Planet Bean, Guelph based roaster of Fair Trade and Organic certified coffees has just launched and brand new roast. From the ‘Cooperativa Café Timor’, this dark roast has been a few years in the making.

Planet Bean has been trying to source a great coffee from East Timor for a few years now, and in November of 2008, that coffee was finally found. Planet Bean Roastmaster Dave Barrett decided on a dark roast after sample roasting a dozen or so batches in his Hottop sample roasterand cupping those samples. Acidity in the coffee was retained quite nicely in a darker roast, which was a little unusual in comparison to other coffees roasted at Planet Bean.

So, how about the flavour then…..

Nutty, like toasted cashews with a very pleasant dark chocolate finish. That’s the simple way of putting it. But to get into more detail, here’s my cupping information for this coffee.
• Roast: Cinnamon
• Origin: East Timor – CCT
• Crop: Current (2008)
Aroma: floral, berry, smokey, vanilla

Wet Fragrance (crust): Black forest cake, sweet, fruity, nutty

Acidity: tangy, high, sweet

Body: medium-heavy

Flavour: sweet, nutty, spicey

Aftertaste: Long, pleasant aftertaste

I rate this coffee 87/100 on my cupping sheet.

This coffee comes with a limited supply, so get it while you can!

“Fidalgo Bay Coffee is a roaster of fine specialty coffees, serving a growing family of coffee houses, espresso stands, restaurants, hotels, offices and homes. They also sell commercial espresso equipment and offer repair services. Their responsive customer service and high quality coffees are the hallmarks of their business and the cornerstone of their success”.

Well, with that said I had to get my hands on some of their coffees. A post on their blog/news section indicated that they were just recieving their 2008 crop of Peruvian Café Selvanica. This is a very special coffee that Fidalgo Bay buys full containers of at specialty coffee specification standards.

Besides being a terrific bean, what’s different about this coffee is that it is packed at the mill in Peru with a special thick kraft paper liner inside the traditional burlap sack. This liner keeps the coffee protected during its trip on the Pacific Ocean. The coffee beans are beautifully bright green and have a floral fresh artichoke aroma when you open the bag.

The coffee is roasted two ways, and blended post roast to create an excellent blend that is sure to please coffee drinkers of all walks.

They were kind enough to send me several samples of the blend, as well as some green coffee which I still mean to roast and cup. I did have the opportunity to sample the Cafe Selvanica with some of my coffee loving friends. When we were finished, we compared notes and scores to come to an agreement that this was infact an excellent coffee!

Cafe Selvanica (Fidalgo Bay) Coffee Review

Roasted By Fidalgo Bay Coffee Roasters – Burlington, Washington

• Roast: Blend
• Origin: Peru
• Crop: Current (2008)

Aroma: Mild Chocolate, slightly smokey, floral. A sweet almond aroma is also present.

Wet Fragrance (crust): Nutty, chocolate aromas burst from the cup as it steeps. Breaking the crust produced some wonderful fruity and floral aromas as well.

Acidity: The acidity was somewhat mild, but bright and winey. Rather pleasant!

Body: A medium, buttery body is found in this cup.

Flavour: Very clean, somewhat light in flavour. This coffee presents itself well for those who like a lighter roast of coffee with a little smokey, roasty flavour in the cup as well.

Aftertaste/Finish: A very pleasant aftertaste that lingers for quite some time……making your tongue crave the next sip!

I love Peruvian coffees, and this coffee was exactly what I look for in a great coffee from the Andes mountains of South America!

I rate this coffee 86/100 on my cupping sheet.