Steemit International Commerce – The final chapter and coffee tasting
Steemit users @ecoinstant and @ecoinstante have an artisanal coffee farm in Libano, Colombia. I roast my own coffee at home and post coffee reviews, so we decided to embark on an experiment to use the STEEM blockchain to enable some international commerce.
When last year’s crop was harvested, @ecoinstante hand-picked several kilograms of green beans for me and I sent some SBD to @ecoinstant to cover the cost of shipping, taxes, and the beans themselves. It took more than a month for the package to move through the Columbian post office and US Customs, but it eventually arrived, mostly intact.
I’ve been roasting small batches of the @ecoinstant coffee along with several other Columbian coffees from The Coffee Project over the past few months. Now I can say with certainty that Alex’s coffee is a real standout in terms of appearance, aroma, and flavor.
| Origin | Coffee | Source | Roast Date | Tasting Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | Yellow Bourbon? | @ecoinstant | 7/18/18 | 7/20/18 |
The @ecoinstant coffee looks like a yellow bourbon variety of coffee. The beans are small and yellow/green. There is loads of silver skin on them indicating that they have not been heavily processed. The bag aroma is very fruity with an aroma of grape pomace.
| Preheat | Batch Size | First Crack | Second Crack | Total Time | Roast Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 F | 350 g | 14:28 | none | 18:45 | Full City |
Most coffee gives off a grassy aroma as it is heating up in the roaster. The @ecoinstant coffee is different – the aroma is more like wine or stewed prunes.
| Characteristic | Score | Observations |
|---|---|---|
| Grind Aroma | 90 | dark fruit, dried figs, brandy |
| Wet Aroma | 85 | sweet malt, sesame honey candy |
| Brightness | 82 | muted acidity |
| Flavor | 90 | chocolate cake, port wine |
| Sweetness | 86 | bittersweet dark chocolate |
| Body | 84 | dense and chewy, firm mouthfeel |
| Finish | 90 | clean and smooth |
| Complexity | 82 | uniquely fruity coffee with lots of character |
This particular roast is one of the darker ones that I’ve tried with Alex’s coffee. It is just the way that Rebecca likes it and is a reliable way to roast most coffee. Slightly lighter roasts tend to bring out more of the coffee’s native traits, but we prefer something that is dark enough to bring out the sweetness and body in a cup of coffee.
It is hard to believe that Alex and I started talking about the coffee he grows and the possibility of doing a direct coffee sale through Steemit almost a year ago. Using SBD for the monetary part of the transaction was very convenient. The combination of shipping, customs, and taxes still make exchanging goods across international borders a hassle, but there is not much that can be done with that.
My conclusion, and I think that Alex will agree, is that our Steemit Experiment in International Commerce was a success, but the friendships that form on the platform are far more valuable.
Cheers,
Professor Bromide
PS – Here are some links to the first two installments on the experiment:
https://steemit.com/coffee/@professorbromide/steemit-international-commerce-project-success
professorbromide@ I would be interested in a score for vienna/french roast of alex's coffee.
We typically roast to the second crack. but I have never seen this scoring system.
Any chance you could do a score for second crack? would it change the scores? Are some of these scores subjective?
We may want to try a full city roast.
I find this article fascinating. cant wait for more. following now.
I don't have any more to use for a formal tasting, but I did make some French roasts with Alex's coffee. I roast a lot of Guatemalan coffee at that level - just at the very beginning of second crack. Some coffee will have plenty of body and sweetness at that level, others become thin and bitter.
In my opinion, Alex's coffee was best if it wasn't hitting second crack. The complex fruity and fermented flavors just disappear if you take it that far.
All of the scores are completely subjective. Your results will vary greatly, especially if you are roasting with hot air. Don't let my opinion of my own roasts discourage you from trying darker roasts.
Still waking up, let me get a cup of coffee...
I appreciate this so much, this is the part of coffee that I have learned the least about in the last 4 years of farming.
I think you just gave us a really good score!
A good score indeed! I really enjoyed your coffee.
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by professorbromide from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.