We have a new crop lot of the very elegant Costa Rica Vino de Arabia in stock, another of our Micro-Mill coffees from Brumas del Zurqui. We’ll have some very unusual lots from Brumas later. If you know our coffees from year’s past, red this name carefully: Panama Boquete Lerida Estate “Miel”. It’s not the wet-process Peaberry (which will come in August). It’s unique and makes amazing S.O. espresso too! I have been hinting at another great DP Ethiopia, and here it is: Ethiopia Organic Dry-Process Koratie. The numbers tell the story on this one. And along those lines we have the highest rated Tanzania we have ever offered Tanzania Blackburn Estate AA
Hi all - I wanted to give a “heads up” on an experiment Maria and I have talked about a lot. Basically, we want to simplify our shipping and also give some incentive to people who are getting hit with higher shipping costs. So starting July 7 at 9am (Monday after the holiday weekend) and running until July 31, we are going to try out this idea:
To anywhere in the contiguous 48 states (no AK, HI or AE/AP), Sweet Maria’s Flat Rate shipping will be:
0-20 Lbs. = $7.99
21-40 Lbs. = $13.99
41-60 Lbs. = $20.99
Orders can be for coffee and/or merchandise. Shipping method will be our discretion - UPS Ground or USPS Priority Mail - so transit times will be between the UPS Ground transit time (up to 6 days to northern New England) and USPS Priority Mail (sometimes mysteriously fast, sometimes mysteriously slow). Can not be combined with other discounts or offers. We might adopt this permanently, but for now it’s just July 7-31. We may need to tweak the details as we go - we’ll see how complicated it gets and how folks like it.
I have some new lots arriving, including that great Ethiopia dry-process Koratie and 2 more Costa Ricas, but we can’t pick them up until Monday, so look for them on Tuesday or so. Maria and Ben and I are headed to San Diego tomorrow. Sweet Maria’s is closed on Friday. Have a great 4th!
I guess we can call it a Sweet Maria’s classic … we have offered this Guatemala coffee for 4 years now and it only get’s better: The excellent, award-winning Guatemala Finca San Jose Ocaña is back. Yes, another great Kenya lot from the Auctions has arrived (we have been trying, if possible, to offer a trio of Kenyas with very different flavor profiles at any given time). Kenya AA Auction Lot #758 -Hiriga is a brught, sparky Nyeri district coffee with passionfruit flavors, sweet orange and black currant. We have a new lot of Honduras we are switching to, the Honduras Organic Maracala -Cocosam Coop was a real winner from last year, and the fact the cup quality held up for so long is due to the expert processing received at this great coop.
We have received our first three Costa Rica coffees … the first of many, many farm-direct small lots we will offer this season! Costa Rica Helsar de Zarcero -Villa Sarchi is a distinct variety of coffee (Villa Sarchi) that the farm separated for us, with a very balanced cup profile, whereas Costa Rica El Puente "Caturra Miel" is the first of several "Honey Coffees" we’ll have. (Miel is a hybrid between wet-process and dry-process which leaves more fruit on the bean). The Costa Rica Asoproaaa Coop Tarrazu is a classic wet-processed coffee, but with vivid brightness, floral aroma, and nut-chocolate roast tones.
We are receiving new coffees at a remarkable rate… Today we have available;
- A new Peaberry lot of the excellent El Salvador Matalapa, as well as (coincidently) a new peaberry lot of the Poco Fundo Organic coffee from Brazil. And there are 3 new African lots (Ethiopia-Kenya-Kenya)!
- Ethiopia Dry-Process Limu: Honey lemonade brightness, herbal tea notes, very lively for a dry-process coffee.
- Kenya Auction Lot #425 -Karimikui Peaberry: Ruby red grapefruit bright notes, glazed almond, light molasses.
- Kenya Auction Lot #643 -Mutitu: Winey fruits and black currant in this Nyeri district coffee.
- Coming tomorrow … the first 3 of many Costa Rica Micro-Lots!
Friday appears to be “new coffee day” at Sweet Maria’s. We have some interesting new Central American lots:
- Mexico FTO Chiapas - La Union Coop: I think the quality is up this year, with a brighter, more articulate acidity.
- Nicaragua Esteli -Nueva Esperanza Coop: A classic milk-chocolate-and-nut Nicaragua flavor profile.
- Panama Boquete Golden Peaberry: Bright and surprisingly more complex and intense than typical Panamas
- Panama Don Pepe Estate Dry-Process: Wins the award for unconventional; like a Ethiopia Harar or DP Sidamo!
- In other big news this week, we were in on the Guatemala Cup of Excellence #1 Auction Lot, El Injerto Estate Pacamara, lot that went for north of $80/Lb. green in the auction. Stumptown did
the bidding and gets the majority of it, Kentaro Maruyama and his Mikatajuku group will offer it in Japan, and we get just one bag (154 Lbs). But oh what an expensive bag it will be, adding import
and transportation too… Ay Caramba! Still, it’s shy of the +$100 we spent on Batch 2 at the Panama Esmeralda Gesha auction… sure makes these 4 new arrivals seem quite reasonable!
- Guatemala Organic Finca Ceylan Maragogype: An outstanding large-bean Maragogype lot, smoky, bright, unusual.
- Panama Carmen Estate 1800+ Meters: Our special selection from this outstanding farm; crisp and bright.
- Brazil Cachoeira “Canario Bourbon“: This is a boutique lot of an unusual sub-type of Bourbon coffee - floral!
- Brazil Jacu Bird Coffee!: The bird is back. We bought all of this, er, bird-processed coffee, and had it vac-packed.
- Colombia Cauca Finca El Roble (4-Star): New top-notch microlot from the farmer Geraldina Chango. Fruited
… - Colombia Huila Finca Buenavista (4-Star): Our second selection that made the 88+ score to be a 4-Star lot.
- Colombia Huila Finca Las Mesitas (4-Star): Our third 88+ lot, from the Timana region of Central Huila
- Ethiopia Organic “Menno’s Misty Valley”: A silly name but a great, intense, heavily fruited lot … 5 Lb. limit.
- Ethiopia Organic Yirga Cheffe: Super floral, sweet, citrusy; this is an incredible wet-processed Yirga Cheffe arrival.
- Brazil Cerrado WP Decaf: A great blend base for decaf espresso, or lo-caf blends. Neutral, good body.
To understand the title, I guess you need to see the photo. Then again I still don’t understand it. I have another 300 pictures to go with that one coming soon. We have some amazing micro-lot Colombias coming soon, as well as Panama Carmen Estate 1800 meter later this week (great cup, again, and no.2 at Panama competition, again). I know, I know, everyone is wondering where the Costa Rica micro-lots are. We are going to have our first arrivals later this week! Remember, these are true mid-harvest coffees. You can buy Centrals in February and they are low-grown, or in March you can buy the very first pickings from higher altitude. But patience pays off in coffee.
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