BrewMethod

Today the coffees I ordered from Hasbean.co.uk arrived in the mail. The new Sweepstake espresso blend (Special Edition), plus a bag of Yirgacheffe Wote Natural.

First up, I must say that this particular Yirg is particularly stunning. If you like subtle coffee, then this is not the coffee for you. It’s an in-your-face natural processed Ethiopian, and it’s everything coffee lovers have come to expect from Ethiopia. Effervescent, sparkling and just full of flavours most people on this planet have never tasted in coffee. This is the kind of coffee that would be ideal to introduce people to Specialty-grade coffee, and the roast quality Hasbean are renowned for really does it justice.

By contrast, the Sweepstake blend is a little more refined and subdued, although it does contain 20% of the same Yirgacheffe. The rest is comprised of 50% Costa Rica Finca Bella Vista and 30% of the Brazil Passeio Natural most people are quite familiar with now. The Costa Rica adds balance and the Brazil tones things down just a notch or two, leaving a very drinkable and delicious blend.

HasBean also did something very cool with the Sweetstake blend, creating a special lucky dip giveaway where some lucky people who ordered the coffee won some prizes. Here’s the video they made for the giveaway.

The idea was that each bag was represented in the race by a number (and staff member) on the bag. It’s a fun concept and the video was a real treat. As you can see, I landed rider #5, so I didn’t win!

My coffee order of Sweet Shop Espresso blend arrived today in the mail while I was at work. This is a new blend by Square Mile Coffee Roasters in the UK, and as they say “this isn’t about balance, it’s about cramming as much fruit into the cup as possible!”  I like it! I was super excited to try this blend as I have fond memories of some really delicious coffees at Notes cafe in London who use Square Mile and had a shiny new Marzocco Strada. The Sweet Shop blend is designed to be a super fruity, overtly sweet blend – almost the polar opposite in some regards to the Breakfast Bomb by HasBean.

After making an espresso, I can report that the two Colombian single origins used in the blend really do work wonders together and results in a truely remarkable brew.

Sweet Shop Espresso blend currently contains:

• 50% La Buitrera (Colombia)
• 50% La Serrania (Colombia)

As you can see from the photo below, the roast level is bang on – well developed, definitely what i’d consider a light espresso roast and could even be brewed for filter, although it’s probably closer to the espresso side of things. Of course there are some people who don’t believe in roast levels for a particular brew method, and I get that one roast can work well for espresso and filter, but I also think some coffees work better with two unique profiles.

Roast Level – Sweet Shop Espresso

Dry aroma is absolutely stunning – sweet and clean. In the cup, expect waves of clean sweetness that continue long after the last drop.

This blend is definitely up there with the recent Autumn espresso blend by Ministry Grounds Coffee here in Australia. Check out Sweet Shop over here. I’ll have some interesting new HasBean coffees arriving next week – posts on those to come.

The events at Urban Coffee Farm here in Melbourne have thus far been a huge success! I’ve just been down to enjoy an espresso this morning, with Seven Seeds on the deck today featuring coffee from Guatemala for $3.

Options on the Urban Coffee Farm Brew Bar today include:

• Kenya Kiangai (an ‘AA’ lot)
• Varietal: SL28, 34 & Ruiru11, fully washed processing method
• Tasting notes: Blackcurrant and floral notes with a delicate finish – delicious! More info
• Colombia Roman Trujillo (Huila region)
• Varietal: Caturra, Castillo, fully washed processing method
• Tasting notes: Floral with caramel and red jelly. More info

Urban Coffee Farm menu

Urban Coffee Farm event featured today by Seven Seeds

Seven Seeds are also running a Masterclass event at the Urban Coffee Farm this afternoon at 4pm, but it’s now sold out.  The event will discuss the Cup of Excellence, a program which any coffee geek will be well aware of. Coffees auctioned through the Cup of Excellence program return solid profits back to the farmers involved, allowing them to further develop systems to enhance their coffee and produce an even higher scoring crop. Cup of Excellence coffees are judged by qualified coffee judges, often referred to as coffee cuppers. They are trained and certified to distinguish and score coffees using a 100 point scale. Many of the winning lots score in the 90 point range, and are often featured in Melbourne cafes as a filter option. Sometimes you’ll even see them run as an espresso option, although this depends on the particular lot and how well it lends itself to different brew methods.

Urban Coffee Farm information

If you’re thinking of heading down, the event is free to enter and there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy views of the urban coffee farm, with the city as a backdrop as seen here:

View of Melbourne from Urban Coffee Farm

Official Urban Coffee Farm links:

• Official event page
• Official Facebook page
• Official Twitter profile
• Official youtube videos

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