ArkLaTex - that phrase probably doesn't mean much to most people reading this. However I was born in Magnolia, AR - which is a small town half a sneeze from the Louisiana border and not much further than that from Texas. Ark (Arkansas) La (Louisiana) Tex (Texas) See, makes all sorts of sense now, doesn't it?
The Louisiana Roasting Company is out of Shreveport, LA. That was the big city for us. I spent many summers at my grandparents house and at least once a summer we would head down to Shreveport to go to the mall and visit family who lived in the area. It was an hour and a half, but I'm sure it felt much longer to my grandmother with a car full of rowdy children. That was in the 70s and early 80s - long before in car dvd, smart phones and even strict seat belt laws. It's a wonder she didn't leave us on the side of the road somewhere.
The Louisiana Roasting Company is out of Shreveport, LA. That was the big city for us. I spent many summers at my grandparents house and at least once a summer we would head down to Shreveport to go to the mall and visit family who lived in the area. It was an hour and a half, but I'm sure it felt much longer to my grandmother with a car full of rowdy children. That was in the 70s and early 80s - long before in car dvd, smart phones and even strict seat belt laws. It's a wonder she didn't leave us on the side of the road somewhere.
The shipping was fast, I didn't get a tracking number but it got here so fast I couldn't have tracked it anyway. I love blue bags but have two complaints. One big and one small. The small one is the resealable tape idea. They are not the only one to do this, but I hate it. It never works for long. I tend to just tie them shut with balloons. (I have a lot of scrap balloons around since I make my living as a balloon artist) I much prefer wire ties or ziplock tops.
The other complaint is the lack of a roasted on date. They have a use by date, but I don't like that. I don't subscribe to the "use it within 10 -15) days idea, but I also don't think it lasts 5-8 months without serious loss of flavor either. I like to know when my coffee was roasted. Coffee is an ever changing thing. It's different from one day to the next because of gas leaving the beans, water quality, and lots of little things. Heck, it's different from beginning to end of cup if you sip instead of guzzle.
The other complaint is the lack of a roasted on date. They have a use by date, but I don't like that. I don't subscribe to the "use it within 10 -15) days idea, but I also don't think it lasts 5-8 months without serious loss of flavor either. I like to know when my coffee was roasted. Coffee is an ever changing thing. It's different from one day to the next because of gas leaving the beans, water quality, and lots of little things. Heck, it's different from beginning to end of cup if you sip instead of guzzle.
tape and a use by date - not a fan of either.
The blue bags are really going to stand out in my art when I finally get that table put together. (I'm saving my bags to cover a table top with)
I chose two coffees. Ethiopian Harrar and Magnolia Morning Blend. I went with the second one for no other reason than I am from Magnolia AR and liked the name.
I'll start with that one
I chose two coffees. Ethiopian Harrar and Magnolia Morning Blend. I went with the second one for no other reason than I am from Magnolia AR and liked the name.
I'll start with that one
I didn't see anywhere that said what kinds of beans went into this but I'm guessing there were some from Central America. I can't really say much about the aroma. It smelled like coffee, which is a good thing - but I won't go with fruity or floral or any of that.
I brewed it with my Bee House dripper, V60 and Kalita Wave. I meant to try it with an aeropress, but never got around to it and then it was gone. Coffee tends to do that in my house. My mainstay brew method is the Bee House and that's what I base my review here on.
Over all it was a nice, mellow coffee with a hint of brightness. Not as much cocoa but some nuttiness. It wasn't strong or overpowering and went well with my morning fruit and oatmeal. It was ok with eggs, but actually paired better with the egg/sausage scramble. The only fruit I didn't care for it with was a yellow honeydew but so far I have not found a lot of coffees that match well with that one. It went great with the blueberries and cantaloupe that I had though. It was also good with my lunchtime spinach/goat cheese salad.
I didn't find it to travel that well in my to go cup. Some do, some don't. Part of that might be attributed the fact that my favorite travel cup is metal and that can affect the taste quite a bit. I have tried ceramic ones, but I hate the silicone lids. They taste weird. I'm planning to get a glass keep cup and see how that works.
This also made a good late afternoon/evening watching tv coffee. I'm sure it would be a good company coffee if I did that sort of thing. :-)
I brewed it with my Bee House dripper, V60 and Kalita Wave. I meant to try it with an aeropress, but never got around to it and then it was gone. Coffee tends to do that in my house. My mainstay brew method is the Bee House and that's what I base my review here on.
Over all it was a nice, mellow coffee with a hint of brightness. Not as much cocoa but some nuttiness. It wasn't strong or overpowering and went well with my morning fruit and oatmeal. It was ok with eggs, but actually paired better with the egg/sausage scramble. The only fruit I didn't care for it with was a yellow honeydew but so far I have not found a lot of coffees that match well with that one. It went great with the blueberries and cantaloupe that I had though. It was also good with my lunchtime spinach/goat cheese salad.
I didn't find it to travel that well in my to go cup. Some do, some don't. Part of that might be attributed the fact that my favorite travel cup is metal and that can affect the taste quite a bit. I have tried ceramic ones, but I hate the silicone lids. They taste weird. I'm planning to get a glass keep cup and see how that works.
This also made a good late afternoon/evening watching tv coffee. I'm sure it would be a good company coffee if I did that sort of thing. :-)
The other coffee I got was Ethiopian Harrar. Again a medium roast since I'm not a huge fan of dark roasts Too often things go wrong and I taste roast, not coffee.
Again I brewed it with the Bee House, V60 and Wave This one also went through the Bunn once, but I didn't taste that one so I can't comment on how it turned out. Reviewing the Bee House method since that's how I drink most of my coffee.
It had a nice, strong sweet aroma when I opened the bag. I gave some to a friend and as she was smelling the coffees she commented that she could smell the sweetness on this one.
I tasted a bit of dark chocolate along with that sweetness. It was fruity and had a bit of spice. The body was full/medium. Not heavy and syrupy but not light like tea either.
I didn't care for this as a breakfast one. I don't usually like any of those that have a dark chocolate taste for breakfast. Maybe if I ate muffins or something. I guess they could also go well with a strawberry heavy morning meal. I will say the one time I had it with cottage cheese and pineapple it was pretty good. I also liked it quite a bit with my spinach salad and it went super well with most desserts. It was pretty good boiled down to a concentrate and made into a syrup to put over some cheesecake. Not healthy, but really really good.
Over all I liked Louisiana Roasting Company - and the bag issues are not a deal breaker. Check them out at http://www.louisianaroastingcompany.com/
Again I brewed it with the Bee House, V60 and Wave This one also went through the Bunn once, but I didn't taste that one so I can't comment on how it turned out. Reviewing the Bee House method since that's how I drink most of my coffee.
It had a nice, strong sweet aroma when I opened the bag. I gave some to a friend and as she was smelling the coffees she commented that she could smell the sweetness on this one.
I tasted a bit of dark chocolate along with that sweetness. It was fruity and had a bit of spice. The body was full/medium. Not heavy and syrupy but not light like tea either.
I didn't care for this as a breakfast one. I don't usually like any of those that have a dark chocolate taste for breakfast. Maybe if I ate muffins or something. I guess they could also go well with a strawberry heavy morning meal. I will say the one time I had it with cottage cheese and pineapple it was pretty good. I also liked it quite a bit with my spinach salad and it went super well with most desserts. It was pretty good boiled down to a concentrate and made into a syrup to put over some cheesecake. Not healthy, but really really good.
Over all I liked Louisiana Roasting Company - and the bag issues are not a deal breaker. Check them out at http://www.louisianaroastingcompany.com/
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