Mugged: Kopi Luwak [Cat's Ass Coffee]

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What does "Mugged" mean?

Subject: Cat's Ass Coffee
Coffee Mugged: Kopi Luwak
Rating: 2+ [see key]

Kopi Luwak, the only coffee lucky enough to enjoy a trip through a civet, is a coffee that I have long sought to try. Sure it sounds gross to drink a coffee that has been defecated out of the jungle equivalent of a raccoon, but with a price tag in the hundreds for a single pound, who wouldn't be curious?

But my long abstinence came to an end when Cat's Ass Coffee offered to send me out a sampling. Completely flattered, as this coffee is not cheap, I readily accepted with hopes of trying something different.

I received the coffee one sunny day and opening up the coffee, I noticed that the beans were big, plump and extremely black (the darkness from being really over-roasted). I brewed the coffee in the usual three infusions of drip, french press and siphon.

The french press was my first endeavor. The brew produced a really dark coffee with overpowering notes of bitterness and campfire followed with notes of butter, cocoa, a little wheaty ale and a syrupy texture.

The drip delivered a similar result, with primary flavors of bitterness and a little curry along with some flecks of rum, apple, wheat, a little nut and a heavy body.

The siphon proved a little better, as I purposely brewed it a little weaker to compensate for the uber dark roast that emerged in the first two. The result was still a dark coffee with a potent body but much more cocoa, nuttiness, wheat as well as bits of rum and apple.

All three brews displayed little initial reaction with the water, displaying a flat brew common to stale beans (my deduction).

Alas, my first interaction with Kopi Luwak proved not as great as I had hoped. The coffee proved too darkly roasted to enjoy the other flavors and as mentioned above, it seemed pretty old (quality control?). Overall, there was little in this coffee (sadly) that would make me buy it for the price of normal coffee, never mind the price tag of Kopi Luwak.

note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

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Mugged: Cascara [Counter Culture]

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What does "Mugged" mean?

Subject: Counter Culture Coffee
Cascaras Mugged: Finca Mauritania, Finca Kilmanjaro, Finca Los Alpes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

As a big fan of coffee and tea, I was very intrigued when I first heard of cascara a few years ago. A tea brewed from dried coffee cherries, cascara has been a beverage of coffee-growing cultures for some time.

Recently, my friends at Dean & Deluca and Counter Culture sent me out three Cascaras from El Salvador to sample. Having never really had Cascara before, I wasn't interested in comparing it to other cascara but more to see how it stands up as a tea.

In sampling, I brewed it according to the explicit directions on each package (5 g per 8 oz of tea) and each batch sampled similarly. Each had some kind of apple flavor and some noticeable juicy-like sweetness as well as its own flavors.

Finca Mauritania: Held the flavors of spiced apple and sparkling cider, bits of fig, date and sassafras. The body was distinctly that of a light tea but very potent.

Finca Kilimanjaro: Provided sparkling cider with notes of oolong, pumpkin seeds and a little black cherry. Also a nice light complexion with a syrupy punch.

Finca Los Alpes: The brew showcased apples and champagne, as well as some bubblegum and a fresh white grape. The body proved light and sweet.

All together, the three cascaras proved delicious and something fairly unique to my tea knowledge. I would say that as teas go, cascara demonstrates a naturally-sweetened option that not only is sustainable (farmers can get money from the coffee cherries!) but is also pretty satisfying as an after-dinner drink or refreshing morning beverage.

Go grab some cascara.

note: cascara was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

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