Vietnamese Arabica

Vietnamese Arabica

In the last few weeks speculation has caused the cost of Kenya AA to rise far beyond what supply and demand would dictate. While demand continues to exceed supply, speculation has put this wonderful coffee out of reach for most customers. This means that my usual sources of Kenya AA can no longer afford to order new green beans. While this deeply saddens this fan of that wonderful coffee, it gives me a chance to explore other coffees that I might not consider while KenyaAA was readily available.

Today I am exploring a High Grown Vietnamese Arabica roasted by Ootopia of Bremerton WA

Very subdued aroma and red-amber colour. The initial flavour is slightly salty with an earthy body and a cocoa finish. The aftertaste had some pleasant citrus qualities that with the body brought remeniscence of Columbian of years gone by. The coffee has a heaviness to it that some may like but that I found less than satisfying.

Sugar and cream did not alter the salty tones

While I cannot recommend this coffee as a varietal single origin coffee, I can see that it has a very good future for use in blending. I’m going to try combining it with columbian to see if it can impart unto the columbian the body that columbian once had.  It would work well paired with a Brasilian Coffee and chicory, for those who like that New Orleans slightly sour but strong coffee.

This coffee would work well vietnamese style — slow dripped double (or triple) strength into condensed milk and poured over ice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_iced_coffee