Tom, Josh and Derek are back from the SCAA show. This whole cupper vs. barista thing was really on everyone’s minds. Also, our Rwanda roast did quite well in the Roaster’s Choice competition despite some very, very beautiful coffees we were up against. We were just hoping to make the top 10! Oddly, I had misread it as “Taster’s Choice competition”, and was at Costco looking for 30 Lbs of Taster’s Choice to enter … which wouldn’t have done quite as well as the Rwanda.
Less
More
We have received our 2 exotic Nicaragua lots featured in seasons past: Nicaragua Pacamara Peaberry is the ovoid version of the huge bean crops between Pacas and Maragogype cultivars. We also have the unusual Nicaragua Limoncillo Java Longberry Cultivar back, with a unique distinction that (under a different name) it placed #2 in the Cup of Excellence this year! We already have lots of super fancy Brazils, but this one is in a league of it’s own: Brazil Carmo de Minas -Fazenda Esperança has been a top 10 lot in Brazil Cup of Excellence several times, including #1 top spot in the last one! The review explains my feelings about this incredible lot. And Sumatra Lake Tawar 19+ Extra Bold is back, bolder than ever, super-premium coffee with incredible size and preparation, and a real powerhouse cup this season.
We just received the new crop lot of Rwanda Duhingekawa Women’s Cooperative coffee from this Fair Trade group, and it has the same balanced, slightly citric profile as last year’s great delivery. Read more about their unique group here. We also have the classic Sulawesi Grade One Toraja, a traditional semi-washed Indonesia with great bean preparation (few defects, and oddly, almost no chaff when roasting). And I am off to the SCAA conference in Minneapolis. Actually, Josh and Derek are coming too, so watch out Minnesota! Maria and the crew are holding down the fort and keeping the orders rolling.
New crop Central American lots are starting to come in. The first new crop Guatemala is from Fraijanes: Guatemala Finca La Florencia 100% Bourbon, a classic, balanced old-cultivar cup with surprisingly dense body. We also have a very limited amount of Jamaica Blue Mountain. Okay, not really. The JBM from Jamaica has cupped out flat as a board this year, but we have Hawaii Kowali Blue Mountain (JBM Cultivar) grown by this excellent small family farm in Kona.
this is pretty much the highest level of hand-sorting, when coffee is visually sorted at a desk, not a conveyor, and not just machine color-sorting. You see this a lot in Guatemala. In one day, a person might do just 50 Lbs. of green coffee. It’s another of the behind-the-scenes tasks between the tree and the cup that is too often taken for granted.
Yemen Coffee Bonanza! It’s a first; we currently have 4 distinct Yemeni coffee selections at Sweet Maria’s, and one tea. Yes, tea … coffee tea … made from the dried skins of the coffee fruit! It’s called Yemen Qishr Tea and is a very unique experience. These Yemeni coffee lots are clean and balanced compared to selections from the past, and at least 2 (Ismaili and Sharasi) result in some of the best Single Origin Espresso I have had this year! Yemen Mokha Ismaili is spicy, lush, velvety, and a bit more earthy than the others. It’s the best Ismaili in 2 years. Yemen Mokha Mattari has winey fruit and chocolate, my favorite brewed cup. Yemen Mokha Sharasi is a lot I found in Yemen last November, delicate, fruited, refined, and an incredible SO espresso. We have other arrivals too: Indonesia Flores “Jade” is unlike the previous offers from this tiny island, rustic, intense, more Sumatra-like. Speaking of Sumatra, we have a great Sumatra Organic Mandheling that cups better than the numbers indicate. Read the review. And here’s robusta you can drink as a French Press brew! (Although we still recommend it chiefly for espresso blend use: India Robusta- Jeelan Estate Sitara.
We have some arrivals that should interest folks greatly. First off, great Harar is back! Fruited, spicy, rustic, complex. I think it’s a general “up” year for Harar but this particular lot blows the rest away: Ethiopia Harar Horse DP - Lot 17406. Perhaps one of the most spendy coffees of the year is this Bolivia Cup of Excellence - San Ignacio. It’s only fair to call it a “Nano-Lot”, truly sub-Micro, and we have to limit it to 1 Lb. per person. (At this price it might be wise, but it is certainly worth it! ) And oddly enough, we have only a small amount of Costa Rica Dota Conquistador to offer, hence the 2 Lb. limit. But it’s a nice cup this year. Colombia Antioquia - Jardin Cerulean Warbler has one of the oddest names, but read the review and you’ll see that it is both a great, delicate cup, and part of an interesting conservation project. And probably least exciting to the majority of you all, Colombia MC Decaf - Huila Tolima. But it has a very bright fruited cup, an exemplary decaf
As someone who is on the fence about the Clover (love the idea, like the people, have some reservations about the cup) … I am shocked. A lot of respectable people have been cheerleaders for the Clover , and I imagine they feel really burned. But think of all those small places that coughed up $11k per machine (or a bit more). What’s it worth to them now if Starbucks will have one just across the street. Clover was part of a quality initiative to elevate the level of brewed coffee, to give the independent a better chance against the chains. Of course, it’s a very savvy move by Starbucks, something called “recuperation” in culture studies. But it’s a sad day for specialty coffee (it that term still means anything). Now what the hell is the Mastrena? Just another robot espresso machine …
Tom
Recent Comments