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ing station tastes totally different but same fascinating:
distinguished natural coffee aroma with a hint of tropical
fruiness like pineapple, and the biggest surprise is the
rosy fragrance. The brewed coffee is berry-like juicy, the
big difference from that of Alex, is the chocolaty flavor.
It was roasted by 2016/2017 USBC Champion Lemuel
Butler & Kyle Ramage.
I was surprised by the interesting comparison: differ-
ent roasting interpretation shows the beauty of coffee’s
variability, while the difference was still within my expec-
tation and verified what I’ve seen in the past coffee tours
in US: to respect the dark-roast tradition, smart US spe-
cialty coffee frontiers take a dual-track approach, light or
medium roasting can best expose the flavor of coffee, while
medium to medium+ roasting may hook the potential cus-
Drinking Methodology tomers. Ever since then I was enlightened and inspired,
The so-called coffee ‘chain of contempt’ really trou- my new pursuit in the coffee journey was leveled up.
bles a lot of consumers who feel depressed and tangled Yes, nowadays we’re lucky enough to have more
about which brand and what coffee should have? coffee, if you haven’t started try specialty coffee yet, or
Professionals and even coffee geeks are also struggling: if you are wondering what else you may drink, take a look
is the fruity and floral filter tasting better than a mellow cup at James Hoffmann’s Coffee Map of the World for example,
of classic bitter coffee, or does a traditional washed or natu- try to get coffee one by one from the over dozen cof-
ral coffee mean a real coffee? While is the new processing fee-producing countries. See if you are interest to find the
such as a CM, the low temperature extended fermentation, difference between coffee varieties, or is there any coffee
or rum barrel fermented one more superior? so impressive? As long as you are curious about coffee,
In the past few years, I’ve visited various domestic there is always something worth exploring in the wonder-
and foreign coffee shops. Bearing in mind the ‘soul tortured’ land of specialty coffee.
questions, while tasting and hunting, I was trying to find A new coffee adventure always brings you happiness
the answer for me, as well as my coffee friends: What should and excitement. Four years ago, I ran into an Indian coffee
we drink and how should we taste? farmer from Baba Budan and cupped his coffee in the
Stepping into the Casestudy Coffee Roasters in Port- training center of Counter Culture Coffee in Boston, US.
land, USA in a sunny morning, April 2019, I was attracted That’s the first time I heard about the coffee producing
by a honey-processed coffee bean from Inca Aponte, Co- country, India. In 2020 when I got a special processing of
lombia. It happened that I’ve have ordered the same coffee 7525 (a coffee variety) from this region Baba Budan again,
from the Underdog Coffee Co, a Greece champions cafe I just could not wait to taste. Finally I am having new va-
before coming to the States; I was curious how both coffee rietal of coffee from a new country!
taste differently. Without hesitation I took it. Casestudy’s
Aponte tastes just like a cup of berry juicy, while Underdog
Coffee Co’s sweets me with brawn sugar and caramel.
Tasting the same coffee from different roasters with dif-
ferent flavor and styles, what an amazing experience!
Back to 2017, similar experience came to me several “It all started with Geisha.” If
times. It’s natural Rocky Mountain, a Guji coffee from
Ethiopia, roasted by 2016 World Roasting Champion, Al- you ask a coffee lover, probably
exandru Niculae. Every time I brewed this coffee, the
aroma of blackberry popped up, it had a perfect balance of one-third of them will say so.
juicy sweet and acidity and the perfume of blackberry made
this coffee addictive. Another coffee from the same wash-

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