Come up to the LAB... We have a new Toy!

Don't get too excited, Matthew and I have not become true rocket scientists yet, except maybe in our own minds! We have become the proud owners of a lightly used Behmor 1600 coffee bean roaster and we can now roast small batches at home. Believe me, George, rocketfuelcoffee.com's sommelier is not concerned that Drs Frankenstein and Frankenstein will put him out of business.



Although it has taken over 2 weeks and about 5 pounds of green beans to get even a remotely drinkable cup out of the Behmor, it has been a fun project and our house smells great! Matthew thinks my constant desire to mix beans into whacko blends is disgusting. I think he is a prude and a supremacist.

The reason we got this thing is to try exotic coffee beans 1/2 a pound at a time. George, bless his heart will only fire up his cannons for 20 pounds at a time. If I get in some green beans of India Mysore Nuggets and I am not sure about them, what am I going to do with 20 pounds?



Shall keep on roasting, but so far results vary. Beans have not been dark enough for fear of burning down the house. Oh and never use an extension chord as not enough electrical juice gets to the monster. Roast 1/2 a pound on the one pound setting and set up a chair in front and watch like a TV (that's what I do). That way you can throw it out the door if a bean bursts into flame.

Roast ON!

New Review in for Esmeralda Special from Daily Shot of Coffee, Mike Crimmins.

Dailyshotofcoffee.com
August 31, 2009

The Drink: Esmeralda Special from RocketFuelCoffee.Com
Type: Whole Bean
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

I’ve been very fortunate to taste some of the rarest coffees in the world – Kopi Luwak, Kona and many more. This afternoon I sampled another very rare coffee, the Esmeralda Special from RocketFuelCoffee.Com and now you can try it too!

Esmeralda Special is grown on a small plantation in Panama. The Hacienda la Esmeralda plantation is only 6,000 acres and Esmeralda Special grows on only a limited portion. The beans are hand picked to ensure that only the best are harvested and go through an intense tasting process to make sure only the cream of the crop ever leave the farm.

This is a coffee that will get your attention and wake you up in the morning. The beans themselves have an intense smell. When I opened up the bag, I was greeted with a romantic winelike aroma. A few minutes later, an equally as strong aroma was streaming out of my coffee cup, but this time it had more of a berry tone. There were hints of ripe strawberries, freshly picked blackberries and from the completely other end of the spectrum a dash of licorice.

From the first drop to hit my tongue, I knew that this was going to be something intense. It had a serious, mature taste with a very smooth feeling.

The taste was well balanced with a medium dark coffee taste setting the pace.

On one side of things, there was a deep berry taste. There were the strawberries and blackberries, but now there were also hints of blueberry that could’ve easily come from a pie still warm from the oven.

Underneath, I picked up a darker taste, but it was still full of flavors. The licorice was there and there was a slightly smoky feeling. It definitely wasn’t a dark roast, more like a rich, gourmet coffee.

My tongue was left with a sweet, berry filled feeling. The taste didn’t want to disappear.

It’s definitely not a “value play” at $75 for a half a pound, but it’s worth pampering yourself with a special treat. It’ll impress your family, your coffee loving friends and most importantly your taste buds.

I put it right up there with the 4.5 out of 5 that I gave One Love from Marley Coffee last week. Both are standout coffees in their own right and for different reasons both are worth checking out.