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!!

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. 

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.

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.  

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!  

                                       

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!