Sweet Maria's Weblog

Roasted Coffee for the Holidays

Two coffees that ought to be crowd pleasers, if not super familiar names: Papua New Guinea Baroida Estate, a unique estate coffee from the Eastern Highlands of PNG. Sweet and lushly fruited in both aromatics and cup flavors, spice accents, red apple, orange peel, syrupy light body. Roasted to a (light) Full City. We suggest you try this coffee along with our other roasted coffee offering, India Poabs Organic Seethargundu Estate , a complex and surprisingly bright coffee, mild at first but intensifies greatly as it cools. It falls between the clean brightness of a washed Central and the rustic flavors and body of an Indo coffee. Roasted to Full City. Both are very accessible coffees and a bit darker perhaps than we normally roast - which makes them a bit more accessible. And for our roasted espresso offerings - we have the same India Poabs Organic Seethargundu Estate roasted a bit darker for a single origin espresso, and our Sweet Maria's Espresso Monkey blend. Roasted on 12/13/2011

Two special edition sets, and a new workshop blend

El Salvador Finca Kilimanjaro 2 Lb Set, Colombia Tolima Small Farmer Set, 5 Micro Lots, Espresso Workshop #20 - Gneiss Shot. Today we are adding some very special sets of coffee. El Salvador Finca Kilimanjaro 2 Lb Set is a great chance to see how process affects cup flavor in a high quality lot. One pound is the way you've come to enjoy Finca Kilimanajaro lots, traditional wet process (TWP). The second pound utilizes a different "Kenya-process" (KP) and produces a bit more floral aroma in the cup and subtle changes to the flavor profile of ripe fruit and intense caramel sweetness. Which one do you like better? Let us know via the forum. Colombia Tolima Small Farmer Set, 5 Micro Lots is something we've been wanting to do for a long time; present 5 lots of coffee from the same region but, carefully grown by different farmers. All of these are outstanding coffees that score above 88 points and have nuanced differences within the framework of what we've come to expect from Tolima lots: winey fruit, spicey hints, syrupy body, and golden raisin sweetness. Which farmer's lot do you like best? Finally, Espresso Workshop #20 - Gneiss Shot is a bright shot that excels at roast levels as light as City+ with tangerine acidity, semi-sweet chocolate, and caramelized sugar.

Five, Count 'em Five New Coffees

El Salvador Matalapa -Tablon El Naranjo, Ethiopia DP Sidama Aleta Wondo, Kenya Nyeri Ngunguru, India Poabs Organic Seethargundu Estate, and Sumatra Gayo Mandheling. Now that Thanksgiving is behind us we are looking forward to a fun December of shipping coffee as fast (and accurately) as humanly possible. We are adding five great lots today from all over the world. El Salvador Matalapa - Tablon El Naranjo is from one of our favorite farms and this lot is cupping great with balance between brightness, flavor, and body; great as SO espresso. Ethiopia DP Sidama Aleta Wondo is a fruit salad smorgasbord with mango, passionfruit, and guava at light roasts, caramel and chocolate at darker roasts. Kenya Nyeri Ngunguru has candy-like sweetness, melon, peach, cran-raspberry juice notes, and intense brightness. India Poabs Organic Seethargundu Estate is a wonderfully complex surprise arrival that works at a wide range of roasts. Sumatra Gayo Mandheling is a classic rustic lot with bass-note profile and brooding character.

Roasted El Majahual and Alaga Sekala

This pairing features two outstanding lots: El Salvador El Majahual - Tablon La Montana was roasted to Full City to highlight the hazelnut roast tones and maple finish, this is a balanced, classic bourbon. We also roasted Ethiopia Limu Jimma - Alaga Sekala to City+ so you can really taste the jasmine tea and peach pie notes. This pair will keep your taste buds interested for solid week, enjoy.

Celebrate Humpday with new CR, Bolivia and Kenya

Happy humpday, and what better way to celebrate than with three great new arrivals: Costa Rica Los Nacientes is a different sort of cup than our other CR's with lower acidity and more body, there is a nice effervescence and nutty roast tones as well. Next up is Bolivia Beneficio Buenaventura Lot 45 a delicate and floral cup that works well across the roast spectrum. Finally, Kenya Nyeri Hill Estate Peaberry has bold intensity and potent brightness, this is a very small lot so there is a 2lb limit.