apricot and chocolate in the finish as it cools. It has a very nice fruity aftertaste to me as well! This is one Horse ride you don't want to miss. I will wait 4 days and pull some shots! Dr. Crema can hardly wait to see what this DP will do as a SO ristretto! This is the most balanced Harar Horse I think I have ever had. One word description: Incredible! Les |
On 7/24/06, Les wrote: <Snip> Quite fascinating that the culled/prepped Horse has similar characteristics to that of the "raw" stuff in terms of variability. I wonder what causes this? -- Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com Barry Paradox: Consider k to be the greatest element of the set of natural numbers whose description require maximum of 50 words: "(k+1) is a natural number which requires more than 50 words to describe it." |
On 7/24/06, Steve Hay wrote: <Snip> Wouldn't you love to see what was culled out...? Safe Journeys and Sweet Music Justin Marquez (Snyder, TX) |
I couldn't wait until tomorrow! The Green Strip Horse was a bit tamer today, but he had much more depth and the aroma filled the house! Very smooth, less rustic leather and tobacco at the front end, a bit more subtle spice in the middle and a much more pronounced chocolate ending. Very complex and wonderful cup. This isn't a wild Harar Horse, so if you are looking for Magic Mountain you will be disappointed. A big mistake on my part was finishing off the whole pot 10 minutes before Becky and Lydia got back from running a couple of errands. The first comment was "Wow does that ever smell good, I better go get a cup of coffee!" Dad was in do do land because of the empty pot! It sure is nice the Technovirm can brew fast! Tomorrow AM I will be pulling SO shots! Alchemist John is going to drop by with a sample of his espresso blend that he thinks is the best, and my pristine 1974 model Olympia Cremina 67 should be winging its way to me via UPS from the East Coast. Coffee life is good! Les On 7/25/06, Justin Marquez wrote: <Snip> |
I'm waiting (eagerly) for my horse to make its way to Canada, along with 5 pounds of Guatemala Antigua Peaberry -Maria Especial. I ordered it a week ago, or so, and wouldn't ya know it, after blowing my coffee budget for awhile, along came the yellow bourbon. I sure hope there is some of that left when I can sneak in another order. BTW, you US folks who can "hold for Harvey" and get 12 pounds of coffee for that great flat rate don't know how lucky you are. Vicki Les wrote: <Snip> |
I spurred the Horse this morning! First shot was 95% crema and looked Oh so good! I took one sip and it was sour enough to pucker a lemon! A sink shot! Increased the shot temp to 203.5 and it was still too much kick for this espresso drinker, so I made that shot into a Cappo for Becky, she said it was great. I then pulled a nice Americano, very complex, the full spectrum of taste and some additional fruit in the middle, blueberry blending into currants. I then blended the Horse 50/50 with Classic Sumatra roasted city plus! Now that was a great ristretto! Smooth, outstanding complexity, sweet, and the finish was fantastic. So my challenge is for someone to figure out how to pull the Horse as a SO espresso! I will remain content with by current blend. Les On 7/26/06, Vicki Smith wrote: <Snip> |
Les wrote: <Snip> Les, Take two shot glasses and use one for the first 2-4 sec and then use the second to finish the shot. Then tell us what you taste. Doug <Snip> |
As part of their Home Barista class, Intelligentsia does a "deconstructing the shot" demo with two baristas and five pairs of shot glasses. As the pull begins, the shot glasses are changed every five seconds till blonding finally occurs, and then they are lined up in chronological order. It's fascinating to be able to taste the development of the shot in stages from sour to perfect to bitter and back to blond and sour. On Jul 27, 2006, at 2:21 PM, Douglas H. Boutell wrote: <Snip> Sandy Andina www.sandyandina.com |
Sandy Andina wrote: <Snip> Thanks Sandy, I will try that to see the difference. Doug <Snip> |
I did that Doug. Still too bright for me! Les On 7/27/06, Douglas H. Boutell wrote: <Snip> |