Alaska Coffee Roasting Company
Michael Gesser, Alaska Master roaster, turned his love of travel, coffee and the outdoors into a unique business venture when he founded Alaska Coffee Roasting Company in 1994. Having lived in Kenya for nearly ten years and visited every coffee-producing country on the planet, his personal relationships with the coffee producers allow him to have an influential hand in the beans, to preparing the final product. We specialize in single estate varietal coffee beans, and like fine wine, each batch is tasted before receiving the ACRC seal of approval. Wherever possible, the beans are organic, and in some cases, they are better than that--they grow wild. The beans are always meticulously picked by hand at the peak of ripeness and not a moment before. After being dried and separated from most of the chaff (the parchment-like covering the bean), the beans are shipped to us, still in their green, unroasted state. Roasting after passing the taste test, the beans enter the best roaster available, the air-fluidized bean bed roaster. This special system allows precise control over the temperatures of the air and beans themselves, creating the ideal environment for encouraging the beans to present their unique characteristics, singular to the estate. The rest of the chaff is removed. Unlike standard roasters, our air-fluidized roaster prevents oils from being released on the bean surface. The oils belong in your cup--they impart the heady aromas and complex taste characteristics of the various coffees. Directly from the roaster, the beans go into the freezer into a state of "suspended animation" where the aldehydes and the oil stay firmly in the beans. Thus, when we ship the beans to you, the flavor is untainted and perfectly preserved until it meets with water.
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Review
Our Ethiopian Yirgacheffe was
awarded a high score of 94 points
by Kenneth Davids.
Alaska Coffee Roasting Co.
Fairbanks, Alaska
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Reviewed: Sep-99
Aroma: 8
Acidity: 7
Body: 6
Flavor: 8
Aftertaste: 8
Roast: Medium
Origin: Africa
Origin Detail: Yirgacheffe growing region, southern Ethiopia.
Notes: Many outstanding Ethiopias are currently coming into the country. Perhaps that accounts for the five single-origin Ethiopia coffees in the cupping. They're all fine, but this one is the finest.
Blind assessment: A light, bright breath of acidity shimmers inside an amazing bouquet of sweet jasmine and darker, woodier fragrances. The cup soars in a delicious, reeling dizziness of flowers, then immediately relaxes into spicy shadows. Somehow, all of the range and complexity remains precariously, elegantly in balance.
Who should drink it: This splendid, versatile coffee should do as well for French press romance as it does for three cups on a bright, workday morning. Or try it on the porch Saturday afternoon, iced with a little half-and-half.