Like Kansas, I pretty much knew right away where I was going with Kentucky. I still did my customary due diligence (which is to say, Googling "[state] coffee roasters" and taking a fish through the results), but Quills was always ahead of the pack. When I first got into specialty coffee I used a website called Trade, which hooks consumers up with roasters all over the country. It worked out quite well for a while until I realized that it was in fact just as easy to order directly from the roasters, and while Trade does offer some value as a middleman for a coffee newbie (by speaking clearly and in user-friendly fashion about different flavor profiles, for instance) it had kind of outlived its usefulness for me, especially since I prefer to put as much of my money as far back along the supply chain as I can. (Buying green coffee and roasting it myself was probably always the end result of that ethos.) Anyway, I digress. The point is, Quills was a roaster that appeared on the Trade website and so I was already familiar with their existence as a high-end roaster based in the state of Kentucky. That always makes this easier.
State #18: Kentucky
Quills Coffee
Louisville, KY
For as prominent a place as it holds in the coffee growing world, Central America can be kind of hit and miss for me, but looking back over my records I've always had pretty good luck with Honduras. This batch was no exception. It included a mix of three varietals - Catuai (a hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo), Pacas (a natural Bourbon mutation), and Lempira (a Catimor/Caturra hybrid named after a region of Honduras, known more for its yield than its cup quality). Despite the relatively high altitude of the farms (1700-2000 masl) by Central American standards, I found the acidity to be on the mild side, which was probably assisted by the hardier but not as high-quality Lempira beans. With that said, the overall cup was quite pleasant. I often think of Bourbon-derived varietals as leaning more fruity, but the fruit here was mostly in the back end, with the bulk of the cup dominated by chocolate flavors with notes of spice and a distinct nuttiness. It was a very classic breakfast cup and I ended up rating it an 8, Very Good.
I have historically loved Kenyan coffees, and this one was an intriguing mix of several varietals - SL-28 and SL-34 (selections of Scott Laboratories in the 1930s), plus K7 (a Bourbon-derived selection also dating to the 1930s) and two newer hybrids, Ruiru 11 and Batian. It wasn't quite as explosively flavorful as some Kenyans I've had, but there was a lot going on that matched up with the roaster's notes on the label. I found a citric acidity up front followed by some dark berry notes; there was also a mild florality and a back end sweetness that might have been what they described as molasses. The body was also a nice medium. I tend to withhold 9 and 10 grades for coffees that really make me sit up and take notice, but this was still an 8, Very Good.
With a combined score of 16, Quills moves into a tie for fifth (with Georgia's Alma Coffee), a very respectable showing especially as we're now more than a third of the way through the list. The next move, however, might be somewhat delayed - alphabetically, I should be heading to Louisiana, but if you've been reading the news lately you might have noticed that they're having a bit of a weather issue. Indeed, the roaster I had been eyeing (based in New Orleans) has been posting on social media about being closed, rather obviously. I'm more than happy to give them some business once things open back up, but that might be a while (and who knows what shipping services are going to look like down there in the near future too). I've got my own coffee I can roast, and of course plenty of local options, so it's not like I'm going to run out, but the state project might be on a small temporary hiatus unless I feel like jumping the line, which I probably won't.
Comments
Post a Comment