The Drumming Baristas Top 5 Coffees of 2021.
Ready to find out what my favourite coffees of 2021 were?
2021 is coming to an end and I can’t decide if I am happy, sad or neutral.
To be real, that last sentence sums up the whole of this year. It has been a happy, sad and neutral year, it has also been a year of personal new beginnings and lots of fantastic coffee.
New Beginnings:
Learnt the importance of being vulnerable and open when struggling with your mental health. The power of talking to somebody and allowing yourself to be vulnerable is incredible.
Finished up working as a full-time barista.
Moved from Wellington - Christchurch.
Started a new job as an accounts manager for a super cool drinks distribution cooperative looking after the South Island.
2021 - It’s been real.
OK, without further a due let’s jump into my top 5 coffees of 2021.
I am going to start by working down from number 5. Disclaimer - This isn’t me saying that numbers 5 or 4 arent bad coffees in any way they are just how I have decided to score them with the lasting impression they made.
Number 5:
William Chavez - Washed process from Colombia - Rich Coffee Roasters
Number 4:
Nelson Hurtado - Colombia - Rich Coffee Roasters
Number 3:
Heros Blend - Geisha & Tabi both naturally processed from El Fenix, Quindio of Colombia - Flight Coffee
Number 2:
Ethiopia Sidamo - Common Good Coffee
A staple single-origin in the catalogue of coffee’s from the team at Common Good Coffee.
LAST AND CERTAINLY NOT LEAST. THE COFFEE TAKING THE NUMBER ONE SPOT IS.
Number 1:
Finca El Paraiso - Double anaerobic washed process coffee of Colombia - Grey Roasting Co.
This coffee took the top spot as it absolutely blew my mind. The passionfruit cider flavour note got me from the moment I saw the Instagram post when this beauty got released. It exceeded my expectations by a country mile. I have had like it before and after this. I had this coffee at the beginning of the year and still to this day I think about it and remember that distinct passionfruit sour, acidic and super-sweet taste. I really hope that Dove and the team bring this coffee back sometime soon. It shifted something within my mind and palate when it came to coffee.
So there we have it, team my top 5 coffees of 2021. It’s been a weird year for the coffee industry with many freight delays and green coffee being stuck at ports for long periods of time meaning it is not being roasted and sent out to the people to consume and enjoy. In saying that, there was one country, in particular, taking the spotlight this year and that was Colombia. Many of you know that I love a good natural processed Colombian but this year I was very surprised by a couple of washed processed Colombians that could have easily been mistaken for a natural or extended fermentation on the cupping table 1 or blind tasting. Here is to hoping that 2022 brings back a lot more normality and freight delays in and out of New Zealand are no more.
This is going to be my last blog post for 2021. So I just wanted to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of you who have been reading these posts. I have really enjoyed creating this blog space and having another outlet that allows me to create long-form content to dive deeper into coffee, how my brain thinks about coffee and of course making certain aspects of the coffee industry and coffee brewing easy and accessible for you.
I owe a lot to the bro over at The Magic Roast who helped me gain the confidence to begin blogging and directed me here to Substack as the place to create this blog. Make sure to give him a follow on his blog and on Instagram by clicking here. Thank you, bro. When you next come to Christchurch the coffee is on me.
If you have enjoyed my posts over this year, I would love to know so please leave a comment down below, jump on over to Instagram and drop me a DM or if you know me personally and have my number drop me a text or phone call. I would love for you all to subscribe if you haven’t already and to like or share this blog post or your favourite one as it really helps with my reach and to get my content trending.
If you love The Drumming Barista here and on Instagram and would like to see me invest in some new gear and equipment to help take my content to another level. I would appreciate you clicking the button below where you can support me with a monetary gift of your choice. In the words of Tesco supermarkets in the UK, “Every Little Helps”.
Oh, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. I wish you all a safe and magical Christmas. See ya in the new year!
Cupping table - where coffees are ground into small round bowls. A certain amount of water is poured over the coffee and steeped for a certain amount of time. When that time has been reached the crust that forms is spooned off. Coffee professionals then grab these funny soup shaped spoons, place them underneath the surface of the coffee to grab a small amount, raise it to their mouth, slurp loudly, swirl the coffee around their mouth to examine the flavour, balance and experience, look at each other make a noise usually mmmm, spit said coffee into a spit cup, rinse the spoon, write some notes and continue on. It is a very strange experience, but one not to be taken lightly, it is a very rewarding experience and an exercise that all coffee professionals and non-coffee professionals should take a part in and experience.