{"id":1339,"date":"2015-09-14T09:11:42","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T14:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1339"},"modified":"2016-02-14T22:41:54","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T04:41:54","slug":"review-ascension-brazil-rainha-farms-dallas-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1339","title":{"rendered":"Review: Ascension Brazil Rainha Farms (Dallas, Texas)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, when I talk to people about the flavors in coffee, they get confused and think that I drink flavored coffees… you know, stuff like Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Peppermint Mochas, Red Velvet Frappuccinos. I admit that I enjoyed some vanilla lattes in my youth, but I haven’t had a “flavored” coffee in quite some time. You won’t find any flavored syrups in my house! What I’m referring to are the different flavor characteristics inherent in the different bean varietals, grown in various parts of the world. This post on single-origin coffees<\/a> gets into this topic in more detail.<\/p>\n

I’ve been drinking a lot of African and Central American coffee lately, and I’ve been awash in flavors of berry, citrus, flowers, honey… lots of bright, interesting tastes. But you know how sometimes all you want is something simple and comforting? I love being challenged musically as much as the next musician, and I find complexity to be irresistible… but sometimes you just want uncomplicated pop or stadium rock. Sometimes, after months of listening to Joy Division<\/a>, John Adams<\/a>, The Jesus and Mary Chain<\/a>, Sufjan Stevens<\/a>, Shostakovich<\/a>, of Montreal<\/a>, Steve Reich<\/a>, and Radiohead<\/a>, nothing else will do except for some Journey<\/a>, preferably while driving with the windows down and singing along at the top of your lungs.<\/p>\n

(I can’t believe I just admitted this.)<\/p>\n

(And for anyone out there making fun of me right now, would you be comfortable with me opening up your iTunes collection and letting me see EVERYTHING you have in it? I am guessing I’m not the only one with musical guilty pleasures out there!)<\/p>\n

Brazilian drip coffee is not something I seek out on a regular basis, because to me it’s like a coffee version of stadium-rock; big, crowd-pleasing flavor that has mass appeal. I generally prefer more complex, layered coffees. But, for those days where you don’t want to be pushed or stretched, it’s comfort food in a cup. I stopped at Ascension Coffee’s<\/a> Dallas location the other day for lunch, and this bag was among the freshest coffee (at 3 days old), so I opted to give it a try.<\/p>\n

Whole bean: Creamy, malty, milk chocolate aromas.<\/p>\n

V60: At a 2:50 extraction, this cup was a bit bitter and it “smelled like coffee.” In my book, because I typically look for layers of flavor, it struck me as a bit boring. However, drinking it was like a throwback to a different, less complicated time. Adding a splash of cream took away the bitterness and made this cup taste like Nestle Quik. Hello, childhood!<\/p>\n

AeroPress: Rich, nutty flavor that had a fair bit of acidic bite to keep things awake. Just for fun, I added a glug of heavy cream and a bit of sugar. This cup became a chocolate milkshake. Holy cannoli, it was rich.<\/p>\n

Chemex: Light-bodied but smoother in flavor overall than the V60 and AeroPress cups. This was pretty easy to drink black. <\/p>\n

French press:  As I expected, this cup was smooth, full-bodied, and the richest in nut\/chocolate flavor. Comforting. It enveloped me like a fleece blanket. Uncomplicated and soothing.<\/p>\n

Espresso: Out of curiosity, I chose to pull this as a single-origin espresso. I actually think I liked it the best in this preparation! Though I didn’t experiment much, the shots that my Silvano produced were complex, a little brash in their acidity, but sweet. Very drinkable!<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/strong> Get this if you like chocolate milkshakes, or if you want a coffee that will hold you and tell you everything will be all right. It’s not a coffee that will make you question things, or that will push you out of your comfort zone. Rather, it is mac and cheese. It is Journey’s “Faithfully.”<\/a> It is a hug from an old friend.<\/p>\n

From the roaster: Brazil nuts, toffee<\/p>\n

Ascension Coffee Roastery Online Store<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, when I talk to people about the flavors in coffee, they get confused and think that I drink flavored coffees… you know, stuff like Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Peppermint Mochas, Red Velvet Frappuccinos. I admit that I enjoyed some vanilla lattes in my youth, but I haven’t had a “flavored” coffee in quite some time. You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[157,159,188,3,154,10],"tags":[168,71,195,59,61,240,53,25],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/tn_IMG_1476.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6097,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6097","url_meta":{"origin":1339,"position":0},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps (Oakland, California)","date":"September 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"James Freeman, the founder of Blue Bottle, is a former professional clarinet player, and I've always appreciated the occasional musical references thrown into the names and descriptions of his company's coffees (for instance, the \"Brahmsian\" characteristics of Blue Bottle's Hayes Valley Espresso). This particular blend was named after John Coltrane's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG-7720-e1567995146857.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1015,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1015","url_meta":{"origin":1339,"position":1},"title":"Advice: What should I order at a third-wave coffee shop?","date":"August 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Third-wave coffee shops are popping up everywhere. Walking into one is quite different from walking into a Starbucks; the menu is different, the equipment is different, and it can be a little intimidating if you don't know what to expect. 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