Costa Rica La Legua de Aserri
Roaster: 49th Parellel
Varietals: 100% Bourbon
Altitude: 1650m
Process: Aquapulped and Sun Dried
Roaster’s Description: Ripe red fruits, lemon and chocolate. Very clean cup, complex acidity and syrupy sweetness.
Our Cupping Notes: Well balanced citrus, chocolate and sweet berry flavour. Incredibly smooth with a nice body.

Today we tried 3 coffees with Anne Nylander of Tamp Tamp. Every Tuesday these folks host a free cupping at Think Coffee (Mercer) where you are sure to try something good. For more information, visit their website here www.tamptamp.com. Here are our shared cupping notes:

George Howell – Terrior Coffee Guatemala La Soledad (our favorite)

Fragrance: toasty almond, slight chocolate, nutty, peanuts, cabbage, cranberry?
Aroma: chocolate raspberry, toasty dark chocolate, buttery
Break: molasses, apricot,
Brightness: nice high notes, tangy, low end winey scale
Flavor: toasty, nutty (pleasant), very sweet dissolving brown sugar, soured on cool, earl-grey tea-like, pleasant
Body: medium-low
Aftertaste: clean, lingering

Flat Black Coffee – Bali

Fragrance: tannins, walnuts, grape juice, hard, fruity, edge-of fermented, wet-earthy, volatile
Aroma: milk chocolate
Break: sharp, toasty, burnt, musty, banana
Brightness: strong
Flavor: charred flavor, raspberry, lemon, vegetal, stewy
Body: medium body, medium low
Aftertaste: lingering fruits, clean ish with sour notes

New Harvest Coffee Roasters – Barista Jam Custom Blend

Fragrance: weak, light, aged, pork fat, peppercorns, hint of sweet plum, banana
Aroma: ammonia, alcohol
Break: sharp, tannins
Brightness: medium-low, bitter
Flavor: roasty, smokey, bitters, dark toast, dark chocolate/cocoa, plumy
Body: between coffee one & two
Aftertaste: thin, sap, sticky finish, plunk

Visit our new store at 123 4th Avenue (12th & 13th Sts.)
Mon. – Fri.: 7am – Midnight
Sat. & Sun.: 8am – Midnight

This week our baristas cupped Hair Bender espresso by Stumptown Coffee Roasters, now roasting in Brooklyn.

Hair Bender Espresso
Roaster: Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Varietals: Latin America, East Africa and Indonesia
Roaster’s Description: Caramel, milk chocolate, sweet citrus and soft floral notes.
Our Cupping Notes: Semi-sweet chocolate, brown sugar, earthy notes, some citrus and fruit flavor.

Barista’s from all over the city came to Think Coffee to participate in the 2nd NYC Thursday Night Throwdown. Check it out!

Next week our training center will be used to host the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Northeast Regional Skill Building Workshop from September 25th-27th. You can register for classes on the SCAA website.

Today some of our baristas cupped a coffee by Blue Bottle Coffee Co. out of San Francisco, CA. Blue Bottle is a microroaster that specializes in single origin, shade grown and organic coffees.

Bella Donovan
Roaster: Blue Bottle Coffee Co.
Varietals: Organic Ethiopian and Sumatra
Roaster’s Description: Wild and citrusy, warm, comforting and familiar, nice and thick, stands up to milk or cream well, and is easily enjoyed black.
Our Cupping Notes: Smooth aroma, graham crackers (sweet grain), caramel and citrus fruit. This coffee is soft, round and makes wonderful milk drinks. A good solid blend.

We invited the best roasters in the country to send us samples of their coffees, and put them to the test. After a rigorous “cupping” by our staff of all the samples (see picture below), we’ve selected just three to serve on our French press menu.

The staff is loving brewing with French Press and deciding which of the three they like best. We hope you’ll stop in and do the same!

Our new French Press Menu

1. Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia
Roaster: Novo
Varietals: 10-15 local varieties, all cousins
Altitude: 1600-1900 meters
Process: Natural
Roaster’s Description: Strawberry and apple with light spice. Chocolate
and unripe bananas
Our Cupping Notes: Blueberry pie with cardamom and rhubarb. Green
Grass. Tastes like a picnic on a spring day.

2. La Minita Estate, Tarrazu, Cosa Rica
Roaster: George Howell Terroir
Varietals: Caturra and Hibrido
Altitude: 1400-1700 meters
Process: Washed
Roaster’s Description: Maple syrup and nuts with a hint of peaches.

3. Colombia Timana Micro-lot
Roaster: 49th Parallel
Varietals: Caturra
Altitude: 1500-1800 meters
Process: Washed (then sun-dried)
Roaster’s Description: Syrupy flavors of grape, cherries and mango
along with a consistent streak of milk chocolate through the cup.
Our Cupping Notes: Almond, beef stew and chocolate covered cherries.
A meal unto itself.

Yesterday, 20 talented baristas from the North East gathered at the Counter Culture Coffee Training Center in Manhattan to participate in the 1st ever Thursday Night Throwdown in New York City.

Anne Nylander of Tamp Tamp, Inc. hosted the event with the intention of bringing together the best baristas in the region to see who could pour the best latte art. Each barista had only one pour to show their stuff and was judged by the symmetry, definition and creativity of the milk design.

Think Coffee’s very own, Ben Liebmann took 2nd place. Congrats Ben!

Think Coffee is hosting the next Thursday Night Throwdown at 9pm on Thursday September 24th (signups at 8pm), $5 for participants and free for spectators/fans/bloggers.