Read More on Institute Street
The Story -
Institute Street, Colorado Springs - It's been our home for the last four years. It's the place that we feel most comfortable, but it's also the place that we like to push ourselves to try new things. We love to welcome people to our little home here on Institute Street, and we wanted to create a blend built around these same values - comfort, and welcoming people into our world.
And so that's where our house blend comes in. Built around a flavour profile that anyone can get behind, it's recognisable and welcoming. Yet, we hope that it can be the little nudge that welcomes people into the big world of speciality coffee. Full of sweet and creamy nutty and chocolatey flavours, with mild acidity and long aftertaste, we promise that everyone from your grandad, to your specialty coffee fiending nephew will love it.
Blend Philosophy -
One of the most important things in coffee, and this is no less true in blends, is FRESHNESS! You'll never find us putting old, past-crop coffees in a blend, and we promise not to buy 'blender' coffees that we don't think tastes great on their own. A good blend is a sum of its parts, and so you've gotta start with good parts.
When it comes to selecting which coffees we want to put in a blend, we have to start with a goal in mind - and for Insitute Street, that's sweetness, body and balance. From there, we go about selecting coffees that we think will come together to achieve that goal. We've spent a while trying to find fresh coffees that can come together to create this harmonious balance and we like to think that this is the closest we've gotten yet.
Transparency -
Guatemala AProCafe Washed -
This coffee makes up half of our blend, and is a washed, mixed variety lot from the Lake Atitlan of Guatemala. Here, coffee from dozens of different producers is blended together to create a larger, more consistent lot representative of the region. However, you'll also see a couple of single producer lots from AproCafe that we'll release later in the year. We brought this coffee in through Atlantic Coffee importers, paying $4.06 a pound, and cupping it at an 86.5
- The commodity price of coffee at the time of purchase was $1.26
El Salvador Carlos Lemus -
The other half of this blend is a washed bourbon lot from a single producer in El Salvador, Carlos Lemus. This coffee was found by our friends at Caravela Coffee, and we bought just a few bags at $3.40 a pound, and we cupped it at an 86.
- The commodity price of coffee at the time of purchase was $1.04
Brewing Information -
This coffee is super easy to make taste delicious, and we think it's great on its on, or with splash of cream. However you like to drink it is the best way to brew it! Here's how we like to do it, though!
Filter Coffee -
When we brew this coffee as a filter, we like to use the Kalita wave, or just a big batch brewer! Since this coffee tastes good at such a wide range of extractions, it remains super versatile through most brew methods!
Kalita Wave -
- 26g dose
- 400g yield
- ~4 min brew time
We start with a nice big 75g bloom, give it a good stir and let it bloom for 30 seconds. We then do a single pour all the way up to 250g, and finish with 50g pulses every 20-30seconds, and aim to finish draining in around 4:00. Expect a sweet and creamy cup full of nuts, chocolates and dried fruits, with just a mild citrus acidity to keep everything in balance.