Friday, January 17, 2014

Coffee Cupping

In case you think I only do tea. That's nowhere near the truth. I need regular cups of coffee. At cafes or whichever eateries, I always choose coffee over tea. It's just...I often crave coffee. It's just more satisfying somehow. No matter in which city, a good cup of coffee is easier to procure than a good cup of tea. :P And coffee doesn't irritate my allergies as much as ingesting tea does.

Was in time for a complimentary public cupping session at Common Man Coffee Roasters. Unplanned. I was just there for lunch. But all right; always up to try out the single origins. It was a casual cupping session. For whoever, the public. Tasting, if you will. Didn't even need to be particularly friendly to anyone else. Just randomly smile, hold your spoon and the serviette, and walk round and round.

On the cupping menu were six single origin beans from different estates and different roasters. Grinned when I saw two single origins by familiar roasters of Slate in Ballard, Seattle, WA and just 20 minutes out, Kuma from Bellevue. Seattle indie stalwarts. The head roaster went home for the holidays and brought back these packs to share.

More than remembering the roasters or the cafes I sat in last month, at this cupping session, I checked out how they do my favorite beans of an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Kuma's roast from Panama Elida Estate. Lovely aromas and flavors. These are my usual choices anyway, for coffee black, hot or cold. Enjoyed the easy 30-minute session.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Do you think common man coffee roasters is worth it, for their price? it's so much more expensive, not common at all...

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imp said...

I'm cool with their food and black coffee. I like their space and fairly consistent good service. The space offers me a comfortable makeshift office spot for the 2 hours I hang out. This option is much preferable to lurking at hotel cafes.

Whether a cafe is worth the prices, it really all depends on why customers visit. I'm not just there for a cup of coffee. If so, any tiny stand-up espresso bar works. Let's just say that while my choice of granola at Common Man costs more than the average cafe, it also offers way more ingredients, and a big generous portion at a better quality. That, imho, works for me.