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2011-03-04
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Aptly named Coffee Lab for its exploratory approach to experimenting with the world of coffee, they are the latest arm of the well known Xen Coffee, well known for their exceptional Siphon Coffees and specialty imports of ethically sourced Coffee Bean batches from around the globe. This cafe brand is housed by both coffee lover Dixon, as well as Helen, the Runner Up in the World Siphonist Championship 2010 in Japan last year. I have already tried her coffee before at Xen, but I came past he
Aptly named Coffee Lab for its exploratory approach to experimenting with the world of coffee, they are the latest arm of the well known Xen Coffee, well known for their exceptional Siphon Coffees and specialty imports of ethically sourced Coffee Bean batches from around the globe. This cafe brand is housed by both coffee lover Dixon, as well as Helen, the Runner Up in the World Siphonist Championship 2010 in Japan last year. I have already tried her coffee before at Xen, but I came past here just to take a peek and there she was, so I know I was in for a treat!There are only 2 seats here however, reminding me of Kitamura Coffee and Wah Sing Coffee in Sai Wan, so you're literally sitting and watching over every move by the Siphonist/Barista up close and personal, it nearly makes you embarrassed to be watching up so close as you might disrupt their work!
Coffee Lab's House Blend Espresso - Brazil, Yirgacheffe & Indonesian:- 1st of all, the beans look fairly light roasted for an Espresso extraction, it was still dark green to light brown at most. Very surprising.
- The extracted Espresso had a Light Beige colour, medium-level crema and underneath a low-mid body.
- This shot was surprisingly VERY balanced, no annoying jagged edges and very fragrant from the low level roasted beans' natural flavours, not from a toasty roasting. This was followed in the mouth with a balanced sweetness that is belied by its light roasting appearance.
- And from what is predominantly unwashed processed beans, there was surprisingly very little earthiness present, it was almost like a honey-processed cup. The beans might have been self washed and cleaned in small batches before roasting?
- This was an abnormality, a misnomer of a cup VS the visual que and expectations! Yet it was AMAZINGLY well structured and very daily drinkable, with a clean and middle lasting finish!
FROM A BLEND USING WHAT IS A FAIRLY RECOGNISABLE BLEND AND AIMED AT THE MASS MARKET, EXCEPT THE INCLUSION OF A G-2 YIRGACHEFFE, THIS OUTCOME WAS UNEXPECTEDLY, HIGHLY ENJOYABLE. 5/5
Siphon Brewed by Helen: Papua New Guinea AA:- The Siphoning Beam heater set up here is different from Xen's Coffee, with a much smaller footprint. But surprisingly it didn't take long until the cup arrived, may be Helen is too swift from her championship training!
- Cup was quite scorching hot when it arrived, and upon the 1st sip, there was that distinctive Papua New Guinea wildness & dark liquorice like coating at the back of the mouth, which doesn't really leave until it cools right down, so it exists separately from the almost floral and acidic main frame. I've always found PNG 'different' in this aspect, so I guess that's why I wanted to re-try some as cafes in HK are importing more of it when it was largely ignored before. Halfway down it developed the promised ripe lemon citrusy tone, with a slight pluckering of the mouth lining from that and slightly gritty mouth feel, probably because its still fairly fresh beans.
- When cooler, the cup settled down to tasting somewhere between Grapefruit (Helen's words) to a Sour Orange Marmalade with a zestiness, adjusted so that it never really drops off the cliff sharply in acidity, yet continuously playing with your mind as it oscillates back and forth between sanity and being too adventurous. Utterly well balanced!
THE BEANS WERE ROASTED PERFECTLY AND MADE TO THE SAME HIGH STANDARDS BY HELEN. AMAZING WHAT SHE HAS COAXED OUT OF SOME BEANS NOT NECESSARILY BEST KNOWN FOR ITS CUPPING QUALITY AS A SINGLE ORIGIN. 5/5
张贴
