Showing posts with label Kopi Luwak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kopi Luwak. Show all posts

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Mugged: Sumatra Kopi Luwak [Sea Island]


What does Mugged mean?



Subject: Sea Island Coffee 
Mugged: Sumatra Kopi Musang
Rating: 4+ [see key]




While I normally strongly push for buying locally, every once in a while it's interesting to get a product from afar. Similarly, I normally review coffees within the continent but to spice up my pace, I was afforded the chance recently to review some coffee from Sea Island Coffee out of London. Sea Island focuses on rare and well-processed coffees, offering such high-priced beans as Kopi Luwak and Jamaican Blue.

Of the two coffees I received, first up was their Sumatra Kopi Musang, a Kopi Luwak coffee that (refreshingly) lacked all the fancy stickers promising authenticity. More concerned about its overall taste and less about whether it all came from a civet, I plowed into the bag infusing the coffee via drip, siphon and french press.

The drip brought out notes of bourbon, wheat, cranberry, Total (the cereal) and maple syrup amidst a medium body. A good brew that proved sweet and mellow.

The french press held similar flavors, with notes of cherry, maple syrup, biscuits, a bit of bourbon, some bacon and a light/medium body. Also sweet and a little richer than the drip.

The siphon held out cherry, wheat, biscuits, bran and a little milk within a medium body. This sampling had much more of a single dimension to it, though still tasty.

Amongst the Kopi Luwaks I've had, this one ranks at the top (sadly I've sampled only a few and some weren't good at all). Amidst coffees, the coffee had a pleasant sweetness along with some hardy notes, but the coffee didn't have the depth of flavor that I would have liked. Still, if you're looking for an affordable and decent Kopi Luwak, give Sea Island's Sumatra Kopi Musang a swirl.


note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Mugged: Kopi Luwak [Cat's Ass Coffee]

'

What does "Mugged" mean?


Subject:
Cat's Ass Coffee
Coffee Mugged:
Kopi Luwak

Rating: 2+
[see key]





K
opi Luwak, the only coffee lucky enough to enjoy a trip through a civet, is a coffee that I have long sought to try. Sure it sounds gross to drink a coffee that has been defecated out of the jungle equivalent of a raccoon, but with a price tag in the hundreds for a single pound, who wouldn't be curious?

But my long abstinence came to an end when Cat's Ass Coffee offered to send me out a sampling. Completely flattered, as this coffee is not cheap, I readily accepted with hopes of trying something different.

I received the coffee one sunny day and opening up the coffee, I noticed that the beans were big, plump and extremely black (the darkness from being really over-roasted). I brewed the coffee in the usual three infusions of drip, french press and siphon.

The french press was my first endeavor. The brew produced a really dark coffee with overpowering notes of bitterness and campfire followed with notes of butter, cocoa, a little wheaty ale and a syrupy texture.

The drip delivered a similar result, with primary flavors of bitterness and a little curry along with some flecks of rum, apple, wheat, a little nut and a heavy body.

The siphon proved a little better, as I purposely brewed it a little weaker to compensate for the uber dark roast that emerged in the first two. The result was still a dark coffee with a potent body but much more cocoa, nuttiness, wheat as well as bits of rum and apple.

All three brews displayed little initial reaction with the water, displaying a flat brew common to stale beans (my deduction).

Alas, my first interaction with Kopi Luwak proved not as great as I had hoped. The coffee proved too darkly roasted to enjoy the other flavors and as mentioned above, it seemed pretty old (quality control?). Overall, there was little in this coffee (sadly) that would make me buy it for the price of normal coffee, never mind the price tag of Kopi Luwak.

note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.