| News & Notes from February 2007 |
News & NotesWhat's Happening at the George Howell Coffee Company Prize winning El Placer Farm, Colombia; exciting Coffee pairings; the Main Harvest; Terroir Open House – Saturday, March 3 at 9 AM – please call to reserve!
Coffee pairings: last fall, at the creative Dorset Tea & Coffee in Wellesley Hills we paired six of our coffees with various foods they had specially prepared for the occasion. It was a revelation. The lively light-roasted coffees, brewed to just the right strength, played a complementing role to the served foods, smoothly cleansing the palate in ways amazingly similar to wines. Even those who normally preferred milk in their coffee felt no need to add it here. On the contrary, it was the coffees’ very highlighting wine-iness which gave unexpected delights. The first was our Kenya Mamuto Farm served with smoked Gouda and sun-blushed tomato in a phyllo cup. Two strong complementary flavors entwined perfectly, with the salty Gouda wringing out all of the Kenya’s black currant sweetness. The Kenya’s wine-y acidity restored our palate, making us crave more of the cheese. Next came our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe from the Addis Ketema Cooperative paired with goat cheese and cranberry-pepper jam on challah toast. The unique delicate tea flavors of the Ethiopian bathed our palates with an ethereal sweet floral note complementing the tart creaminess of the goat cheese and jam. The third entry was our 2002 vintage Aged Sumatra Mandheling served with grilled halloumi, pine nuts and fig vincotto conserve. The salty halloumi was here balanced with the sweet fig and port-like sweet tobacco scented depths of the Aged Sumatra We then returned to Kenya coffee, this time darker roasted and from the Gathiru-ini Cooperative. Its deep berry flavors harmonized perfectly with the crumbly-crisp textured citrus-infused Tuscan hazelnut biscotti. Our Costa Rica La Minita Farm simply sang alongside Dorset’s English Toffee with toasted almonds and milk chocolate. This was all seamlessness and measured waves of sensuous sweetness washed away softly with sips of the La Minita’s famed nutty smoothness. 
The final delight was Terroir’s Daterra Farm Special Reserve, served with white chocolate and spiced pumpkin cream Diablos. Here was all light creamy richness grounded by Daterra’s mellow Merlot-like earthy yet sweet depth. Terroir’s carefully crafted light roasts and dramatic array of unique single origin expressions are ideal for pairings. They do not compete or overwhelm but rather complement foods and, with their enlivening fruity acidities intact, sweetly cleanse the palate. Please share with us any exciting pairings you may have had with us. You can contact us via email at george@terroircoffee.com . Bon appetit! Coffee Harvest Season: Coffees have been harvested between November and February from all the coffee-producing countries at the equator and north of it and we are eagerly exploring the results in search for this year’s new offerings. Our Maria Santos from Colombia is already in. We are also combing through various coffees from Rwanda, Kenya, Guatemala, Ethiopia. Terroir Open House: We will be holding another open house at our Terroir headquarters in Acton (for directions check out our website or Google Maps) on Saturday morning at 9 AM, March 3rd. I will be giving another slide show on coffee quality and also on my latest trip to Guatemala. Please call to reserve a place! (978-635-9033) |
The Return of El Placer, Colombia: Two weeks ago the Coffee Review brought our tiny supply of 
El Placer Farm from Colombia back into the limelight with a 93 score. El Placer had already won the coveted Presidential Award in the 2006 Colombia Cup of Excellence competition. Peter and I rate this lively coffee in the upper 90’s. It is an exemplary coffee of Colombia. It has wonderful body based on that rarest of properties in coffee, high fat content; this is best appreciated in a drip or vacuum brew where all sediment has been removed. A fine oil glazes the mouth with tantalizingly delicate shades of ripe plum, the sweetest pomegranate and a blackberry-honeyed coating which gradually builds as the coffee cools. We only have a few weeks supply at most. $16.95 per 12 oz Roasted. This fine coffee is now available 
