It Has Bean a Good Day

Tonight was one of the most exciting for ages! Steve Leighton from Has Bean Coffee was presenting at North Tea Power on the El Salvador Finca Argentina beans, grown by Alejandro Martinez in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain range.

Steve is my kinda guy. He really cares and is passionate about his product and the growers that he trades with. Quality is everything and he travels round the world to get the best. His hands gesticulating to extenuate points, especially when describing different flavours or tastes.... (some people say I do the same....yeah yeah) I think Steve should replace the Olly the wine buff on Saturday Kitchen. Coffee is much less pretentious than wine and far cheaper although it takes a bit more effort by the drinker to get the best out of it.

I went with James and Kelly from work and Kelly's mate Karen and we all had a great time. So time to talk about coffee, all from the same Finca Argentina bourbon bean but processed differently to produce quite different tastes:

Firstly was the washed bean, filtered by the Has Bean's roaster. This was a nice coffee...I got a real liquorice taste, with a maple syrup sweetness and a tad of acidity on the tip of the tongue. It was really good but lacked a slight amount of body.....it was refreshing though and may even be nice when iced.

The second was a pulped natural bean which was most people's favourite. It had a more treacly feel in the mouth, it was very sweet, just a hint of acidity/citrus orange. I often struggle with pour over or filter coffee because it can lack body when compared with espresso but the pulped natural was different... it was deep, rich and a few described as earthy. Steve mentioned "strawberries covered in dung but in a nice way". This was exceptional coffee!

The final coffee was Natural and it somehow excited me more than the 1st two. It was very acidic/metallic and had a slight feel of alcohol to it. I described it as tasting like a 90% chocolate and it really got my mouth reacting in the same way as when I had an IPA beer from the USA earlier in the evening. Yeah coffee number two was probably better but this one seemed to provoke more of an emotional response from me.

We then tasted a cascara which is a fruity infusion made from the normally discarded part of the coffee plant...Steve warned us that it had a particularly high caffeine content, which I'm still feeling 3 hours later... poor night of sleep for me. I think I liked it but maybe it's place isn't during a coffee bean tasting. Still, I'd happily pay a few quid for a bag.

I had a good chat with a guy who is just starting a masters related to coffee and the effects of caffeine in different beans....my adversarial academic hat was nearly put on as I sensed methodological issues but I offered him my email and said to give me a shout if he wanted me to have a look at his study design as I knew of some work that may help. I also got the chance for a good chat with Steve on a few things and it was great to hear of his buying experiences in Africa.

I had a brill night. Thanks to Wayne and Jayne of NTP for arranging the evening. The love they put into their cafe has made Manchester a better place for me and I look forward to letting them taste my Guatemalan Finca Bourbon from Tapa later in the week.