2020 Green Beans discussion

DrD

Ok, so I had a hiccup with the discount code but ICT quickly fixed that up and I ended up ordering the following: Yirgacheffe Konga, Sidamo, Columbia Nueva Granada, Peru Organic, Guatemala Soledad, India Monsooned Malabar and Monsooned Robusta. Now that should keep my busy for some time ;-)

Brett H

Nice selection!! The Peru is a particularly beautiful looking bean and tastes surprisingly good (never been a huge fan of Peruvian in comparison to other regions).

Cuir Beluga

Nice choices. I am currently drinking the Costa Rica San Jorge.

ash

on 1566699828:

Hi everyone I'm looking at buying some beans from ICT for the first time. Anyone have any particular beans they have tried and would recommend? I'm looking at trying various ones from Africa, South and Central America, India ... the "works and jerks" as my Dad would say ;-) Thanks, Dan

I've just polished off 5kg of their Ugandan they had a few months ago. I roasted it with a slowish profile and I got a beautiful low acidity, medium bodied, darkish milk chocolate bomb. I would definately get this one again! That was my first bean from ICT Greenroom and I was impressed with the quality, although I think I'll contact them next time to arrange a different delivery mechanism as I prefer things to go to my PO Box, the local delivery people are a bit hap hazard around here...

Brett H

Awesome mate! I didn’t get that sort of result with the Ugandan so will give it a go again heeding your advice!

Simon

Just put my first order through with ICT!!! Took advantage of the Black Friday free shipping hehe. Alot of beans that I would have wanted were sold out! Ended up getting: Mystery bag 4x 200g 3kg Cuba Serrano 3kg Colombia El Mirador 3kg Uganda Bugisu A Grade I tend to get really bright, fruity, juicy coffees but I really wanted to branch off this time and try some outside-the-usual stuff! I aimed to get something earthy/spicy/herbal, something fruity, and something syrupy and chocolatey. Can't wait :D

Brett H

They’re all good! I too have a big order coming and am most excited about the Yirg which sounds awesome! Rai is a great guy to deal with and he has huge knowledge and brilliant product on offer. I hope he’s here for many years to come because I’ve never been happier with my bean supply!

Simon

on 1575070248:

They’re all good! I too have a big order coming and am most excited about the Yirg which sounds awesome! Rai is a great guy to deal with and he has huge knowledge and brilliant product on offer. I hope he’s here for many years to come because I’ve never been happier with my bean supply!

Ah that's really great to hear, says my payment is pending though at the moment and haven't gotten a confirmation email from them, but assuming it must be some PayPal thing hehe. Ahhh I was sooo very tempted for that Yirg mate... next time! I'll let y'all know how they roast/taste!

askthecoffeeguy

Oh - sounds good, I'll have to check ICT out! Im keen for some . new beans fresh on the scene! P

Brett H

You won’t be disappointed Pat!

Simon

Finally got my ICT beans today!!! There was much debarkle with the Cuba beans and PayPal, so had to in the end just do a bank transfer. In my mystery beans lot I got 250g of Ethiopia Sidamo, Peru Organic, Honduras, and a Brazil bean. So stoked, can't wait to sample them too! Very excited, 10kg of beans is always fun to play with, that'll last me awhile! Will let you know how I find them, gotta roast the last of my other beans first!

LeroyC

A friend of mine recently bought 12kg of an amazing Honduras from MTC Group. He has a boutique roasting business here in NZ and roasted them on a Loring. I scored a bag and they were seriously good. It was the first time he’d ever bought from MTC Group and they were good to deal with apparently. I also grabbed a couple of kg of this year’s harvest of the peaberry from Mountain Top Coffee and that’s been a good one. Might be all gone now but if they’ve still got some it’s worth a look.

Simon

on 1576433767:

A friend of mine recently bought 12kg of an amazing Honduras from MTC Group. He has a boutique roasting business here in NZ and roasted them on a Loring. I scored a bag and they were seriously good. It was the first time he’d ever bought from MTC Group and they were good to deal with apparently. I also grabbed a couple of kg of this year’s harvest of the peaberry from Mountain Top Coffee and that’s been a good one. Might be all gone now but if they’ve still got some it’s worth a look.

Ah nice, just looked them up as haven't heard of them, thought MTC Group was the same as Mountain Top Coffee but they are indeed different haha. Sounds good, MTC have quite a range available! Will definitely keep it in mind.

LeroyC

on 1576451079:

Ah nice, just looked them up as haven't heard of them, thought MTC Group was the same as Mountain Top Coffee but they are indeed different haha. Sounds good, MTC have quite a range available! Will definitely keep it in mind.

I think there was some interrelation between the two at some stage, but not anymore. I could be wrong about that, not sure. Someone more learned than me here might know.

Simon

on 1576452048:

I think there was some interrelation between the two at some stage, but not anymore. I could be wrong about that, not sure. Someone more learned than me here might know.

Just looked into it, yep you're right! "MTC originally evolved out of the successful Australian coffee plantation Mountain Top Estate. We no longer run the farm, as our importing and trading operations have grown to encompass a much more global focus."

LeroyC

on 1576453300:

Just looked into it, yep you're right! "MTC originally evolved out of the successful Australian coffee plantation Mountain Top Estate. We no longer run the farm, as our importing and trading operations have grown to encompass a much more global focus."

Well there you go.

Brett H

A pity really as the coffee from the farm was superb!

Simon

on 1576457664:

A pity really as the coffee from the farm was superb!

I actually think the farm is still running, the website is still going.. though the last post in the news section is there from a year ago... but it seems to still be running.. maybe by different folk?

mycuppa

MTC Group was started by Andrew Ford who was originally involved in Mountain Top Estate, the Australian coffee grower. MTC have been around for a while and typically supply specialty grade. Yes, their coffees are nice, as are many brokers. We do buy coffees from them and have done for more than 6 years. They typically have a larger presence in Sydney, but there are roasters all around Australia and to a lesser extent NZ that use them. Andrew moved to Asia to develop that market for MTC and the local Australian team has been working quite well, although the segment is still small compared to the broader market. Around 10 months ago MTC was sold to Sucafina who is a global trader, say tier 2. It’s a really good fit and Andrew deserves to be applauded as Sucafina has strong depth in Europe and some parts of Asia, along with excellent sourcing from Africa, which is really a strength for Sucafina. It’s almost a perfect fit. All the MTC Australian team inherit a larger portfolio and broader source channel and Sucafina gets exposure to the somewhat influential Aussie roasting market and some greater emphasis on specialty. There are also other really good brokers in Australia that have exceptional coffees, often these are not published or hyped. Let me tell you the game of coffee is really tough....when I find a nice coffee I buy the lot to prevent anyone else getting hold of it......and plenty do the same trick.

Brett H

Amazing insight... thank you Jeff!

Simon

Ah fascinating Jeff... cheers for that!

LeroyC

I told you someone more learned would know more about it than me. And yes, MTC Group have an office in Auckland to supply the NZ market. As do Langdon Coffee Merchants since earlier this year. (They’re a Melbourne based broker of some very nice specialty coffee).

Simon

Finally got round to roasting some of my ICT beans!!! Roasted all for espresso, first did the Cubans, turned out really nice! On the Behmor I did 2 batches of 350g, setting 400P5manual (full heat until FC). P2 C D at FC, P3 at RFC. Aiming to stop 3° or 30s after end of FC. First batch was a really low weight loss at 13.86% strangely... but colour looks great. Second batch i tried to take it a little darker than the first, but it actually stalled bigtime around the end of FC! So next time I think instead of going P2 (25%) at FC then P3 (50%) at RFC, might just go straight to P3 to prevent stalling. Still ended up a tad bit darker. Also roasted one of my mystery samples, the Ethiopia Sidamo G2. In the mystery pack it's supposed to be 4x200g samples, but in this sample was 314g, which I was rather stoked with . This roast stalled a bit but ah well. Very excited! Might let them rest fooorrrr... 7 days or so? No idea with Cuban beans, but I'll be patient. Pic of the first batch of Cubans

Brett H

Nice! I’ve been absolutely stoked with Rai’s offerings. Hope you are too!

Koffee_Kosmo

Today on this wet Brisbane day I just received a 50 kg lot A mix of Ethiopian, Peru and Cuba greens Rai said to say hello to you Brett KK

Simon

Ah cheers, can't wait to try them! And wow 50kg KK... that would be very fun to play with!

Brett H

on 1580987570:

Today on this wet Brisbane day I just received a 50 kg lot A mix of Ethiopian, Peru and Cuba greens Rai said to say hello to you Brett KK

He’s a good guy eh, and very knowledgeable!

askthecoffeeguy

@Simon said:
(Quote)
Yeah am a fan of DiBartoli, have been buying equipment from them for years, great service and very helpful. Have ordered already roasted beans from them in the past and they were delightful.. keen to roast and try my Sidamo (a natural processed bean, think I'm in for a fun roast XD )

Oh happy coincidence I did some consultation work for them when they relaunched including developing the coffee menus and preparing all the coffee recipes for the manual brew devices. Was great to work with such a professional team !

askthecoffeeguy

I still.use CS for my green beans I find it easy and convenient to so so and they are always quick to get their orders out!