Friday, September 3, 2010

New Ethiopian Coffees

Today we will be receiving a delivery of two new Ethiopian Coffees. They are both fantastic coffees. These are the cupping notes from the importer, Royal Coffee, NY.

Fair Trade/ Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Oromia Co-op - "After waiting through some shipping delays, our patience has been rewarded, the Oromia Co-op has delivered another great Yirgacheffe. The cup starts with nice lemon and orange tones followed by sweet citrus-peach hints and a very pleasant floral finish. All these characteristics lend themselves to the delicate balance we expect from a great Yirgacheffe."

Ethiopian Natural Sidamo Grade 3 Guji Special - "Hands down the best natural Ethiopian this year. The Grade 3 distinction means the coffee was triple hand sorted and more defects removed resulting in a better cup than the traditional Grade 4. At a light roast the Guji delivered the fruitiness we were looking for, sweet and syrupy strawberry flavors with blueberry tones and chocolate-citrus notes at the finish."

I'm excited to offer both of these coffees. This is the third year we have offered the Oromia Yirgacheffe. It doesn't seem possible that we are almost into our third year in business. Time flies when you're having fun!!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Two New Coffees

We received a coffee shipment on Wednesday afternooon.  Two of them are new crop coffees.  The first is a coffee that we will be offering for the third year.  It is a Guatemalan Huehuetenango from Finca El Injertal.  This coffee is Rainforest Alliance certified, and has been one of my favorites.  It is used as the house coffee at Dexter's Cafe at SUNY Potsdam, and Oswegatchie Coffee in Gouverneur.  The cupping notes from Royal Coffee are as follows,   " This new arrival from the El Injertal estate is a burst of citrus-flavored acidity.  The sweet cup starts off with lemony-orange notes accompanied by a buttery, caramel body and ending with a long-lasting chocolate finish."  It  sounds great, and I can't wait to get it into the roaster.  

The next new coffee is Nicaragua Selva Negra.  This coffee is certified Organic and Rainforest Alliance.  Selva Negra is the finca which produces this fantastic coffee.  The Royal, NY Cupping notes are, " another year of great quality from Eddy and Mausi Kuhl of the Selva Negra Estate!  We consider the Selva Negra Estate to be one of our finest Rain Forest Alliance coffees; at the cupping table it scored high marks in both body and character, balanced by a medium acidity and honey sweetness.  The smooth body is highlighted by strong chocolate and sweet lemon notes topped off with a subtle citrus-orange flavor at the finish."  I'll be roasting this later today.  It will definitely be my afternoon coffee today. 

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Coffee Shipment

We received 5 bags of coffee on Wednesday.  I've been using a lot of Sumatran, especially the Gayo Supreme fair trade/organic.  I use a Sumatran in several of my blends and sales of some of these have been increasing rapidly.  These are all coffees that we use regularly with the exception of a different Peru and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.  The LaFlorida is no longer available until the next crop comes out this summer.  The replacement is Peru  Cooparm.  This is very similar to the LaFlorida, smooth and rich with milk chocolate notes and a buttery finish.  I had the opportunity to cup the new Organic Yirgacheffe when I visited Royal Coffee earlier this month.  It is a fantastic coffee, smooth with intense floral and blueberry notes and nice body and acidity.  Any coffee lover will find this a very fine and interesting coffee.  The other coffee that arrived is FTO Guatemala Huehuetenango.  This is another coffee that we use a lot of.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Coffee House Name

I have made an offer to purchase The Field's Coffeehouse(Jack & Wezzie's) in Potsdam and the offer was accepted.  Lisa and I are very excited about this.  I think it will be a huge challenge as well  as a lot of fun.  If the bank and owner of the building agree with my plans we will be making big changes to the shop.  The setup will be totally different, and much more functional.  

We will also be changing the name.  I have a lot of ideas, but would like to ask for help with this from my readers.  If any of you suggest a name and I decide to use it, you will win one pound of St. Lawrence Valley Roasters (your choice) coffee per month for 6 months.  I'm hoping this will generate some good input and maybe some discussion.  Thanks ahead of time for your help with this.

The Really Big Show



We have spent the last two days at Cheel Arena at The St. Lawrence Chamber of Commerce's "Really Big Show".  It was a lot of fun and we met a lot of coffee lovers, some who were familiar with our coffee and some who were not.  Show's like this are great because they give us a new group to meet and talk to.  I love to talk coffee and to help folks learn more about my favorite beverage.  It also is a chance to reconnect with old friends and aquaintances.  Joanne Roberts form The Chamber of Commerce does a great job planning and setting up these events.  Thanks Joanne!

Here are three pics from the show.  As usual I forgot to take many.  

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Road Trip

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Our trip began on Tuesday afternoon.  The ride was long, rainy and windy.  There was a 2 hour delay on the thruway. Due to an accident it took 2 hours to go 4 miles.  The heavy rain and wind made driving difficult in heavy traffic.  It was a long day.  We finally arrived at our Motel at 10:30pm. 

Wednesday was much better.  It was still windy, but with blue skies and sunshine. We had a great visit and roaster demonstration from Chris Crain at Delaware City Coffee in Claymont Delaware. Chis sells Geometrico Roasters. Geometrico is his own brand.  They are unique in appearance because the metal around the drum is a hexagon.  Chis also served us a very nice cup of Papua New Guinea coffee.                                   
                                                                             

Our next stop was Rojo's Roastery in Lambertville, NJ. David Waldman is the owner and roaster. His roaster is a restores 1950's vintage Probat which he purchased from the original owners in France.  It is a beautiful machine.  We had a fantastic cup of David's Guatemalan Huehuetenango.  Wow, an amazing coffee!!  David's shop is very interesting.  In addition to coffee he also stocks many types of coffee equipment for home and shop use.
                                             
Then it was off to Rook Coffee Roasters in Oakhurst NJ..  This is a brand new business.  We enjoyed Ethiopian Harrar and a great talk with Holly and Shawn the owners/roasters. They roast with a 3 kilo US Roasters Roaster and are putting out great coffee.  All of the coffee they serve is pour over. 

The final stop of the day was at Jersey Shore Roasters in Leonardo, NJ.  This  turned out to be just down the street from where my nephew grew up.   Andy and Paul showed us their operation and we talked for an hour while tasting one of their blends and some Sumatran.  Jersey Shore has been in business for about 5 years and use a 5 kilo Ambex Roaster.  They are also at a stage where they need larger capacity and are also looking to upgrade to a larger machine.  They also offer many of the same coffees that I do, and buy primarily from Royal, NY. 

That night we stayed with some old friends in Atlantic Highlands NJ.  This is my nephews hometown.  It was great to get back and visit.  Thanks to Linda and Chris Lucas for the hospitality, great dinner, and great time.    

Peace!  

                                       

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Planned Road Trip and New Coffees

This week I'll be taking a road trip with my nephew Travis O'Brien.  On Tuesday we are driving to Delaware to check out new coffee roasters at Delaware City Coffee in Claymont Delaware.  Chris Crain, the owner manufactures Geometrico Coffee Roasters.  I've spoken to him several times and will have the chance to see his 15 kilo roaster in action, and hopefully get to roast myself.  Roasting on a different machine is always exciting.  This meeting will take place Wednesday morning.  

After leaving there we will be checking out some roasting operations and coffee shops in New Jersey and spending the night somewhere in Northern NJ.  Thursday morning we will be stopping at Royal Coffee, NY on Staten Island.  We will be picking up 8 bags of coffee including 3 new coffees.  We will also have a cupping session with the Royal staff.  This will be a lot of fun and truly a learning experience.  The folks at Royal cup every day and have amazing palates.  Cupping with them always helps me learn more about coffee and enhances mt skills which helps me assure that the coffees we offer are the best available.  I will also get the chance to taste some new coffees that Royal is offering.  After cupping we will be loading 8 bags of coffee into my Honda Element and driving home.  The ride should be interesting with all that weight in the vehicle, but it's a Honda so there shouldn't be a problem.    

The new coffees are:

Costa Rican Naranjo Especial - smooth sweet lemon with clean milk chocolate flavor, clean with nice acidity and  good body

Fair Trade/Organic Timor - medium body, nice balance with dark chocolate syruppy flavor

Ethiopian East Harrar - mild acidity, heavy body, mild blueberry and  chocolate flavors

They will all be great!

Peace!


Friday, March 26, 2010

Costa Rican La Amistad

  1. La Amistad
It is a beautiful, sunny, cold morning in Lisbon.  The east wind is whipping across our hay field.  In the house the wood stove is stoked and my coffee cup is hot.  My coffee this morning is Organic Costa Rican La Amistad.  This is a perfect example of a Costa Rican coffee.  It has nice acidity, good body, and a long smooth sweet lemony, chocolatey finish.  It is a great morning coffee, but also good any time of day.  It is not an in your face type of coffee, but a relaxing thoroughly enjoyable cup.  Many folks call Costa Ricans the "perfect coffee" due to it's wonderful balance of flavors, acidity, body, and aroma.

La Amistad Estate is  located in southern Costa Rica and is surrounded on 3 sides by rainforest.  The coffee is shade grown and is grown in a manner that allows wildlife to pass through under cover of the jungle.  If you are interested learning more about this amazing estate and how they grow their coffee in organically and sustainably check out this link.  It is a very good website.                  http://laamistad.com/ingles/ingles.html  

Try this coffee!  You won't be disappointed.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Coffee Fundraisers

The employees of St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center are selling our coffee as a fundraiser to raise money to  Support the Ogdensburg Relay for Life.  The Relay For Life Supports Cancer reseach, and honors cancer victims and survivors.  This is a worthy couse that I hope you will support.  The fundraiser will run from today 3/25 through 4/15.  Help them out and enjoy some great coffee. 

They are offering 12 ounce bags of 5 regular coffees: Sunrise Breakfast Blend, Sumatra Mandheling, Peru LaFlorida, and Baker Road BlendThey are also offering 5 flavored coffees in 12 ounce bags:  Jazzy Java, Classic Hazelnut, French Vanilla, Rich Chocolate Fudge, and Pumpkin Spice.  You also have the option of choosing a sampler pack of  2 ounce bags of either the regular or flavored coffeesAll items are $10.00 with 40% of the proceeds going to the organization.

We have 2 other fundraisers coming up soon.  The first is the Heuvelton High School French Club.  The second is part of an effort to raise money to build a school in Gembeltu, Ethiopia.  This is being spearheaded by Alex French, a young man who spent time in Ethiopia and wants to help the children of the town he lived in.  For more information you can check out their Facebook page. (Gembeltu, Ethiopia School Project)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Jane

On March 4th my sister Jane passed away ather home in Vermont after nearly 12 years of dealing with metastatic breast cancer.  She was 52 years old.  Jane was a bright, opinionated, loving, caring, and giving person who will be missed by her family and friends.  Her passing was peaceful with many of her family at her side.  I tried to spend as much time as possible with her over her last few weeks.  It was difficult to do that and keep my business going.  This is the reason my blogging has lagged a bit.    I'll get back on schedule over the next week or so.  
Thanks for looking.
Peace.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

International Coffee Lab Coffee School

Coffee School


Pour Over Brewing

When I was in the process of deciding if I really wanted to start a coffee roasting business I knew I needed to find a way to test my coffee and roasting knowledge, and to learn as much as possible about commercial roasters.  I was sitting at home reading Roast Magazine and saw an ad for a Coffee Roasting School in Waterbury Vermont at International Coffee Lab.   I called the number in the ad and talked to a very nice lady.  She told me that the next class was the following week and that there still was a space available.  My wife was away due to a family issue so I had to get the time off work and find someone to house and dog sit.  I spoke with my wife and she told me to go ahead  if I wanted to go.  I spoke with my boss and took a week of vacation and tracked down our nephew and he agreed to house sit.  I was in business so I booked my spot and made a reservation at a Old Stagecoach Bed and Breakfast for the week.   


Probat Coffee Roaster

Sunday arrived and I packed up and headed to Vermont. It was a beautiful early May day. I pulled into Waterbury and located the B&B.  It is an old Inn with a lot of character.   My room was on the third floor so I hauled my stuff up the stairs and settled in.  I was very excited and could not wait for Monday morning.

In the morning I had a fantastic breakfast and drove off to start my coffee education.  I arrived to find I was one of seven in the class and the only American.  The others were from Australia, Puerto Rico, Thailand, and Canada.  International Coffee Labs is owned and operated by Mane Aves.  Mane is an internationally known coffee expert.  His lab does testing and research for coffee businesses around the world.  He also operates Vermont Artisan Coffee, a small coffee roasting business.  This gives his students the exposure to many different aspects of the coffee business.

The first morning was spent learning about green coffee beans and their physical properties.  We studied bean size, density, moisture levels, and defects.  This is a very important aspect of roasting.  Without the best green coffee you can't  have the best roasted coffee.  In the afternoon we began talking about Roasters and the different technologies used in commercial roasters.  We also talked about sample roasters and how they work, and roasted coffee samples.  It was a great first day and only a taste of things to come.

Tuesday started with learning cupping and cupping procedures and protocols.  We cupped the samples we had roasted the day before, and spent time discussing the cuppings and the different flavors and other  aspects of cupping.  We then spent the rest of the morning covering the evaluation of roasted coffees. 
In the afternoon we returned to roasting and roasting technology.  We talked about developing roasting profiles.  A profile covers the temperature and times involved in the roast.  A profile must be develooped for each coffee in order to bring out the best flavor, and can change from year to year for the same coffee or coffee lot. 
We then had the chance to roast.  We used two roasters while we were there, a Diedrich IR-3 (3 kilo)and a Probat that roasts 8 pounds at a time.  Though these roasters are similar in size they are very different in the way they roast and in how the roast is controlled.


Cupping in the cupping lab

Day three started with roaster manitenance and cleaning. We then returned to the cupping lab and cupped the coffees that we roasted on Tuesday.    The experience gained cupping was as important as the roasting experience.  The chance to cup with people who do this on a daily basis was fantastic.  It allowed me to practice cupping and define my pallet in a way I had never been able to.  In the afternoon we again roasted and learned about taste characeristics of coffees from different origins as well as roasting to bring out the best flavors in coffees from all origins.
 

Coffee Lab

Thursday started with more cupping of the previous days roasted coffees.  We then were given green coffees and had to determine the best way to roast these coffees.  We then had to explain and justify our choices.  After lunch we talked about blending and how to develop blends and roast for blends.  We then worked on roasting coffees we had problems with and worked at correcting these problems.




Friday was a bittersweet day.  I had become close with my classmates and had enjoyed the experience and learned so much.  We again cupped and roasted and talked and laughed.  We ended the day by receiving our diplomas and sadly said goodbye.  It had been a fantastic week.

60 Kilo Roaster

My week at Coffee School was a huge benefit when it came to starting my company.  It improved my roasting dramatically.  It gave me the skills to ensure I was buying good coffee.  It gave me contacts that have been a valuable asset in developing my business.  Spending a week with Mane Aves and his staff was an amazing experience.  The depth of their knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge and to help us develop our skills was the key to the success I have had to this point.  I plan on returning to Waterbury within the next few months to spend a week taking a cupping course.  If I complete this course successfully I will be a certified SCAA Cupping Judge.   What ever happens this class will be another  huge benefit to my coffee business.

In future posts I plan to expand on some of the areas I talked about in this entry.


PEACE!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Today

I haven't had the opportunity to post any new entries due to a family illness.  Hopefully I will be writing regularly again.  I will be getting a coffee delivery next week.  Look for a couple of new crop cofees.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Roasting Today

Today was a long day of roasting.  I received orders from Scoopucino's, The Potsdam Co-op, Jack & Wezzie's Coffee Shop, The SLU Bookstore Coffee Shop, and Chapin's Country Market.   The orders totaled over 120 pounds.  It's a lot of roasting with a 3 kilo roaster.  It's a good thing that I love to roast.

Coffees roasted today were Whispering Pines Blend, Moondance Blend, Dark Star Blend, Mokha Java Blend, Flores Ngura, Sumatra Royal Select Decaf, and Peru Royal Select Decaf.  Starting tomorrow Flores Ngura will be available at The Potsdam Co-op in one of their bulk bins. 
I also roasted and flavored some coffees for Jack & Wezzies.  Tomorrow they will have fresh Blueberry, Caramel Vanilla, and Chocolate Fudge for all you flavored coffeee drinkers. 

All of these coffees are also available on our website.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Creating Blends

To blend or not to blend is a question many coffee drinkers have discussed.  There are so many fantastic coffees out there that some question the value of blending, preferring to drink and enjoy single origin coffees.  In my mind the advantage of blending is the never ending possibilites of flavor combinations to tantilize the pallet. 

I have read that the best way to develop a blend is to determine the flavor profile that you want to reach with your new blend, and then to experiment with coffees trying to fulfill that profile.  However I have approached this in a different way.  I always have several different coffees sitting in the kitchen.  Often when I want to make coffee I will try combinations of coffees.  Sometimes this works out and sometimes not.  If I like a combination, I then play with the proportions of the coffees until I find a the best possible combination.  I then decide if it is worth trying to sell and will ask friends to try the coffee out and get their perspective.  

There is also discussion among coffee roasters about the advantages of blending coffees before or after roasting.  I have blends that are done both ways.  My Whispering Pines, Baker Road, Sunrise, and Mountain Morning Blends are blended after roasting.  This allow the beans to be roasted to different levels, and allows for a compexity in the blend.  On the other hand for my Dark Star, Moondance, North Country, Sumatra Half Caff, and espresso blends I roast the beans together.  I find this process also works very well. 

Whispering Pines Blend is my best seller.  This coffee is available at the Potsdam Co-op in one of their bulk bins, and from the Mustard Seed In Watertown.  It is brewed at the SLU Bookstore Coffee Shop and Jack & Wezzie's Coffee Shop.  This coffee has nice body and acidity with fruit & chocolate notes along with a little zing added by a small amount of an Ethiopian coffee. 

Moondance Blend is roasted just into the dark roast range.  This allows the full flavors of the coffee to emerge, but keeps away the charred taste of many dark roasts.  It has good body with medium acidity.  This coffee is brewed at Jack & Wezzie's and The SLU Bookstore. 

Dark Star Blend is also a dark roast.  This coffee has notes of dark fruit and berries with a bit of spice in the finish.  Once again there is no charred flavor.  I'm not a big fan of dark roast coffee, but I like this coffee.  This is available from the Potsdam Co-op, Nature's Storehouse, and The Mustard Seed.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Coffee Arrival

We are getting a coffee shipment today.  All are Fair Trade/Organics and are all coffees that we normally have on hand.  They are all available as single origin coffee and are also all used in various blends that I have developed.  They are Sumatra Mandheling Gayo Supreme, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Ethiopian Sidamo, and Peru La Florida.  These are all great coffees! 

Cupping notes for these coffees:

Sumatra Mandheling Gayo - full body with fruit & dark chocolate notes with a rich syruppy finish

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe - very unique, lemony & almost tealike, nice body with jasmine & floral notes

Ethiopian Natural Sidamo -  sweet cherry start with lemon & creamy notes with smooth, clean body and a sweet berry finish

Peru La Florida - sweet & smooth with nice acidity, light fruit and cocoa notes and a long sweet finish

Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday Roasting


Summer View From Roasting Shop

Today's View From Roasting Shop

This morning the temperature was 8 below zero and windy.  The shop warmed up quickly once I fired up the roaster.  I had an internet order for Kenya AA, so it was my first roast of the day..  The Kenyan that I have now is from the Kiawamururu Estate.  It is a great Kenyan.  I roast it to a medium roast, just before the 2nd crack.  This is also called a Full City Roast.  One of the best aspects of Kenyan coffe is it's acidity.  This roast allows the acidity in the coffee to sparkle and fully develops the other coffee flavors.  This coffee is full of citrus flavors, especially grapefruit and has a fruity/peachy finish as well as good body.
I also roasted our new Flores Bajawa Ngura from Indonesia.  The highlight of this cofffee is it's thick syruppy body.  It has dark chocolate notes that my importer calls baker's chocolate.  The finish is peppery/spicey.  This is a wonderful coffee.
I also roasted Sumatra Mandheling.  This is another Indonesian coffee, but is processed differently that the Flores.  The Sumatran is naturally processed.  This means that the coffee cherry fruit is allowed to dry on the coffee bean before it is removed giving the coffee more of a fruity taste.  This coffee has full body and chocolate notes, and has fruity notes in the aftertaste.
The other coffee roasted today was Yemen Mokha Harasi.  Good Yemen Coffees are amazing.  They are naturally processed, so can have wonderful fruit flavors.  I like this coffee just slightly into the 2nd crack. (Full City +) This makes the coffee more pungent with darker fruit flaovrs than at the lighter roasts. 
I also had an order for Sumatra Royal Select FTO decaf.  This is a water process decaf which means that the decaffeination process uses no chemicals.  I prefer the Royal Select because Royal coffee selects good coffees that they cup and test to assure their quality, and then send them to be decaffeinated.  My decaf customers love this one.  My other order today was for Sumatra FTO half-caff.  This blend is half regular Sumatran and half Sumatra decaf.  It is great for folks who want a little caffeine and a great coffee.  Decaf beans roast faster than regular beans, so the two coffees roast to differnt points.  The decaf beans end up darker than the regular beans resulting in a melange that is very tasty.


  

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Cupping


Cupping is a a term for coffee tasting that is done to determine the natural flavors that are in a coffee.  The coffee is roasted to a light roast.  This prevents the roast from removing any of the coffee flavors.  The coffee is then placed in cups.  The first step in analyzing the coffee happens at this point.  The dry fragrance is checked by smelling the ground coffee.  Good coffees have incredible aromatics.  The possible scents cover a wide range including fruit, floral, chocolate, nutty and many others.  At this point hot water is added to the grounds.  It is then allowed to stand for about 3 minutes.  The next step is to break the crust of grounds that forms.  Using a spoon the grounds are pushed to the bottom and the wet aroma of the coffee inhaled.  Once again there are many aromas that come form the coffee.  Next the remaining grounds are removed and the coffee allowede to cool a bit more.  Now it is time to taste the coffee.  Using a cupping spoon the coffee is slurped in a manner that allows the coffee to spray over the entire pallet.  The cupper has to note flavor, acidity, aftertaste, and body (mouthfeel) as well as any defectsthat are noticed.  There are usually 3-5 cups for each coffee being cupped.  Coffee from each of these cups is tasted and and flavors or defects noted.  The coffee is then allowed to cool and it is tasted again.  A good coffee maintains good flavors after cooling.  At times there is a defect that will not show until the coffee cools.  There are also coffees that actually improve as they cool.

I try to cup all of our coffees before they are purchased from the importers.  We do this in order to provide the best possible coffees to our customers.  I am considering offering cupping sessions for intersted coffee lovers.  If anyone reading this in intersted in participating and learning about coffee cupping, let me know.  If there is enough interest I'll set it up.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

How It All Started

One winter night a few years ago I was relaxing and reading Time Magazine.  I read an article about the increasing popularity of home coffee roasting.  I had never heard of this and it caught my interest.  The article listed Home Roasting websites and mentioned using an air popcorn popper as a roaster.  I sat down at the computer and started checking out the websites, and reading about coffee roasting.  Before the evening was over I had purchased a popper/roaster on ebay for $12, and ordered several types of green coffee beans.   Over the next few days while waiting for my coffee to arrive I continued learning everything I could about coffee roasting. 




Finally my "roaster" and green beans were there and it was time to roast, butI had a problem.  The timer on my stove didn't work and my watch battery was dead so I needed a timer.  I called my girlfriend (now my wife) and asked her to do the timing for me.  She was happy to help so I measured the beans, plugged in the popper and started roasting.  One of the warnings that was stressed everywhere that talked about roasting at home was to have good ventilation.  I decided cracking a window should work (first mistake), and happily watched as the beans began to slowly change color and give off a wonderful smokey fragrance.  Very soon the fragrant aroma became stronger and smokier and smoke alarms began to go off.  This didn't make my dog happy.  He started running around barking and whining, but I didn't dare leave the coffee.  Finally the time was up and I dumped the coffee and started the cooling process.  I was thrilled and immediately took pictures of the coffee and emailed them to everyone I thought might be interested in seeing them. 



It was a great night for all except the dog.  For the rest of Sport's life he ran and hid every time he saw a popcorn popper or smelled coffee smoke.  The next day I realized I had found found a true passion.  When I tasted the coffee I knew I had discovered something amazing.  The taste of the fresh coffee could not compare with any coffee I had ever tasted.  I began roasting a few times a week and  buying many different coffees from many different countries.  I began to learn about the wonderful and different flavors and aromas that were hiding in the coffee beans.  Eventually I had a closet full of my green coffees and roasting stuff.  A lot of people thought I was crazy and they were right. 
A little over a year ago I retired from my job with New York State and became a happy coffee business owner.  I still love roasting and trying different coffees, roasts, and blends.  I also enjoy meeting people who share my love of coffee and talking about my coffees.
Life is good!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

New Coffees

Yesterday I received a shipment of coffee from Royal Coffee, NY.  Royal is the importer that I usually buy from.  They are located on Staten Island and offer coffees from all coffee growing areas of the world.  The coffees that arrived include two new crop coffees.  The first is a coffee that I have been anticipating for some time.  It is Columbian Mesa de Lao Santos.  The translation is "Table of the Saints".  This coffee is certified organic & bird friendly as well as Certified by the Rain Forest Alliance.  Mesa has everything a Columbian coffee fan would expect.  It is balanced with good body and fruity notes.  When first ground the aroma of this coffee is amazing.   The other new crop is a Sumatra Mandheling.  This coffee has heavy body and low acidity.  It is rich with dark chocolate, syrup, pepper and earthy notes.
Another of our new arrivals is another Indonesian coffee Flores Bajawa Ngura.  This coffee has typical Indonesian low acidity and full body. It also has notes of chocolate, vanilla bean, and caramel flavors with a walnut finish.  I'm very excited about these coffees and can't wait to start roasting them.
The other coffees we received include an FTO Guatemalan Huehuetenango.  My customers have been impatiently waiting for this to arrive.  It is a typical Huehue with nice acidity, chocolate and fruity notes.  Another is Ethiopian Longberry Harrar.  This coffee is an excellent Harrar with great  body and wonderful blueberry tones.  Also arriving was FTO Sumatra Mandheling Royal Select Decaf.  This is a water process decaf that is as rich and satisfying as a regular Sumatran.  It is rich with dark chocolate and syruppy notes. 
Tomorrow morning I'll be roasting some of these new coffees.  It should be a good day!

Who We Are








St. Lawrence Valley Roasters is a Specialty Coffee roaster located in Lisbon, NY.  We have been in business for a little over a year. It is a result of my dream of roasting fantastic coffees and making them available to coffee lovers in the North Country.


I roast with a Diedrich IR-3 coffee roaster. It is a small commercial roasting machine manufactured in Sand Point, Idaho. It is a 3 kilo roaster that produces about 5 pounds of wonderful roasted coffee from each batch. 






We offer Fair Trade/Organic Coffees, as well as regular and flavored coffees. I have also developed several blends that have been very successful. I'll talk about all of these coffees in future posts.  These coffees are available in many locations around the north country.
including Nature's Storehouse, the SLU Bookstore, SUNY's Dexter's Cafe, Jack & Wezzie's, The Potsdam Co-op, Scoopucino's, Common Grounds Coffee House, Season's Gift Shop, Oswegatchie Coffee Company, Artworks Gallery, Chapin's Country Market, Martin's Country Store, The Mustard Seed, Gold Cup Farms, Raquette River Gifts, and Valley Greenery. 
Our coffee is also available form our website http://www.stlawrencevalleyroasters.com/

I love to talk about coffee.  If you have any questions feel free to let me know.  I'll be talking to you again soon.