There are many processing steps that occur after the leaves have been plucked, and, in fact, the post-harvest processing of tea is the single biggest factor on the style and flavor of the tea. For instance, the exact same tea can be processed to become a green, white, oolong or even black tea. We feature several tea styles at Mammoth Espresso, but in this post I want to provide an overview of our white tea lineup.

Brewing Shou Mei gongfu style

So what is white tea? The simplest explanation is that white tea is one that has been withered for several days and then dried. The long withering allows white teas to develop their characteristic heavy floral aroma. Like green teas, white tea is minimally oxidized. When teas are allows to oxidize heavily, they become darker in color and their flavor character changes. For example, black teas are heavily oxidized.

What you see below is our current roster of white tea. All are available by the cup, and most are also available in a retail package for home brewing. You’ll see a corresponding year next to each tea. Similar to a fine wine, these teas have been made for the long haul, and have been specially produced to allow for natural aging. Unlike wine, these teas can be tasted now and continued to be stored and sampled every so often as you please. With additional aging, these teas will develop additional character.

Turtle Dove, 2017

Turtle Dove is a pressed white tea from Yunnan Province, China. The tea has a thick body, soft mouthfeel and a unique natural fragrance. Look for notes of honeydew and white grape.

A look at our Turtle Dove white tea

Old Whitey, 2016

Old Whitey was made using the large leaf tea variety, which is used in making puer tea, but then processed as a white tea similar to a Fujian Shoumei. This tea is heavy and sweet with big floral notes and hints of date.

Hot Brandy, 2016

Hot Brandy is an experimental tea blend consisting of both white and black tea material. It is visually caramel in color, but drinks with the characteristic melon and floral qualities of a white tea.

Hot Brandy also makes an excellent iced tea

Shou Mei, 2014

Shou Mei is a tea produced in Fujian Province, China. This Shou Mei includes larger leaves with a mix of buds, and a heavier than average soup. Shou Mei is picked after the selection of Bai Mu Dan, and the more mature leaves lend to a higher intensity of flavor and darker color.

Bai Mu Dan, 2013

Also known as White Peony, Bai Mu Dan is a white tea from Fujian Province, China. It is a popular style of white tea made of young tea leaves and many unopened leaf buds. This Bai Mu Dan has a fresh fragrance, and a wispy, soft floral character.

Things sure are getting summery in the Mammoth merchandise department. These beautiful mugs are now available in the shop. Choose from three lovely colors and grab them all as a set for the home, office or as a gift. We’re very proud of our own Maria Degtiarenko, who designed the artwork for the mugs.

Summertime in New Orleans feels akin to wearing a wet wool blanket fresh out of the steam room. Wait, you want some coffee? Great, let’s put a near-200 degree beverage in your hand. I kid, but some folks still drink hot coffee outside and all I have to say is “bless y’all.” For everyone else, the summer heat requires the sweet relief of an ice cold beverage. If you want to cool down, we’ve got you covered with a massive variety of iced coffee, espresso and tea. But sometimes you may simply prefer the convenience and satisfaction of brewing iced coffee at home. We can help with that, too!

In this blog I’m going to walk through the two most popular ways to make iced coffee, including the tools you’ll need to do it and specific and easy-to-follow instructions! Now I know some of you are thinking, “Jonathan, I just brew hot coffee and let it sit around until I can put it in the fridge, voila!” Okay, if that works well for you (i.e., you like bad-tasting coffee) then cool – you do you. But there’s a better way, my friend!

Decades of brew science have taught us that coffee contains delicious and necessary acids, particularly chlorogenic acids. These chlorogenic acids ought to constitute around 17% of your brew, and they contribute greatly to vibrancy, nuance, and fruit and floral tones. However, chlorogenic acid breaks down as coffee sits or cools slowly. As it degrades, it produces quinic and caffeic acid as a byproduct, both of which are associated with negative flavors in coffee, notably bitterness and astringency. You may have noticed this effect if you’ve ever left a pot of coffee out all day and then tasted it later. But even coffee that sits in well-insulated airpots will degrade, even if it remains at drinking temperature.

So how do you brew tasty iced coffee without the producing the astringent and bitter qualities of these acids? There are two ways: 1) rapidly cool the coffee immediately upon extraction; and 2) remove the heating element altogether. That’s exactly what we’ll tackle in the next two sections.

Flash Chilled Pour Over

The first method – rapid cooling – is often referred to as flash chilled iced coffee.  Simply put, it entails brewing coffee directly over ice. The rapid cooling traps the good acid, prevents the creation of bad acid, and results in a cup that’s light and vibrant with delicate notes intact. This is a great method for many African coffees, or simply those with an abundance of floral and citrus notes that may otherwise get lost in other brewing styles.

Want to try this at home? You’ll need a manual brewing device. We use Kalita Wave brewers in the shop, but you could similarly use a Chemex or other device you have handy. Just fill the carafe with ice using roughly half the total water volume you’d use normally. Then, use half as much hot brewing water as usual, and use a typical amount of coffee grounds for the total water volume. Get it? Same amount of H2O – just half of it is ice and half is brew water – and the same amount of coffee. The trick is to increase the fineness of your coffee grounds, thus a) increasing surface area, b) increasing extraction rate and c) increasing contact time during the brew cycle (i.e., slowing the flow rate).

Here’s a recipe to work from. Feel free to adjust for your brewing method, or to suit your taste. This is a pretty standard recipe that can easily be tweaked. (Fyi, we sell a book in our shop with loads of hot and iced coffee recipes for virtually all popular manual brewing devices … we also have a house copy that you can come peruse for free!)

Equipment needed: Brewing device, filter, scale, kettle, brewing ice and water, coffee

Step 1) Rinse the paper filter

Step 2) Measure 130 grams of ice (filtered water preferred) (crushed ice preferred, as it melts faster) and dump it into a carafe

Step 3) Measure 170 milliters of filtered water, and bring to a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit

Step 4) Grind 22 grams of coffee marginally finer than you usually use for hot coffee

Step 5) Pour enough water into the coffee bed to saturate the grounds and allow them to “bloom” 30-50 seconds (until bloom rests or descends)

Step 6) Brew per usual (we recommend pulse brewing for the Kalita Wave)

When done, just allow the ice to melt with the brewed coffee and there you have it! If you’re already a manual brewer, this method is a small departure from what you’re used to.

Cold Brew

Even though we make flash chilled coffee at Mammoth Espresso, it’s not the only way to enjoy iced coffee at home. There’s is the relatively simple – albeit lengthy – cold brew method. When you make cold brew, you generally remove the heating element altogether (hence cold brew), which requires a significantly greater amount of time in order to extract enough compounds from the coffee. This method produces a big, sweet, sometimes nutty, low-acid coffee. It won’t be as nuanced as flash chilled for developing some delicate flavors, but excels with coffees that have a natural sweetness and depth. The resulting coffee is usually in a concentrate form. If you like rocket fuel then proceed as is, but many people prefer to dilute the concentrate to taste.

You can purchase special brewers just for making cold brew. The Toddy system has been around forever, but some household items work well (and are so much more fun!) and even your French press can do the trick.

Here’s a recipe. Again, tweak it to fit your needs for quantity or taste.

Equipment needed: gallon jug, cheesecloth (not previously used for cheese!), water, coffee

Step 1) Grind 340 grams of coffee to a medium-coarse grind

Step 2) Pour 85 grams of coffee into the jug, followed by 340 milliliters (same as grams) of water; let stand 5 minutes

Step 3) Pour remaining 255 grams of coffee and 1,065 milliliters (36 ounces) of water into the jug

Step 4) Let coffee steep for 12-16 hours

Step 5) Pour coffee through cheesecloth and into a decanter and refrigerate before serving

Once cold, you can dilute the cold brew with water or drink it as-is. I recommend trying a sip of concentrate first, then 1:1, then finding the ratio that works for you. Also, the brew time can be changed to produced different results. Some folks love this method stretched over a 24 hour period.

There are, of course, other ways to brew cold coffee – like the slow drip Kyoto, or Aeropress – but the methods described above are the dominant practices in the specialty coffee market right now. I hope this guide is helpful, and if you have any questions you’re always welcomed to stop by for a chat.

Photo credit Michael Tucker

Surfs up, New Orleans! Mammoth Espresso is hosting a pop-up on Sunday, June 17, by Pontcha Surf Club. The Pontcha dudes will be on-hand with a variety of local apparel from 9 am to 3 pm.  Come grab a coffee and check out their selection of Louisiana surf-style shirts, hats, hoodies, zines and stickers.

Did you know people surf Louisiana beaches? You knew we had beaches, right? Pontcha Surf Club is a New Orleans surf brand and purveyor of Louisiana surf culture, offering clothing and other small goods. They’ve got a great selection of surf apparel, and are also super knowledgeable about Louisiana surfing if you’d like to learn more.

See more from Pontcha Surf Club at https://www.pontcha.com/ or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pontchasurf/. Otherwise, see you this Sunday, June 17, 9 am to 3 pm.

We’re exciting to introduce Jasmine Bi Luo Chun to our tea menu for the summer. This tea is sweet, super refreshing and perfectly suited for hot New Orleans days. Jasmine Bi Luo Chun is a scented tea that pairs Bi Luo Chun green tea – which on its own is highly sought for its aroma – with beautifully fragrant jasmine flowers. The result is a remarkably balanced tea that pairs the sweet, umami flavor of the Bi Luo Chun with just the perfect amount of jasmine.

The Bi Luo Chun green tea was grown in the Yun Xian area of Lincang, Yunnan Province, China, while the premium jasmine flowers come from Wen Shan in southeast Yunnan. Jasmine Bi Luo Chun is a very tippy tea, meaning it contains a large amount of pure buds as opposed to more mature leaves. This contributes to the sweetness of the tea. Try it hot or as a delicious and refreshing iced tea.

Jasmine Bi Luo Chun
Profile: Sweet umami, jasmine, balanced and refreshing
Region: Lincang and Wen Shan, Yunnan Province, China

When we drink coffee there’s a fun little dance happening between three sensory elements – smell, taste and feel. We experience each and make a sort of snap judgement about the general profile of a coffee, but understanding better how these elements work can improve our sensory skills and help us to become improved tasters and brewers of coffee. In this post we’ll demystify coffee sensory at a fairly basic level. Stay tuned as we dive into more advanced topics later on this blog.

What is coffee anyway?

Before we go any further, let’s come to an understanding of what “coffee” is. When we brew coffee we refer to the process that’s happening as extraction, since you’re literally extracting chemical compounds from roasted coffee into your brew. During extraction, there isn’t a single moment in which we’re extracting “coffee.” Rather, the beverage we know and love is the simultaneous sensation of roughly 400 chemical compounds, none of which can be identified as the predominant flavor of coffee.

The Flavor of Coffee

With hundreds of compounds, each with their unique flavor, evaluating the finished brew can be difficult. As professional baristas, we practice sensory skills to be able to brew great coffee and relay accurate information to the folks who wish to drink it. It’s through this evaluation that we arrive at tasting notes, like those you’ll find on our menu or on bags of beans on our retail shelf.

When your barista says, for instance, that a coffee has a flavor profile of dark chocolate, stone fruit and jasmine flower, what they’re really giving is their best assessment of the multitude of flavor notes in the coffee. Because we all perceive flavors differently – due to experience level, personal bias, genetics, etc. – it’s understandable that we may perceive a coffee differently than it has been described to us.

In addition to a coffee’s flavor, we frequently note the feel of a coffee as a way of evaluation. For instance, is it light in body, heavy, oily, creamy, etc? This tactile function is the physical sense of coffee and commonly plays a role in our enjoyment of the beverage.

Olfaction (Smell)

Our ability to smell is called olfaction, and the smell – or aroma – of coffee is a key component of its flavor profile. Aroma in coffee takes the form of gaseous chemical components that are released into the air in large quantities when coffee is freshly ground, and then as vapor when it is brewed. We’re equipped with olfactory receptors in our nasal membrane that allow us to perceive the aroma of coffee. This happens when we inhale (i.e., smell) the brew, and again when we swallow and coffee vapor rises upward from inside our mouth to reach our olfactory receptors.

Gustation (Taste)

The process known as gustation is how we taste coffee through our tongue’s taste buds. When we taste, we simultaneously detect four basic tastes: sweet, salt, sour and bitter. These tastes will all be present in coffee, each to a greater or lesser extent, and they also have the ability to interact with one another through taste modulation. For instance, a taste that features a salt component can reduce the perception of bitterness and increase the perception of sweetness. That’s why tomatoes seem sweeter when we add a touch of salt to them.

Mouthfeel

The inside of our mouth, including our tongue, gums and hard and soft palate, contain nerve endings that allow us to detect viscosity and oiliness in coffee, or what we refer to as mouthfeel, or body. Simply put, viscosity is the perception of solid material that is present in the finished brew. This can be microscopic bean particles that have made its way through the filter. So it’s easy to see how the brewing method you select could impact body (e.g., metal, mesh and loose filters allow more particles through than tight, thick paper filters).

All coffee also contains some amount of lipids, including fat, oil and wax. This is the perceived oiliness of coffee. The lipids are extracted when we brew coffee, but unlike many other chemical components, they do not dissolve into the brew. They can often be seen as an oily residue that sits on the surface of a cup of coffee.

Putting it into practice

So how do we put this all together? The truth is, understanding the individual components of coffee sensory is not enough to significantly improve your ability to taste and describe coffee. You must also put this lesson into practice – over, and over, and over again. When you have a cup of coffee in front of you, try to be mindful and present in the experience. What are you smelling as the cup reaches your mouth, and then what do you smell when the coffee is inside your mouth? What are you tasting? And what is the physical sensation of the coffee in your mouth? If you find it helpful, keep a log of your evaluations and track your progress.

If you have questions, send me an e-mail at jonathan@mammothespresso.com and let’s chat about coffee sensory, palate development and whatever else you’d like to dive into. We’ve got several other practical lessons planned for the blog, but if you have specific topics you’d like us to cover, send us a line. Cheers!

Photo credit Michael Tucker

Have you ever noticed the world seems much brighter after you’ve had your morning coffee? No surprise there, since the effects of caffeine have long been associated with mood boosting and cognitive function. But there’s another way caffeine primes us for positivity. Researchers have found that caffeine supercharges our brain’s ability to process positive stimuli. So we are literally elevating the positive after that morning cup!

The connection was observed by researchers at the University of Buchum in Germany as they were studying the role of caffeine in dopaminergic transmission in the brain. As our input of caffeine increases, they say, we create a positivity advantage in our left hemisphere (the area most associated with language). So after a bit of coffee we’ve heightened our brain’s ability to recognize and process words with positive connotations, a relationship that was not found with neutral or negative words!

Put plainly, after a boost of caffeine we can process faster and more accurately positive information. Researchers found that as little as 200 milligrams of caffeine (or, about two cups of coffee) will do the trick. Great news for the coffee lovers among us!

About the study

In a research experiment, Kuchinke and Lux gathered 66 healthy participants who reported “normal” caffeine consumption (on average, 1.58 cups of coffee per day). The participants were split between a caffeine group — those provided with a 200-milligram caffeine tablet — and a placebo group that received a sugar tablet.

Each group consumed their tablet 30 minutes prior to a word recognition test in which actual words with varying connotations (positive, neutral or negative) were presented amid pseudo-words, strings of letters that look and feel like real words but have no lexical meaning. Participants had to quickly and accurately recognize the actual words, then rate them on a Likert scale from 1 (calm) to 7 (highly arousing).

The results indicated that the caffeine group performed significantly better when evaluating positive words. There was no difference in the recognition of words that were either neutral or negative.

* Lars Kuchinke, Vanessa Lux. Caffeine Improves Left Hemisphere Processing of Positive Words.

Version 3.0 of our Mammoth Collaboration coffee is now available. This exclusive coffee was sourced and roasted by Madcap Coffee for Mammoth Espresso. Through the collaboration project, we aim to highlight exceptional seasonal coffees that are vibrant, complex and full of life – befitting the City of New Orleans.

Mammoth Collaboration version 3.0 features a blend of two of our favorite coffees – Galeras, Colombia, and Kanzu, Rwanda. The Collab is delicate and sweet, with a noticeable floral aroma and warm berry juiciness. Enjoy this coffee on our pour over bar, or bring home a bag while it lasts!

Our complete coffee lineup is available here on our website.

This weekend, coffee professionals from across the country will descend upon New Orleans to take part of one of the specialty coffee industry’s most visible and prestigious events. Aptly called CoffeeChamps, the event will be highlighted by several competitions that test the talents of coffee professionals in several key disciplines – Barista Competition, Brewers Cup, Cup Tasters and Roaster Competition.

Competitors at CoffeeChamps, including several from New Orleans, will be vying for a spot in the U.S. Coffee Championships later this year, with the eventual winner representing the United States during the world competitions. As a regional qualifying site, it’s an incredible honor for New Orleans to host CoffeeChamps. With our growing specialty coffee scene, this weekend presents an opportunity to showcase the excellent work of local baristas, roasters and an array of coffee retailers that are elevating the craft.

We’re proud of the slate of local coffee folks who will be participating in CoffeeChamps, and excited to see friends from around the country take part in this event. But with CoffeeChamps coming up this weekend, we’re compelled to discuss an issue that has galvanized much of the coffee community in recent months. We hope to provide insight and context in this blog post, but welcome any feedback at info@mammothespresso.com.

The Specialty Coffee Association and the Deferred Candidacy Policy

As the world’s largest trade group for coffee professionals, the Specialty Coffee Association has a tremendous responsibility to impact industry standards, further education, promote professional resources and conduct events, including regional, national and global competitions. In September 2017, in an announcement that surprised and dismayed many, SCA awarded three of its top competitions – 2018 World Brewers Cup, World Cup Tasters Championship and World Coffee Roasting Championship – to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

UAE is a country with a long history of abuse and mistreatment of members of the LGBTQ community. With this decision, the SCA forced coffee professionals – including competitors, volunteers, judges and its own staff members – to question whether they should put their personal safety at risk for the sake of participation. The decision also calls into question the priorities of the association, and where  the wellbeing of coffee professional lies among them.

After the September decision, there was a considerable amount of pushback from individuals, businesses and partners of the SCA. In response, the SCA board of directors convened a meeting to consider their position, and ultimately released its Deferred Candidacy Policy, which aims “to protect competitors who may be prevented from participating in a world championship event due to nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity/orientation, health, bereavement or force majeure.” The solution, the SCA believes, is to allow competitors to elect to defer their participation until the 2019 world coffee event.

Under the deferred candidacy policy, competitors must petition the SCA and the world coffee events advisory council regarding the circumstances that prohibit their participation. It is our belief that no individual should be required to out themselves to a professional trade group or provide this manner of “proof” as a condition of their participation. We believe this policy is exclusionary and reflects an association that ignores the interests of its members.

We Are Force Majeure

As a company that supports wholeheartedly the rights, respect and access of individuals in the LGBTQ community, as well as the professional development of coffee professionals, we are saddened by the recent actions of the SCA, and feel compelled to speak out against them. We stand in solidarity with those who disagree with the SCA’s decision and policy, and support efforts to expand conversations on inclusiveness in our communities.

In the coming days you may notice people in coffee shops in New Orleans, including Mammoth Espresso, wearing solidarity pins. These pins are part of a campaign intended to foster a sense of community at coffee events, and serve as a means to protest the decisions of SCA while supporting coffee professionals who may be participating in these events.

The campaign is called We Are Force Majeure, which was inspired by a line included in the SCA’s deferred candidacy policy. Force Majeure refers to an irresistible compulsion or greater force. Mammoth Espresso has requested a small lot of the enamel pins that it will provide, free of charge, to coffee professionals who wish to show their solidarity as CoffeeChamps comes to New Orleans. If you are a coffee professional and would like to wear a pin, please send an e-mail to info@mammothespresso.com.

Lastly, we’d like to thank Sarah Rice Scott, Lenora Yerkes and Dawn Shanks, three DC-based coffee professionals, for starting the We Are Force Majeure campaign.

In Solidarity,
Jonathan and Darlene Riethmaier
Mammoth Espresso

#WeAreForceMajeure

Mammoth Espresso has teamed up with Louisiana craft brewer, Great Raft Brewing, to release a special cask beer, available for one day only at Company Burger Downtown. The beer, Creature of Habit, is an imperial brown ale that was brewed with our Mammoth Collaboration coffee. It will be available on cask at Company Burger Downtown on December 21. Don’t miss out – this exclusive beer is available for one night only!

About the Coffee

Mammoth Collaboration is a seasonal offering produced by Mammoth Espresso and our roasting partner, Madcap Coffee. The components of this coffee change throughout the year to showcase seasonal coffees at their best. The current blend is comprised of coffees from El Porvenir, El Salvador, and Pitalito, Colombia (Typica, Caturra and Bourbon varietals). This coffee is super sweet and syrupy with notes of chocolate and citrus.

About Great Raft Brewing

One of Louisiana’s premier craft brewers, Great Raft Brewing consistently produces stellar beers brewed with creativity, passion and authenticity. Great Raft was founded in 2012 and is located in Shreveport, La. Great Raft beers can be found at a number of the best bars in New Orleans, as well as area retailers.