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Bean: Bourbon, natural washed, Boquete, Panama
Shop: Q Cup Cafe, Kuala Lumpur
Panama coffee – Casa Ruiz: Background information:
Casa Ruiz has been in existence for over 100 years now. The farm is located in Boquete, Panama and started out as a single family company that specialized in growing coffee. Fast forward a 100 years and we find a coffee crafting enterprise that not only grows their coffee, but also takes care of processing, roasting and packaging the coffee’s.
Casa Ruiz not only supports sustainability for the farmers and local population (the invest in education for example) but they also grow coffee according to the local tradition. This means that Casa Ruiz protects and cherishes it’s soil, resulting in a lower yield per annual basis, but ensures a prolonged life span for the local flora. Because the soil in treated as such, Casa Ruiz says the soil gets even better for producing coffee.
Panama coffee – Casa Ruiz: Opening the package:
This Panama coffee ‘Casa Ruiz’ comes in a red package made my Q Cup Cafe (located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Although it doesn’t come with a zip-lock type mechanism, the folding strips are sufficient to close off the package properly. Opening the package is a real treat; a soft milk chocolate and fruity scent comes out and massages your nose. The delicate softness of the scent tells a lot already about this Panama Casa Ruiz. When I look inside the roast is super clean. The beans are all equal in size and there is absolutely no mucilage there. It’s like watching the beans from an advertisement. Let’s taste a bean to find out what secrets this coffee holds from us. The bean is light roasted and is soft when I bite down on it. As I chew a sweet and sourness pleasantly invade my tasting buds here.
Panama coffee – Casa Ruiz: Brewing method:
The Panama coffee Casa Ruiz is a light roasted coffee and I will review it on my Hario V60 set-up. When grinding this coffee the fruitiness that appears is amazing. There is a hint of red fruit and forest fruits such as blueberry but also the soft chocolate notes cannot be dismissed here. The brewing method I will review is the 27gr/360ml brew at 90 degrees Celsius. This brew ensured that the Casa Ruiz produces heavy fruity notes but also a fine chocolate finish. I bloomed 60 grams for 45 seconds after which I then poured up to 180ml. After that I did three additional 60ml pours. The clock stopped at 3:04 mins and resulted in a delicious coffee as you all will read in a minute.
Panama coffee – Casa Ruiz: The tasting:
While brewing the ground coffee the pungent aroma of fruits appear like a little bomb: cherry and blueberry and floral notes ,such as lavender, can be discovered. The aroma subsides quite quickly, leaving a soft chocolate scent as well. When the brewing is done, I notice the clear and light colour of the brew. When I smell the coffee I think of cherry and overripe forest fruits; this is one of those coffee’s you could just smell all day long.
As I take a sip of Q Cup Cafe’s Casa Ruiz, all things happen inside my mouth. The bright acidity is something you cannot dismiss, the mouthfeel is delicate and silky, there is no sourness and no bitterness at all. What a coffee!
I swirl the coffee in my mouth and slurp oxygen inside while doing so. The blueberry glows in the front and middle section of my mouth and gradually flows into red fruits. Sweet Cherry and a tiny hint of strawberry take over for a moment and still this isn’t over. Only after you start to swallow this gem, the chocolate peeks around the corner. It is soft and tiny at first, but then takes over as I breath back through a closed mouth. What a feeling!
Panama coffee – Casa Ruiz: The Verdict:
Q Cup Cafe did its own roasting for this coffee and what a great job they did. It was a beautiful roast and a beautiful coffee. This coffee produced some great aroma’s that will make you keep smelling your cup of coffee. The flavours each activated a different area of your mouth while drinking it. The bright acidity was spot on, the mouthfeel silky and smooth. This coffee is exactly what you would expect from a Panama coffee. On top of all these compliments comes the chocolate finish that lingered just long enough to make you crave that next sip. Q Cup Cafe did an excellent job at roasting and I hope to review more of their coffee in the future!