Roaster and Shop Blog: Pearland Coffee Roasters and Antigua Coffee House

This is the third installment of our blog series focusing on microroasteries (and shops) around Louisville, the Midwest, and also across the country. Our good friends Pearland Coffee Roasters are a young roasterie based out of the town of the same name, Pearland, Texas. Pearland is a rapidly growing city located just outside of Houston. PCR also owns and operates Antigua Coffee House (and espresso bar) at 8201 Broadway in Pearland. The owners of Pearland/Antigua are the well bearded duo of Jeremy Perrine and Eric Hammond. Matt and I both know Jeremy and Eric from their years living in Louisville. Matt was a barista under Jeremy here in town and I became friends with Eric while frequenting the shop where he was barista for several years (I give him credit for introducing me to The Avett Brothers; I am forever indebted).

A few weeks ago Pearland sent us three of their coffees to try out. One was for espresso, named Espresso Blend #2 "Bodysnatchers". This was a tasty blend, equal parts Burundi, Brazil and Sulawesi roasted individually. The next was an Ethiopian Sidamo, wet processed coffee roasted to full city plus. And the third was the Mexico Cristal, a wet processed coffee roasted also to about a full city plus.

We had a good time with these coffees and really enjoyed trying different things with them. We pulled some very sweet shots with the Bodysnatchers blend. We picked up notes of honey and maple, with fruit notes of grapefruit, orange citrus and lemon; different from your typical espresso blend that is usually nutty with cocoa. I would love to try this as a cappuccino. The Sidamo was taken a bit darker than Ethiopian coffees we normally taste in the office, that brought out flavors of chocolate and cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon. We had some good cups brewing with a Chemex at just under 200 degrees. This also made a great single origin espresso. The Mexico Cristal was perhaps my favorite of the three. We were lucky enough to try it on the Trifecta, and after getting it dialed in, really enjoyed the cup we had. The Full City + roast gave the coffee a slightly heavy body, with caramel, nutty and salty notes. The dry aroma was sweet cherry, mild tobacco and flowers, while the wet aroma hinted at the sweetness and saltiness to be tasted. I liked this coffee from a V60, using 20g to 300ml and about two and a half minutes. Water temp was probably right at 200 degrees.

Pearland Coffee Roasters is a great addition for the Houston area. I think this is another great testament to the great things happening with coffee in Louisville. If you live in or near Pearland, check out their shop on Broadway. Or, check them out at the Pearland Old Town Site Farmers Market on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month through November. If you are not a local, like us, you can check them out next April if you are making plans to visit the SCAA 2011 in Houston. Keep up the nice work guys, and we hope to visit soon!