{"id":2429,"date":"2017-01-06T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2429"},"modified":"2017-01-05T22:39:43","modified_gmt":"2017-01-06T04:39:43","slug":"review-blue-bottle-kenya-embu-gikirima-oakland-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2429","title":{"rendered":"Review: Blue Bottle Kenya Embu Gikirima (Oakland, California)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technically, I purchased this coffee at the end of 2016 and wrote up notes on it very soon after purchase, but I wanted to save the review to start the new year off with a bang, and Blue Bottle seemed like a good roaster to start this blog off on the right foot in 2017! This Blue Bottle review will actually be in two parts, as I bought this varietal both in whole bean form and pre-ground<\/a> (gasp!). Yes, I broke the rule of just about every coffee geek and bought pre-ground coffee, but for a very good reason, as I wanted to see for myself if Blue Bottle’s Perfectly Ground really could live up to the taste of freshly ground coffee. More on that later, but for now, here are my notes on the whole bean version of this Kenya Embu Gikirima!<\/p>\n

Whole bean: Honestly, I kind of forgot to observe this coffee’s notes, as it smelled great right out of the box and I was excited to start brewing. Oops! But it was quite fragrant, like caramelized sugar and tea and all sorts of good things.<\/p>\n

V60: This brewing method made a cup that tasted like toasted marshmallows, with a slight “pithy” flavor like lemon pith. Not a very tart cup, but it had just a little bit of citrus bitterness to it. I did brew this on the long side (3:45) so perhaps a shorter brewing time would mitigate the pith.<\/p>\n

AeroPress: A surprisingly smooth brew!! Caramel scent and flavor dominated this mug, with a tart finish like lemon candy to keep the taste buds interested.<\/p>\n

Chemex: Grapefruit. Very tart and dry. My mouth was puckering.<\/p>\n

French press: Very silky mouthfeel. Rich, sweet flavor with just a hint\u00a0of brightness and tartness\u00a0to keep things lively.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong>: This coffee tasted best to me in the immersion methods, with the French press being my personal favorite, as I felt it had the best balance between sweet and tart.<\/p>\n

Check back in a few hours for more on this coffee, this time made from Blue Bottle’s Perfectly Ground beans (their version of pre-ground coffee).<\/p>\n

From the roaster:\u00a0Cacao nibs, tea, citrus<\/p>\n

Blue Bottle Kenya Embu Gikirima<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technically, I purchased this coffee at the end of 2016 and wrote up notes on it very soon after purchase, but I wanted to save the review to start the new year off with a bang, and Blue Bottle seemed like a good roaster to start this blog off on the right foot in 2017! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"A nice lively Kenyan coffee to start out 2017. Can be sweet or tart, depending on how it's brewed.","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[7,159,3,154],"tags":[219,26,37,32,82,33,278,283],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/tn_FullSizeRender.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2467,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2467","url_meta":{"origin":2429,"position":0},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Perfectly Ground for Pour Over (Oakland, California)","date":"January 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When I bought Blue Bottle's Kenya Embu Gikirima in whole bean format, I placed an order at the same time for the same coffee in Perfectly Ground, ground for pourover. Perfectly Ground is the name for Blue Bottle's new line of coffee which has been ground and then directly sealed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Advice"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/tn_FullSizeRender-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2903,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2903","url_meta":{"origin":2429,"position":1},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee California Good Land Organics Gesha Blend (Oakland, California)","date":"January 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"While I'll be writing this post up like a normal coffee review, this really feels like a bit of a historical event due to the beans themselves. First off, this is going to be a giant tease of sorts because this coffee was available for a very short window of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Press"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/tn_IMG-0592-e1514929358725.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2566,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2566","url_meta":{"origin":2429,"position":2},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Bella Donovan (Oakland, California)","date":"April 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My lovely friend Chlo\u00e9\u00a0recently made an order from Blue Bottle for two bags of this blend, and she graciously let me have one of them to review. When I started dipping my toe into the world of craft coffee around 5 years ago, Blue Bottle was one of the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tn_IMG_5724-e1491841343544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5628,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5628","url_meta":{"origin":2429,"position":3},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Organic New Orleans Iced Coffee (Oakland, California)","date":"January 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If you read this blog regularly or know me in real life, you might know that I'm not a huge fan of cold coffee drinks, whether it's cold brew, iced coffee, blended frozen coffee drinks, etc. Even in the summertime, I tend to gravitate toward hot coffee. But, cold coffee\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ready To Drink"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/IMG-5964-e1548601382739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6100,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6100","url_meta":{"origin":2429,"position":4},"title":"Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Summer Blend (Oakland, California)","date":"September 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Blue Bottle Coffee offers seasonal blends, and I was fortunate enough to pick up a bag of their Summer Blend while it was still available. I first was alerted about this blend through Blue Bottle's email list, where Blue Bottle's quality control director, Ben Brewer (really? Is there a more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG-7719-e1567995111779.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6097,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6097","url_meta":{"origin":2429,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5QIia-Db","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429"}],"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=2429"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions\/2471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}