Breaking the Crust at my first official Cupping

Breaking the Crust
Cupping
Cafe Cohen - Barista Jason Cohen
Roaster - Cultivar - Dallas, TX

Jason Cohen - Cafe Cohen - Cupping w/Cultivar...
of course making a fun face, that I didn't see when I took the photo ;o)

http://www.cafecohen.com/

Jonathan w/Cultivar Coffee - instructing us before we 'break the crust'
at the cupping at Cafe Cohen


http://cultivarcoffee.com/

Jonathan Meadows - Cultivar Roaster - Barista - SCAA 2011 5th Place...
http://www.usbaristachampionship.org/?p=southcentral&s=comp

Jonathan Meadows - Roaster - Barista - White Rock Coffee - Lakewood Advocate Magazine...
http://lakewood.advocatemag.com/2010/05/launch-qa-with-jonathan-meadows/

note: one of his specialty drinks is made with espresso, ruby red grapefruit & raw honey...
not exactly what most folks would think to throw together in a coffee mug right?!

Cupping at Cafe Cohen - love these tilted bowls for the smelling/tasting of
5 different roasts: 4 Cultivar & 1 Guest roast...
Cultivar Coffee (previously Stir Coffee was here) is inside Good 2 Go Taco...
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2011/may/05/coffee-operation-inside-good-2-go-taco-stir/
note: Jonathan Meadows with business partner Nathan Shelton co-own Cultivar Coffee...
thought curious that Cafe Cohen is inside Great Harvest like Cultivar Coffee is inside Good 2 Go Taco - one tho in Lafayette, LA while the other is in Dallas, TX...

Cultivar Coffee logo on a roasted bag of coffee...
think coffee cup instead of a globe - which coffee
is from around the world, so that is fitting
Coffee Cupping...

Wiki explains it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_cupping

Coffee Research Org explains it...
http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/cupping.htm

Counter Culture Coffee--shows another photo of what may be 'breaking the crust' in the glasses that are used for Cortado's & also in Cafe Cohen's case, that 'off the menu' request called a 'J-Co'...
http://counterculturecoffee.com/cupping

close up view of the 5 roasts on the Cafe Cohen counter

during our Cupping w/Cultivar - Guatemala, Rwanda, Columbia, Costa Rica

& the guest roaster in the black bag (that Ugh--I forget the name of, will have to ask)

leftover grounds at the bottom of the tilted cupping bowls,

next to the Cultivar Guatemala roasted bag of beans...

Jonathan - proof that he does wear many hats,

he roasts, he's a Barista, he also does the dishes...

(who told me at times they have a table of 14 roasts to taste at once -

which I can hardly keep track of the 5 we had, with 2 favorites...

this time one that I didn't pick last cupping with just Jason trying

to create a cupping experience - now this time it's rather official?!)

Thank you, Cafe Cohen - Jason, Cultivar - Jonathan

& Great Harvest Bread Co for giving Cafe Cohen the Coffeebar space!!

Cultivar Coffee - Facebook page...

http://www.facebook.com/cultivarcoffee

Cafe Cohen - Blog - an earlier cupping w/Cultivar & Nathan that time...
http://www.cafecohen.com/blog/
(note: which somehow I missed, no matter I'm the mayor on Foursquare?!)

Wiki List of Coffee Varieties mentions 'Cultivar' - which may very well be why they chose their name, Cultivar Coffee (I've yet to hear the rest of the story, but here is the proper description...)

Cultivar, the botanical term, is normally and correctly used for selections and forms of cultivated plants; it must be visually distinct from other cultivars, and it must be possible to propagate it reliably.

Found a Coffee Cupper's Handbook by Ted Lingle on Sweet Maria's webpage (who claim to be an online Coffee Univ) - 66 pgs at $38 - includes a Coffee Cupper's Flavor Wheel on the inside cover
http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/miscellaneous/books/coffee-cupper-s-handbook-full-edition.html
(note: Wow--still it's way/Way over my head, so not for my coffee table...or not this year?!)

Link to a YouTube about a Cupping Room--tho it's downunder, so no visit anytime soon (perhaps there's one here in the US too, just a Coffee Cupping Room...hmmm...on the list of coffee adventures yet to be had...)
http://youtu.be/pBJwOC7H4lg

To get to be an official cupper, there is a test, here is a 'taste' of that testing on YouTube with Coffee Video Magazine - Sensory Skills Test...
http://youtu.be/us91z1O_r_Y

 

a Cupping Spoon - in stainless - that you can order online
say off Amazon.com for about $10 - set of 2

Coffee Cupping Equipment - one example...

Dozen Cupping (silver) Spoons $22
Set - 3 Dozen - Cupping Bowls porcelain/heavy Glasses $82
Plastic (blue) Cupping Trays $3.75 ea
A fully plumbed Cupping Table $16,050
all prices per Coffee Tec... http://www.coffeetec.com/default.asp
(note: I'm getting the idea, like all else, it's an expensive coffee lab adventure...
you'll note on the YouTubes if they use one of these Cupping Tables, that turn
& you can spit in little side sinks, what it costs above...I'm not sure I would
spit at that if I had to consider the costs?!)


Photos following of that earlier Coffee Cupping at Cafe Cohen w/just Jason -
so perhaps not so official as with Cultivar Coffee Roasters & Jonathan,
but it was a great First Experience at Coffee Cupping for sure (my first time
to hear about 'breaking the crust' for one thing, bit by bit I'm learning enough
about coffee to be perhaps dangerous, just a bit...either that or a Coffee Geek?!)

beans & grounds lined up on counter
(yes, it's a very sunny day)

from the other direction, the 4 roasts for the day on the bar...
(this is when I'll discover that I don't know Rwanda roast,
but I like it the best, surprised me - after my beloved Guatemala)

Jason in the sun, Jason is sunny already--getting ready to poor

hot water over the grounds so we can have a smell, then a taste -

of our unknown coffee roasts...

and the smelling has begun, as is our lineup -

me & the boys, in the sun with our regular spoons,

that we correctly dip into hot water after each dip

(so no double dipping going on right?!)

Jason does a demo for us, we know nothing...
except it's early & we've not had our caffeine for the morning,
so it's amazing for one we can wait, or that we can focus?!

Thanks for the Coffee Cupping Tester Morning Cafe Cohen--Jason?!
Now we were ready for Cultivar & their fancy Coffee Spoons & slanted bowls!!

Another Coffeeshop in town? Oh yeah...

Cafe' Cohen

inside Great Harvest Bread Co

Info from their webpage...
A Premier Espresso Bar & Coffee Shop

854 Kaliste Saloom Rd
Lafayette, LA 70508

m-th (7a-6p) | fri (7a-5p) | sat (7a-4p)

e-mail
info@cafecohen.com

facebook
facebook.com/cafecohen

twitter
twitter.com/cafecohen

Link to webpage...

http://cafecohen.com/

phone

337-278-5076

Photo Credit: their business card, picked up at the Grand Opening

(OK, so I scanned it & don't know how to fix it - nobody said I knew what I was doing?!)

More Beautiful photos were taken by Catherine Guidry when they opened on the 19th of Sept, last Monday...now this past Saturday was their so called Official Grand Opening then - so both days there was Free Coffee...I  mean Wow, who does that anymore for a Whole Day--let alone Two Whole Days...And of course I went both days & had the first time a lovely Iced Latte then the second time a lovely Iced Coffee...Inbetween, have to admit, took my Realtor friend in to show her what's new in the neighborhood for a change & I had a Hot Latte--again lovely, with some Latte Art in the froth & a bit of biscotte (which I have to say you hardly find anymore when ordering a coffee out - I miss the chocolate goodies you can get in Europe with your Espresso...mmm...miss 'em, did I say that--sorry, but I so do?!)

Link to her webpage...

http://www.catherineguidry.com/blog/?p=5978

note: so go here to see Jason & Jenny make coffees with their helpers (who I will yet probably learn all their names) & their great tee shirts (who I've met Jamie who designed them & had a tee shirt shop in downtown Lafayette I think make them, if I remember the converstaion over my iced latte with that first Opening Day) & their lovely coffee (forgot to even ask where their roaster is, tho I think someone told me Dallas, TX but will find out soon enough) & I like that Logo on their papercups especially because it reminds me of a flower...

Link to another blogger, Anne, & more beautiful photos of  Cafe Cohen & her coffee topped with Latte Art too...now am reading that Jason, co-owner with wife Jenny, is also a Photographer & use to serve coffee at his studio--until they decided to open this coffeebar (I may be happy they left out of the one creative arts to jump into another--because I do consider a Barista an Artista right?!)
http://heylafayette.com/2011/09/23/cafe-cohen/

note: WordPress makes for a beautiful blog...hmmm...moving on--love this following shot, not something you'd think right off to snap a shot of...am curious about these folks cameras - tho I don't think I could own anything other than a point & shoot type or my phone camera...

Dirty Spoons....Clean Spoons...
photo credit: Anne of 'Hey Lafayette' blog, see link above...
I'd like to meet Anne & her camera, must keep an eye out for a woman with a camera case hanging off her somewheres in the coffeebar/bread shop my next stops (Yes, plural-no mistake) into Cafe Cohen?!

Maybe I can run into her on her bike too - this past Saturday rode my fav white pearlie Townie bike with my basket up front to Cafe Cohen, but must of been later than Anne because didn't see any other bikes parked outside...we slipped by each other this time, but just wait--there will be some Saturday we'll pull up on our bikes & meet... that's what Coffeehouses are good for?!


Clever Coffee

On the menu chalk board is written "Clever Coffee" - but I know them as "PourOvers"
What are they you may ask? Clever they may be but also easily just a filter holder top to 'pour over' the hotwater into the grinds inside the filter & into a glass bottom which then gets poured into a coffee cup...

There is more to it, they wash the filter & they weigh things & they time things & it does indeed give coffee a different taste - there is a difference to me in an espresso or an iced coffee or a hot/cold latte or a 'clever coffee' (all this too w/o any flavoring, I am a purest I think in enjoying my coffee first as an espresso then if any other way it's sans flavors & if possible sans sugar or creamer as well?!)

photo of a Clever Coffee Dripper

Pour-over Brewing Techinque uploaded by SweetMarias
(really more than you'd ever want to know about this process--it's over 7 min's this video?!)
Link to YouTube...
http://youtu.be/r6OdG39pfTU

Espresso Machine & Coffee Beans still a mystery, or two, to be discovered...

Just know the espresso machine they use is Made in the USA & I was told a little story about how the company who made it use to make machines for Starbucks, until BurntBucks (is what I call them) changed to probably a more automatic machine...this little company went off to just start making/selling their espresso machines on their own & I like that gumpshun a lot--plus Cafe Cohen's machine is stainless steel & that just spells clean & sterile & modern to most folks...

Looked up find 3 choices it could be if Made in the USA & was it bought in Dallas or Portland...
1) Grindmaster, 2) Astra or 3) Salvatore Espresso Systems (that last one had a big Italian influence)
But looking thru all 3 webpages I don't see Cafe Cohen's machine, hmmm...(I feel like a detective, a coffee detective?!)

Cultivar Dallas, TX roaster

Link to the coffee roaster...
http://cultivarcoffee.com/

note: will be supporting the Gutemalan coffee from Finca Santa Clara on their list of coffees - as I've probably said this before I know a family from Gutemala & the Dad told us how sad it was for him & his Father too to see how the coffee farmers were losing their land/livelyhood...besides it's some really tasty coffee, so it's easy for me to support it - Fair Trade even better?!

Link to just about Finca Santa Clara & the Zelaya Family of coffee growers in Antigua valley - Cultivar Coffee's Gutemalan roast...
http://cultivarcoffee.com/coffee/guatemala-finca-santa-clara/

Cafe Cohen articles...

This one is a blog article about Jason when he was a photographer with a studio where he'd just happen to make coffee...Oct 2010 - Hope for Opelousas - Cafe Cohen Caring with Coffee...
http://hopeforopelousas.org/2010/10/25/cafe-cohen-caring-with-coffee

note: love their photo of Jason with his Love hoodie & paper coffee cup, but it's the smile that wins you over right off...


The Advertiser article...Sept 12, 2011 - New Coffee Shop Open in Lafayette Next Week...
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20110912/NEWS01/110912023/New-coffee-shop-open-Lafayette-next-week

The Independent article...Sept 19, 2011 - Cafe' Cohen Opens in Great Harvest...
http://www.theind.com/food/9038-cafe-cohen-opens-in-great-harvest

note: I didn't know this about the chocolate they use, which is a good thing...
"The chocolate they get is one of only two distributors in the U.S. that ensure 'bean to bar,' meaning the company is invested in the chocolate from growth to when it is sold." (thanks Anna Purdy for that tidbit - missed her there on Saturday too, Anne in the morning & Anna in the afternoon--odd that, but true?!)

Other Links...

Jason's Photography Blog...
http://jasoncohenphoto.com/2011/09/12/announcing-cafe-cohen-a-premier-espresso-bar-coffee-shop/

note: I loved how Thomas welcomed Jason to the 'coffee-fold' - I love that there is a 'coffee-fold' in Lafayette & I am here for it...as I have a bit of 'passion' in regards to drinking my coffee, my espresso especially--rather than making it?!

Oh that would be, if I were to take a great guess, Thomas from Carpe Diem Gelato Espresso & a very kind gesture--but there is of course Room for Everybody & they are in different parts of town...
I just love 'em both & am happy to have these great Alternative Choices as I refuse/boycott going to BurntBucks--Oh I mean StarBucks & I've probably just stepped on a few toes there (my many friends overseas too, who are Crazy GaGa for StarBucks I just don't understand them either--but I forgave them & tried ever so hard to steer them once in a great while elsewhere...to the Indie Coffeeshops & their Baristas instead?!)

Link to Great Harvest Bread Co - which is so full of good stuff you could not list them all, I am however very partial to the healthy Go Bars (as I've traveled to CO & back with them for energy) & am (im)patiently awaiting the holidays so I can get Cranberry/Orange bread again?! mmm...my tastebuds are so ready?! These are some good people & so wonderful it's now become a community of such with Jason & Jenny in the shop with a Coffeebar - a (I'm gonna say it) Match Made in Heaven?!
http://www.greatharvestofacadiana.com/

Link to the Man Behind the TeeShirt Design--Jamie & his blog, he's not just a Designer, he's a Photographer too so of course there are photos from Cafe Cohen...
http://jamieorillion.com/blog/

note: I heard, straight from the man, he took the idea for the TeeShirt design from their commercial stainless espresso machine...am considering buying one, if they sell them, the teeshirt mind you cannot afford a real espresso machine--as I love espresso so why not have a whole machine on my chest rather than a tiny little espresso cup?!

And Jamie may have gotten the First Cup of the Day--but I'll swear I got the Second?! Hah?!

Link to the new Colossus Calendar & the announcement that Cafe Cohen was Opening - I know who posted that & was so excited I even knew about Colossus Calendar to begin with (Thank you Michael Lunsford for that insider tip & help on Twitter to figure out how to even post something on the calendar...)
http://colossuscal.com/9-19-2011/

Link to UrbanSpoon & their listing of Coffeeshops in Lafayette...
http://www.urbanspoon.com/nf/190/21814/20109/Lafayette/Coffee-Shops

Link to their Charity for the Day - Blood Water Mission - our tips on Grand Opening Day went here...
http://www.bloodwatermission.com/

note: Wiki explaining Blood Water Mission...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood:_Water_Mission


   ^^^

Last Link - to my all time favorite Barista, an award winning one too, who happens to live in Sandnes, Norway (prob the last place you would of thought I'd have a fav Barista right?!)
http://www.benkkaffebar.no/

note: you can translate the page/blog & check them out too, if you happen to be traveling to Scandinavia & possible Stavanger, Norway--then Sandnes & Benk Kaffebar is not far away...tell Thomas I said Hi & I miss his espresso - which he could do latte art in them, in the froth alone...my fav latte art of his was inside a regular latte, it was a fish eating a fish--so cute, so different, loved it (sad tho it wouldn't fit inside my espresso cup, but that's OK?!)

I watched a regional competition here at this Kaffebar in Sandnes, before they went off to Oslo for the final competition & the 2 from the BenkKaffebar did do well - am sure I blogged about all that coffee fun stuff on my Rain in Stavanger Blog, when I lived there last year & the year before that...

Of all the things I miss from Norway--this espresso by this Barista in this Kaffebar I miss probably the most?! ;o(