GLASSELL PARK, Calif. — Who dey? The new crew from the forthcoming store in Venice Beach got straight to work on Day One of the BBC. Kyle led the Venice Nine through a full day of basic coffee introduction…starting with a line up of fruit.

Easy, breezy…eat a piece and describe what you’re eating without mentioning the fruit itself. (And saying “plantain” for banana will get you a stink eye)

Measure the acidity of the pineapple. Measure the sweetness. Compare it to the honeydew. Compare it to the grape. Now we’re talking. Suddenly, you can taste hints of almonds in a banana. Or Earl Grey tea in the blood orange. Seriously. The world gets more interesting when you stop to think about things.

“You know, these fruits don’t taste like you imagine they might when you taste them all back to back,” said XXXXXXX, the soon-to-be manager who just hopped off the last ship from London for the affair. “You begin to notice they vary from your expectations quite a bit…from how you imagine they’re going to taste.”

True enough. Raspberries without a trace of sweetness? True enough. Oranges with muted acidity? These palates are really starting to open…and it’s just day one.

The Intelli gang sorts it out in the training center.

From Joshua @FoodGPS.com:

Leading up to the 2009 United States Barista Championship, I had an opportunity to participate in a run-through with Intelligentsia baristas Nick Griffith, Devin Pedde and Ryan Willbur at the company’s Glassell Park lab. They swept the top three slots at last month’s Western Regional Barista Championship and are hunting for greater glory in Portland beginning March 5. To prepare for the competition, they’ve been training together several hours a day. Willbur and Pedde work behind the bar full-time at Intelligentsia’s Silver Lake coffeehouse and Griffith is one of the company’s two L.A. based sales reps.

Read the entire post @FoodGPS.com here…

Carmo de Minas is one of my first coffee loves. I first became acquainted with the great coffees of this region shortly after Carmo’s farms swept 1st – 16th at the 2005 Brazil Cup of Excellence. What really took the coffee world by storm, however, was the price Fazenda Santa Ines fetched for its winning lot—a then record shattering $49.75/lb green. But the rewards for these great coffees were well deserved as they proved that the traditional overly fermented and earthy profile of Brazilian coffees was a myth and that great Brazilian coffees can offer all the nuance and complexity of their South American brothers.

The following year, Carmo had similar success in the 2006 Cup of Excellence competition, and I decided to use the third place finalist from Fazenda Pedra Preta for my routine at the United States Barista Competition. The balance of citrus, molasses and intense sweetness carried me to a fifth place finish in my first USBC.

Shortly after that USBC, I made plans to visit Carmo with hopes of securing more great coffees from this region. With the help of Jacques Carneiro (Carmo Coffees) and Bruno Souza (Brazilian Estates Cafe Corporation), we’ve formed our first Direct Trade relationships in Brazil with producers from Carmo de Minas. The extraordinary coffees of this region are now a cornerstone of our Black Cat Classic Espresso.

Agua Preta is our first DT Brazilian coffee for filter, and this first lot comes from Fazenda Tijuco Preto, itself a two-time finalist in the CoE competitions. Tijuco Preto is blessed with natural springs and a high-altitude plateau that makes harvesting cherries an efficient and easy task. This pulped natural coffee offers striking balance and drinkability with soft acidity, a perfect cup for a lazy morning with the paper.

Location: Carmo de Minas
Farmer: Antonio Marcio Pereira de Castro and Glaucio Carneiro Pinto
Farm: Fazenda Tijuco Preto
Variety: Yellow Catuai
Harvest: August
Altitude: 1200 m

Characteristics

Flavor: Brown sugar, caramel, fudge
Acidity: Low, very mild
Finish: Buttery, silky

Tasting Notes

A silky yet buoyant mouthfeel combines with notes of brown sugar and caramel to create an exquisitely delectable cup.  A tamed acidity allows for notes of fudge to blossom right before the buttery finish.