Thursday, August 06, 2015

Everyday Coffee in the City - Santa Cruz Dark by Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting

Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark bag bw by roland luistro, on FlickrThis week, we opened one of the two bags of coffee we bought from Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting the last time we were in Santa Cruz

We are currently brewing Santa Cruz Dark. This classic blend is strong and at the same time flavorful. We paired it with treats from Arizmendi Bakery and a Filipino dessert called cassava cake.


We went to Santa Cruz for a day trip about 3 weeks ago. We had coffee at Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting before driving back to the city. In that process, Mijo and I decided to get half pound bags of the coffee we sampled since we were about to run out of coffee at home.

Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz Coffee Roasters Coffee Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting beans 
Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Coffee bags


We started brewing this Santa Cruz Dark last week. This coffee is a dark French Roast and it is a blend of Central and South American and Indonesian coffees. The aroma of coffee fills the kitchen as soon as I opened the bag.
Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark bag 

  The coffee is oily and very dark. 
Half a pound only fills half of our coffee mill.
Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark beans Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark coffee mill

  The first time, we paired the coffee with this home made Filipino dessert called Cassava Cake. My aunt Madeliene made it. At first I found the taste of the coffee very strong. I used our normal serving of four tablespoons for two cups of water. The second time, I decreased the ration to three servings of coffee to 2 cups of water. The strength decreased but so did the taste.
  Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark pairing cassava cake

I noticed our grinder is set to fine, we use fine to make espresso. Next thing I did was changed the grind setting to medium and then went back to our normal 4:2 ratio.
Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark medium ground 

Finally, we got it right! Strength and flavor are both present in this perfect cup of coffee.

We paired the coffee with shorbreads and a cookie from Arizmendi Bakery. The pairing was superb.
  Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting - Santa Cruz dark pairing arizmendi

~rl

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