Coffee Review: California Blend, Newhall Coffee Roasting Company

Posted by toasted on Feb 25, 2010 in Coffee | 3 comments

Company: Newhall Coffee Roasting Company

Bean Origin or Blend: California Blend (Certified Organic blend of Sumatran Mandheling, Peruvian, and Papua New Guinea)

Body: Medium

Roast: Medium

Brew Method: Drip and French Press

Price: $10/lb.

Background:
Newhall Coffee Roasting Company was founded in 1994 by the McMullen brothers, Mitch and Kyle, in downtown Newhall, California. Mitch lived in South France in the early 90s and returned to California with a love for great espresso. He explored this love by opening a coffeehouse in Newhall. As the coffeehouse did well, they opened a second location but were dissatisfied with the quality of coffee being roasted and so, Newhall Coffee was born.

Newhall Coffee offers a huge variety of coffee, including Organic Fair Trade (4), Blended (11), World Coffees (12), Espresso (2), Decaf (33), Natural Flavors (25), Coffee for a Cure (4) and a Coffee of the Month Club. You’ll be sure to find something to your liking and at a very reasonable price. Mitch is now the sole owner of Newhall Coffee and ships his micro roasted coffee all over the world. Proceeds from each bag sold go to help fight Leukemia, which took the life of Mitch’s brother Corey. He in turn created the Corey McMullen Leukemia Fund. You can learn more about Newhall Coffee online.

Today we are reviewing the California Blend, which is a Certified Organic blend of Sumatran Mandheling (Grade 1), Peruvian, and Papua New Guinea.

Profile:
The aroma on this blended bean was very sweet with hints of bitter chocolate and a slight spice that I couldn’t put my nose on. The bean itself was a medium dark color and was very oily. On the pour, the aroma reminded me mostly of dried berries with a continued sweet and bitter chocolate. The body was a solid medium and coated the mouth very well and had an excellent finish that was long and complex. The flavor was very rich and, though there was a very nice balance, bitter chocolate was the dominating flavor for me with a general smoky and dry undertone.

Overall, the blend of Sumatran Mandheling, Peruvian, and Papua New Guinea created an excellent character with some interesting complexity on the exaggerated finish. The acidity and tartness was very low and the California blend was very smooth from start to finish.

Synopsis:
At $10 a pound, this is an excellent value. Throw in the fact that this coffee is Certified Organic and a portion of the proceeds go to help fight Leukemia and you will find a coffee you will enjoy drinking and feel good about. This blend will be a joy to drink over an extended period of time due to the excellent complexity and long finish. This coffee would go excellently with a sweet Maduro wrapper cigar; one that comes to mind for me is the Ramon Allones Gustoso. Check out their website for regularly updated deals and feel free to email Mitch, who will return your message quickly and kindly—they are great folks!