best coffee

When you drink as much coffee as I do, it honestly takes a very special coffee to stand out from the rest. It’s not as difficult for a Coffee Roaster to stand out from the rest (consistency, excellence, and above and beyond customer service will seal that deal – all traits I strongly associate with Kaldi’s Coffee). However, when your world is filled with different roasts, different blends, different origins, different names, different flavors, different tones, etc… the coffee has to be exceptional to break free from the pack.

There are a few such coffees that have left (and for several, continue to leave) such an impression on me that I remember their names as well as I remember the names of my cats. Okay, well almost.

Kaldi’s Birds & Bees (as my husband can tell you, this is the one I measure all coffee to – it’s my coffee grail – as in “a thing that is being earnestly pursued or sought after.” I’m always looking for coffee that tickles my coffee fancy as much as their Birds and Bees does)
Kaldi’s Decaf Highlander Grogg (the best decaf coffee on earth, period)
Starbucks Kati Kati (whatever happened to Kati Kati – like, where’d it go go?!)
Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya (I call her Elcy for short)

Review Continued Below…

Before we get to the last beauty (who just turned my “Top 3” into a “Top 4”), I have to ask, did you ever try Starbuck’s Kati Kati coffee beans? The first year they came out, I bought a bag in our local Starbucks. The bag was beautiful (all their bags are especially gorgeous – and I love that they’re “themed,” they match the region the beans came from), the beans smelled amazing, and the name was “love at first sight.” When we brewed it, it was obvious the flavor did the great name justice. PHENOMENAL. But here’s the thing, I waited all year for the “seasonal” coffee to come out again, but when it did, it was not the same. It was good, mind you, but it was no longer PHENOMENAL.

Then, the coffee kind of disappeared. I waited for the next “season” again and it pulled a no show. Then the next – same.

Yet, I have always remembered the amazing, naturally sweet flavor and the hint of orange in the background.

Okay, fast forward to this week. My husband’s most recent Kaldi’s Coffee order included a bag of coffee we’d never tried before: Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya. The first thing that caught me was (like Kati Kati) the name. Elcy. Beautiful name!

After I good-naturedly chided him for not adding a Birds & Bees and Decaf Highlander Grogg to the order, I anxiously tried Elcy. Guess what it reminded me of? Exactly! Kati Kati, the first year.

But it gets better.

Guess what it was even better than? Exactly! Kati Kati, the first year.

There is an unmistakable sweetness to this coffee along with an addictive citrus background. I have enjoyed Elcy in “Bulletproof” coffees (coffee with butter and coconut oil added, then blended) as well as on her own. It is excellent… let’s make that PHENOMENAL each and every way. I actually saved one of my cups of coffee of Elcy this morning and put it over ice. I pretty much live from one iced coffee to the next in the summer months, so this was my “Spring Training.”

Please don’t tell Birds & Bees, but it won’t be the only coffee I’m putting on ice this summer.

Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya (Elcy) reminds me of enjoying a sweet, soft orange danish along with a cup of the best coffee in the world – but it’s even better. No calories and no sticky fingers!

PHENOMENAL.

If you love great coffee (and why would you be reading a coffee review if you didn’t?), you simply have to order a bag of Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya right away.

Kaldi's New World Mocha Java Blend Coffee

Boom! That was the sound of my taste buds exploding when I brewed some of the best coffee beans I’d ever been lucky enough to find.

The uncommonly friendly coffee fanatics at Kaldi’s coffee sent us a bag of the exact same beans that @Tony Auger was using in the 2015 Brewers Cup Competition and we couldn’t wait to try them out the very next morning.

Why put off a good thing, right?

This blend is a combination of Nicaragua Limoncillo Javanica and Costa Rica El Centro Gesha. Read more about the story behind the blend on Kaldi’s Blog.

We first tried them in a Hario V6o as a pourover at 200* and the taste was outstanding!

(Coffee Review continued beneath the picture…)

Then we brewed them at 185* in an AeroPress and the flavor exploded!

We’ve found that different methods extract different flavors from different beans and, in this case, the beans produce nothing but excellent coffee time after time… the AeroPress method simply produces a whole new boldness that is dang agreeable.

Make that DANG agreeable.

So no matter what brew method you use to make handcrafted coffee these beans will blow your mind. When I took my first sip this morning (the first of many, I might add), the first thought to spring to mind was this: These are the perfect beans to have on hand when you want to impress someone! Whether it’s a fellow coffee lover (who only thinks they’ve tasted the best coffee known to any coffee nerd) or an in-law that you need to score extra points with – Kaldi’s New World Mocha Java Blend will make you a legend.

But you have to hurry over to the website of the best dang coffee roasters on the planet because there’s only so many of these beans to spread around like coffee love before they’re gone!

Good luck to David, Tyler and Tony as they compete in the 2015 United States Barista and Brewer’s Competition.