Draw Coffee

June 21, 2012

I recently worked on a fun project with specialty roaster and shop Cup Coffee— based Brisbane, Australia. You may recognize the name from a post DCILY did back in February about a beautiful video they produced.

Not too long ago, I received a nice care package from the guys at Cup that included some really great new coffees they just received. A couple Tanzanian coffees (Kimuli & Blackburn), a Guatemalan coffee (San Antonio), and Brazil Capao. I really enjoy all of them, and wish air travel wasn’t so harsh on coffees—but really, even after travel at high altitudes, these coffees came out on the other side alright.

Yesterday, I made a pourover of the Brazil Capao—which placed #22 in the Brazil Cup of Excellence. It came out chocolaty and nutty with a noticeable sweetness at the end.

It is from Piata, which is situated 568 km from Salvador, the most elevated region in Brazil’s northeast with the coolest climate.

The mature fruits (cherries) are picked in baskets and twice a day the coffee is transported by tractors to the hulling machine. The pulped coffee is spread in layers of 4cm on patios for drying and turned over about twenty times a day until it reaches an ideal moisture point.
Mr. Salvador Mesquita, coffee-grower since 2007, takes pride and care in his quality coffee production. From preparation of the land until final storage of the green beans.

 

Just want to say thanks to Josh over at Cup for sending these along—its much appreciated. Be on the look out for some new stuff on their website, including the project we collaborated on. I’m really excited to see how it turns out.

In the mean time, be sure to watch this lovely video they put together a couple years back.

CUP SPECIALITY COFFEE from PSN CREATIVE on Vimeo.

May 2, 2012

During my visit to London, I met up with Nathan Retzer from Brewed By Hand – the UK’s primary Hario importer. I did a doodle for him to be used at the UKBC, and he kindly hooked me up with some Hario gear. One of those things was a Woodneck.

I’ve been using it for about a month now – each day I care for the high maintenance cloth filter, storing it in cold water when not in use, rinse it religiously, and remove it from the wire holder. Its kind of like taking care of a very small pet. A small chore.

I know a lot of people dislike it for this reason, but the visual appeal and clarity of coffee it produces have overshadowed any of the negatives for me. I’m dialed in to a recipe thanks to Gwilym Davies of Prufrock Coffee and I’d say it’s my preferred method right now.

Today I brewed a few cups of an Intelligentsia Seasonal Select I picked up from the brand new Earth Fare in Columbus. It’s kind of a big deal that they consistently carry Intelligentsia, Counter Culture, and other roasters, as my exposure to each typically comes from a vacation or through an online order.

The Intelligentsia I picked up was a Brazil Yellow Bourbon – Carmo De Minas. It’s full of a sweet, smooth honey almond with a bit of a tartness wrapping it up. It’s my first Brazil from Intelligentsia, and I’m really enjoying it on my Woodneck.

The doodle I came up with feels a bit more modern than I usually do, and is probably inspired as much by my visits to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
as it is by my recent explorations of dribbble.com.

The outer ring is my brewing recipe for this coffee: 15g coffee to 250g pur filtered water. Grind 18-20 on a Baratza Virtuoso. Bloom at 30g for 30 seconds, finish with a center pour.