Stumptown, Holler Mountain Ground Coffee

Stumptown, Holler Mountain Coffee is quoted on the package as a signature blend. The smell of this moderately ground coffee leaves me curious. On my first taste of this coffee, it seems nothing like the flavors promoted on the package: coffee beans, caramel, hazelnut, and citrus. There is something complex going on with the flavor of this coffee. I had to let it rest on my whole tongue so all my taste buds could inform my understanding of a coffee maker’s experienced pallet. The flavors prompted on the package are not used to add flavor directly but are used to create a unique experience regarding how coffee tactilely reacts in the consumer’s mouth. There is something very blue-collar about this coffee, but at the same time, it transcends to something gourmet. With effort, there is a caramel buffer at the sides of the tongue, a distant nuttiness with the coffee, and a late, back end of citrus without the acidity.

This coffee reminds me of a blue-collar ideal of working in the Southwestern sage. The following day, this ideal leads me to compost a thick amount of it into a filter and run it through a drip coffee maker rather than pour hot water over it into a decanter. Using this process, the coffee now becomes bolder with emphasis on the blend of coffee beans. Its scent now hangs in the air and is stronger with the strength of the roasted beans. Unsweetened, the pour over assessment above has a more pronounced flavor of coffee. I add two packets of raw sugar. This is where Stumptown, Holler Mountain reveals its bold intent. Strong, coffee with a distant nutty buffer and a tart finish. I’m ready to jump in the pickup and head to the job site. Pour me another.

Comments

Draft Mule, Runaway Wagon, Dark Roast Coffee

For this tasting of Draft Mule, Runaway Wagon dark roast coffee I needed a second day to be sure of what I was experiencing. Draft Mule, dark roast coffee smells and appears reminiscent of coffee from a plastic tub. Its smell is innocuous in the bag, but when poured out is less than desirable. It is a coarse grind and is not what I would call a dark roast appearance. After pouring hot water through it, there is a dark tint rather than an opaque liquidity, like a good dark roast. The packaging is enticing, it made me want to try it. The package appears simple and practical, like a paper bag with a mule on the front. Draft Mule’s package is designed well; in fact, it is overengineered. Its graphics catch the eye because of how exact they are. The paper bag is actually a plastic insulated containment pouch with a pull tab that exposes a zip lock access hole. After scooping some of the coffee into my pour-over funnel I started to notice how much attention was given to the packaging v...

Discussing 3 Coffee Tasting Attributes

As a novice coffee taster, my attention has been drawn to the attribute scale (three bars) on the packages used by Thomas Hammer Coffee. The three attributes of coffee measured by these bars are: roast, body, and acidity. Professional coffee tasters know the intensity of these three attributes and their effects on the way coffee is experienced in consumption. As a novice, I do not. I have made it my duty to try a couple of Hammer’s coffees with different attribute scales and learn what it is professional coffee tasters are experiencing. Before I begin, other novices like me may want to know how these attributes are determined. I have briefly researched these attributes and will go over my discoveries here. The first attribute is “roast.” There are many ways to roast coffee. A large drum roaster using heated air is commonly used in commercial coffee roasting. The three most common levels of coffee roasting discussed are light, medium, and dark. When coffee is roasted, the beans wi...

Four Sigmatic Focus Organic Coffee

In the gourmet coffee aisle, I see the same brands, often they stock their takes on the same flavors and roasts, but this time I almost overlooked something different. For this tasting I chose Four Sigmatic Focus Organic Coffee. While the packaging is top quality, its graphical design is not as eye-catching as the other brands. What captures my attention about it is its claim of mental clarity and energy. These terms are subjective, but in my experience mental clarity is always desirable. Today’s fast-paced world can be unforgiving; some clarity is always appreciated. The subjectivity of mental clarity led me to the decision of trying this coffee over a period of two days rather than one. Before I talk about this coffee, I bring up a caveat on the package: “consult your physician before use if you are pregnant, lactating, have a medical condition or are taking any medication.” I believe all natural supplements are subjected to such warnings. I’ll let buyers make their own judgments. My...

Search This Blog