Sweet Maria's Weblog

a tidal wave of new coffee arrivals

So many new arrivals at once. Some lots were delayed in shipping, but everything seemed to come in at once! Therefore, it's all I can manage right now to give you a list of links and some short descriptions - Tom

Brazil Daterra Farms -Yellow Bourbon - I have been waiting for this arrival forever; a complex coffee from a fantastic "model" farm.
Brazil FTO Dry-Process Poco Fundo - That fruited, earthy, chocolatey rustic beast. This particular lot was very nice.
Ethiopia FTO Yirgacheffe Oromia - Incredible early arrival. Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine.
Rwanda FT Duhingekawa Womens Cooperative - A sweet citrusy coffee from 70 women in Rushashi Rwanda.
Sumatra FTO Gayo - Tanah Tinggi - Extremely low acidity, high body, dense, foresty.
Hawaii Kona - Kowali Blue Mountain - A micro, micro lot of Jamaica Blue Mountain seedstock grown by Skip and Rita in Hawaii.
Hawaii Kona - Moki's Farm - Typica cultivar in the traditional vein from a true mauka farm in Kona.

yemen, espresso competition, and stuff.

We are waiting on some other new coffee arrivals (and a couple new merch arrivals too) but I wanted to highlight the Yemen Mokha Sana'ani. Sometimes we switch to a new lot, and forget to underscore the fact, or even mention it! This new crop Sana'ani is quite dynamic and has some very lively bittering chocolate and spice notes. This lot exemplifies the postitive aspects of "leathery" flavors in a better way than any Yemen I can recall. Yes, leather can be good! We also have a new Sumatra Tapanuli WP Decaf which is quite nice (an very useful for a base low-caf or no-caf blends, espresso too). In fact, 60-40 with the Yemen Sana' ani as the later is an amazing low-caf blend. On a different note, this weekend up in Petaluma, Sonoma County, is the WRBC Barista Competition. I'll be giving a presentation about sweet maria's, home roasting, and what-have-you. If you have any idea what I will be talking about, please email me and let me know.

sort-of, kinda, halfway-ready-to-go new coffee arrivals

I keep re-roasting and re-cupping these lots to finish the reviews ... but they ARE indeed available, and I am half-way done with my descriptions. I blame lack-of-sleep due to my new status as "dad." It is making me inarticulate. Well, more inarticulate. Anyway, we get people looking for Central American offerings, wondering why our selection in that area seems half-hearted. Well, it should be at this time of the year! If you are wondering where the Costa Rica is, I remind you that it would be a crime to offer a CR coffee at this time of year: it would either be old and on the edge of extinction, or a low-grown, too-young coffee from the new crop. But here is a truly "peak-of-harvest" offering that has the same bright, lively acidity of a CR lot: Colombia Organic Nari?±o - San Lorenzo . We also have 2 micro-lot Peru offerings from small growers I met on my last trip to the Cuzco region of the Andes: Peru Tunquimayo - Juan de Dios and Peru Las Delicias - Zenon Vargas. The reviews are coming pronto ... they just need the finishing touches. And we also received a favorite Brazil of mine from last year, Nazareith Dias Perreira and Aprocam (the farm matriarch, and the name we sold it under last year, and the cooperative, Aprocam). This year, we use the farm name: Brazil Carmo de Minas - Fazenda Sertao. -Tom

hawaii comes to you

Mid-harvest Hawaii Kona - Purple Mountain Farm has arrived, my choice for a darker roast treatment to produce an excellent bittersweet cup character with hints of macademia nut, vanilla, and aromatic wood. The body is very silky and (relatively speaking) the acidity is quite low. The preparation of the green coffee is very nice too (a complaint I had about this coffee 2 years ago). It screens as 18/19, and Estate Grade coffee that is basically a Fancy/Extra-Fancy Mix. Hmmm... this blog needs more pictures so here's something from a Kona cupping trip:

Giant, healthy 15 foot Typica trees in Kona

Giant, healthy 15 foot tall Typica trees in Kona

the eclectic mix of new arrivals

We have an unsual assortment of new coffees. The Winner: a super small lot of Peru Concurso Huallaga - 1st Place, the coffee that won the event I judged in Nov 2006 (it took a bit to get here). The African: We have a new lot of Rwanda Butare Bourbon, from one of the top-rated "washing stations" (i.e. coffee mills), Bufcafe. The Sneaky Decaf: There is not way that, in a blind evaluation cupping of this lot of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe WP Decaf, I would ever suspect it was a decaf; citrus blossoms, orange honey, jasmine. The Stinker: I am excited, yes, actually excited about our new Thumbs Down: Sulawesi Goo Goo Muck lot. It really really sucks!