There has been a lot going on in the Brisbane specialty coffee scene over the past few weeks. Here's a brief wrap-up from the cafes i've visited. It seems there is no shortage of amazing single origins on offer at the moment.

Campos have opened their new cupping room, located at the cafe in fortitude valley. The roastery has been moved to a new site, and the cafe in general looks better than ever. Everything is always so spotless, and organised. It's great to see the guys there going from strength to strength.

Campos cupping

I attended a cupping session in the new Campos cupping room. The session ran smoothly, and is well thought-out, being an educational sensory experience anyone would enjoy!  Booking details at the link.  A great way to introduce people to different flavours in coffee, or just to enjoy some cupping!

In the Campos Roburs

Campos have received their Columbian Cup of Excellence lot #14 El Tiestero, and are running it as an espresso option along side the usual Superior blend. Sweet, juicy with notes of caramel and choc. Get in and try some while it's available.

Campos are also selling beans from the 2010 Rwanda cup of excellence, and it's lot #8 Nyabumera, a wet processed bourbon variety.

I am really enjoying this one - it's everything a good Rwandan should be.  So creamy, sweet and with a lovely green grape acidity - my favourite kind!  It reminded me a little of the Bolivian Montano but with less caramel and more fruit.

Slayer is back at Cup Coffee, VST filters are in, new coffees on offer, new pour over filters

West Enders are walking with a little extra spring in their step now that the Slayer is back on deck at Cup Coffee.  Rwanda Musasa, which debuted at Cup in their opening year is back for a second round. It's being roasted for filter and you might also find some for espresso. Expect a clean, and again, creamy, sweet cup of yum! Versatile and balanced coffee. 

Josh Russell has got his hands on the VST filter baskets before many of us, and is testing them out at Cup, as well as a really interesting pour over paper filter design. Think bigger ridges than a Hario v60.

Also just in at Cup, Tanzania Blackburn estate's "Clouds of August" lot. I initially tried this one at Pourboy Espresso and found loads of red fruit in the cup, almost raspberry like.

Great choice of origins at Dandelion & Driftwood

Dandelion & Driftwood continue to offer two espresso blends as well as rotating two single origins. Recent appearances from the Honduras cup of excellence Pino di Oro lot left a great impression on me. If they happen to have this one on when you visit next, try it! The most distinct notes of lime / green fruit, and so delicious. This weekend they had the Rwanda BUF cafe, which tastes similar to the Musasa.

Testing a mesh pour over filter this week

In other news i'm testing a re-usable mesh pour over filter from Wine of the Bean and will be blogging about that later this week.

Apologies to all the other specialty coffee cafes in Brisbane who i haven't mentioned, i wish i had time to visit everywhere! No doubt there are many other great coffees on offer elsewhere. Feel free to leave details in the comments.

Just a quick update to show this lovely roast of three different cup of excellence winning lots from the 2010 Nicaragua competition. Since samples are only about 150 - 200g each i've combined three different samples here:

• Lot #12 Los Jilgueros (cup of excellence jury score 87.50)
• Lot #16 El Recuerdo (cup of excellence jury score 87.00)
• Lot #21 Santa Gema (cup of excellence jury score 86.67)

Weight of roast was 530g all up. FC at 11:50, dumped at 15:00 at 213 degrees (well before second crack).

Can't remember a three-bean blend coming up this even for a long time. Smells sweet. Looks like one of these was a pacamara variety.

Home roasters take note, you can get these bag sealers on ebay for about 50 bucks delivered. Mine has lasted me over a year now and they come with a spare element. Definitely a must have!

It's almost Christmas... and in fear of running out of coffee I hit the roastery (read: garage) this afternoon to come up with a new blend. What is a Christmas blend?  Any blend you make in December really. Unfortunately I don't have anything very spicey, i tend to buy the cleaner, washed coffees. So this is the best i could come up with...

• El Salvador COE lot26 Santa Barbara - 200g (nice mild, creamy body and lots of sweetness)
• El Salvador Finca La Fany - 50g (consistent all-rounder)
• Kenya Kagunyu - 100g (clean, fruity highlights)

Click to view high-res. This is a medium espresso roast pulled just before second crack at 211 degrees at 14 mins.

First roast of this one. Huge pacamara beans from the 2010 Nicarague cup of excellence lot #4. Only a few small defects. I've got two kilos of this to get through, so hope it tastes as good as it looks. Other greens just arrived; Kenya Gethumbwini AB, Kenya Kagunyu AA, and another COE from El Salvador.

Roasted up evenly. I dropped at a pretty high heat, and ended up at first crack at 9:45, pulling the roast at 13:00 for what i would call a light espresso roast depth. Bagged and sealed, we'll see how it tastes in a few days.

Update: Roasted this too light for espresso (too acidic) but tasted great in the chemex. Needs a longer roast around 15 mins.