2017-12-17 — El Salvador Alpina Pacamara

Roast Date: 17 Dec 2017
Duration: 12m3s
First Crack @ 10m10s
Rating: ★★★☆☆
1.2lb → 1.019lb; 15% Weight Loss

Sweet Maria’s

This Pacamara lot from Alpina has such an interesting herbal sweetness in the cup. City and City+ roasts have flavors of sweet basil and celery soda, and an delightful green floral accent note. The fragrance and aroma smell complex, floral tea and sweet herbaceous notes permeate from the coffee, and the impressions I get are reminiscent of Maracaturra coffees, the large bean hybrid of Maragoype and Caturra that is popular in Nicaragua. This coffee excels as a pour over brew, with well articulated flavor notes discernible in the cup. Acidity is brilliant in light roasts, like tangy citrus, a vibrance that holds up as the coffee cools. The level of sweetness is moderate, and transparent like simple syrup sugar, lending sweetness without the added molasses flavors that come with sugar in the raw.

Roast Notes

Another windy day. I preheated the bucket for four minutes (measured) and tried to use the lid of the bread maker to keep the hot air in, but it nonetheless took two extra minutes to get to first crack. I also tried the ice-pack cooling method again. Seemed to work but I should use a thermometer to see for sure.

Cupping

Acidity: floral acidity, almost like the acidity of a mango without the flavor of it.

Sweetness: I don’t taste any sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Very oily.

Flavor: Somewhat savory, robust floral flavor.

Finish: Almost rusty finish.

Balance: This coffee is good but doesn’t taste like previous renditions of this coffee. I can’t tell if it was because of the different brew method (AeroPress vs cold brew) or the different environment (quiet apartment vs screaming kids on vacation) was the cause.