Let’s start off Tuesday with a new-to-me-roaster from central New Jersey! This morning I’m looking at Uprising Coffee’s natural from Brazil, a coffee they say is appropriate for pourover, espresso and French press. Without further ado…
Purchase this coffee directly for $17/12oz (or $5/4oz)
UPRISING COFFEE BRAZIL CERRADO
Uprising Coffee is a small roastery in Hopewell, New Jersey owned and operated by Matt Hall. I don’t know much about the company except that it was established in 2015 and, judging by my social networking stalking, the roastery looks like it was built out by January 2016 and Matt was cranking out batches of coffee at that time. Matt uses an electric North Coffee Roaster from Mill City Roasters and Uprising Coffee does direct sales and can also be found in groceries and coffee bars around New Jersey. Matt was kind enough to send me a couple of his current offerings and I always love to discover new roasters and check them out, as you dear readers know!
This morning’s coffee is Uprising’s Brazil Cerrado. This coffee is from Cerrado, in the state of Minas Gerais, which is Brazil’s largest coffee growing region. Close to six million bags of coffee (the 154 pound variety!) come out of this region annually with 4,500 growers in the area! This particular coffee is a mix of Mundo Novo, Yellow Catuai and Red Catuai grown at a relatively low 915-1200 meters above sea level. This is a natural process coffee that Uprising says has tasting notes of, “macadamia nut, milk chocolate, citrus fruit.” Brazil grows lots of coffee (it produces more coffee than any other country), but the one disadvantage Brazil has is the altitude. Brazilian coffee tends to grow at a relatively low altitude, which gives coffee trees a pretty laid back lifestyle. Low altitude means steadier temperatures and this tends to reduce the complexity of the coffee that makes it onto the cup. On the other hand, Brazilian coffees tend to be liked by the everyday coffee drinker because of low perceived acidity, nuttier, more chocolatey notes and that same mellow vibe. I’m personally usually ambivalent about Brazilian coffee, conceptually, but when roasters send them to me I always seem to enjoy them, too! LOL
This one from Uprising has hints of citrus in the aroma. Taking a sip, I’m greeted by a medium-heavy bodied coffee with a sillky, almost creamy texture to it. Perceived acidity is pretty low, but there is plenty of high end to the flavors in this coffee, though. About mid-sip I get some light, round citrus acidity that has some orange juiciness to it and maybe even a bit of lemon candy. If you tend to gulp your coffee you’ll miss a lot of this citrus acidity. Allowing the coffee to wash over your palate and tongue for a few seconds before swallowing will definitely enhance the brightness and the citrus component. There is a milk chocolate sweetness in this cup that dominates the low notes in this coffee. It’s sweet, cocoa-y and is really enhanced by the full body and silky mouthfeel this coffee has. There is a bit of nuttiness in the cup, too. I think macadamia is a good descriptor for what’s in this coffee. It’s a neutral, light nuttiness, not the heavier pecan, walnut or more flavorful nuts that often come out at a deeper roast level.
This is a solid cup of coffee and it would make a great daily drinker. It is nicely balanced and I get interesting elements in both the sweet, low end notes as well as in the brighter acidity of this coffee. Sure, low altitude and easy conditions detract from the complexity of a coffee like this, but this Cerrado more than makes up for that with its easygoing drinkability and accessibility. This is a cup I think any coffee drinker would enjoy and it’s coffees like this that serve as a gateway for people to bridge over into specialty coffee from the typical mass market stuff they usually drink. Matt did a great job roasting this coffee and it’s supremely enjoyable, which makes for a good start to the morning!
I used my standard pourover setup of a 1:16 ratio of 28g of coffee to 450g of water in a notNeutral Gino dripper. I used Third Wave Water and a Handground grinder set to 3 for this coffee.