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Beans: Serra Negra NX, Yellow Catuai, Natural, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Shop: Coffea Circulor, Webshop, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Coffea Circulor: Background information.
Coffea Circulor, the roaster behind the Serra Negra NX, is an international team of coffee professionals that, through inspiration, innovation and environmental care, wants to bring coffee to the public all over the world. Founded in 2010, Coffea Circulor has won many prizes including the Norwegian roasting championships in 2014. Founder Ivica Cvetanovski is a renowned coach to many prize winners such as Audun Sorbotten. Coffea Circulor has made it their mission to ensure that the planet understands, values and protects coffee in all it’s facets. But let’s take a look at the coffee at hand; a natural yellow Catuai from the Minas Gerais region in Brazil.
Coffee is the main plantation in this region. It has recently begun to produce a higher quality product in order to keep up with competition and to further satisfy customer needs. This coffee is milled at a state-of-the-art processing facility in Poços de Caldas, which results in much better green preparation than most standard Brazilian coffee. This coffee is usually a blend from South Minas and at times also includes coffee from Cerrado and Matas de Minas.
Upon dry milling the coffee undergoes rigorous quality control protocols. After the parchment (protective layer ontop of the green bean) is removed, the beans will go through a de-stoner, three density sorters, two electric eye sorters, a hand sort and a cupping for shipment approval.
Elevation of farms is relatively high for Brazil and this coffee shows careful preparation and handling. Brazil is the largest exporter of coffee in the world. Therefore, with notes of milk chocolate, mild citrus and clean nuts, it appeals to a public that are more prone and can identify with a classical taste of coffees. This coffee is very well suited as a filter coffee, but I will review it as an espresso roast.
Opening the package:
Once in a while you get a package that’s just like a piece of art. Coffea Circulor is one of those roasters that put a lot of effort into the design of the package. Obviously there is a ziplock and a degassing valve on the package to keep it as fresh as possible. Looking at the package, it isn’t weird that perhaps you didn’t even notice that. The ‘angel’ design on the front depicts a woman/goddess surrounded by coffee plants and holding coffee cherries in her hand. The way it’s designed makes it look as if she is offering the coffee to you personally. Next up is the information on the package. There is a lot of information, A LOT! But all of it will help you understand and brew the coffee better.
On the package of the Serra Negra NX you will find information on the name, country and farmer. On the left side of the label you will find information on the region, altitude, varietal, process, lot size and trade. On the right side of the label there is a lot of tasting notes. Aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body and balance.
There is also a quality rating in the top right of the label, depicting the cupping score that this coffee has: 83.50 points
On the backside of the coffee you will find a lot of information about Coffea Circulor’s values, mission, contribution and even brewing and water recommendations. Way to go Coffea Circulor!!
When opening the package you will notice a sweet caramel, creamy chocolate and soft nutty aroma popping up. The beans are equally roasted and when i eat one, it feels crispy and let’s out a bitter flavour that is accompanied by a hint of walnut, wholegrain cookie and cocoa.
Grinding the coffee will give a chocolate, hazelnut and raisin sweet aroma that fits perfectly with an espresso. Lets brew this coffee into a nice espresso.
Serra Negra NX: The tasting.
I reviewed this coffee on my Rocket Giotto Evoluzione R at a temperature of 96 degrees. I used my Eureka Atom Specilty 75 grinder on the 5.5 mark. For this review I tried several recipes but the 20/40 recipe on a naked filter gave me the best results. This is, however, personal so please let me know if you have a better recipe I should try out.
The first thing you will notice when you take a sip, is a hazelnut sweetness with a soft bright acidity playing on the tip of your tongue. As you slurp the coffee and swirl it round in your mouth, a nice tamarind flavour pops up as well as a hint of sugar cane and salmiak. When the coffee cools down a little, the nutty aspect of this coffee becomes more dominant and is accompanied by notes of raisin and toffee.
Swallowing this coffee leaves a great aftertaste: toffee, creamy dark chocolate (72% cocoa) and a bit of juicynes that makes your mouth water a little.
The bright acidity changed into a citric plum like acidity that works great in combination with the full body of this coffee.
As a Cappuccino and Latte this coffee works great as well. The sweetness, nutty aspect, toffee and chocolate notes work wonders with the warm milk. The sweetness makes this coffee round, creamy and it doesn’t need sugar at all.
The Verdict.
Coffea Circulor created an every-mans-friend with the Serra Negra NX coffee. The coffee does exactly what it’s supposed to do in your cup: deliver a creamy, flavourfull and versatile espresso. The coffee also work great in a latte based drink. I like the notes of hazelnut, tamarind, raisins and creamy dark chocolate. These are notes that always sit right by me when I order an espresso. Looking at the price (9 euro for 250 grams) and the quality, I think this is a very nice deal for those who want an espresso that they can drink throughout the day.