My coffee journey began 20 years ago. My family always drank coffee together; often as coffee break. We drank Café con Leche, which is made by boiling cinnamon sticks in water with sugar concentrate with coffee and condensed milk. In my late teens and early 20’s, I had many late-night Denny’s visits. I was drinking coffee with too much sugar, and I'm talking 6 packets, to where nowadays, I am enjoying a fresh black brew. As I visited small café shops, my palette changed. I began to notice the variances in espresso and enjoy lattes without sugar. I visited café shops in Orange County and Los Angeles primarily, but ventured even further north to Seattle and south to San Diego drinking and buying coffee from different Micro Roasters.
15 years ago, my sister invited me to Klatch Coffee in Rancho. She knew I loved small shops with great coffee. We have been hooked since. Now that I work at Klatch, I have my go-to, our Las Mercedes coffees: Pacamara, Pepinal 1 and Maracaturra. I always try our new arrivals, including cupping when we are picking flavor notes and new coffees.
You may be wondering, how can you can develop your coffee palette? What's more, how can find coffees that you will love? I've got some suggestions. First, I would suggest starting by trying blends. These Medium roasts are a good start because they have a wide range of flavor notes.
Blends are a combination of the multiple coffees, bringing out the very best attributes of different coffees. I'd recommend:
Onyx Blend: mandarin orange - apricot - cedar
Breakfast Blend: floral - apple - pear
Mocha Java Blend: chocolate - almond - blueberry
If you're up for it, I would suggest moving on to Espresso. Just starting out? Start off with our House Espresso, which is a Medium-Dark Roast.
House Espresso: orange zest - cinnamon stick - semi-sweet chocolate
WBC Espresso: sweet dark chocolate - orange citrus – berry
Belle Espresso: blackberry - chocolate - brandy
When you are ready to move forward on your coffee journey, try our Single Origins:
There are 3 main types of processes: washed, natural, and honey. The way a coffee is processed can have a huge impact on flavor. Read more about processing methods here.
Start a Coffee Log for your Coffee Journey
Figure out your likes and dislikes in coffee. Experimenting is the only way you can truly take this journey to the next level.
CHECK OUT OTHER BLOGS AND BREW GUIDES
Brewing Basics: Processing Methods
