Crimson Headquarters
Columbus Tastecasters spent 2 ½ hours Saturday morning at the Crimson Cup Coffee Company Headquarters and production facility. We were treated to a rich sensory and educational experience (yes we learn as well as taste) through the world of coffee and coffee house beverages, courtesy of Crimson Cup’s creative team. Founder & President Greg Ubert gave us an overview of the company’s origins, including some insight into how he decided to locate in Columbus. (It’s where he’s from). We heard from coffee guru Armando Escobar, namesake of Armando’s Blend, about the intricacies of the beans, the blends and the brews. A host of other Crimson Cup coffee experts showed us around the plant and pulled back the curtain on a process that takes green coffee beans from around the world and turns them into a dark, steaming cup o’ joe.
From the Coffee Bar
We began with the treat of a made-to-order coffee beverage of our choice. Mine was a hot Vanilla Latte, which was smooth, rich with a satisfying sweetness, well-rounded coffee flavor and comforting vanilla essence. Great way to start the day! From there, we toured the facility, learning about the green coffee beans which arrive in burlap sacks from Sumatra, Costa Rica, Brazil and other coffee growing regions around the world. We heard about the factors that identify a superior grade coffee bean and the importance of the bean quality to the finished coffee product. Crimson Cup uses only Class 1 Specialty Grade beans for its coffee, which are in the top 5% of beans grown around the world. The experts at Crimson Cup are continually testing the beans they receive, so that they consistently have a superior product to distribute to their coffeehouse owners and retail outlets. The production area provides space for some Mr. Wizard-like machinery, including roasting, cooling, flavoring and packaging equipment. Efficiency and ingenuity work in harmony to produce a truly amazing variety of coffee products in a compact, well planned space.
Coffee Cupping
We tried our hands, or rather our noses and mouths, at coffee tasting the way the experts do it. Cupping, as it is called, is done first with dry ground coffee in a cup, which we smelled and compared with another dissimilar coffee in a separate cup. The two coffees we cupped were a Costa Rican and a Sumatran. Hot water is added to the dry grounds and allowed to steep for about 4 minutes, after which we ‘broke the crust’ on the surface of the coffee and smelled the aroma, which is called the wet cupping. The final step is to clear the grounds floating on top of the cup and taste the coffee. This is done by slurping the coffee, loudly, from the spoon into the mouth, tasting it and then spitting it out into a discard cup. You know how your mother told you not to slurp your soup? Yeah, well its kinda like that. Very interesting, and new way to learn about different types of coffee.
Frozen Treats
We were also treated to a few of non-coffee drinks that Crimson Cup has on the menu. The Frozen Hot Chocolate may be an oxymoron of a name, but it is the frozen drink equivalent of comfort food, with a satisfying Dutch cocoa flavor, creamy coolness and sweet whipped cream on top. Rich & fruity, icy cold smoothies have a clean refreshing taste provided by a product which combines natural fruit in a red tea (rooibos) base. Blended with ice, these smoothies come out with a sweet, intensely fruity rush that really wakes up the taste buds. A must try is the Green Apple, which is served in a cup drizzled with caramel syrup. Yup, its like drinking a caramel apple. Have you had your recommended servings of fruit today? These drinks not only taste great, they are gorgeous to behold. Check out our photos for more mouthwatering details.
Quality is in the cup
The beauty of the Crimson Cup experience is, of course, in the consuming the finished product. And whether you like your roast dark or light, blended or single source beans, flavored or straight-up, Crimson Cup has a coffee to satisfy your craving. Crimson Cup Coffee is served at many fine Columbus area restaurant and coffee houses, Columbus State Community College and The Ohio State University. You can read more about the company, its coffees, locations and where it is served and sold by visiting the Crimson Cup website www.crimsoncup.com , and you can follow them on twitter @crimsoncup. For the full-on Crimson Cup experience, get yourself over to the Crimson Cup Coffee House at 4541 N. High St., Columbus, in the Clintonville neighborhood. Tell ‘em Tastecasters sent you…it won’t get you anything, but feel free to name drop. Eat locally….it’s more delicious!
What a great time we all had. I’ve put up the first of probably two stories about this. This first one is focused on Crimson Cup’s community principles.
http://meatstack.com/?p=87
Yum, crimson cup! Here’s my blog on the TasteCast:
http://beingcheryl.com/2009/03/28/tastecasting-crimson-cup/
We had a blast entertaining and sampling our products to you guys! Thanks for coming!
I really learned a lot from the entire staff at Crimson Cup. The coffee and the frozen treats were really tasty! The cupping session was pretty interesting as well. Here is my blog post about it: http://merrycricket.blogspot.com/2009/03/crimson-cup-taste-casting.html
[...] Blog Posts: http://meatstack.com/?p=87 http://beingcheryl.com/2009/03/28/tastecasting-crimson-cup/ http://www.tastecasting.com/reviews/columbus/columbus-tastecasters-wake-up-and-smell-the-crimson-cup... [...]
An ordinary Saturday would start with a cup of coffee. This wasn’t any ordinary day, I started with a BCITW (Best Cappucino In The World) made by Armando. It was the most fantabulous cappucino I’ve ever had. Armando is an inventor, barista, comedian, teacher and espresso fiend all rolled into one. The passion and enthusiasm from the staff is infectious. I have been bitten by the CrimsonCup bug!
Columbus is bean and buckeye country now!
Due to a scheduling conflict I could not make the Crimson Cup TasteCasting event. Anna graciously extended me an invitation to come another day. So today I received my tour and a delicious Cappucino.
You can check out my experience here – http://www.columbusimpressions.com/2009/04/spent-some-time-with-crimson-cup-coffee.html