Where's Your Stash? A Guide to Making Home Blends

Every one has one. You know what I am talking about...the little baggy you hide in the closet, tucked away from prying eyes...your coffee stash.

It's ok, I have one. I love it despite it being relatively stale, unscientifically crafted, and improperly stored.

After I get close to running through my 1 lb bag of beans, I rush to the store and buy a new bag of something to replace my current beans. When I return home, I get impatient with finishing the rest of the beans. I grind whats left for a french press, and shovel them into a ziploc bag. After a few times, my bag tends to be a random mix of coffee.

In the picture, the darker coffee I believe is a French Roast (the place I bought it from didn't say what bean it was), and the red is the Guatamalan coffee I finished. I grinded the Guatamalan up because the Girlfriend thought it tasted horrible. Mixing it with French roast produced an interesting visual, and tasted decent for half of it being stale. Using a French Press, the coffee had a bold/dark taste mellowed by the sweet/syrupy Guatamalan.

My coffee stash planted a seed in my head about making home blends without spending oodles of money on home roasting equipment or energy from a stove or oven. While the coffee blend will be relatively stale/not so fresh because one coffee for the blend will be chilling in the closet for a few weeks while you finish other coffees bought after it.

That's a fair enough critique, but one can scoop out some beans prior to being ground and place it in an airtight container. But there is something to be said about haphazardly throwing in what you have lying around, and seeing what happens.

My question is, Do you have a coffee stash? If so, what is in it?

Espresso Drawing

I drew an espresso machine punching out a shot of espresso. I haven't drawn in a while, which may account for the problematic shading. Nevertheless, it was fun and only took about 30 minutes. Have you ever been inspired to do something creative with coffee? Please sound off in the comment section! I am curious to hear from others. If you can scan it or take a picture of it, send it to me and I can put it up on the site. My email is duderino102 at gmail dot com.

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Coffee Trip: NYC

While visiting NYC for a weekend, my friend and I found ourselves at the Stumptown annex cafe on W 29th between 5th and 6th avenue. Located on the premises of a hotel, it occupies a small space providing standing room only to drink your coffee beverages. One can go into the hotel lobby I suppose, but that's weird. It was standing room only for my friend and I! I was suffering from coffee withdrawals because my friend does not drink coffee, which meant that he does not own a coffee machine of any sort in his apartment. (Lamesauce on him) When we finally arrived, I was shaking from withdrawals. Well not really, but I was looking forward to some coffee.

I ordered an espresso for there and a small latte to go. Here is the picture below,

The espresso tasted nice, but I am finding that many of the top espresso cafes serve about 1 oz rather than 2oz's worth, especially when I ask for a double. It seemed a bit too fleeting even for espresso. Has anyone noticed this or is this relatively standard? The barista made a great rosseta and the milk was steamed to perfection for my latte.

The espresso was 2.50 while expensive, not nearly as wallet breaking as an espresso I had yesterday in DC at 2.75! That is ridiculous, but that is another post. The cafe had the classic Stumptown look with the simple menu and old fashioned garb. The service was pleasant and quick, but nothing out of the ordinary. Here is an action shot my friend took of me:

Here is the chance to offer up some critiques on my espresso drinking routine! Am I making any faux pas? :-)

Overall: A fun place to go, but not one that I would go back to regularly.

Besides going to Stumptown, I rambled through Central Park, though not quite good as St. Louis's Forest Park, visited the impressive MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), and unfortunately went through the disappointing Smithsonian's exhibits of the American Indian near Battery Park. A fun trip overall.

Come back soon (~this weekend), I will be reviewing a local coffee roaster/cafe located in Alexandria.

Turkish Coffee: A Guide

Following up on my previous post about Turkish coffee, I wanted to write a semi-detailed guide on how to make Turkish coffee. Granted, I am a beginner to this method, but more ink spilled about it will spur interest in this neglected method.

First: Grind coffee beans at the finest setting possible. There are specific grinders for Turkish coffee, but they run about 60-70 dollars. If you have a quality burr grinder, it should work. The grind should be dust-like or close to it. Also, buying pre-ground Turkish coffee works.

Second: Fill up ibrik to desired level with water. I found that about 6-7 oz works out well, creating enough froth, but not overfilling my specific ibrik.

Third: Add ground coffee, for ~3oz add 1 heaping tablespoon. For my 7oz cup, I use 2 1/2 spoons worth. One should add sugar at this point if you want. Remember, one shouldn't add sugar at the end of brewing because that would stir up the grounds spreading them throughout the cup. Sugar must be added now or never.

Fourth: Stir vigorously with plastic or wooden spoon. Avoid metal, this adds unnecessary scraping with the sides with the tin sidewalls. If you have a stainless steel ibrik, it probably wont matter too much.

Fifth: Place over low heat. I use a gas stove, and keep the flame from touching the ibrik itself. After a minute, I stir again making sure everything is mixed well. Continuing to stir after this will prevent a nice foam/froth/crust from forming. This is one of the best parts of Turkish coffee, and recommend to all readers not to stir anymore. (Though only a recommendation)

Sixth: Right before it boils, the thick crust will creep up on the walls (~5 minutes into brewing), pay attention! This creeping means that a lot of froth will be made, but also will be followed by uncontrollable boiling. It is important to take the ibrik off before it boils but after it froths. This may take a few times to figure out. Spoon out of the froth into the cup or cups.

Seventh (optional): Place it over the flame one more time, and let it boil for a quick second.

Eighth: Pour coffee into cups trying to share as much froth as possible, if other people are partaking. If not, be greedy and take it all!

Caution: Be sure to not pour out all the liquid in the ibrik, as towards the bottom it will contain a lot of sludge. Better to let some go to waste, than ruin your cup. Don't worry there will be plenty of slurry at the bottom of your cup anyways.

Here are a few pictures to document my first attempts:

I am off to New York City for the weekend, and will be MIA until Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully I will be able to find some good coffee shops, if you have any recomendations comment below or tweet me.

Coffee Review: Rappahannock's Guatemalan Antigua Panchoy

Welcome to the first Metro Espresso review of local coffee. The first review comes from Rappahannock coffee on Columbia Pike in Arlington. You can check out their website here.

Disclosure: I do not receive free coffee from the roasters, but buy it from them without their knowledge of it being reviewed. In this manner, I hope to recreate what a normal

consumer would buy from each establishment.

The coffee is graded from of 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

1- Horrible/Bad: Does not deserve to grace any types of brewing methods. Most likely extremely stale, burnt..etc.

2- Meh: Generally displays uneven characteristics or muted flavors. The overall taste does not blend well, and could be improved up. Stale

3- Average: A well crafted coffee with either a one-dimensional flavor or hints of one. Moderately fresh.

4- Good: Demonstrates a good combination of flavors and is freshly roasted.

5- Excellent: Similar to 4, but demonstrates a complex arrangement of flavors and exceeds in quality from similar coffees.

Value is added into the preceding criteria for the final review score.

Brew method: Most reviewers use French Press as their main method of brewing to review coffee, but as I believe any coffee shop should be judged by their double espresso. Espresso acts as a base to many coffee drinks, so reviewing it as mainly an espresso drink is my main concern.

I will refine the criteria in future reviews, but it is a good start to review the local coffee selection.

The barista informed me Rappahannock roasts once a week on Mondays. I recently ran out of the excellent Sumatra Mandheling from Northwest Coffee Company, I needed more coffee. I chose the Guatemalan Antigua Panchoy for a Central American bean.

Aroma: Opening up the bag, I discerned a spicy, floral aroma like a potpourri. After the initial smell, I discerned a hint of chocolate. After grinding, the beans released a potent, syrupy smell.

Taste: Initially, the espresso hits you with a bright, floral taste, followed by a syrupy flavor very similar to Intelligentsia's Black Cat Espresso. While it may not share BC's complex taste, it is eerily close. Unlike an earthy Sumatra, the Guatemalan had a thin body, emphasizing the vivid flavors.

Visual: The espresso displayed a deep, orangish-red color similar to auburn. The spent grounds were quite red!

Final Thoughts: Rappahannock's Guatemalan Pantigua Panchoy is a tasty espresso with a clear, pronounced taste, but lacks a body to compliment the flavors it has. Similar to Black Cat espresso, this Guatemalan coffee would be better suited as a base to a latte or cappuccino to give added flavor. Also, French Press would lesson the extreme sweetness. To take artistic licence, the flavor is arrogant and loud, yet beyond its flamboyant facade, it lacks a strong foundation. At 13.99 per pound, it is a bit pricey for me lowering the coffee's overall value.

Score: 3/5