This project has been marked by some notable gaps, in particular when I first started roasting my own coffee regularly in early 2021. But this last gap was initially due to circumstances beyond my control - I was pretty much ready to roll into Louisiana after I finished Kentucky, but as I noted at the end of the last post, Hurricane Ida had some other plans. Happily, Mojo (the roaster I had already picked out) weathered the storm with no significant issue, and so we arrive back to the project to kick off 2022. Maybe I'll actually finish it this year...
State #19: Louisiana
Mojo Coffee Roasters
New Orleans, LA
I had been thinking of Peru as an origin that has been especially reliable for me, but looking back through my spreadsheet, that actually doesn't seem true - my ratings for Peruvian offerings from the Delaware and Iowa entries in this project were both 7/10, which is totally fine but not spectacular. I recalled liking the Peruvian I got from Color Roasters in Colorado a lot, but even that was only rated 8/10. I rated my own Peruvian roast 9/10 back in March of 2021... anyway, this one turned out closest to that and quite well. The acidity was mellow and notably malic, with a cherry/apple kind of profile. Behind that was a classic mix of flavors - some walnut notes, brown sugar, baking spices, and milk chocolate. The body was a bit creamy and a bit syrupy, the kind that makes you think you've splashed a little dairy in the cup even when you haven't (and rather obviously I had not). There's no way I could give a coffee like that less than a rating of 9, Great, which is what I gave it. There was a minor bittering (possibly attributable to the partial Catimor genetics) that held it back from getting a 10, but this was an excellent morning cup of coffee, beyond a doubt.
Kenyan coffees have usually been pretty good to me and this one was no exception. The cup started with a grabby tropical acidity, in the range of mango and/or pineapple. Beyond that was a ton of florality, evoking both lush tropical flowers and aromatic tea. I also picked out a mild bass note of something like strawberry jam. The body was medium - not too thin, but definitely not heavy; it reminded me a bit of tea but without any of the tannic dryness. This is one of the best coffees I've had recently, and I hemmed and hawed a bit before deciding to push its rating all the way to 10, Superlative. There was no real bitterness to the cup, a nice range of flavors, a wake-up brightness - this isn't necessarily my classic 10 profile but there was nothing I could really pick at to justify knocking it down to 9 other than "being stingy with 10s." Which I am! This is the first 10 I've handed out to any coffee I've had since April, and only the second of this entire project.
Notably, the 19 total score jumps Mojo to the very top of the ratings so far! What a start to 2022. If you're reading this not long after posting, both of these coffees are still available on their website (https://mojocoffeeroasters.com/collections/coffee) as of January 1, and I would obviously recommend them both highly! The next ten days or so are going to be quite delicious in this household.
Next up, we're going to be in the M states for a while, with 8 of them coming - starting with Maine, a state I have been to, but barely. (The M states also end with one of the few states I've never been to.) I've got a roaster picked out for Maine and as of right now they have an intriguing origin on their website, so I'd better order soon!
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