Link Sweet Bean of Wilmette, Illinois: Sulawesi & Yirgacheffe

Trying a new roaster for this post.  Wilmette, Illinois has a charming little independent coffee roaster; Link Sweet Bean.  They opened in 2005 and have a smaller yet very geographically broad range of whole bean selections.  Their beans are available at several high-end grocery stores such as Whole Foods.  Their store is extremely comfortable with a soft, relaxing atmosphere and the folks that operate it are as nice as can be.  They even offer cupping seminars from time to time.

The first coffee from Link's that I tried was Sulawesi, an Indonesian coffee.  The beans are grown in mountainous altitudes and Sulawesi produces several different grades of quality.  The most sought after beans come from Toraja but lower altitude farms produce beans as well.  Link's Sulawesi is a Dark roasted low acidity Arabica coffee bean that has a very rich, earthy fragrance.  The beans are medium sized.




The beans were ground and the coffee was brewed in a french press.   While steeping, the earthy, syrupy aroma came pouring out of the glass. As for taste, Link's started off on a strong foot. This coffee is excellent. There is no biting aftertaste, the flavor was earthy and very complex; I thought I could taste a bit of chocolate notes in it.  The flavors lingered pleasantly after I was done with my beverage. Dark roasted coffees, to me, are either really good and rich in flavor or they are burnt and gross. Link's is the former. I would be curious to see how the flavors set up if Sulawesi was a medium roast.

There are news reports online that due to adverse climate conditions, the Sulawesi harvest this year has been smaller and as a result, the price of the beans has increased.   My 12oz one way valve package was slightly more than $10.00 at Whole Foods which is on par if not slightly better in price than offerings from other roasters.

After using up all of my Sulawesi beans, I visited Link's Sweet Bean and purchased a larger sized 16 oz bag of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.  The beans are organic and carry fair trade certification.   For those who have read my posts or talked directly with me about coffee, you know that I love African coffees.  Link's Yirgacheffe absolutely blew me away with its flavor.


The beans are smaller in size which is the norm for Ethiopian.  Unlike other Ethiopian and African coffees I have tried in the past, Link's medium roasts these beans and the flavors they extract are fantastic.  What was most striking to me about Links' Yirgacheffe was the potent citrus aroma that leaps out of the bag when first opened and carries through into the brewed coffee.


I brewed the coffee in my french press and in a Vesuviana.  It was quite evident in the french press that a very think, syrupy and foamy crema forms.  I'm starting to see this as an indicator of really high quality.  Past coffees that failed to produce this, to me, tasted more dilute and less flavorful.


The coffee had powerful citrus notes and smooth acidity.  It was an absolute treat to drink.  Its great to discover another small local roaster who has really poured heart and soul into producing such a wonderful coffee for us caffeine hogs.  I look forward to trying more in the future.

Big Red Can of Illy

I've been to Las Vegas several times and one of my favorite things to do is to visit Caesar's Palace and grab some Illy espresso at the Forum Shops.  Illy is a power house of coffee.  The company was started by Francisco Illy in the early 1930's.  Among the company's contribution to industry was a patent in 1936 for an automatic espresso brewing machine (U.S. Patent 2,152,410 - Apparatus for the Preparation of Coffee Infusions) and it also developed a method of inert gas preservation so that canned coffee beans could retain a more fresh flavor.

After World War II, the company stayed within the Illy family.  Its formal corporate name today is illycaffè S.p.A.


In 2002, Ernesto Illy published this very interesting article in Scientific American about coffee.  Its worth a read:  http://www.podmerchant.com/coffee/complexity-of-coffee.pdf


Okay, lets get to the coffee.  Illy is a blend of different Arabica.  According to the Illy website, the beans are sourced from Brazil, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Colombia, India and Guatemala.  The cans are sealed and come in both whole bean and ground versions.  The cans are 8.8 Oz and typically retails for around $15.00 per can.  The beans are average size and are medium roasted.  Illy also produces a dark roast.  The beans have an earthy balanced aroma when the lid was pealed back.








The first batch was brewed in a french press, the crema was much thinner than what I saw with artisan roasted coffees.  The resulting beverage was earthy with balanced acidity and was overall solid and great tasting.  However, the flavor of the coffee diminished as I went through the can.  Near the bottom, I started getting bad brews in the french press.  Two of the brews were very poor and watery and even failed to form the coveted brown frothy layer.  Its possible that degradation of the roasted beans contributed to this.  I made a second attempt and lowered the water temperature and this seemed to also remedy the problem, at least in part.


Illy is a solid coffee.  This was really the first time I noticed diminishing quality of the beans after opening.  I would still recommend it to enthusiasts but with some reservation.  Will this stop me from buying or drinking Illy in the future?  Absolutely not.  I will also continue to grab a cup on future Vegas trips.

Burundi Kayanza Gatare by Metropolis

Metropolis has really hit the nail on the head with a fantastic African coffee that is just a real treat for the pallet. For today's review, we are traveling to the central African nation of Burundi. Metropolis Coffee's single origin offering comes from the Kayanza region of Burundi and is processed at the Gatare Co-op.

Metropolis's Burundi can be ordered off its website and is available at its cafe and at select coffee houses and grocery stores.  http://www.metropoliscoffee.com/shop/category/coffee/single-origin/view/burundi-kayanza-gatare-p220

I purchased my 454.0 gram bag from Fox & Obel which is located on Chicago's Gold Coast.  The label on my beans indicated that they were roasted on May 26, 2011.  It seems that the "#1" designation on the label denotes the lot number the beans came from at Gatare.


The beans are a juicy medium roast Bourbon variety of Arabica. The beans are smaller in size and have a succulent brown covering locking in a flavor vault of blackberry.


The blackberry aroma is extremely prevelant in this coffee.  It smacks you in the face when you open the bag and keeps slapping you during the brewing process.  I brewed these beans in the french press at 4 minutes with water of 190 degrees F. The crema that forms in the french press is a thinner yet syrupy tan layer of caffinated heaven. The great thing about this coffee is that there is no strong aftertaste, it goes down smooth and the blackberry notes linger long after.  This is a rock star coffee.  If you try this and don't like it, then there is something not right with your coffee preferences!!!

The Way To Enjoy A Heatwave

The temp hit 101 degrees a short time ago.  Here is my tribute to the heatwave of 2011.  Brewed with Allegro's Red Sea blend.- review to come.

The Return of the Peaberry (Misha's)

Alright, its time to take a stab the second bag of coffee I picked up at Misha's Coffee when I was in Alexandria, Virginia for a trademark law seminar.  Earlier in this blog, I took a look at Jim's Organic Coffee's Tanzanian Peaberry.  Just a refresher, a peaberry is a mutant coffee berry where only one bean forms in the coffee cherry.  The smaller sized bean can pack a very full flavor.  Misha's Tanzanian Peaberry is "Full City Roasted" as described on their website:

http://mishascoffee.com/african-varietals/26-tanzania-peaberry.html

I'm going to guess that this means it's medium roast.  Color wise, its close to the Metropolis Prospero.  They have a delightful smell.  These peaberrys have a tinge of wine mixed with an earthy scent.


The beans were coarse ground and brewed in a french press with water heated to 190 degrees.  Steeping took 4.5 minutes.  The elixir in the press was a magnificent rosy brown shade with a light colored crema.  Yum!   This makes me want coffee while I write this.


I really loved this coffee.  It had been roasted only a day or so before I purchased it and the flavors and acidity filled my palate with sumptuous wine notes.   I think the wine component came through more fter brewing and overall the taste and "perk" was very concentrated.  My opinion is that Misha's peaberrys have more of that wine flavor than Jim's Organic Coffee.

 I highly recommend Misha's peaberrys the next time you find yourself in Old Town.  I would have loved to have had more time to try more of their different varietals but that means I just have something new to look forward to the next time I'm in that part of the country.

Some Recent Coffee Related Heath News Stories

Coffee has a lot of antioxidants!!!       http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9105892

Coffee is good for men's health:        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43065205

Coffee may help protect against liver cancer:     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6975257/



Lastly, for all you cute furry animal and coffee lovers, if the coffee is that awesome, I want a Civet:)

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/21/5893391-roasting-the-most-expensive-coffee-in-the-world-from-cat-poop

The 2011 Prospero Summer Blend by Metropolis Coffee

Nothing says summer like an iced coffee beverage.  Today's entry visits the vaunted Metropolis Coffee Company located in the Edgewater area on the north side of Chicago.   The have their own cafe and their coffee beans are sold in Whole Foods and other select coffee perveyors.  Many quality restaurants  also brew their coffee with Metropolis.  Metropolis takes a very clinical approach to roasting and their website has much information on how they go about their business.

On the web:  http://www.metropoliscoffee.com

Today I'm reviewing Metropolis' Prospero Summer Blend.  Their beans are packages in re-sealable tab bags with a one way air valve.  This blend is advertised as being geared toward iced coffee beverages, which makes it very attractive to this coffee nut.  In true scientific fashion, the label provides advice on appropriate brewing and concentration.  For hot coffee using these beans, Metropolis recommends 2 tbs ground coffee per 6-7 oz of filtered water and for cold drinks 2 tbs coffee per 3 oz filtered water poured over ice.


This coffee is extremely flavorful and the aromas hit you when the bag is cut open for the first time.  The beans are small in size, reminiscent of African and Middle Eastern beans, and pack a plum and citrus punch.  I found that citrus is the dominant flavor in this coffee with plum a close second.  The roast is medium so these flavors are not burnt out of the coffee.


The coffee was brewed in a french press at first.  Water was added to the press at around 190-195 degrees F and the coffee was allowed to steep for 4 minutes.  The crema that forms is syrupy and light in color and the press moved through the coffee very freely.  The citrus and plum aromas were very detectable when the coffee was poured.  Caramel is another advertised flavor note and I noticed its presence when I got toward the end of drinking my cup.  This was a nice way to finish up my morning coffee.  I also later brewed in the Vesuviana and achieved much the same results.

This is a great coffee hands down especially if you like coffees that have fruity notes.  I highly recommend trying this coffee on a hot or cold day.  My iced mochas were full of flavor and did a good job keeping me awake for hours and hours!  This is easily one of my favorite coffees and I'm sure it will be one of your preferences too.

Misha's Coffee: Ethiopian Harrar

This latest entry takes my coffee adventures beyond the great Illinois frontier, errr, prairie, and to Alexandria Virginia.  After recently attending a trademark law seminar there, I located this local roaster/coffeehouse as the outside temperature hovered around the triple digit mark.

Misha's is located off of King Street on South Patrick Street in Old Town.  It has a charming folk-artish feel to it with vintage appliances adding to the atmosphere. The tables are large and it looks like a great place to study.  There are large glass jars on the counter with roasted beans from around the world.  Their website is:  http://www.mishascoffee.com

I figured, being the coffee fanatic that I am, that I should bring some beans back home to try out.  The selection is pretty abundant.  They tout six blends and eighteen varietals.  Followers will recall that I love peaberries so my first selection was a bag of Tanzanian Peaberry and a French Roasted Ethiopian Harrar Longberry.  Today we will be looking at the Harrar.

The store clerk told me that the beans had been roasted 24 hours prior to my visit so I'm trying these babies when they are pretty fresh.  The beans are small to small/medium in size and a little bit more elongated in shape than African beans I'm used to.  The french roasted beans clearly drip oil from the dark roast.  Opening the bag, the caramel earthy scent is prominent.  The beans are unwashed and dry processed according to Misha's.  Dry processing involves the green coffee beans being turned and air dried in the sun after picking.  The goal of this process is to remove pulpy fruit material from the coffee cherries.  In dry processing, some of this material remains with the cherries and enhances the overall body of the brewed beverage.


The coffee was brewed in a french press.  The water was heated to 190 degrees and when mixed in the press, was allowed to steep for four minutes.  The coffee produced a dark succulent crema.  There was a slight hint of a wine flavor note emanating from the brew.

The coffee has a unique dry taste with lesser acidity.  The earthy tones are very strong almost to a point of overpowering the more subtle flavor notes.  There is a bitter aspect to the coffee in my opinion  but not in the negative sense.  It appears toward the end of a sip.  Definitely unique and most definitely guaranteed to keep you awake for many hours.  If you are looking for a truly different coffee experience and happen to be in  Alexandria, VA, give Misha's and their Harrar (or any of their other large selection) a try.  My next Misha's review will feature their Peaberry.

Allegro's Organic Ethiopian Adado

In the scant few years that I have really taken my coffee drinking to absurdly hardcore levels, a select few have made my top tier list. The Allegro coffee company has really hit a home run with its Yirgacheffe from the Adado co-operative. Lets start with the packaging. Allegro's special reserve coffees have very colorful, playful artwork. The colors on the packaging of Adado seem to reflect the flavors encased in these little beans.  Allegro advertises Cirrus, Apricot, Strawberry Blossoms.  The coffee comes in whole bean (the one I selected) and ground versions. You get 12oz per bag which has a one way air valve. The coffee is kosher and USDA certified.

Let's take a look under the hood. The beans are typical size for Yirgacheffe Arabica. Smaller in size, their aroma is heavily concentrated, in fact in blasts your senses the second the bag is opened. The berry and citrus notes in this coffee is fantastic (and I haven't even brewed it yet!). The beans are light roasted and retain full flavor and wonderful acidity.



I cupped the coffee, and also brewed it in the french press as well as in the Vesuviana at a finer ground. The vapor just tantalizes the senses. In the french press, I noticed that the crema is not as thick as in other coffees. This seems to be the norm with Yirgacheffe. You can compare this photo to earlier ones on the blog. The plunger also works through the coffee with less resistance.

This coffee is an ultimate expression of the coffee bean. Its like driving a Maybach on an Autobahn, or  lighting up a Cohiba cigar (I have done neither). This is seriously one of the best, most flavorful coffees I have ever had.  If you see it at your local store, grab a bag!!!

Allegro's Organic Arabica From Peru

Up next on the 'round the world coffee tour is Allegro's Organic Special Reserve from Peru's Frontera Co-Op. I have to give Allegro a positive review on the cute artwork they put on their packaging. This one has a colorful image of a Llama.

Popping open the one way valved 12 oz bag, we find very large and aromatic beans which are light roasted. There is a great nutty aroma emanating from the beans. The beans carry USDA organic certification.

Allegro's Peruvian beans provide a striking contrast to the Peruvian that Starbucks offered last year. Allegro's version is great reason why not all coffee should be roasted to a crisp. Allegro's brew bubbled and frothed when hot water was added in the french press producing a thick, dark-colored syrupy crema.

The sample I tried from Starbucks had some interesting aromas but one could tell that the beans had been dark (or maybe ultra-dark) roasted and oils seemed to be oozing out from the beans. Allegro's coffee had noticeable acidity and it was a pleasure to experience the coffee's nutty and slight cocoa flavors in contrast to the charcoal-esque bitterness of Starbucks. I brewed this coffee in both the french press and Vesuviana. Initially, I undertook a cupping.


It appears that Allegro is showcasing South American coffees as of late for their special reserve line. Organic Peruvian seems to no longer be available at Whole Foods nor is it found on the Allegro website. I believe they are currently offering a Brazilian and Guatemalan bean. The Peruvian for me had a nice jolt which kept me awake after drinking. The next time it happens to appear on the grocery store shelf, picture yourself in the Andes Mountains on a Lama drinking a fine cup of joe.

Tanzanian Peaberry By Jim's Organic Coffee

Here is another fine offering available at your local Whole Foods.  Tanzanian Peaberry from Jim's Organic Coffee.  This company, launched in 1992 and located in Massachusetts, has a nicely sized offering of blends and individual beans origin.  (Single origin "arguably"means that the one type of bean originates from one coffee farm and is of the same roast.  Click here for more information on "single roast" from CoffeeGeek.)  According to their website and packaging, their coffee is certified organic, all-natural cultivation is used by the farms they do business with, the farms utilize the shade grown method and kosher to boot.


This is the first coffee from JOC that I have tried and it was a great tasting experience.  Peaberry is a genetic freak of the coffee world.  Normally, two coffee beans develop opposite each other inside a coffee cherry.  In Peaberry, only one bean forms.  The result is a smaller sized bean that has a much more concentrated flavor.  Sometimes these little buggers will appear in a coffee crop and just find their way into a bag of beans down the line, other times, they will be sorted out and sold separately. JOC's beans are true to form, small in size, medium roasted and full of taste and acidity.  Berry notes are prevalent in this coffee from the moment the bag was opened all the way through to drinking it.



After I had made a few iced mochas, I performed a cupping on the peaberry.  Water was heated to 220 degrees F and then poured over the grounds.  The aroma was concentrated and again the emphasis of this coffee is on berry notes. I also detected what I thought might be a tinge of honey flavor.  All of this comes through in the taste.  The coffee both black and in iced mocha  form was a true delight.

The iced mochas were brewed in a french press. The coffee formed a mouth watering crema.


JOC's peaberry retailed in Whole Foods for $10.99 for a 12oz bag fitted with a one way valve.  I would highly recommend for any coffee lover to give these peaberrys a try.

Coffee Futures Are Up, Retailers Rising Prices On Arabica And Robusta

You can believe in it or not, but global warming sucks and has consequences. 

Due to climate changes, particularly temperature increases in South America, coffee harvests are suffering.  The NYT/MSNBC has previously noted that average temperatures in Columbia have increased one degree over the past 30 years.  Combined with drought cycles and wet cycles, and even extreme wet cycles, have created a prime environment for fungus outbreaks and pest invasions of Columbian and other South American coffee harvests:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42003896/ns/business-the_new_york_times/

The result of all this mess have been lower crop yields and increasing futures.  This figure from TradingCharts illustrates how coffee futures rapidly increased as 2010 came to a close:  http://tfc-charts.w2d.com/historical/CF/2010/0/continuous.html

Today, Starbucks raised the prices on supermarket coffee by 12%.  Concurrently, Kraft, (the company that Starbucks loves to hate on a legal level), raised prices on Maxwell House (Robusta bean) by 22%.  http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2011/03/starbucks-raises-grocery-packaged-coffee-prices.html

Trader Joe's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store that offers some really good products at prices better than chains like Safeway and Dominicks. According to coffeehabitat.com, Trader Joe's is owned by the same folks who own the ALDI grocery stores.

A 13oz can of their organic Ethiopian retails for around $8.95 for They have a line of specialty and more commercial style coffees that come in sealed Nitrogen flushed cans to help with preservation. The label indicates that the coffee is fair trade certified, kosher and USDA organic. The beans are shade grown.

Lets pop off the lid and peal back the foil seal: The Arabica beans are medium roasted and my first impression was that the beans may have been over-roasted. The smaller size beans almost reflected light as it looked like the beans' oil had leached out all over the place. When I went to grind the beans, the ground coated the sides of my grinder's chamber. Ethiopian coffee has very fruity aromas. However, I smelled more of a burnt earthy scent when I opened the can. The leached oils seemed to dissipate a little bit over time. My initial impression was not super-positive.

The coffee was brewed in a french press and was allowed to steep for 5 minutes. The crema was not terribly impressive looking, thin and very dark in color. At this point, I continued to smell a dominant burnt scent than any fruity or floral aromas. The coffee taste wasn't great but it wasn't terrible. I could still detect some acidity but the burnt scent translated into bitterness. I also had trouble tasting any of the fruity notes that is typical of African beans. As I went through the can, this burnt taste seemed to subside and the resulting coffee was still not great but it was palatable.

I would rate this as slightly above average coffee at best and most likely, the beans are more second grade in quality, more than likely, this is why the price is nine dollars. Perhaps this coffee would have been better as a light roast to promote whatever fruity notes might be in these beans if the beans are actually of good quality Arabica. As it stands though, the bitter taste left something to be desired.

Allegro Coffee's Tanzania Kanyovu

Well, lets kick start this party with a take on Tanzania Kanyovu by Allegro Coffee which is based in Thornton Colorado.

The package indicates that the beans are from the larger Kanyovu cooperative near Gombe National Park. Looking more closely at the company's website, Allegro says that the beans come specifically from Rumako and Manyovu sub-cooperatives. The beans are packaged in a sealed 12 oz. package with a one-way air valve.

Here is more information on this coffee from the Allegro website:
http://www.allegrocoffee.com/main/do/get_page/pageID/259



These light roasted Bourbon beans are fairly large in size compared to other African based beans I have seen and they have a sweet honey-esque scent in the package. The scent is very smooth and not overbearing.

Bourbon is a variety of Arabica. It grows at higher elevations of 3500-6500 feet. Allegro says that their beans come from the 5000 ft. range

When hot water is added to the grounds, a thick dark hazelnut color crema forms and fig and fruity notes begin to come out. The coffee was allowed to steep for 5 minutes before pressing and pouring.

This coffee made a great iced mocha (hot brew) and regular coffee as well. I didn't taste much acidity, it wasn't bitter tasting, and the flavor notes, especially fig and honey, were very prominent. The package says that vanilla is another note although I didn't pick this one up as much, yet it did not spoil my experience in the least. Overall, this was a great coffee.

Welcome...Some Notes and Info

Quite frankly, I love coffee. Its more than just a caffeinated morning jolt. Coffee is much like an artist's pallet, subtle and bold differences in taste, aroma, acidity; all of which can change based on geographic region, harvesting methods, roast. My drink of choice is the venerable iced mocha, how that came to be, I couldn't say, but for me, the combination of chocolate and ice brings out the coffee flavors in a rather tasty way, highlighting the positives and negatives in the coffees that I brew. This blog is my effort to document my appreciation for coffee and to opine on the coffee beans I have tried.

Note: all the coffee reviews that you will find on this blog are my own opinions. I do not earn money from this blog and if I come across a coffee I do not like, I will express my displeasure. Any links that you see on this site are for informational purposes only, I am not responsible for what other folks say or do on their websites.

I currently use two different coffee brewers.

This first is a conventional french press by Bodum

I also use a Vesuviana stovetop espresso machine.

These aluminum espresso brewers are made in Italy and come different sizes. There is also an electric version. Having brewed many a good cup with mine, I recommend them to any coffee enthusiast and they can be purchased on Ebay for a decent price. In this type of brewer, water is heated in a chamber until, when hot enough, pressure forces the hot water up a collecting tube leading from the chamber to the receptacle where the water is forced through the coffee grounds.