Just finished prepping the new ice creams for The Charmery that they'll release over the next week or so. As we've been moving into regular production with David and Laura, it's been a fun challenge to come up with something interesting every production cycle. Typically, we're preparing about nine gallons worth of ice cream but in order for the flavors to come out right, we're also prepping them days ahead of time. Add to that the calculation of roasting, degassing and allowing flavor maturation of the coffee itself and we're actually looking at about a two week lead time from roasting to the time the ice cream hits the cone.
This cycle we've prepared some coffee ice creams that I think you'll find interesting and unique. They are:
Centro Sur
Perhaps this one might be one of our safer bets in coffee ice cream. Should be nicely rounded with a smooth coffee tone that one expects from a mainly Central American blend. Inside is a 2010 Guatemala El Bosque, Tecapa Chinameca El Salvador, Santa Maria Honey Processed Nicaraguan and a bit of Colombia Estrella del Sur for smoothness. Expect mild body, a slight brightness, sweetness, a little milk chocolate and warm coffee tones.
East Africa 2
Our second blend of East African coffees should give you a bit of berry-like sweetness, some cocoa notes and a little brightness. In this blend of mainly Ethiopian coffees, we've got: Ethiopia Nigusie, Ethiopia Michicha (full city roast) and a little Yirgacheffe washed to give it a little bit of brightness and round out the flavors.
Experiment 112D
This one is a little off the board for us. These are varietal blends from the same farm in Honduras. Can't really reveal the farm this time because the producer asked us to keep this one to ourselves but we liked it enough that we wanted to try it as an ice cream and share it with everyone. Not too sure exactly how this one will turn out but I'm thinking that it's going to give woodsy and warm coffee tones with some acidity and a mellow character. When you try it, leave us some comments here so we can get feedback on what you think about this blend.
Many of our guests ask us when the coffees will be released. To be honest, even we don't know when that happens until it happens. It's all up to David, the Wizard of Ice Cream, but it's usually during the weekend and maybe once during the week. But when it does happen, do try to be there as soon as possible as they tend to sell out very quickly. Even we don't always get to taste the ice creams because they move so fast!