Did you know Taiwan has an environment that is capable of growing coffee beans?  Taiwan is apparently located at the outer limit of acceptable.

The last time I was in Taiwan there was a local coffee shop called Oklao Coffee.  Apparently there are a few locations in Taiwan that are growing beans.  One is around the Alishan region (near central Taiwan) and another is at Dongshan (near the eastern coast).  They are grown in the mountainous region.  This coffee company bought and roasted these beans as well as other beans around the world.  But seeing how they’re a Taiwan roaster using Taiwan grown coffee beans, I had to at least try them.

These beans actually have a very subtle floral aroma and maybe some berry.  I’ve noticed that the aroma of the beans isn’t as great as when I first started getting beans and making lattes at home.  Anyways, making my latte, I have to say I’m pretty impressed.  These beans subtly remind me of the flavor of my latte when I use Kona beans.  The latte was chocolaty and smooth.

When I saw this bag picture, the first thought I had was… “damn this looks like Madoka art when witches.”  Anyways I am extremely behind on coffee posts.  Previous coffees and a two week trip (where I also picked up more coffee) will have me super caffeinated in the following months to come.

This “month’s” post (and I use that term VERY loosely) comes from Docent Coffee.  The beans are from Ethiopia’s Guji region.  I’ve had these beans from the region before.

When I make my latte, the flavors are uniquely different.  I get this sweet honey flavor mixed in with super ripe and sweet pineapple.  That pineapple flavor actually reminds me of the sweetness from Taiwanese pineapple.  After the first sip, the latte morphs into a delicious milk chocolate.  Strangely enough, the colder this latte (by adding cold milk),  the more delicious it actually is

I’m very behind with the Angels Cup coffee roasters.  I think these beans are from January and comes from Sunergos Coffee.  It’s also from Ethiopia’s southern Yirgacheffe region called Halo Bariti (another link).  It’s pretty fascinating to read about the history of the region and where the beans come from.

Because of my “flu-like” symptoms, my congestion is really limiting what I can smell and my cough is limiting what I can taste.  I’ve been drinking this coffee for about 2 weeks now and haven’t really been able to taste let alone smell anything until today.  And even then, the smells and tastes are still subdued.

Opening the bag, it’s a very subdued aroma.  I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that I am three months late in opening bag or that I haven’t regained my full sense of smell.  Making my latte, I taste hints of peach and berry flavors.  It doesn’t have the strong nutty/cocoa taste that I sometimes get with beans originating from Yirgacheffe.  There’s also pleasant floral after taste that lingers at the back of the tongue.  It goes down very smooth and I finish my latte very quickly.

I think I would enjoy these beans a lot more if my congestion clears up.

Over Christmas, I purchased the Geisha Gift box from Angels Cup.  During the course of Angels Cup packaging and sending the gift box, Angels Cup mentioned that Theodore’s Roasters weren’t able to finalize and send the geisha beans.  To support them not being able to send the beans, Angels Cup suggested buying from them to support.  And so here I am, finally getting to taste.

A subtle, sweet and fruity aroma wafts up upon opening the bag.  There is also a subtle hint of chocolate as well too.  Grinding and brewing my latte, the subtleties of the beans really starts to stand out.  Jasmine, oranges, chocolate, cherry and subtle nutty aromas and taste fade in and out with each sip.  It’s pretty amazing.

Remember that Kickstarter coffee subscription?  This is the second of three bags that I signed up for.  I will honestly say that these beans are very similar to the first bag of beans.  The flavor profile is extremely subtle and very similar to the first set of bags.  I wont’ really write much because of the similarity.

So this is the other two Gesha offerings from the holiday box.

This bag smells amazing. Hints of florals, fruits and chocolate with every big sniff.  Interestingly enough, once I made my latte, the earthy aromas and nutty flavors come out of nowhere intermingling with a citrus smell.  There was a lingering aftertaste at the back of the tongue that was really enjoyable too.  I think this might have been my favorite beans.

This last bag wasn’t as good as the previous bag.  I think the aromas were very subdued.  One thing that I thought was unique though was that there was a very subtle sweetness with each taste.  These beans didn’t have strong nutty, floral or fruity flavors.

As an Angels Cup subscription member, I also opted to purchase the Angels Cup Geisha Holiday Box offer.  The holiday box offers 4 Gesha beans. I’ve finished two of the four and midway through the 3rd.

The first Gesha varietal was extremely aromatic.  There was a smell strong port brandy / port wine. There was also strong aromas of jasmine, peach and hints of fermented fruit.  The fruity fermentation flavor carried well into each sip of my latte.  This was one of those really weird yet pleasantly enjoyable coffee to drink.

These beans didn’t have the strong aromas as the previous one.  However the fruity and chocolaty smell was extremely subtle.  After making the latte, the subtle fruits were much more prominent with a lingering chocolate aftertaste.  Pretty smooth and I was disappointed I didn’t have more.

The most recent Angels’ Cup beans come from 1000 Faces Coffee.  Again another Ethiopian coffee which according to Google Maps is close to Guji Highlands where many of my previous coffee beans originated from.  The smell of the beans is similar to the beans from Guji.  It’s very nutty and floral with what I think are very subtle earthy aromas at the same time.

Making my latte, I taste this smooth, refreshing, chocolaty finish at the back of my throat.  Additionally, I also get hints of berries and peach mingling with each sip.  Compared to some of the other beans though, I feel like Ethiopian beans no longer have that “wow factor” anymore compared to when I first received them.

What I’m really looking forward to is tasting the Angels’ Cup special Geisha beans.

These coffee beans come from Australia’s Market Lane Coffee.  Upon opening the bag, a pleasant aroma of berries and chocolate fills the immediate area.

Coming from Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe region, I’ve had quite the privilege to taste other roasters beans that also came from this region.  To be honest, they all taste relatively similar to each other.  Some of the bigger differences comes from the lingering after taste or with the amount of nuttiness.

To me, after making  my latte, a delicious chocolate aftertaste lingers at the back of my throat.  This is one those beans that I enjoyed just sipping slowly.

During the holidays, I received quite a lot of coffee.  This one came from Maui and is very much a dark roast.  According to the person who gave me these beans, the beans were grown on old lava beds.  As you can see these came from the Maui Grown Coffee Company.

The beans have this strong earthy/burnt aroma.  I think the dark roasting of these beans imparted a very “burnt” aroma.   After grinding the beans and mixing hot water in the Aeropress, I noticed that the resultant slurry consistency was much different from previous beans.  The crema froth and coffee slurry looked different from what I was used to seeing.  Out of curiosity on why it looked different, I skimmed the crema into my cup prior to pressing out the espresso concentrate.  It turns out the crema contained had a lot of ground coffee particles trapped in the crema froth.  I don’t know if the coffee particles affected the overall taste of the latte.

When I drank my latte, I get a strong nutty flavor that overpowers all initial aromas.  After the first sip, the after taste that lingers at the back of the throat morphs into a pleasing chocolate flavor and aroma.  This transformation makes these beans very easy to drink.