Tag Archives: Cuvée Coffee Roasting

Tasting Notes: Cuvée Sumatra as Brikka

Some quick tasting notes taken on my iPod touch while drinking a cup of Brikka coffee made with triple-picked Sumatra Mandheling beans from Cuvée Coffee Roasters.

These notes aren’t meant as descriptions of the exact aromas and flavours I got from that cup. They’re more “analogical,” “impressionistic,” “inspired.” Kind of an “artist’s interpretation” of the cup instead of a careful organoleptic assessment. I personally don’t even trust my palate as much as some other people do. But my palate (and nose, especially) can make me have some of those pleasant experiences I so crave as an ethical hedonist.

The beans were already quite old. I did a few other Brikka pots with them in the past few days and some cup were very tasty. But this cup was the most interesting one so far. I think I was able to dial in the right grind for those beans at this point. Because of the way I “season” my Brikka, I think the quality of this cup can have a positive influence on my next cup.

Here goes…

  • Espresso-like
  • Cherry
  • Mole/cocoa
  • Complexity
  • Persistent
  • Less in flavours
  • Roasted hazelnut
  • Body
  • Refreshing chicoree finish
  • Bit meaty, broiled steak
  • Hershey chocolate syrup
  • Waffles
  • Spices (not quite cinnamon)
  • Faint grassy, herbal
  • Bit rugged (taste sensation)
  • Some watery corners despite body
  • Fleeting jasmine flower
  • Thin layer of char
  • Diner pepper shaker

Cuvée Coffee

[Old Draft]

Turns out, this blend is much more flexible and much less finicky than I first thought.
Just tried (June 22) a few shots on a LaPa EDL12 with pressurized portafilter. Though all my shots on this machine are severely underextracted, I get some nice high notes in the middle of the taste and a dull but clean finish. In fact, it seems to work as a canvas since adding a drop of milk in it actually featured the milk. Also, I recently did some burnt caramel and I can pick up a caramel taste in the cup.
I’m also getting a lingering acidity, even though there’s little acidity up front.

Update: Tried the Meritage on several occasions. For a number of reasons (having nothing to do with Cuvée itself), I only got the package after the coffee had already lost much of its flavours and aromas.

Even after several weeks, it can still “work” in a moka pot, especially when blended with other beans.

Thanks a lot to Cuvée for all the coffee! I’m really glad I could try it on my own. It’s just really sad that I wasn’t able to taste it at its peak. In fact, as soon as I got the package, I tried to find a way to use it with a quality espresso machine at a friend’s place but wasn’t able to do it. The LaPa was decent but, with a pressurized portafilter, there’s really not that much you can do.

Texan Coffee Scenes, Cuvée

As I prepare to move away from Texas (unforeseen circumstances), Texas’s coffee scenes seem to be going through an interesting phase.

Case in point, recent media coverage of Houston’s Cuvée Coffee Roasting Company and its founder, Mike McKim.

These two newspaper articles complement one another in providing both the business model and human angles. I find the first one to be more insightful than the second one but I think the principles behind “relationship coffee” (the focus of the second one) is more important. In fact, these two articles could probably help Houstonians and other Texans see that there is much more to be done in “ethical coffee” than the Starbucks-friendly “Fair Trade” labels. In some contexts, “Fair Trade” has become little more than a marketing label while in others, it hides the complexity of coffee trade around the world. “Relationship coffee” and initiatives like Cup of Excellence are, IMHO, better approaches to fairness in the coffee world.

But I digress… 😉

Going back to Cuvée.

A very minor point… As a French-speaker, I find the term «cuvée» more general than what is said in the two articles. According to the English Wikipedia, “cuvée” can in fact designate a specific portion of the juice used for Champagne and sparkling wines. Seems like this is what «tête de cuvée» means in specific winemaking contexts in France. But in colloquial French where it is quite common, «cuvée» mostly means something close to “batch” («lot») with a temporal emphasis (like “vintage” or even “cohort”).

I do enjoy Cuvée coffee. Wouldn’t say it’s my favorite coffee ever, but it’s quite complex and flavorful. In a way, it reminds me of George Howell’s Terroir Coffee. Maybe not in specific profiles but in approach to blending. Feels to me like, in both cases, the blends are a bit “finicky” in the sense that they may require very specific values for different variables in the brewing process. Some other espresso blends are somewhat less sensitive to changes in, say, temperature or grind. But I say this without having really worked with Cuvée or even Terroir. It’s just an impression.

In Austin, Cuvée blends are served at an increasing number of cafés, including Caffè Medici, clearly one of the best espresso shops in town (though I’ve had some very good shots elsewhere). I do hope Cuvée will replace the coffee sold at some other places, especially at so-called “coffeeshops.” A big part of Austin culture, these coffeeshops seem to mostly act as hangouts than as “temples of coffee awesomeness.” In fact, in some cases, coffee seems to be really secondary and there is little incentive for owners to improve its quality. Yet, this coffeeshop scene could easily become the stage for a kind of local “coffee revolution.”

Some Austinites seem ready to help others shift their perception of coffee. I’ve met a few baristas, roasters, and other coffee people who seem open to the idea.

And one of them is at Cuvée. Since my arrival in Austin, I had the chance to talk on a few occasions with Dan Streetman who works for Cuvée out of Austin. His passion for coffee is obvious and he has told me about interesting possibilities for developments in Austin’s coffee scene. Though I won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of these developments, I’m hoping that they will have lasting effects on Austin. The city certainly has the potential to be a neat coffee destination.

I have almost no insight on other parts of Texas. This thread over on the CoffeeGeek forums is one of few resources I’ve found on coffee in this huge state. There’s another thread, specifically about Austin. But it seems a bit hard to get much information on diverse coffee scenes in Texas. In fact, several people seem to downplay the state of their own cities’ coffee vitality. Yet, if the rumors are true about the speed at which Calgary’s coffee scene has improved, I have high hopes for Texas. After all, isn’t Teas the United States version of Alberta? 😉

(I’m still trying to figure out if Calgary is more like Houston and Edmonton like Austin, or the reverse.)

Anyhoo… I remain enthusiastic about the potential for good coffee in Texas and chances are that Cuvée will be able to tap this potential.