The Great Intelligensia Roast Meta-Review Post of 2006
At the urging of Penboy, I will review the various roasts I've been buying from Intelligentsia Coffee and preparing in my Aeropress.

The Aeropress is my current favorite coffee gadget - replacing my French Press almost completely. I first discovered the Aeropress over on the CoffeeGeek Forums and ordered one immediately. My wife had a hard time understanding why I needed another useless coffee gadget to clutter up the kitchen especially considering the other three coffee makers in the house. However, this gadget has proved indispensable and has not left my side since arriving. In fact, when I ordered the item a month or so ago, I had the same Starbuck's coffee sitting in my house since Christmastime. Now, with the Aeropress, I'm buying a pound of beans every couple of weeks from the Intelligencia store in the Monadnock building.

Each roast will be rated from 1 to 5 Robert Smiths.

Anything after Wish

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Head on the Door or Wish

Seventeen Seconds, Faith or Pornography

Disintegration


The Roasts:

Black Cat Espresso Blend

I have nothing bad to say about this roast. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't make it taste bad. It is very full, very dark and very tasty. An Aerocano (like an Americano but aeropressed instead of espressed) made with this roast tasted better than any Americano I have ever tasted.
Source: South and Central American beans.
Rating:

Ethiopia Harrar

This is a lighter roast that I was not so happy with. The first time I prepared this in the Aeropress, it was a bit sour. It tasted like diner-coffee. According to the CoffeeGeek forums, lighter roasts tend to be a bit sour from the Aeropress, so I used hotter water and a shorter steep time and ended up with an acceptable cup. It wasn't as good as the Black Cat Espresso Blend, but still very good. Before I use all of these beans, I intend to make a cup in the French press.
Source: Ethiopia, duh.
Rating:

El Cuervo, Guatemala

I've always liked South American coffees over others. El Cuervo was no exception. For the two weeks that I had this roast I got down on my knees every day and thanked Fod for such a great coffee. It was light like the Ethiopia Harrar which I was nervous about. My experience with the Harrar made me think that the lighter roasts and the Aeropress were not meant to be. This roast was certainly more unwieldy than the Black Cat, but it was worth it. It's flavor was much more complex and bright than the Black Cat. This roast has everything I like about coffee - great aroma great taste and interesting to boot. I settled on hotter water (about 190 degrees) a strong 30 second or more stir and only making two scoopfuls at a time in the Aeropress. It also tasted great in the French Press doing nothing special. The Aeropress, however, has made me very sensitive to fines in my coffee and I don't like the FP as much as I used to. This coffee was so good, I rethought the Black Cat and removed a Robert Smith.
Source: Guatemala
Rating: