Last week’s Coffee Club meeting featured some of the best coffee we have had to date. The two coffees on tap, Yemen Mocha Haraaz and Guatemala Santa Clara were both from George Howell Coffee based in Acton, Massachusetts. The Yemen Mocha Haraaz is one of George Howell’s limited roasts due to its small lot size and unique picking process. To develop the cleanest possible flavors, only ripe red cherries were chosen and then dried on raised racks. The coffee is grown on mountainside terraces (as high as 8,000 feet!) that are carefully constructed to collect every drop of the sparse rain in the region. The farming process is extremely traditional, never using chemicals. We immediately noticed the special quality of this coffee from its delicate, yet complex aromas of strawberry, lily, cloves and dates. Its tasting notes of raisin, grape and banana created a funky, yet delicious medley of flavors on the palate.
Photo by Sharon Cho
The Guatemalan coffee is from the Santa Clara farm, owned by four generations of the Zelaya family. The family has an incredibly meticulous approach to processing their coffee and the results really shine in the cup. The coffee tasted of chocolate, cherry and most notably, orange-lime sherbet that lingered on the tongue. Although acidic, it was very sweet with no noticeable bitterness.
Photo by Sharon Cho
This week’s meeting will not occur during our regular Friday afternoon hours, but instead will take place in the New Hamp lounge on Sunday, May 18 from 2-4 pm so that everyone can enjoy the Green Key festivities, and also have a little Sunday afternoon pick-me-up. We will be serving Kenya Thurungi from Portland-based Coava Coffee and Nicaragua Honeyed Maracaturra from Café Integral in New York City. In addition, we will be featuring a variety of single-origin chocolate from Mast Brothers and Café Integral that we hope will pair well with the coffee. We wish you a happy Green Key and hope to see you all on Sunday!
If you’re interested in Coffee Club, you can blitz us at Dartmouth.Coffee.Club@dartmouth.edu.