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Relationship Coffee: Costa Rica El Roble Microlot

We're rolling out a new coffee today, and it's got quite a story.

Dennis, our master roaster, is friends with Tim O'Brien. Tim started an import company called Green Coffee Vault, and sends us samples from time to time.

Our last Costa Rica came from Tim, and we really liked it. A lot. Tim is friends with the farmers who grew that lot, and he put Dennis in touch with them. They talked, and decided to create a special "Honey Process" lot, just for Bow Truss.

Falling between the Washed and Natural process, Honey, or Pulp Natural processing means that the coffee seeds (beans) are dried with the fruit removed, but with the sticky mucilage still present. This coating is full of sugars for the seed wants to push its first shoot up through the soil. When it's dried on the coffee bean, it transmits those sugars in a way that we can taste in the cup.

While the Monge Quiros family, which runs Finca El Roble usually makes washed process coffees, they took a risk for us in making this lot. We, in turn, backed that risk by committing to buy a certain portion of it before we had tasted it. We had enough faith in Tim and in Finca El Roble because of our previous coffee from them, and that faith paid off -- We've tasted arrival samples, and have gone to production on what we think you'll agree is one of the sweeter, tastier coffees out there this season.

Death Before Decaf?

The opinions presented here are the opinions of Barista Educator Greg Loring-Albright, and not of Bow Truss Coffee Roasters (though we don't disagree with him -- why else would we let him post on the blog?).

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At the core of this post is the question: Is caffeine necessary for coffee?

I don't think so, and I know that that is somewhat of a controversial opinion.

I think caffeine is important to coffee, and to coffee culture -- after all, the morning rush is where in the industry make rent, and the timing of that rush is no coincidence: Caffeine is as important to coffee and its culture as alcohol is to beer and its culture.

While I agree that caffeine is important to coffee, I don't think that caffeine is necessary to coffee -- or, to be more specific, to "specialty" coffee.

Part of specialty coffee is a focus on flavor experiences -- on valuing things for the sensory event that they convey. While a caffeine buzz can be part of the sensory event of drinking coffee, I find the most enjoyment in the moment of sipping the coffee, and letting its flavors ignite my brain in that moment.

Perhaps others would disagree, and find greater enjoyment in the caffeine buzz that follows, and I'm not knocking that.

What I am saying is that a good decaf -- a decaf that has lost little of its flavor to the decaffeination process -- can provide as enjoyable of a flavor experience as a "regular" caffeinated coffee.

These decafs, once rare as unicorns, are starting to appear. We have one in rotation now at Bow Truss -- the new Organic Decaf Mexico Altura.

I just cold-brewed it at home, and it was some of the best home cold brew I've had all summer.

Cascara (with recipes!)

If you google "cascara," the first hits relate to a plant called Rhamnus purshiana, which you'll quickly learn is a natural laxative.

We're not talking about that cascara.

Instead, we're talking about Coffea arabica, though not in the form we usually talk about it. Cascara is the name given to the dried fruit of the coffee plant. The seed is the part we roast, grind, and brew, and the fruit is usually discarded or composted.

There is a tradition, in some coffee growing countries, of drying these fruits into a husk, then steeping that husk and making it into a tea-like beverage.

That's the cascara that we're talking about.

Soon, Bow Truss will offer cascara in our retail stores, and we'll sell 4oz. bags of Cascara for you to brew at home.

The beverage varies based on the qualities of the cascara being used, but in general, it makes a sweet, spicy, fruity tea. The cascara that we have available (from the Las Lajas mill in Costa Rica -- learn more) is very sweet -- notes of honey and honeysuckle dominate, and the gingery, cinnamon-spice notes take a back seat.

One more quick note before we get to the recipes: Cascara's caffeine content is mysterious. It definitely gives a caffeine-like buzz, though a well-respected roastery in the UK recently sent their cascara to a caffeine lab and found that it contains very little caffeine -- as little as a quarter to an eighth of a cup of brewed coffee. There's no consensus in the coffee world on why this is, so we've just been treating cascara like coffee: Not drinking it too late in the day, unless we're gearing up for a big night.

OK, recipes.

CASCARA COLD BREW

Soak 60g cascara in 1 gallon of cold, filtered water for 12 hours. Decant through a filter, strainer, or cheesecloth. Serve over ice. Makes a sweet, light-bodied beverage. Try it on its own or as a mixer in sodas & cocktails!

HOT CASCARA TEA

Prepare as you would a black tea, steeping 3g of cascara in 100ml of just-off-boil water for 4 minutes. Strain & drink hot.

So Much Coffee From Ethiopia!

So we just rolled out a new Ethiopia, and it's got quite a name: Washed Ethiopia Sidama Yerga Alem.

I'll break it down bit by bit, and then describe how it differs from the other Ethiopias in our lineup.

Ethiopia: The country where the coffee was grown.

Washed: We'll come back to this, I promise. It's the only non-geographic part of this coffee's name.

Sidama: Sidama is a geograhic distinction that is similar to a U.S. state. There are some important differences, but for our purposes, it's the next layer down from country.

Yerga Alem: The town. Now, coffee is not grown in town, but the farmers who grew this coffee brought it to the nearest town, Yerga Alem, for collection and processing.

OK, back to Washed. Coffee "beans" are the seeds of the fruit of the coffee tree. For us to get these "green" (raw, not roasted) seeds, someone has to pick the fruit, and remove the seed. This happens in a lot of different ways, and they all fall into the basket of "processing methods."

Washing (or wet processing) is one such processing method. The fruit is removed using a mill and water soaks almost as soon as the coffee has been picked. These coffees are very common in Central America, East Africa, and another famous region of Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe. Our Ethiopia Kochere is one such coffee.

Sidama, though, is known for Natural (or dry processed) coffees. The fruit, with the seed inside, is allowed to sit and dry in the sun for a longer period of time. These coffees have an intense, fruit-forward, winey character. Our Decaf is a decaffeinated Natural from Sidama. And Sidama isn't the only place known for nautral processing. Our Natural Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aricha is, as the name indicates, a Natural from Yirgacheffe.

This new coffee, a Washed Sidama, is unusual, because its processing method is uncommon for its region. Knowing about geography and processing lets us highlight why this coffee is so special.

So there, in a nutshell, is the name of our newest coffee, and how it is different from our other offerings from Ethiopia, coffee's genetic home.

For extra credit, taste the Ethiopia Washed Sidama Yerga Alem, and discuss with your barista how its flavor reflects its origin and/or its processing method.

Exciting Announcements

From the education department:

Our account was hacked by an April Fool yesterday.

Disregard any "important coffee findings." To learn real coffee knowledge and techniques, please consider attending our Manual Brew Class: https://bowtruss.myshopify.com/products/manual-coffee-brewing-class

Sincerely,

Greg

The Flavor Wheel: Specialty Coffee's Best-Kept Secret

On each bag of Bow Truss coffee, you will find three carefully selected flavor notes. Other coffee companies present similar notes on their bags.

Today, we are making public a long-held trade secret: these flavor notes are generated by a very peculiar coffee industry ritual, invented by Hills Brothers coffee company in San Francisco in the early 1900s: the flavor wheel.

To be more precise, it is now flavor wheels -- the recent explosion of specialty roasters means that the SCAA had to develop extra wheels.

Here's how it works: at the annual US Barista Champonship, the competitors, in order of their score, spin a large game show wheel. Whatever flavor note the wheel ends on belongs to that company for the coming year. No one else may use it. Baristas spin the wheel (now wheels, as there are so many competitors) to earn good tasting notes for their companies' packaging.

Bow Truss is proud to increase transparency by sharing the existence of this practice.

The Green Coffee Diet: Fact or Fiction?

In short: fact. Our newest hire, as his first work responsibility, was instructed to eat only raw, green coffee beans for his first month of employment. This led to significant weight loss, and we can confirm many "weird old tips" about reducing your weight: eat green coffee!

Cozier

This isn't coffee science, but it's common sense:

We at Bow Truss love to make things more cozy. Well now, you can be cozy despite this unusually long winter. Just pick up one of our new full-body-cozy sweaters. These fashionable, innovative garments are available at our Lakeview location for only $1!

Where Does Green Coffee Come From?

Much of the current specialty coffee industry is focused on origin. Knowing what country, region, and farm your coffee came from has been seen as an important part of roasting and serving coffee. Curious to do some of our own origin research, we got on our bikes and followed a green coffee delivery truck. We were shocked at what we found: not just one, but every coffee delivery comes from within the US (we didn't think those trucks could get all the way to Ethiopia!). Our labels will begin to reflect these findings. Look for Minneapolis, Oakland, and New York coffee showing up on our shelves soon!

Grinding: Necessary or Optional?

We, and others in the specialty coffee industry, have long been proponents of freshly ground coffee. The more recent the grind, the thinking goes, the more flavor will make its way Ito the finished product. We've taken this philosophy to its logical conclusion, and are proud to be the first specialty coffee company to advocate for no-grind brewing. Just measure your coffee, put it into the filter, and be amazed: the intact coffee bean, robbed of NO volatile aromatics or gases, will brew a delicious cup of coffee!

Exciting Announcements

Here at Bow Truss we are always pushing specialty coffee to be more delicious, more approachable, and more cozy. We've been hard at work doing some serious coffee science, and now, after months of work, we're ready to present some of our findings. Some of these new ideas fly in the face of what we've been taught, but rest assured, we have tested these assertions extensively. As Barista Educator, I am proud to be presenting the findings that our team has worked so hard to bring to light. Stay tuned to Bow Truss social media all day for these important announcements. Thank you, Greg Loring-Albright, Barista Educator

Don't forget to follow Bow Truss on twitter and instagram to see our baristas Talya Strader and Greg Albright serve coffee at Ted Active in Whistler this year!

Introducing our Pop-Up Vendors: An Extension of the Bow Truss Family

It all started when Stephanie Lock of Rustic Tart inquired about selling her pie at our Flagship store in Lakeview. It wasn’t that we didn’t find her pie absolutely delightful, it’s that we believed that something happens when an artisanal product leaves the hands of its maker. We are coffee professionals, but leave the baking at home. The next day, Stephanie came back with the idea of pop-ups. Since then, we have had different pastry vendors come in to sell their products to our customers every Saturday and Sunday in Lakeview, as well as Mon-Fri in our River North location. We have seen awesome relationships grow out of this, and have benefitted in the cross over of our vendor’s loyal fans.

What is a pop-up? Essentially, it’s a store within a store. In our case, our vendors are very independent from us. They handle all of their own payment procedures, and do not pay us to be in our space. We give them coffee, they give us treats, and we sell to the same customers. This simple idea has given us the chance to meet with all different types of people and expand our market.

We want to take the chance, now, to introduce you to our lovely vendors!

Très Jolie Pâtisserie!

Jillian has been passionate about baking and cooking for as long as she can remember. Growing up with an Austrian grandmother who always made everything from scratch, there were ample opportunities for Jillian to play the role of sous chef - and she did so with gusto. Jillian decided to study French in junior high school, fell in love with the language, and continued pursuing French all the way through college, spending her final semester in Paris. There, she spent every free moment roaming the enchanting streets, soaking in the culture and amazing food. Back in the U.S., Jillian embarked on a lengthy copywriting career, working at a number of ad agencies in Chicago. It wasn't until 2010 that she decided to trade in her high heels for kitchen clogs, enrolling in The French Pastry School, and following her culinary passion. Shortly after, Très Jolie Pâtisserie was born. Working out of Kitchen Chicago, a commercially licensed shared-use kitchen, Jillian is right at home, experimenting with new recipes, ideas and flavors. Its where her creativity shines. Everything is made by hand, by Jillian. Even her croissants (her personal fave) are hand-laminated and hand-rolled - no machines involved! It's a labor of love, but one she attends to with a smile on her face, as it brings back memories of working alongside her grandmother. Currently, Jillian only sells her rotating menu of products through her website (tresjoliepatisserie.com), at the Nettlehorst Farmer's Market, and when she pops up at both Bowtruss locations. Jillian loves to put together custom sweet tables and favors for clients - her products are a huge hit at weddings, birthdays, showers and corporate events. If you have a special event coming up, definitely bend her ear. Photo credit: Très Awesome Events

Spend Valentine's Day at our River North location!

Tony overseeing a roast in progress.

Bow Truss is pleased to welcome the newest addition to our team, Tony Grewing! Tony is a new Chicago transplant, most currently from Seattle, where he roasted coffee for specialty coffee luminary Stumptown Coffee. Tony will be joining Dennis, our Master Roaster at the controls of the Probat. We asked Tony a few questions about himself:

What do you believe good coffee should taste like? I think good cup of coffee should have a balanced and integrated profile in a way that fully represents that particular coffee. Not balanced as in, all coffees need to have equal levels of sweetness, acidity, and body, but all three should at least be present and working together to fully express everything the coffee has to offer.

What's your favorite brew method and why? Recently I've been using an AeroPress, its quick, simple and travels well(it's especially nice for camping). Chemex is a close second though, because I consistently get great, well-balanced coffee out of it without a painstaking brew process.

Why do you think you and Dennis will make a great team? I think we have fairly different histories and experiences with roasting and with coffee in general, and I think that that will help prevent us from only approaching coffees from single mindset, which can happen occasionally. Basically, roasting will be more of a conversation with both of us working with the coffees and roast profiles everyday.

What do you hope to bring to Bow Truss as a growing roasting company? I've worked at a new small coffee company before and just left a larger, more established, company, and I think I have a good perspective on where we're coming from and, generally speaking, where we want to be. I hope I can take my past experience and apply it in a way that helps keep things going as smoothly as possible as Bow Truss continues to grow and expand.

What excites you most about living in Chicago? Probably the variety and quality of food, followed by the sheer amount of stuff there is to do. There was always stuff going on in Seattle for sure, but I'm excited to see what Chicago has to offer being a bigger city and all. Also I just recently found out Liverpool is supposedly going to be playing a friendly [exhibition soccer/football match] here this summer, so that would be pretty awesome too.

What must-have albums do we need in our record collection at Bow Truss? My answer to this question changes pretty frequently, but right now I'd say the top 5 must-haves are: Bob Dylan: Desire, Radiohead: Kid A, Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Black Keys: Rubber Factory and... the last pick is always the toughest... I'll go with Led Zeppelin: III.

Don't say hi to Tony if you see him roasting--it's an intense process requiring lots of concentration. But if you see him around town, welcome him to Chicago!

Introducing our Pop-Up Vendors: An Extension of the Bow Truss Family

It all started when Stephanie Lock of Rustic Tart inquired about selling her pie at our Flagship store in Lakeview. It wasn’t that we didn’t find her pie absolutely delightful, it's that we believed that something happens when an artisanal product leaves the hands of its maker. We are coffee professionals, but leave the baking at home. The next day, Stephanie came back with the idea of pop-ups. Since then, we have had different pastry vendors come in to sell their products to our customers every Saturday and Sunday in Lakeview, as well as Mon-Fri in our River North location. We have seen awesome relationships grow out of this, and have benefitted in the cross over of our vendor’s loyal fans.

We want to take the chance, now, to introduce you to our lovely vendors!

Gingersnap!

Gingersnap is one of our customer's favorite vendors and have been asked to cater a number of our their work meetings and events. They pop-up most Wednesdays in River North and occasionally on Saturdays in Lakeview. Try their whirlaways... they're delicious.

With Valentine’s Day a week away, significant others all over town want to make this year’s holiday one to remember. But how can they do so? WeDeliver’s in-house relationship guru, Love Doctor Doug...

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