Coffee is perhaps the one drink that enchants the home of almost any of us. Initially discovered by accident, people quickly found out that brewing the bean gives us the black magic we all love. After centuries of experimentation, one may be dazzled by all the possibilities this drink offers. Want to brew it with a filter? Put it in the good old moccapot? Buy the beans from Brazil? Ethiopia perhaps? All in all, coffee provides us with a variety of enjoyment, putting it on the list of essentials for the good life. For today’s article I organised a small tasting session, looking at a coffee from a local initiative. Let’s see if it too can add value to our existence.
From across the ocean to the local roasting house
What makes this coffee so fun to test out, is that it comes from a small local initiative. Of course, this makes it difficult for international audiences to try it out, but these small and local start-ups deserve attention. Of course, despite the roasting house Microbranderij Groningen being located in Groningen, its beans come from Nicaragua. As with most coffee from this region, the beans are on the very kind, mild to bittersweet taste, giving it a solid base. Providing this foundation, this means that the beans invite themselves for fruity to sweet aromas. Luckily, this is exactly what the roasting house has done.
To compliment the base of the beans, the roasting house has put in aromas of apricots, orange peels, and interestingly, rum. According to them, this will provide us with a taste that is seemingly described as ‘full, sweet, and funky’. When one puts rum in their coffee, I can definitely see where the funky part is coming from. As a suggestion for how to brew the coffee, one ought to use a moccapot, aeropress or use it for espressos and cappuccinos. This suggests that we are in for coffee with a punch to it. For the tasting session, we will therefore use a moccapot.
A steadfast and sweet smell, ready to be brewed
Of course, the first thing we are all wondering is the smell of the coffee. Excited to find out, I very quickly opened up the package and was welcomed with a wondrous smell. The advice to use a moccapot is a good one, since there is a very strong, caffeïnated smell to the coffee. Not only that, one can definitely smell the bittersweet smell of the rum and the sweetness of the apricot. All in all, this coffee is a feast to your nostrils and it well passes the smelling test.
The next step was to get out the old trusted moccapot and fill it up with some water and the coffee. Waiting for the coffee to finish, we went ahead and had some good conversations on what to expect from it. After some speculations, the pot finished simmering the coffee. We stopped the conversation and excitingly grabbed some cups.
Various strengths, various tastes
After pouring the black gold into some decorative cups, it was time to find out about the taste. The strong smell of caffeïne was immediately noticable with the first sip. This is the kind of coffee that grows hair on your chest and it makes for an amazing after dinner coffee. While the hair is growing on your chest, the taste of apricot is subtly there, giving the strong taste a sweet note. Even more interestingly though, is the lingering aftertaste in your mouth. It is in the aftertaste when you truly notice the complexity and funkiness of the rum and orange peels. Moving the liquid in your mouth opens up the bittersweetness of the rum, adding a tropical layer to the coffee. Combined with this is almost a marmelade-esque sense of the orange peels, giving it that typical bitter taste to it. Although this might sound strange at first, it does add a very welcome complexity to the coffee. After finishing the last sip, we were more than happy with the outcome of this tasting session.
Try it out yourself
So can we recommend this coffee? The answer to that question is a resounding yes. If you are in for a coffee that gives you a strong, sweet, yet funky taste and are you looking for that ideal after dinner coffee? Then if you are able to, give this coffee a chance!
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