Coffee: COUNTER CULTURE -- FINCA EL PUENTE HONDURAS ("PURPLE PRINCESS")
Price: $10.65/12oz + Shipping = $1.18/oz.
Year: 2007 (October)
Location/Blend: Marcala, Honduras; Blend of 11 microlots from Finca El Puente farm (farmer Marysabel Caballero)
Roast: Full City + roast; oil still evident on dark brown beans
Flavors to look for: Lavender, Purple fruit, Silky body
What they say at CC: "Honduras is one of those off the beaten path origins. This coffee does its part to support the truism that spectacular coffees come from spectacular places. The farm itself covers the side of a mountain, and there are a number of little hidden valleys where the coffee is tucked; each has a name, and its own personality. The chemists tell us that great coffees have thousands of aromatic chemicals that give coffee its character, and it"s coffees like this that make me believe it. Every time I grind this coffee, I am surrounded by flowers, fruits, and perfumes. Delicate and complex at the same time. This coffee simply defines elegance, I would choose it if I were serving a princess."
TASTING NOTES
FRENCH PRESS
Fragrance: Dry sweetness, like raisins, and very floral
Aroma: Very sweet, wet aroma, similar to its dry fragrance, just more moist. Dates, raisins, and dried fruit
Body: Very good body, very oily in the cup. Creamy body emerged as the cup cooled
Acidity: Medium acidity doesn"t wax or wane as the cup cools
Finish: Beautifully silky body finishes with a more floral/earthy finish
Profile & Flavors: "The Princess" got me through my surgery rotation. Every morning, our team of three med students could look forward to an elegant cup of coffee, while everyone else was stuck drinking the brown water being passed off for coffee in the surgeon"s lounge. We could see the oils floating in the cup, taste the sweet dried fruit with each sip, and enjoy the slightly biting acidity. Figs, raisins, and dates come to mind. Just the thing to wake you up. As the cup cooled, it turned creamy and silky. The sweetness didn"t disappear, but cooled to a more floral tone. Background flavors of vanilla and brown sugar persisted throughout. This is the kind of coffee that needs to be enjoyed over 10-15 minutes, as the flavor profile changes multiple times.
Score: 93
ESPRESSO
Crema: Very light brown creama, thin
Aroma: Sweet, floral, burnt sugar aroma
Body: Thin, but lingering
Milk: Too bitter for milk.
Profile & Flavors: A very bitter cup of espresso. Some different flavors indeed, and an interesting SO pull. Burnt sugar and vanilla predominate, and the bitterness does not have much to balance it.
Score: 85
Buy Again? Most definitely. This coffee has opened my eyes to Hondurans for sure, though I have a feeling this is a somewhat unique coffee. See, for me, this coffee will always remind me of the early mornings and long hours of my surgery rotation. I certainly will always remember the rounds, the patients, the lectures, and the six hours of retracting in the OR. We certainly were the bottom of the totem pole. But when it came to the morning coffee, we were kings, if only for ten minutes. Did it have to be this coffee? Probably not. But it was. And that will keep me buying it for years to come.
