Since most of my coffee consumption happens at home, I am not super knowledgeable about the coffee shop scene in and around Dallas. If I do go out to a cafe, it’s usually to buy beans for home use, and most of the cafes carry excellent local roasters like Cultivar, Tweed, Avoca, and Oak Cliff. So, it was a noteworthy find when I happened upon a new (to me) coffee shop on Lower Greenville, called The Merchant, that carries Stumptown! At the time of my visit (July 2018), they had been open about 9 months, and it’s a combination coffee shop/funky offbeat gift shop. I bought this little glass food storage container from there for myself because I liked it so much.
I’ve never had Holler Mountain before, but I know it’s one of Stumptown’s flagship offerings and it’s their signature organic blend. It has been a while since I’ve purchased any Stumptown beans so I was surprised to see the redesigned packaging; the brown paper bags of years past were so iconic in my head that it’s going to take me a while to get used to this new design.
Whole bean: Cinnamon and clove.
V60: Milk chocolate in the cup with a rich, “dark” coffee finish.
AeroPress: Dark and spicy and easy to drink. This made me think that this could be quite good pulled as espresso, but I didn’t have time to test it out this way. However, I did try it brewed with my Prismo attachment, and it produced a nice rich flavor, stronger than when brewed the “normal” way.
Chemex: I accidentally ground these beans a bit coarser than I meant to, and the resulting brew only had a 2:55 extraction compared to the 4:00 I normally shoot for, but WOW was the result delicious! This tasted of toffee and caramel and Milky Way candy bars. I don’t think this suffered for being underextracted.
French press: Much softer flavor and texture than the V60 cup; still “dark” in flavor but it was more like velvet instead of obsidian. Caramel flavor emerged on the finish as the coffee cooled.
Summary: This coffee will suit anyone that likes their coffee to be on the medium-dark side, but not roasted to the point of bitterness. This coffee is quite sweet, especially when brewed in the Chemex. I can see why this is a mainstay in Stumptown’s repertoire – it’s a crowd-pleasing sort of blend and it is one I’d like to revisit in the future to try pulled as espresso shots!
From the roaster: One of our signature blends that’s been with us since the beginning, Holler Mountain is a hometown favorite. A versatile and full-bodied blend, Holler Mountain doses out a bright burst of citrus that pairs perfectly with creamy notes of caramel and hazelnut.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters Holler Mountain
Review conducted 9-11 days post-roast.