Blue Horse Kona Coffee Interview

Joachim from Blue Horse Kona Coffee in Hawaii was good enough to give us an interview about their amazing Kona coffee beans. Their coffee is one of my all time favorites. Full flavored, very well balanced and not overpowering. The more I drink it, the more the subtle complexities keep coming out.

So firstly Mike, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background and tell us briefly about your site Daily Shot of Coffee... Yes I know, thats 3 questions!

y name is Mike Crimmins and I'm the over caffeinated, chief coffee taster behind Daily Shot Of Coffee. When I'm not drinking coffee, I'm rooting for the New York Yankees (sorry, but I'm from New York so that makes it okay), on a dirt trail with my mountain bike or sleeping. I created Daily Shot Of Coffee for the average joe coffee drinker that wants a better cup of coffee than Folgers or Dunkin Donuts, yet isn't a coffee geek or barista.

don't really have a set process. I make the coffee under normal, non-lab conditions. If it's whole bean, I'll brew it with my french press, if it's ground I'll use my favorite drip coffee maker, etc. I tend to keep it simple, that way the coffee does the talking. After I brew it, I sit down with my notebook and just take notes about what I smell, taste and any other thoughts that I have.

Image Copyright © Daily Shot Of Coffee

Can you explain to our readers a few of the coffee tasting terms they may have heard and what they mean for the average coffee drinker?

That's a tough one! I should really do a blog post on that sometime. Take for instance acidity, I think a lot of people tend to think that means it's a coffee that causes heartburn when it's really a coffee that has lots of flavor. Another is something like floral notes or earthiness? What does that mean? When I say there's floral notes, I'm picking up on an aroma that reminds me of walking into a floral shop. A lot of people think that earthiness is something that's bad, but really it's a desirable flavor in coffees from certain regions of the world. I think the problem isn't the consumer, it's the specialty coffee industry not accurately educating the consumer. I'm guilty of that a lot.

For the person wanting to learn more about coffee tasting to improve their palate, do you have any pointers or suggestions?

I would first stop using sugar and cream, those things just hide the coffees natural flavors. I did that and I couldn't believe how much a difference it made. Then I would start trying to identify one smell or taste, then compare it with the description from the roaster.

Just remember everyone's taste buds are different, so whatever you smell or taste is right. I would also start tasting some of the fruits and other things that are commonly used to describe coffee. I didn't know what a cigar taste in coffee was until I went out and bought a cigar.

As far as your every-day coffee drinking goes, do you have a favorite type/brand of coffee machine you like to brew with?

One of the first coffee makers that I reviewed was the Zojirush Fresh Brew coffee maker. I loved that coffee maker and kick myself every day for giving it away in a contest on my blog. It made some great coffee! For every day drinking, I have a Cusinart Grind And Brew. I'm not a fan of the blade grinder, but it does get the job done, especially on early mornings.

Image Copyright © Daily Shot Of Coffee

There are a lot of different ways to brew a coffee nowadays -- drip/brew, pourover, E.S.E pods, soft coffee pods, automatic machines... give us your 10 cents worth on some of these options?

Drip coffee makers are the most popular way to make coffee right now and it's not hard to see why. They make good, flavorful coffee and they're easy to use. However, due to the nature of the filter some flavor is lost.

Really popular right now in specialty coffee world is the pour over method. The pour method is basically a cone that's filled with coffee and the hot water is added directly by hand. It's ultra simple and the reason that it's popular is because it makes a great taste cup of coffee. In that department, I don't think it can be beat, however it does require a lot of attention and only a limited amount of coffee can be made.

Coffee pods are spreading like wildfire in the consumer home market, because it turns making coffee into an effortless operation and you know that you're going to get the same quality of cup of every time because it takes out almost all of the variables. Of course, that quality depends on the pod, which can be hit and miss.

As far as automatic machines, I'm a fan of the ones that I've tried. However, I've only tried a few and never looked at them from the review stand point, so I couldn't recommend or not recommend them.

Thanks so much for your time Mike... Before you go, is there any thing else you want to share with our readers?

I wanted to thank Billy for interviewing me. I love talking coffee and I wish I could do it all of the time! Make sure to visit me over at Daily Shot Of Coffee and say hello! You can find lots of coffee reviews, some coffee equipment reviews and a whole lot more of coffee related mayhem.

For even more information, head to Blue Horse Kona Coffee.

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