A Presidential Coffee

Coffee Roaster: Mighty Good Coffee Co.
Coffee Name: Obama Blend
Origin: Blend featuring Kenyan AA, Hawaiian Kauai, and Indonesian coffees
Price: $15/lb. at their website

First and foremost, let me commend Mighty Good Coffee of Ann Arbor, MI for their originality.  They've been roasting this unique blend since October 18th, and I read just a day ago that now Kona Joe will be releasing a similar product on inauguration day.  I'm sure that Kona Joe will be quite successful with this blend seeing as they get a little more press than the little roasters, but to give credit where credit is due, Mighty Good did it first as far as I know.  In fact, this blend has been around for so long, that it's gotten quite the reputation around Ann Arbor and the surrounding areas.  It seems that most people either absolutely love this blend, or absolutely hate it, and truth be told, how much people like it seems surprisingly proportional to how much the same people like Barack Obama.  Normally I try to keep politics out of coffee, but this particular bag was given to me as a gift, so I just had to try it.

The election now seems to be a distant memory, and I'm eagerly awaiting the 20th, but politics aside, I wanted to see what, if anything, was inside the stylish bag and past the political pandering.  I was initially disappointed that the coffee bag didn't have a roast date printed anywhere.  Mighty Good Coffee hand delivers their coffee the day after its roasted to Ann Arbor residents (and will ship the freshly roasted coffee to people living outside Ann Arbor), but if you buy it in a store or receive a bag as a gift, there's no way of definitively knowing when your coffee was roasted.  This being said, the beans smelled pleasantly fresh when I opened the bag, so I'm going to make a (very reasonable) guess and say that the beans were roasted within 72 hours of the review.

Grinding this blend was a treat for the most part.  As I pulled out the tray and wafted the fragrant aromas towards my nose, I enjoyed an almost savory sensation.  There is certainly a bit of spice to the smell of the grounds, but the scent also evokes memories of ripe, red fruit.  Oddly enough, while I was preparing the grinds, I noticed a new smell and couldn't quite place it until I was about ready to begin brewing: the combination of savory, spicy, and fruity smells combined to give me the sensation that I was smelling roasting tomatos, as odd as it sounds.

I prepared the coffee with my Moka Express twice.  The first time I was afraid that I may have used too high of a heat, so I made a second cup over a lower flame.  I threw out my notes on the first cup, and this review is based on the second cup.

The first thing I noticed when I drank this blend is the citrusy brightness, much like semi-sweet lemonade, or maybe even limeade.  I've tasted a smattering of brightly flavored coffees, but there was something particularly bright about this cup...almost obnoxiously so.  The flavors became a little more balanced as the earthy tones started to come through, but the brightness of this coffee really dominates the cup.  If you dig a little deeper and really let the coffee touch every inch of your palette, somewhere within the earthy undertones you may detect certain herbal flavors in this blend, and I do think I tasted a hint of cashew in this coffee.  The body of this coffee feels a little thin, but I actually think the more slender body actually works with these flavors.  The finish is far from the smooth, smoky finish of the Colombian I had been drinking, and instead, this coffee dances on the front-most third of my tongue for ages.  The exceptionally bright, fruity finish actually comes across as quite refreshing.

This isn't exactly a well behaved cup of coffee, but it doesn't stop it from being enjoyable.  Don't mistake this cup of coffee as representing that stately gentleman who will soon run our country, on the contrary, this blend comes across as more of a hyperactive child.  Imagine that the eight-year old down the streetwith ADD takes a trip to his grandmother's house for the Holidays, and the batteries to his Nintendo DS die on the car ride.  Without any videogames to occupy his young mind, both he and his imagination run freely in the well decorated home.  He runs up the stairs, jumps on the neatly made beds, slides down the banister, and has a grand old time beating his grandparents with their newly upholstered couch pillows.  To me, this blend behaves similarly.  It's a little hard to handle, it can be all over the place, but it's sweet, loveable, and of course FUN.

I get the impression that this coffee is a wonderful afternoon or evening treat.  I'd imagine that it would be best served with a desert as fun as the coffee itself, perhaps a Baked Alaska?  I'd also like to try this coffee iced, if only to further enhance the refreshing qualities.

Bottom Line:  This blend is as refreshing as it is original with enough complexity to keep me drinking, but it might be a little bright for some and a little thin for others.  Although the real Obama may be ready to lead, this coffee just wants to have a good time.