KaffeBox October 19 Box – Pala Coffee Roastery – El Mirador

Part 2 for KaffeBox October 19 Box, in this post I’ll only write about the El Mirador coffee from Guatemala roasted by Pala Coffee Roastery. In the previous post, you’ve been able to read about the coffee and also what I expect from it. In this part, I’ll share my recipe for an awesome pour-over per usual.

At my cupping of Pala Coffee Roastery – El Mirador,

I tried it without any info on what the roastery had in their description of the coffee. This is something I always do, I just want to clear that out, and later on, I try to feel the notes they do describe.

It’s very smooth, something that’s very hard to describe is that it has a very mild taste of sweet tobacco. A very strong vanilla aroma is present in the coffee, it also brings me a warm feeling of Christmas. It’s actually the best Guatemalan coffee I’ve tried in a long while or ever. Let’s review what they wrote as their description:

“Red apple, vanilla, warm spice, and smooth body.”

I would also like to know how good this coffee would be with “fika”. I tried it with dark chocolate with sea salt. I understand that this can be a weird thing to try out, as almost all coffees are well matched with chocolate. But there are those who really don’t, and that may mean they are only enjoyed on their own. For example: Do you like green tea with dark chocolate I don’t. I tried this with chocolate one day and a danish another, it was well suited.

When I do a cupping I do the following:

1) Grind 11 g coffee in a medium-coarse grind, I’ll remember the coffee’s fragrances now when it is dry to compare with the let grounds later.
2) Pour 180 g of water at a temperature of 93 degrees Celsius.
3) Let it sit for 4 minutes.
4) Stir 3 times and try to find as many scents.
5) Remove all foam that’s formed on the top.
6) Wait for 6 minutes so the coffee cools down and to let the coffee grounds fall down to the bottom, then I’ll take my first slurp with a deep spoon. The idea is that you will spray the coffee inside your mouth. That way you will be able to easily recognize the tones contained in the coffee.
7) Wait for 6 minutes and do the same procedure, the reason behind step 7 is that it’s the most optimal time for tasting coffee. If the coffee is still good after 12-15 minutes, then it is a high-quality coffee!

Cupping notes:

Toasty vanilla with a hint of sweet tobacco.

Information and recipe for the coffee:

Origin: Guatemala
Variety: Caturra, Paches, Catuai, Bourbon, San Ramon
Producer: Juan Gaspar
Region: Huehuetenango
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1700 masl.

Pour Over:

20g coffee coarse grind
300g of filtered water
60g bloom 45 seconds
94 degrees Celsius

1) Pour 60g water for blooming for 45 seconds.
2) 45 seconds in, begin your second pour of 60g of water.
3) 1 minute and 30 seconds in,  begin your third pour of 60g of water.
4) 2 minutes and 15 seconds in,  begin your fourth pour of 60g of water.
5) 3 minutes in,  begin your fifth pour of 60g of water.
6) Stop the dripper at 3 minutes and 30 seconds

*Always rinse the paper filter with filtered hot water, don’t forget to wash the coffee server with clean water afterward, because the taste of the paper might linger.

Review: In last Friday’s post, I wrote that my expectation was the following:

“I’m having difficulties finding that these notes can be found in this coffee. I’m not negative towards the cupping, I’m just writing from my own experiences. I do hope I’m wrong and I’ll actually find this amazingly warm and sweet taste profile. I’ll actually love that.”

Yet again they seem to surprise me, it had warm flavor notes which is something I did not “trust”. But this sure did, I’m very pleased and I think that Pala Coffee Roasters will be very big in a few years, I hope they keep up the good work and that I’ll try them out quite soon!

The chocolate I ate was dark chocolate with sea salt.

Rating: 7.0/10

The rating is only based on taste and quality and is not based on price.

If you want to buy your very own KaffeBox and go through my recipes and reflections, be sure to order it so you can be ready for next month’s KaffeBox. Click here to order from their website. Use “kaffenytt” as voucher code, you’ll get 20% off your first purchase and I won’t get anything, this is only something I requested so I can give something to you readers!

Do you want to read all of the reviews on KaffeBox monthly boxes? Click here!