{"id":1095,"date":"2015-08-22T09:30:28","date_gmt":"2015-08-22T14:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1095"},"modified":"2015-10-04T11:05:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-04T16:05:35","slug":"review-rook-coffee-roasters-costa-rica-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1095","title":{"rendered":"Review: Rook Coffee Roasters Costa Rica (Ocean, New Jersey)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I heard about Rook\u00a0thanks to a tip from my friend Max. Founded in 2010, this relative newcomer to the specialty coffee world\u00a0has gotten attention from sources ranging from The New York Times and PBS to BuzzFeed and Maxim. In addition to brewing their freshly roasted coffee in eight\u00a0cafe locations and selling their beans online, Rook also operates a successful bottled cold-brew business, with both traditional and New Orleans style brews available.<\/p>\n

Rook offers free shipping on their beans, which was a definite perk (the cost of shipping can really add up, especially if you order beans as often as I do!). What I wasn’t expecting was for the free shipping to be USPS Priority Mail. Very fast! I received the beans just two days after they were roasted. Excellent service.<\/p>\n

I chose Rook’s\u00a0Costa Rican beans because after my last experience with Costa Rican beans where I was a sobbing, emotional mess<\/a>, I wanted to see if all Costa Rican beans affected me like that.<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert<\/em>: I didn’t cry this time. Phew!<\/p>\n

Whole beans: The scent, especially when ground, was a whole lot of bing cherry. There was also a plasticky aroma\u00a0to the beans that bothered me a little but I hoped it wouldn’t come across in the cup.<\/p>\n

V60: Ooof. The whiff I got after brewing was a pretty strong plastic smell. Honestly, I was turned off but I made myself drink it. The coffee had a little bit of a bite on the aftertaste, like white pepper. Medium body with moderately low sweetness. I really wasn’t liking this much. At this point, I drank a little bit of seltzer water to cleanse my palate and I tried it again. This time, the coffee tasted a little creamier and sweeter but it was still not really a favorite. (For the record, I had not eaten anything prior to this tasting – I always eat breakfast after tastings, so I know the pepper I tasted was not due to food).<\/p>\n

AeroPress: Big change. This brew was very smooth and pleasant to drink, even undiluted. I tasted marshmallows. I kind of wished there were some other flavors present\u00a0to complement it, but it tasted good as it was.<\/p>\n

Chemex: Overall, I felt like something was missing. The brew didn’t feel like it had much personality and it tasted hollow. You know how when you meet new people, that sometimes you just “click” with them and you feel at home right away, and sometimes it’s just awkward and uncomfortable, even after multiple meetings?\u00a0If this coffee and I were having a conversation, it would have sounded like this:<\/p>\n

Me: “Hi! It’s nice to meet you! My name is Margaret.”<\/p>\n

Coffee: (mutters)<\/em> “Hey.”<\/p>\n

Me: “How is your day going?”<\/p>\n

Coffee: (grunts,\u00a0looks off into the distance)<\/em><\/p>\n

Me: (trying to think of something to say that will establish some sort of common ground or connection)\u00a0<\/em>
\n“Your wristwatch is pretty cool…”<\/p>\n

Coffee: (stone-faced)<\/em><\/p>\n

Agh! Get me out of here!!!<\/p>\n

French press: Richest body of the four brews. It wasn’t unpleasant but it didn’t particularly win me over, either. One-dimensional and kind of dull, but inoffensive.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong>: Man, I had a hard time getting to know this coffee. I am grateful that this one didn’t make me burst into tears, but this tasting made for a pretty awkward morning. I did actually like it in the AeroPress brewed as a concentrate, but I just felt like it had nothing to say to me brewed any other way. Maybe Costa Rican coffee and I are not meant to be BFFs.<\/p>\n

From the roaster: Ripe cherry. Mild tangerine. Honey.<\/p>\n

Rook Coffee Roasters Costa Rica<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I heard about Rook\u00a0thanks to a tip from my friend Max. Founded in 2010, this relative newcomer to the specialty coffee world\u00a0has gotten attention from sources ranging from The New York Times and PBS to BuzzFeed and Maxim. In addition to brewing their freshly roasted coffee in eight\u00a0cafe locations and selling their beans online, Rook […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"My encounter with this coffee felt like an awkward blind date.","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[158,6,188,3,154],"tags":[28,70,22,69,151],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/tn_IMG_1257.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1652,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1652","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":0},"title":"Bags: Does size matter?","date":"November 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In my highly unscientific observations over the past couple of years, I have\u00a0observed\u00a0a trend of\u00a0coffee companies packaging their coffee into smaller and smaller bag sizes. What gives? Well, I think there are probably a number of reasons why companies might choose to go for certain bag sizes over others. Let's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings (Coffee-related)"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6606,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6606","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":1},"title":"Review: 49th Parallel Ethiopia Halo Beriti (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)","date":"March 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Vancouver is one of my favorite cities that I've ever visited, and while on a short trip to Seattle earlier this year, I made a somewhat spur-of-the-moment decision to hop on a bus and spend a day in Vancouver. While there, I made it a priority to find my way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Africa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG-2843-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1600,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1600","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":2},"title":"Review: Origen Coffee Roasters Mexico Oaxaca Sierra Mixteca Organic (Escondido, California)","date":"October 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The next two coffee reviews come from bags courtesy of my good friend Erin, who apparently sweet-talked the roaster into roasting this order on an off day just for me. :) Origen is a San Diego-area based artisan roaster who sells coffee both online and at the North San Diego\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "North America"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/tn_IMG_1747.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5941,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5941","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":3},"title":"Review: Square Mile Coffee Roasters Ecuador Vitaliano Merino (London, England)","date":"August 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Square Mile Coffee Roasters really blew me away when I tried their Ethiopia Mormora and Red Brick Espresso last year, so I was very much looking forward to having another chance to pick up some of their beans. Due to my tight schedule on my last visit, I opted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chemex"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/IMG-7371-e1562606196929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":607,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=607","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":4},"title":"Review: Stumptown Ecuador Cariamanga Organic (Portland, Oregon)","date":"June 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This bag of Stumptown beans was an impulse buy; it ended up being the final bag of coffee beans I purchased while in Seattle. I had never tried beans from Ecuador before but the description on the bag sounded good, and the beans were extremely fresh. Incidentally, almost all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/tn_IMG_1092.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2647,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2647","url_meta":{"origin":1095,"position":5},"title":"Review: Tack and Jibe Ethiopia Sidama (Newport Beach, California)","date":"June 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I started this blog back in 2015 intending it to basically be my coffee diary. As I delved deeper into the world craft coffee and learned about the subtle differences between origins, roasts, brands, etc., I knew I'd want to have a way to keep a record of everything, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Africa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/tn_IMG_6666-e1496717396768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5QIia-hF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1095"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1286,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1095\/revisions\/1286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}