Hello Subscribers,
Greetings coffee lovers! It’s hard to believe we’re already through two months of 2021 and approaching a year since the pandemic began. We continue our journey around the world of specialty coffee making a stop in Barcelona, Spain. I’ve recently been reading some considerable buzz about NOMAD. Almost every article about them also brought up Right Side. Without further delay, we present to you our first featured Spanish specialty coffees.
NOMAD Coffee [Barcelona, Spain]
Nomad got its start when Jordi Mestre, a barista at some of the best coffee shops in London, set up his own coffee cart and traveled around the city. After winning a regional barista competition in Madrid, Spain and placing 15th in the world championships in 2012, and again successfully competing in Melbourne the following year, the coffee cart was sold and Nomad Coffee Lab found its permanent home in Barcelona.
With seasonality being of the utmost importance to us at Pour, we are introduced to a couple of Central African coffees from Burundi from NOMAD. Burundian coffees can be very earthy however, Jordi and his team travel to origin and work closely with producers to implement best practices to help generate a crop that leads to clean cups. The washed coffee from the Gahahe washing station in the Kayanza province is a nice, delicate, sweet cup. It has hints of the orange blossom florals and tangerine raspberry sweetness without being overpowering. This is a coffee I could drink all day long.
FOUR COFFEE SUBSCRIBERS: I thought it would be interesting to compare the washed coffee to a natural process from the nearby Nemba washing station in Kayanza, not only to see the difference between a washed and a natural but how different the processes can present themselves depending on the coffee’s origin. This natural is very subdued relative to other natural process coffees you may try from Ethiopia for instance. The process in this case can make up for the lack of complexity inherent to the terroir. The Nemba Natural has some nice fruitiness without being fermented at all. It has a layer of complexity that is not necessarily there in the Gahahe.
Right Side Coffee Roasters [Barcelona, Spain]
Right Side predates NOMAD by a couple of years in Barcelona setting up back in 2012. They operate a 100% direct trade model, traveling to origin and working with each of their producers to constantly improve their lots. One thing I really like about Right Side is that they do not blend their coffees. Blending covers up the individuality of each coffee and the hard work that went into making it as uniquely delicious as possible.
The first coffee is an anaerobic honey process Honduran coffee from Darwin Moreno [El Cedral, El Cielito]. The process leads to a very bright and sweet cup. I fell in love with Honduran coffees from Tim Wendelboe. This coffee works beautifully especially as an espresso for anyone preparing their coffee under pressure. The mouthfeel and taste really reminds me of eating a fresh ripe Kiwi.
FOUR COFFEE SUBSCRIBERS: As alluded to earlier in this write-up, the natural process from Ethiopia can present as much wilder/fruitier than other origins. Although this natural is fruitier than the Burundi natural from NOMAD it isn’t wild like a sour beer. I do not enjoy over fermented naturals, which can very easily happen if the producer doesn’t take great care in turning the cherries constantly once they are picked. This natural has a nice silky body with the effervescence in the finish almost like champagne. The delicate berries and florals make this coffee very enjoyable to drink outside as the weather is starting to (hopefully) break for spring.
In Closing
Thank you for taking this journey with us. If you are enjoying this subscription as a the holidays and this is your last installment, we have some really cool roasters lined up in the coming months and we hope you’ll consider signing back up here.
If you have questions about the coffees or brewing, never hesitate to reach out via email: hello@pourcleveland.com or online @pourcleveland (Twitter and Instagram).
Cheers,
Charlie Eisenstat, Owner & Curator
If you're not currently a subscriber, check it out here. If you’re a current subscriber and want to take advantage of our Gift Subscription, you can pause your current subscription or if you sign up for a gift subscription we’ll upgrade your existing 2 bags subscription to 4 bags. If you’re a four bag subscriber and get the Gift Subscription we’ll send you six different coffees from the two roasters.