Brazil Daterra Sweet Blue SOLD OUT!

Brazil Daterra Sweet Blue

This is a little different from our previous highlighted coffees for a few reasons.  Firstly, it is a blend.  Daterra offers blended green coffee formulated to taste.  Secondly, compared to our previous selections this one comes from a giant conglomerate.  Daterra has 100 years of experience with coffee in many regions of Brazil and is well established and respected world wide.  Lastly, we are roasting this one with espresso in mind.  Many recent World Barista Champions and challengers have used Daterra blends and we can see why.

Here is Daterra's Flash intensive and bird friendly website. 

Tasting Notes

Sweet citrus upon first sip.  Fuller body as is typical with most Brazils, yet it has a very delicate clean finish.  One of us mentioned tea biscuits which is pretty right on.  Could drink this coffee all day long!  Great shot! 

Agtron:

63-72

Roaster Notes

Daterra is a huge supplier of Brazilian coffee and grows Rainforest Alliance.  We hadn't tried a RFA in a while so this was a good pick.

Honduras Julio Cesar Aguilar SOLD OUT

Honduras Julio Cesar Aguilar

Here is an article from Cafe Imports, our provider for this coffee, proclaiming 2012 as the "Year of Honduras."  We were lucky in procuring this particular bag, as it had apparently sold out before it reached the States.

Region: Cangual, Intibuca

Farm: San Jose

Varietal: Catuai

Altitude: 1500 masl

Proc. Method: Fully washed and sun dried

Tasting Notes

 sweet, cream, tart cherry, vanilla...  cream soda was mentioned more as a "mouth feel" than flavor

Additional Notes

Beneficio Santa Rosa, is located in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras.  About 170km from San Pedro Sula, the industrial capital.  Beneficio Santa Rosa has been key in developing the coffees from Honduras.  There are other coffee regions (like Marcala) which have been famous for many years now, but this region has some of the most interesting coffees I've tasted out of Central America (even though we will be seeing newer and as exciting regions in the near future  out of Honduras).  BSR came out to the high-end specialty scene recently through Cup of Excellence.  Basically they mainly assist the growers to commercialize/export their coffee.  I believe they also offer some technical assistance and financing.  Coffee is depulped at each farm and gets delivered "wet" to BSR to dry on patios.  Some farmers are starting to dry at the farm.  Most of these farmers are very small.  More than 90% of farmers in Honduras are small-producers.  They are producing Pacas, Caturra, Bourbon, and some local hybrids.

-Cafe Imports

  
Agtron:

61-69


Roaster Notes:

A little hotter and quicker than most; otherwise not a crazy profile.

Honduran Western Coffee

Costa Rica Don Mayo Tarrazu Finca Cerro Canet SOLD OUT!

Costa Rica Don Mayo Tarrazu Finca Cerro Canet

Region : Tarrazu, Valle Canet

Farm: Finca Cerro Canet

Varietal: Red Catuai

Altitude:1820 masl

Proc. Method: Fully washed and sun dried

Tasting Notes

floral nose, raisin/berry tart + spice/nutty sweetness,  crisp acidity

Additional Notes

Beneficio Don Mayo is owned and managed by Hector Bonilla and his son Pablo Bonilla.  It's a medium-sized mill by Costa Rica standards.  They own farms and process their own coffee.  At the same time they buy cherry from their relatives in the surrounding areas.

Costa Rica is a role model when it comes to high-end specialty microlots and coffee.  Farmers live within higher standards than their counterparts at other origins.  About ten years ago many farmers started building their own micro mills in order to keep their coffee separate from commercial coffee, get access to better prices, and sell a superior product. 

The quality we see out of Costa Rica is very consistent and can be replicated on a bigger scale.  This, and the flare of Costa Rica as a tourist and easy destination has made the demand for these coffees continue to rise year after year and sought out by high quality roasters. 

Costa Rican farmers are highly technified; this is a big advantage they have and enables them to produce better coffee.  They are already experimenting with different varieties such as SL-28, Geisha, Caturra, Typica, to name a few.  Most farms have a high tree density and receive adequate fertilization year round giving producers higher yields; and their coffee trees are renewed constantly as well.  Finally, their cherry selection is extremely good and perfect in some cases.

-Piero Cristiani (Cafe Imports)

   
Agtron:

56-64

Roaster Notes

We put this in at a high temperature and kept full heat to really bring out the floral, sweet raisin notes.  Reminds me of an "old school" Costa.  Great cup!

Kenya AB Ruthagati SOLD OUT!

Kenya AB Ruthagati

Region: Central Kenya,Mathira East District, Mathira Division

Farm: Ruthagati wet mill, Rutuma FCS cooperative Society

Varietal: SL 28 and SL34 and Ruiru 11

Altitude:1650-1700 masl

Proc. Method: Fully washed and sundried

Tasting Notes

Balanced, sweet acidity, floral/perfumed, juicy, fig, butterscotch

Additional Notes

No. of Producers: 900 Members
Average  Farm Size: 1.0 acres - 300 trees per farm

Processing Method
Timely and selective hand picking is carried out in Ruthagati wet mill. Cherry is delivered to the wet mill the same day it is picked. Cherry sorting is carried out at the wet mill prior to the pulping. Red ripe cheries are separated from underipes, overipes and foreign matter. Processing utilizes clean river water (wet processing) that is recirculated before disposal into seepage pits. Sun drying is done before delivery of the coffee to the dry mill for secondary processing.

Certifications
Utz Certified

Historical Background
Rutuma FCS has 7 wet mills: Ruthagati, Marua, Ndurutu, Githima, Ngandu, Karie and Kianjogu. The coop is located in Mathira division-Mathira East   District. Geographically it lies on the southern slopes of Mt.Kenya. The society was registered under the cooperative societies Act in 1996. Formerly, the 11 wet mills belonged to giant Mathira FCS but  and formed Rutuma FCS after the split of the giant Mathira FCS in 1995.

Management & Membership
The Coop is managed by an elected board of 7  Members  each representing one wet mill.Rutuma has 3 supervisory committee members. Currently the Coop has 30 permanent  members of staff who are headed by a Secretary Manager. The Secretary Manager  oversees the day to day running of the Coop under the supervision of the board.
 Currently Ruthagati wet mill has 900 registered members of which 700 are active and 200 are dormant. The society has a total membership of 4600 members.

Coffee Production
During 2009/2010  Ruthagati produced 300,000 Kg Cherry.

Coffee Processing and Marketing
Farmers selectively hand pick red ripe cherries  that are delivered for wet milling the same day. The parchment is then fermented, washed and sun dried . Dry parchment is milled and bagged at Socfinaf coffee mills and then transported to SMS warehouses in Nairobi. The Coffee is then sold either through the Nairobi auction or direct to overseas buyers.

 

Agtron:

53-68

Roaster Notes

I initially thought I screwed this one up but after a few different tries, it turns out the first profile applied was the best.  I charged it hot and let the temp build quickly after the turning point, then backed off a bit and let it even out after first crack.  I think this profile best suits the more delicate flavors and acidity while properly developing the body.

 

Mexico Ixhuatlan Finca La Maquinaria SOLD OUT

Mexico Ixhuatlan Finca La Maquinaria

Region: Veracruz, Mexico

Farm: Finca La Maquinaria

Varietal: Bourbon 45%, Garnica 65%

Altitude:1250 M

Proc. method: Fully Washed

addional notes:

Producer: Abraham Cabal Pulido
Legacy: Farm has produced coffee since 1993
Farm Size: 50 hectares
Annual Precipitation: 2500 MM
 

tasting notes:

caramel, sweet and creamy with juicy citric acidity. 

Agtron:

58-60

Roaster notes:

No fancy roasting schemes with this coffee. It was pretty dense going in. Gave it full heat to bring out the juiciness in the acidity. (kind of like plums). Really good in my home Espresso machine.

photo credit: Cafe Imports

Rwanda Rulindo Cup Of Excellence SOLD OUT!

The Cup of Excellence is the most esteemed award given out for top coffees. These awards come from a strict competition that selects the very best coffee produced in that country for that particular year. These winning coffees are chosen by a select group of national and international cuppers and are cupped at least five different times during the competition process. Only coffees that continuously score high enough are allowed to move forward in the competition. The final winners are awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence® and sold to the highest bidder during an internet auction.

Coffees of this exemplary quality are very rare. These coffees are perfectly ripe, carefully picked with well developed body, pleasant aroma and a lively sweetness that only extremely high quality specialty coffees contain. Each winning coffee has its own flavor signature from the earth where it grows and all have been handcrafted in such a way as to enhance these unique characteristics. 

for more reading, check out the surprisingly interesting Cup Of Excellence website

Variety: Arabica
Processing System: Dry
Lot Size: 34 boxes
Pounds: 2,121.09 (962.11 kgs)    

for reference: we often get shipments of green coffee totaling 4 times that amount twice a month.  We are lucky to have this offering, and hope you have a chance to enjoy it!

International Jury Score: 87.16
Farm: SACOF Rulindo
Farmer: Ndacyayisenga Beatrice
Rank: 8
City: Rulindo
Region: Northern
Country: Rwanda
Farm Size: Not Available
Coffee growing area: Not Available
Altitude: 1794 masl
Certification: None

Tasting notes:

AROMA/FLAVOR: Intense fragrance, tobacco, spices, dark chocolate, black tea, caramelized apple, grapefruit
ACIDITY: Citric, lemon, orange, pineapple, white grape
OTHER: Lemon in aftertaste, brown sugar on finish, rounded, syrupy mouthfeel, creamy

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What is Agtron?

Instagramming an Agtron was strangely satisfying

You may have noticed descriptions of roasted coffee including a set of numbers labeled "Agtron."  What is Agtron?  Simply put, the Agtron is a tool used to give the degree of which coffee is roasted a standard measurement.  Coffee goes into the box and it displays a number.  It's a spectrophotometer; it bounces light off of the coffee samples, reads what gets reflected back, and returns a number.

The numbers given are from a scale of 0 to 100.  0 being the absolute dark and 100 is the absolute lightest.  These numbers are commonly used in the specialty coffee industry to label coffee's roast degrees.  It's more accurate than saying "Vienna Roast" or "Fully City +" and provides roasters a common method of observation and evaluation.  If two numbers are listed, the first is generally a reading of the whole bean sample and the second will be the ground sample reading.  Typically if one number is provided, it refers to the ground reading.  Roasters can use the two numbers to gauge how the roast affected the bean.  For example, if the whole bean number is significantly darker than the ground number, then the internal segment of the bean may not have absorbed as much roast heat as a sample that has numbers closer together.  However, it is important to note that the numbers will not indicate "good" or "bad" coffee.  They simply reflect the roast process on the green coffee.  If we are labeling a coffee as "Vienna roast" it will have an Agtron range of  30 to 40, depending on the bean.  "French" will typically be 25 to 30.  Our "Full City" will usually read 50 to 60.

We provide our coffee descriptions with their Agtron readings for the same reason we list the altitude it was grown:  to give you all of the available information.  Right now, Agtron numbers, the gourmet scale, and SCAA color tiles are more relevant to the industry's interests than they are to the consumer.  We think taste is the most important thing for all involved.  We try to get the best possible taste from each bean and use the Agtron to stay consistant.

Kenya PB Karie SOLD OUT!

Kenya PB Karie

Kenya, Mathira West District, Kirimukuyu division, Karie location
Karie wet mill, Rutuma FCS cooperative Society

Varietal: SL 28, SL34 and 10% of Ruiru 11
Altitude: 1600 -1700 masl
ProcMethod: Fully washed and sundried


additional notes:

No. of Producers: 836 Members
Average Farm Size: 1.0 acres - 300 trees per farm

that's 836 different farmers/farms in the co-op with an average of 300 trees per farm; the end result in one bag is a pretty sweet sample of what coffee tastes like from that specific part of Mount Kenya

processing method:

"Timely and selective hand picking is carried out in Karie wet mill. Cherry is delivered to the wet mill the same day it is picked.  Cherry sorting is carried out at the wet mill prior to the pulping. Red ripe cheries are separated from underipes, overipes and foreign matter. Processing utilizes clean river water (wet processing) that is recirculated before disposal into seepage pits. Sun drying is done before delivery of the coffee to the dry mill for secondary processing."   -Cafe Imports

historical background:

"Rutuma FCS has 7 wet mills: Ruthagati, Ngandu, Kianjogu, Karie, Marua, Githima and Ndurutu. The coop is located at Mathira division-Mathira West District. Geographically it lies on the slopes of Mt.Kenya.The society was registered under the cooperative societies act on the 10th January 1951.Formerly, these 7 wet mills belonged to the former Giant Mathira FCS but after the split they formed Rutuma FCS."  -Cafe Imports

over 60 years of growing and producing coffee is represented in this coffee. 

tasting notes: 

sweet, key lime, grapefruit, raisin

Agtron:

53-65
 
roaster notes:

we thought it might be best to lay off the heat and stretch this one out a bit;  hoping to preserve all of the sweetness and fruit flavors previously profiled.  key lime pie is not something we have ever tasted in coffee before and we hope to bring that experience to you.

 
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cupping

cupped some sample roasts today: varietals that we are sort of auditioning for spots in our offering lineup.  highlights were a nice Rwandan with a zesty mix of plum and lime sensations and a delicate Costa Rican offering which balanced sweet butterscotch and caramel with a mild fruitiness.  we'll let you know if we pick any of those up, and also how the rest of our million bags of sample green taste. 

sample roasting

sample roasting a few new varietals today- got a Burundi and a Rwanda. 90 grams a batch on our Probat PRE 1 electric roaster. we'll let you know how it went in a couple days.

El Salvador Teopan Pacamara Blend SOLD OUT!

Name: Teopan pacamara blend
Producer: Felix Ernesto Canizalez Portillo

Origin: El Salvador

Region: Planes de la Laguna, Santa Ana, Santa Ana

Farm: Teopan

Varietal: Bourbon and pacamara

Altitude: 1500 masl

Proc. Method: Fully washed and sundried

Roaster: Tommy Goetz

Agtron: 58/62

Tasting notes: Sweet, cedar, citrus, pineapple

Roaster's notes: We started the roasting of  this coffee at a little higher temperature then slowed the process down. This really accentuated the citrus notes. Also sensed a slight taste of butter.

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