"Cuban" Coffee beans from Montreal.


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How do you authenticate their provenance? Or you don't? Does Cuban coffee even have a distinctive flavor and aroma like the tobacco? Just curious. 

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38 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

How do you authenticate their provenance? Or you don't? Does Cuban coffee even have a distinctive flavor and aroma like the tobacco? Just curious. 

Memory I'd say.  I've had the Cohiba coffee and plenty of Turquino.  But then it'd only be a guess. 

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I buy Cuban beans directly from a supplier here in Hamilton at our farmers market. It definitely has a distinct teeth tingling flavour. Plus you get the "oil slick" on the surface if you drink it black. 

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1 hour ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

I buy Cuban beans directly from a supplier here in Hamilton at our farmers market. It definitely has a distinct teeth tingling flavour. Plus you get the "oil slick" on the surface if you drink it black. 

I was about to mention the "Oil Slick". I've seen it to a lesser degree with other, very freshly roasted coffee, but never to the same level as Cuban Coffee. They also typically roast the coffee VERY dark down there. I dont how well that applies to beans purchased from these smaller roasters though. 

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37 minutes ago, LLC said:

I’ll be curious what you think of them Frank. 

I'll be grinding some of the "Cohiba" one tomorrow.  I'll post my impressions here.  I'll be making an espresso.

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40 minutes ago, helix said:

Cuban coffee has never impressed me. Mediocre at best . African coffee is my go to. 

I love a great Cuban Coffee, prepared their way. But the beans themselves are pretty run of the mill. I'd love to get my hands on some green beans to test different roast levels, all the Cuban Coffee I've had has been over roasted. 

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Got the sierra in dark roast and it's too strong as straight espresso or ristretto. I'm going to try it with sugar next even though I never have sugar.

I have the sierra in another roast and I also have some turquino in two different roasts.

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Edit: no amount of sugar could save it... I'll try it with milk....or as an Americano.

 

Edit 2: wasn't too bad with the sugar if sipped slow enough.

 

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On 6/15/2022 at 6:51 PM, Bijan said:

Got the sierra in dark roast and it's too strong as straight espresso or ristretto. I'm going to try it with sugar next even though I never have sugar.

I have the sierra in another roast and I also have some turquino in two different roasts.

Edit: no amount of sugar could save it... I'll try it with milk....or as an Americano.

Edit 2: wasn't too bad with the sugar if sipped slow enough.

 

 

That darkness of roast is reminiscent of some I've had in Los Angeles - that tried to imitate some Pacific North West brands.

It seems much darker than even Sothern Italian roasts.

Having roasted (as an amateur) a few pounds of Cuban beans, I'm not convinced that taking them that dark is helpful to the flavor profile.  I don't necessarily dislike the bitterness that comes with that roasting level, but it doesn't suit all bean types and hopefull the turquino will be more of a medium roast.

In my short experience that much oil being brought to the surface, and that dark of a bean tends to muddy the inherent flavor.

I swear you could throw me a 50/50 blend of Mexican robusto and Columbian arabica at that roast level and I couldn't tell it from good Cuban beans.

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4 hours ago, Jack said:

That darkness of roast is reminiscent of some I've had in Los Angeles - that tried to imitate some Pacific North West brands.

It seems much darker than even Sothern Italian roasts.

Yeah I'd only seen this level on the Starbucks french roast. It used to get stuck in the automatic espresso machine at my last job and we'd have to dig at the beans in the hopper with a spoon to get them to drop down into the grinder.

Edit: thankfully any darker than this and the beans will likely spontaneously combust 😂

Also it's hard to gauge sometimes. I'm in the greater Toronto area and a lot of Toronto coffee roasters seem obsessed with light roasts. So a medium roast here is generally way lighter than I'd want, and a light roast I'd rather not drink at all...

Guess Montreal roast levels are more accurate.

Edit: on another positive note i seem to be able to drink these super dark roast espressos while working, though I end up having less than half the coffee i normally would.

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Just finished grinding the last of my "Cohiba" beans.  I've been enjoying it from the mocha pot.  Once it's done, I'm going to go for the "Turquino" beans.  That one is the most distinct bean for me in the Cuban range.  If they can nail the flavour I'll be pleasantly surprised.

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