Week 16-23 - Curiosities
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Greetings from The Mesa
We love coffee. We have started down a path to discover new coffees that we roast ourselves. There is a an economic and somewhat environmental twist to this story - we save money, we don't have to buy almond milk in large plastic jugs (a double eco nightmare). There is so much overpriced garbage coffee out there - no more dirty burnt roasts for us!
On Thursday we cupped up two new roasts, and they were both a delight to the senses, and completely invigorating. We have 8 other samples to try in the coming weeks, and I couldn't be more excited! See the tasting notes from the first two beans below...
Are you a fan of coffee, a tea drinker, or something else entirely?
We love coffee. We have started down a path to discover new coffees that we roast ourselves. There is a an economic and somewhat environmental twist to this story - we save money, we don't have to buy almond milk in large plastic jugs (a double eco nightmare). There is so much overpriced garbage coffee out there - no more dirty burnt roasts for us!
On Thursday we cupped up two new roasts, and they were both a delight to the senses, and completely invigorating. We have 8 other samples to try in the coming weeks, and I couldn't be more excited! See the tasting notes from the first two beans below...
Are you a fan of coffee, a tea drinker, or something else entirely?
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Curiosities
1. Taxidermy drones may be the weirdest thing you've read all week.
2. A fun profile of one of my favorite places to visit - Fields Station, down the road from the amazing Alvord Desert. Amazingly, I still haven't had one of their milkshakes.
3. "Specialization is undeniably a powerful social and economic force. And yet it is also debilitating. It breeds helplessness, dependence, and ignorance and, eventually, it undermines any sense of responsibility." Michael Pollan uses cooking to regain agency. "Well, in a world where so few of us are obliged to cook at all anymore, to choose to do so is to lodge a protest against specialization — against the total rationalization of life."
4. Crying can teach you a lot about yourself. Recently I had a multi-hour cry - grief. I realized that since the pandemic started I haven't cried very much at all. So it was with great relief and abandon that I really let loose. Pain. It was the herald of more crying to come. There was a lot of pent up grieving inside. It feels good to cry again, even if it is exhausting.
5. We are deep in the midsts of spring cleaning. Hate it and love it in equal measure. What's your favorite thing to spring clean? My office is in a seriously sad state.
1. Taxidermy drones may be the weirdest thing you've read all week.
2. A fun profile of one of my favorite places to visit - Fields Station, down the road from the amazing Alvord Desert. Amazingly, I still haven't had one of their milkshakes.
3. "Specialization is undeniably a powerful social and economic force. And yet it is also debilitating. It breeds helplessness, dependence, and ignorance and, eventually, it undermines any sense of responsibility." Michael Pollan uses cooking to regain agency. "Well, in a world where so few of us are obliged to cook at all anymore, to choose to do so is to lodge a protest against specialization — against the total rationalization of life."
4. Crying can teach you a lot about yourself. Recently I had a multi-hour cry - grief. I realized that since the pandemic started I haven't cried very much at all. So it was with great relief and abandon that I really let loose. Pain. It was the herald of more crying to come. There was a lot of pent up grieving inside. It feels good to cry again, even if it is exhausting.
5. We are deep in the midsts of spring cleaning. Hate it and love it in equal measure. What's your favorite thing to spring clean? My office is in a seriously sad state.
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Thanks for reading, before you go…
This weeks tasting notes:
They were both WOW. Definitely adding them to the regular rotation. Both were perfect black.
1. India Monsooned Malabar Karnataka. This one was funky and smooth. A totally unique cup. Low bitterness. Low acidity. Good mouth feel. The flavor is almost indescribable, a subtle complexity.
"This is a very unique coffee specifically because of the "Monsooning" process. The natural coffee beans are in a well-ventilated brick or concrete floored warehouses in thick, 4-6in piles and are exposed to moisture filled monsoon winds. Exposing these beans to this type of weather brings out distinctive flavor notes that cannot be found in other processes."
2. Brazil Sweet Blue Daterra Estate. This bean is complex. Chocolatey with a wine like finish. Mouth feel not as creamy as the Indian, but still plenty satisfying. While labeled 'sweet' I didn't find it as sweet as I anticipated, which is good, because sweet coffees are not my thing. Really want to try this served with a chunk of piloncillo.
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Would you like to receive a free drawing/haiku postcard? Please send your address to postcards at hargie dot com. And I’ll get one out to you tout de suite. I don't keep or sell your address, EVER.
This weeks tasting notes:
They were both WOW. Definitely adding them to the regular rotation. Both were perfect black.
1. India Monsooned Malabar Karnataka. This one was funky and smooth. A totally unique cup. Low bitterness. Low acidity. Good mouth feel. The flavor is almost indescribable, a subtle complexity.
"This is a very unique coffee specifically because of the "Monsooning" process. The natural coffee beans are in a well-ventilated brick or concrete floored warehouses in thick, 4-6in piles and are exposed to moisture filled monsoon winds. Exposing these beans to this type of weather brings out distinctive flavor notes that cannot be found in other processes."
2. Brazil Sweet Blue Daterra Estate. This bean is complex. Chocolatey with a wine like finish. Mouth feel not as creamy as the Indian, but still plenty satisfying. While labeled 'sweet' I didn't find it as sweet as I anticipated, which is good, because sweet coffees are not my thing. Really want to try this served with a chunk of piloncillo.
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Would you like to receive a free drawing/haiku postcard? Please send your address to postcards at hargie dot com. And I’ll get one out to you tout de suite. I don't keep or sell your address, EVER.