I picked up a couple bags of coffee on my last visit to Caffe Themselves (read my review here) – labeled “Indonesia Mandheling” and “Brazil Cup of Excellence #25.” It’s too bad that they aren’t labeled more specifically. After a little searching online I figured out that the Brazil is from Fazenda Djanira. Can’t tell anything else about the Indonesia.
The Indonesia Mandheling is nice, earthy, with notes of tobacco, and a complex sweetness that reminds me of good root beer — they describe this on the bag’s tasting notes as “herb, caramel, paprika.”
The Brazil Fazenda Djanira 2009 COE #25 is really chocolatey, with a nice dried fruit sweetness. The sweetness came off as date-like to me. On the bag the tasting notes are dried persimmon and jujube, which is similar to a date.
Good coffees! And after 1 week they are discounted 30% which makes it much more affordable to try a few.
In case you haven’t heard of it, Cup of Excellence is a prestigious award in which a country’s best coffees are tasted and then the highest scoring coffees are awarded ‘Cup of Excellence’ and auctioned off to roasters around the world. Caffe Themselves is offering quite a few Cup of Excellence coffees, and they’re all worth checking out.
6 comments
JungHyun Yoo says:
Jul 1, 2010
Hello~! ^^
how are you~?
Somedays ago, you and your friends came to Caffe Themselves.
I’m sorry. We talked anything each other when you came.
Please come again.
let’s talk something about coffee. ^^;
thou I’m not good at speaking English.^^;
admin says:
Jul 6, 2010
Hi! Yeah I’ll be back soon, I need to buy some new coffee beans. Thanks for the samples and chat last time we were there.
jihye says:
Jul 9, 2010
I recently learned how to do hand-drip (a crash course) at the roasting facility for the Cafe Themselves. Cool place, eh? :)
jihye says:
Jul 10, 2010
Hi there! (I thought I left a reply on this posting but apparently not..) I had a “crash course” on hand-drip coffee at the Cafe Themselves’ roasting facility. Cool place, eh? :)
Have you been to Jun Kwangsoo coffee in Myungdong? I am going to check that place out again this evening. Things change too quickly in Korea, but I hope they still serve good coffee..
admin says:
Jul 10, 2010
Cool! I haven’t seen where they roast. I haven’t heard of Jun Kwangsoo – where abouts is that in Myeongdong? I’ve been on the lookout for something decent there. I stopped by Choi Ga after reading your post, I’ll have some pics and a post up soon. Nice guy.
jihye says:
Jul 11, 2010
Ah. It’s probably the only decent cafe in Myungdong area.. Exit #3 from the subway station. Find the Pacific hotel, then take the left road. Go up about 30 meters then you will find it on your left. It was really a nice, quiet place when I first visted but my second visit was ruined by a group of mid-age ladies who were so loud. Yesterday I had the same experience..Their espresso is fine, too. Not my favorite place, though.
They also serve somewhat strong-roasted coffee. I remember reading that Jun Kwangsoo opened the first coffee school for amateurs interested in making good coffee at home in Korea, but I may be wrong.