Notes: This is the first time we have been able to offer the exact same lot of Costa Rican estate coffee in both Decaf and non-Decaf. And cupping them side-by-side, it is remarkable how much the sweet, crisp, clean, bright La Magnolia cup character has survived the decaffeination process. This is going to sound ridiculous, but this coffee has a lot of "coffee flavor". I just don’t know how else to describe the clean, balanced charm of this cup profile, and it has been like this for years. We have been stocking the La Magnolia, a coffee milled to exacting standards, for quite a few years now. The coffee comes from a small beneficio, and used to be sold exclusively in Europe. And year after year this mill is producing a consistently excellent cup under the classic La Magnolia trade name. Each year I put it up against all the other Costa samples in a blind cupping, and it simply shimmers. By now it's no surprise when I turn over the I.D. card for the sample and see it's the La Magnolia. The wet aromatics turn much more lively and dynamic, with citrus-flower blooms and the smell of sweet bread baking. The cup has a light body and a mild intensity to match, a beautifully delicate and refined cup. It has nippy citrus flavors with just a twist of rind, a crystalline sugar sweetness, and a beautifully sweet finish. Roasted to a City+, this is one of the most beautiful and delicate coffees my palate has had the pleasure of enjoying. It is especially true with the La Magnolia that any dirtiness in your brewing system will show up very clearly in this cup, about as desirable as stepping on a thorn ... so keep your stuff clean and enjoy this sweet nuanced cup! I think it's a more complex cup than last year, but still has the top end of the flavor spectrum, that crystal clear brightness that defines the really good Costa Rican coffees.

Notes: This is going to sound ridiculous, but this coffee has a lot of "coffee flavor". I just don’t know how else to describe the clean, balanced charm of this cup profile, and it has been like this for years. We have been stocking the La Magnolia, a coffee milled to exacting standards, for quite a few years now. The coffee comes from a small beneficio, and used to be sold exclusively in Europe. And year after year this mill is producing a consistently excellent cup under the classic La Magnolia trade name. Each year I put it up against all the other Costa samples in a blind cupping, and it simply shimmers. By now it's no surprise when I turn over the I.D. card for the sample and see it's the La Magnolia. There are both mid-range floral and hazelnut hints in the dry fragrance, along with a mild secondary aroma of caraway seed. The wet aromatics turn much more lively and dynamic, with citrus-flower blooms and the smell of sweet bread baking. The cup has a light body and a mild intensity to match, a beautifully delicate and refined cup. It has nippy tangerine citrus flavors with just a twist of rind, a crystalline sugar sweetness, and a beautifully sweet finish. Roasted to a City+, this is one of the most beautiful and delicate coffees my palate has had the pleasure of enjoying. It is especially true with the La Magnolia that any dirtiness in your brewing system will show up very clearly in this cup, about as desirable as stepping on a thorn ... so keep your stuff clean and enjoy this sweet nuanced cup! I think it's a more complex cup than last year, but still has the top end of the flavor spectrum, that crystal clear brightness that defines the really good Costa Rican coffees.

Notes: Hacienda La Amistad is located out there in coffee farm "lonesome town," isolated from the large well-known Costa Rica growing regions (Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Dota, Wwest Valley, etc.) near the in the La Amistad nature preserve. (Click here for a map -red dot is farm.) The La Amistad farm is located above 1200 meters and is next to the border between Costa Rica and Panama, in fact I have walked into the La Amistad nature preserve from Finca Hartmann in the Panama region of Volcan. This farm has been a family farm for generations and the family has kept much of it as natural forest. It is now a "National Private Protected Area" called Las Tablas, which forbids people from hunting, extracting wood or doing any damage to the area. The reserve is located next to the National Park, La Amistad, one of the few National Parks between two countries and is the largest reserve area in Costa Rica. It is also the location of the new La Amistad Biosphere. Coffee is the main crop of the farm, but it also is largely self-sufficient, with some of the other activities contributing to the quality of the coffee; there are organic vegetable gardens on the estate, growing jalapeno and sweet peppers to make their own organic salsa. The farm has plenty of native shade trees, and in addition to these, Erythrina and leguminous trees were added for a supply of Nitrogen to the coffee system. The coffee from The streams from the rain forest supply the water for washing the coffee as well as the power source for the farm, due to it's own hydro-electrical plant. The fertilizers for the coffee plants come from composting the waste from the animals, the cherry pulp, leaves, and ashes. The coffee is dried on cement patios as weather conditions permit and is then sent for milling, which is done to our specific and very strict standards. Now, I admit, I have been under-whelmed by the La Amistad in recent years. It' is so mild it falls flat on it's face; no muscle, no scructure. But I always cup everything despite my own opinions and proclaimations ... and what I find here is an early lot that is clean, sweet, balanced, with really nice nut and milk chocolate roast tastes. To me this means 2 things: It is a great breakfast coffee and it's a crowd-pleaser; you'll like it, family will like it, grandma will like it. And it brews verrrrry nice in a vacuum brewer too.

Notes: Wet-processed Sidamo is a coffee we usually don't stock: it is similar in the cup to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, another wet-process coffee, and often cups out as a lesser cousin. The irony is this: Sidamo is a major coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia and Yirgacheffe is a small sub-region centered around a village of the same name. So in fact, Yirgacheffe coffees are Sidamos. How's that for confusing? What I find when evaluating the wet-processsed Sidamo coffees is that every so often a unique lot comes along that, in a way, out-Yirgacheffes the Yirgacheffes. The fact is, wet-processed Sidamo is a pain, and simply confuses people used to the dry-processed Sidamo (totally different in the cup) and the Yirgs. It better be good if I am going to buy: What I am looking for is intense aromatics, a clean cup without taints, fruited and floral flavors, complexity, and good finish. This is it. This lot came in, I got the sample, called back to buy, and by the next morning the full lot (250 bags) was gone! That's how it is with a good lot. Anyway, I probably over-roasted the first sample I prepared of this lot (it was Full City+, having gone a few snaps into 2nd crack). I like wet-processed Ethiopia coffees lighter. But it had great, sweet aromatics, good acidity, fruity and floral, with plum and raisin in the cup, black pepper in the finish, pungent spicey, and nice mouthfeel (more than Yirgacheffes). I was impressed, and thought I must of switched samples with a Yirgacheffe. I re-roasted to a more appropriate City+ (completly through first crack, no sign of 2nd crack) and the coffee just soared. The lively brightness in the cup held a perfect high note, while citrus accents came through in the fruited cup flavors. Oddly though, I found myself liking that Full City roast more, having this great complexity between sweet fruited notes, bright acidity and pungent spice, dark fruit, and roastiness. But you can't go wrong with a roast of either C+ of FC here.

Roast: City+. Roast this too light and the cup is too sour, the roast taste is more like baked grain, rather than sweetly pungent. Also, I found that Full City-Full City+ resulted in great complexity -see the review notes.

Notes: Wet-processed Sidamo is a coffee we usually don't stock: it is similar in the cup to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, another wet-process coffee, and often cups out as a lesser cousin. The irony is this: Sidamo is a major coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia and Yirgacheffe is a small sub-region centered around a village of the same name. So in fact, Yirgacheffe coffees are Sidamos. How's that for confusing? What I find when evaluating the wet-processsed Sidamo coffees is that every so often a unique lot comes along that, in a way, out-Yirgacheffes the Yirgacheffes. The fact is, wet-processed Sidamo is a pain, and simply confuses people used to the dry-processed Sidamo (totally different in the cup) and the Yirgs. It better be good if I am going to buy: What I am looking for is intense aromatics, a clean cup without taints, fruited and floral flavors, complexity, and good finish. This is it. This lot came in, I got the sample, called back to buy, and by the next morning the full lot (250 bags) was gone! That's how it is with a good lot. Anyway, I probably over-roasted the first sample I prepared of this lot (it was Full City+, having gone a few snaps into 2nd crack). I like wet-processed Ethiopia coffees lighter. But it had great, sweet aromatics, good acidity, fruity and floral, with plum and raisin in the cup, black pepper in the finish, pungent spicey, and nice mouthfeel (more than Yirgacheffes). I was impressed, and thought I must of switched samples with a Yirg. I re-roasted to a more appropriate City+ (completly through first crack, no sign of 2nd crack) and the coffee just soared. The lively brightness in the cup held a perfect high note, while citrus accents came through in the fruited cup flavors. Oddly though, I found myself liking that Full City roast more, having this great complexity between sweet fruited notes, bright acidity and pungent spice, dark fruit, and roastiness.

Compare to: Bright, bold, floral, fruity cup similar to Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.

This coffee is NOT like the Dry-Process Sidamo (or Harar)