Grower´s Cup, Finest Specialty, Tanzania

Grower´s Cup Tanzania, Mountain Coffee

The best Tanzanian coffees are grown mainly on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru near the border with Kenya. The coffee from these regions are often marked Arusha, Moshi or Kilimanjaro and resembles Kenyan coffees with their rich wine like acidity.

This particular coffee bean is almost from the geographical described area above, but is specific located in the Ngoro Ngoro area. The Ngoro Ngoro area is a gigantically crater spreading over 260 square km., which is 600 m. deep. The beans are a product of the Shangri-La plantation which is placed in 1.400-1.800 m. above sea level and own by the danish coffee farmer Christian Jepsen.

Grower´s Cup, Finest Specialty, Tanzania close up

Acoording to people at Grower´s Cup this coffee should have a strong and powerful cup with dark notes of red berries, likewise the aftertaste should be very balanced and dry. The cup was very strong and aggressive, almost bitter in its flavor at the first taste, than came a sweet and dry aftertaste in my opinion. The coffee literally made me thirsty, cause of the dry aftertaste (like bottled water). Nevertheless I liked the aftertaste and enjoyed the coffee about 50-60 degrees, cause when it was about 80 degrees, the powerful and dark flavors just dominated the entire cup and when cooling the cup for a bit, there was some more sweetness and flavors to be found and explored. At the 50-60 degrees the sweetness in shape of flavors of red berries came alive and suddenly the cup wasn't so bad.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a strong espresso shot, but I would prefer a sweet and silky brewed french press. I think that almost anybody can achieve a strong and dark cup of coffee, even from coffee purchased in a supermarket, but there is an art in developing the sensitive and sweet flavors in a cup of coffee. I liked this coffee bean, but it was far from my favorite, maybe I went off starting with the best coffee bean from Grower´s Cup. Only time will tell, when I review the other brewing bags from the shipment.

Thanks again to Grower´s Cup for sponsoring these product for reviews. I wish all the viewers a great saturday and thanks for watching!

// Hendrup

Grower´s Cup, Finest Specialty, Guatemala

Grower´s Cup Finest Specialty Guatemala Antigua Los Volcanes

I have already tested a coffee from Grower´s Cups Finest Specialty product line, but that coffee were indeed at the line of expire and therefore this will be the first real judgement of the Grower´s Cup and their on-the-road coffee brewing bags.

The Grower´s Cup are in constant development with their product solutions and therefore is there currently 26 gr. of freshly roasted coffee included in the brewing bag instead of previous 24 gr. as blogged about in the Rwanda coffee, see link. This upgrade of the coffee grounds puts the brewing bag closer to the SCAE golden cup rule and later on I will describe if that really works in this case.

Im a huge fan of this disposable french press, as the company think is the best description, and I think its a great solution instead of the classic, bad tasting instant coffee. I have blogged about the technique behind this brewing bag, see link.

The particular coffee used in this case is the Antigua "Los Volcanes" from Guatemala, which is a volcanic high grown coffee bean. This 100% arabica coffee bean is grown in 1.500 m. above sea level and the specific area, where this bean is from offers grown coffee from an altitude of 1.500-1.700 m. above sea level. The Antigua valley is one of the most notorious and eldest growing coffee regions, with volcanos almost surrounding the area, creating a valley with a shallow water table. The coffee region of Antigua is an enclosed valley formed by three volcanos, the Agua, Acatenango and Fuego, where most of the coffee trees are planted on the valley floor, like this coffee bean, in 1.500 m. above sea level. Some farmers cultivate the slopes of the volcanoes up to 1.700 m. above sea level, which is the highest grown coffee in this coffee region.

Picture of the brewed cup of this particular bean

The coffee should according to its label have flavor notes of dark chocolate with an aftertaste of vanilla and jasmine. Actually I didn't get those flavors; starting to wonder if I have some off taste buds. Never mind, I took a first sip at the brewed cup and I was just wondering what it tasted like. I mean, it hasn't got a specific flavor note, but is more delight and just pleasant to drink. I sat and took another sip just enjoying myself, but I couldn't clarify the notes. There was a gently low, clear and crisp acidity and a full body with a sweet aftertaste. As the cup went colder flavors like light caramel, milk chocolate and sweetness properly from caramelized sugars turned up.

I must say that its a clear improvement of the previous tested coffee bean Rwanda and I have never experienced a press pot being so crisp and clear. Its a wonderful joy to have a great solution to grap, when you are needed on the road and still have your coffee addiction. Suddenly 25 DKK ($4,25) doesn't feel like a lot of money, cause its actually as pleasant as a coffee from a good coffee bar. Likewise rumor has it, that these brewing bags can be found around 15 DKK each ($2,5) or ten bags for 100 DKK ($17), which in my opinion is very cheap!

A little downside and there always has to be one, is that I also received a bag holder, which is not quite easy to use and hides the label. But I can surely live with that as long as the coffee is as good as it were today.

// Hendrup

Grower´s Cup, Finest Specialty Rwanda

Rwanda specialty coffee by Grower´s Cup

The first review of a previous coffee from Grower´s Cup product line, is a specific test of how they are capable of maintaining the essential oils of the coffee when sealing the brewing bag. Therefore you aren't able to purchase this specific coffee from the company anymore, but in upcoming post I will test their current product lines. 

This particularly coffee bag from Grower´s Cup is containing a 100% organic arabica bean from Rwanda. The bean is a Bourbon Mayaguez from the geographical area Rabavu and Rutsiro district in Rwanda. Bourbon coffees are named for the island in the Indian Ocean where the French colonists grew it. The coffee is grown in 1500-1900 m. height above sea level, and the disposable French press contains 24 gr. of ground coffee. If the 24 gr. of coffee is compared to the SCAE Gold Cup, its a little low on the amount of ground coffee. SCAE suggest that in use of one liter of fresh water brewed at 92-96 degrees, should equal 50-65 gr. of freshly ground coffee. Im am therefore a bit exiting to have a test on this chosen coffee, cause its a little low on the amount of ground coffee and also how are they able to preserve the freshness of the ground coffee, when this bag was produced in November, 2010. Surely the low volume of the coffee can be justified cause of the brewing method of the press pot function, that its announced to have.

The coffee should have some fine shades because of the volcanic soil and rainfall, therefore it should contain flavors of sweet fruit and intense flower, which is completed with a rich and pleasant aftertaste of chocolate. This specific coffee has been rated by the SCAE, where it has achieved a rating of 90,5 points out of 100 possible point.

Interestingly the coffee ground started a CO2 reaction when I poured the temperated water on top, it expanded quite heavily. Normally this is a good indicator of fresh coffee because the more fresh the coffee is, the more captured CO2 is waiting to be released when pouring water onto it. Also a good thing to keep in mind when brewing for press pot or using a Siphon brewer, you will have to stir it a bit to release some of the gasses. In this case I didn't, I just followed the instructions at the back side of the brewing bag.

Rwanda coffee from Grower´s Cup

Grower´s Cup suggest that you brew the coffee for a minimum period of 4-5 min, if you would like a mild and pleasant taste. If you would prefer a more strong and assertive taste, is should be brewed 8-9 min. Therefore I went with a brewing time of 6 min., because I prefer a medium cup with a mixture of some fine mild and strong notes.

Close up result

My thoughts about this fair-trade coffee with a brilliant rating from the SCAE was a little beside the description at the back of the brewing bag. I found it very pleasant and very drinkable but I actually got more hints of lemon and orange blossom with floral notes rather then fruity notes. BUT more importantly I didn't at a single time get a touch of bitterness or what I had predicted a plastic taste from the brewing bag, but instead got a hints of caramel in the aftertaste. Actually I find it very sweet, also with notes of cinnamon and somehow a possible full bodied silky cup. Strangely I'm stunned by the result, cause I thought that it wouldn't have such a fresh taste. Surely I think you could have even more flavors extracted if the coffee was freshly ground, but I'm absolutely blow away about the fact that Grower´s Cup are able to maintain so many flavors intact almost 1,5 years after it has been ground.

The final statement about this on-the-road solution is that its maybe the best way to enjoy fresh brewed coffee on the road, if you aren't allow to take all your equipment along with you. I would definitely recommend this solution to anybody in the need of this, because its easy and have a great taste compared to other solutions, like instant coffees. Also I would not lose face by putting this disposable french press on the table in front of friends, cause they also would be amazed be the rich flavors of this coffee. On the negative sides, there is a price issue, because I think paying 25 DKK ($4,5) for three cups of coffee is a little high, but then again I would every single time buy this solution instead of having an instant cup of coffee. Also there were some excess coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup, which is normally for a french press, but I actually thought that it wouldn't have a suitable filter to collect these. This could maybe be caused by an inconsistent grinder or the grind setting is a little to fine, I will try to get an opinion on this from Grower´s Cup.

So if you aren't afraid of spending 25 DKK on three cups of quality coffee, this is the only way to go, when hitting the road.

The next article regarding Grower´s Cup will hopefully be published this weekend.

// Hendrup

Grower´s Cup

Four different specialty coffees from Grower´s cup

I was attending to a lovely italian dinner at some friends house, were I was presented with these innovative coffee brewing bags with exclusive coffee. Its a danish company called Grower´s cup who produce these bags and has a wide range of different speciality coffee beans . I luckily was sent home with four different types for try outs.

Normally I have a strong negative feeling about pre ground coffee, because the freshness is peaking within 14 minutes after the grinding, afterwards the coffee suffers from flavor loss. Some coffee enthusiasts speak positive for pre ground coffee when its being stored right. The right storage for the ground coffee is a CO2 valve bag, which these brewing bags doesn't have so I am concerned about the freshness.

The quality coffee inside these brewing bags is from Panama, Tanzania, Ethiopian and Rwanda and is the exclusive bags of Grower´s Cup product line. Grower´s Cup also have organic speciality bags and finest speciality bags, which is shown at the picture. The organic product line is mainly ground coffee with a 80-83 points rating by SCAE (Speciality Coffee Association Europe), where the finest line have a rating of 84+. One of these finest speciality brewing bags contains ground coffee for three cups and cost about 25 DKK ($4,5) which is kind of a high price. The organic line is priced at 15 DKK ($2,5), which is more acceptable if you are on the go.

The above video demonstrates how the brewing bags are working, using only a 0,5 liter boiling water. I will test these on-the-road solutions in this week.

// Hendrup