Saturday, April 22, 2017

Everyday Coffee in the City - Chit's Coffee

Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting bag bw
I just came back from a trip to the Philippines and my sister gave me a good Philippine made coffee as a souvenir called Chit's Coffee.

I had extra time yesterday so I did a little experiment. I did a coffee side by side tasting at home using this coffee as drip, pour over, french press and espresso. I had so much fun!

My sister bought this bag of Chit's Coffee from a store in Manila called ECHOstore. ECHOstore is an eco friend store that sells high quality products from sustainable producers from all over the Philippines. I've shopped there before and I liked their selection of products.  They have several locations in Manila.
Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting bag
Chit's Coffee's coffee beans are medium to dark brown in color. Not oily and they have a hint of earthiness and wood smoke in the nose which I noticed is present in a lot of coffee grown and roasted in the Philippines.
Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting coffee beans

For this coffee tasting, I needed a lot of apparatus. The coffee grinder and using its different grind settings. The room smelled like a coffee shop afterward.  The French press, the pour over dripper, the pour over kettle, the drip coffee maker, the espresso maker and the different coffee filters. I put the different coffee grounds in the different coffee makers. I did not include the stove top percolator in this tasting.
Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting prep 

I must admit that I am still getting used to making coffee using the pour over style so I can be ever so slow doing this. This process is mesmerizing. The coffee 'blooms' in front of your eyes.  I put the finished brew aside.
 Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting pour over coffee grounds Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting pour over brewChit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting pour over brewing  

I started right away with making coffee using the French press. The coffee grounds were already in the press, I poured the hot water and let it sit there only for a few minutes.
  Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting french press hot water Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting french press brew 

While the coffee was brewing in the french press, I started with making the espresso. I've already prepped the espresso machine ahead to make sure the water for brewing was hot.  I love the consistency of the frothy coffee coming out of this process. It is almost relaxing looking at it. Beautiful foamy coffee.
  Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting espresso brew Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting espresso cup 

For the drip, I already turned on the drip earlier. By this time, the brewing was finished already. Very easy.
  Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting drip coffee grounds Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting drip brew 

Voila! I have the four different coffee ready for tasting. I sampled them by intensity of coffee flavors - drip first, pour over second, press third and last was the espresso.  No sugar, no cream.  I'm impressed with this coffee because it tasted great using four different methods. I can taste more acidity in the pour over versus the drip. There was a hint of chocolates in the espresso. I can still taste the fruit in the four coffee samples.
  Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting side by side 

Earlier that morning, Mijo and I went to Tartine for coffee and breakfast. I brought home a Valrhona Coffee cake and this is the one I paired with my tastings. It went perfectly well with all the four coffee styles.
  Chit's Coffee - Coffee Tasting Tartine coffee cake

I love Chit's coffee and I can do this coffee tasting all day. I'll add this coffee to my list of favorite coffees from the Philippines.
Thanks, sis!

~rl


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