Our first ever Barista Jam aptly named “Throw-down In Appletown” was a smashing success! Last night saw the shop buzzing (literally) with coffee excitement culminating in a caffeinated rock show with favorite local band Poor Folks Live Well. We began the night with a cupping featuring six coffees form our offerings. The coffees were Tanzania Mt. Meru Peaberry, Honduras La Mora COE, Guatemala Huehuetenango Rio Azul, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia Harrar, and our new gem Colombia Tolima Planadas.
It was amazing to see 30 or so of the almost 50 folks in attendance make their way through the cupping line sniffing, scooping, and slurping their way to coffee heaven. By the time we were all thouroughly a-buzz we embarked on the quest for Wenatchee’s Latte Art Champion. 12 competitors from 3 shops as well as independants vied for the crown which, after two single-elimination rounds, eventually went to our own Luke Gillespie. Charlie Voorhis of Red Bird Kaffe Haus in Leavenworth was kind enough to bring his camera and projector for the viewing pleasure of the audience, and he pulled shots for the competition!
After the latte art throwdown, we were treated to a show from Wenatchee’s Poor Folks Live Well. Click HERE to see the article on the Wenatchee World website.
Colombia Tolima Planadas, 2008 Roaster's Guild Coffee of the Year
Brewing with the Chemex
We received our shipment of coffees about a week ago from Atlas. We are very excited about some new coffees in this delivery! Newbies include a wonderful Brazil from the San Antonio Estate, our first Papua New Guinea, a second bag of Mt. Meru Peaberry from Tanzania, and our first ever vacuum-sealed (because its stinkin awesome) micro-lot coffee, the 2008 Roaster’s Guild Coffee of the Year, from a small village named Planadas in the Tolima region of Colombia. This amazing coffee is available in a limited edition batch of about 25 bags, so get yours while you can! Tasting notes and info is available here. Coffees from the southern Tolima region are typically grown at a higher altitude than other Colombia coffees due to its proximity to Nevado del Huila, a snow-capped volcano, The nutirient-rich volcanic soil yields coffees with a bright pleasing acidity and excellent body.
We brewed up a small batch with the Chemex this morning and let me tell you, believe the hype. This coffee is awesome. Smooth, sweet, loads of clean spice and fruit, pleasing acidity, and very well-balanced. It was so scrumptious, it made it a little hard to hand out samples to anyone… OK I’m joking, it wasn’t hard at all, everybody should have coffee like this!
We received another shipment of green beans today including our first bag of Costa Rica Tarrazu Santa Elena Estate. I’ve not roasted it yet but the notes promise a classic tarrazu profile with hazlenut, honey, lemon, and creme brulee. My mouth waters…
Kenya AA Ethiopian Harrar Columbia Monserrate Brazil Porta Rossa Rosebud Espresso Blend Swisswater Decaf Espresso Blend
I’ve been roasting for a week now and have had good and bad results which is to be expected. It will be a while before we can develop our very own signature blends for espresso, etc. so I’ll try some of the Rosebud from Atlas Coffee.More later.
When we were first serious about visiting a coffee farm while we were in Brazil, we decided to take a look at the SCAA website and search for the Brazil Cup of Excellence award winning farms. We found a few that we wanted to contact about visiting but it was difficult to follow up with our busy schedule. About a month later we sent some contact info to our friends Fernando and Rebeca to help us arrange a visit to a fazenda (farm). They were able to get in contact with a man from Carmo De Minas named Jaques Carneiro. He is the director of Carmo Coffees, a business group that is developing the logistics of promoting and exporting quality coffees form the entire region to the rest of the world. His family has had a fazenda in Carmo De Minas for over 100 years and he is the fifth generation in his family to be a coffee producer. He is also the vice president of the coffee association and cooperative that represents over 200 producers from a group of 25 or so small cities like Carmo in the surrounding area. Jaques is personally responsible for the growth of the specialty coffee market for his region – he is barely 30 years old. Needless to say he has a lot to say about coffee production, and we learned a lot, but he is also a very humble individual and his eagerness to learn and share was very refreshing. I didn’t realize it until we we’re already in Brazil but Jaques’farm was one of the places we saw on the Cup of Excellence site. They have more award winning coffees than any other region in Brazil.
We left Indaiatuba at about 5:30 a.m. with Fernando and Rebeca. They decided they would drive us to Carmo De Minas, about five hours away, and spend the day with us at the fazenda! We we’re very glad of course and it was awesome to share this part of the trip with them. The journey took us north from the state of Sao Paulo to the state of Minas Gerais in central Brazil. It was a good trip and the girls got a bit of rest on the way. Nearing Carmo the roads were in very band condition and we were uncertain that we were on the right track but we eventually made it to the small town of about 12,000 people. We met Jaques and talked briefly in his office about the state of the specialty coffee market in Carmo. We then hopped into his Fiat wagon and were off to the fazenda high above the city. We spent a few hours touring the coffee plantations and one of five processing stations for the area. A very special part of the trip was the original family home and small museum. Jaques’ aunt and uncle (pictured above with us) live there and are the caretakers of the estate. One frame held pictures of 8 generations of the women of the family. Other things included the awards and press that the region has received recently.After the estate we travelled into town to the cooperative for all of the local producers. They had a cupping set-up and ready for us to taste some different lots from various producers. This was completely new to Fernando and Rebeca and we had a fun time with it. We cupped five different lots from the cooperative. After we we’re finished with the cupping Jaques told us that two of the lots had been Cup Of Excellence award winners – one was first place in 2006! These both had an amazing sweetness with citrus and fruit notes above the round carmel base – very complex and delicious! Fernando learned what REAL coffee tastes like as opposed to the pre-ground vacuum-packed lower grade coffee typically brewed by Brazilian households. After the visit to the cooperative, we walked across the street where we met Jaques’ brother and saw the headquarters for his coffee roasting company called (appropriately) Unique. He says it is just a hobby for now while he focuses on coffee production. He and his brother have done an excellent job with the branding and marketing of Unique, now the battle is to educate retailers about specialty coffee. Education is an underlying theme with Carmo Coffees, educating the producers, processors,roasters, and retailers. Lots of work!
Finally we visited the processing plant for the cooperative that was constructed just recently. Jaques had stressed the importance of updated processing equipment to maintain a high standard of quality for the final product because the old warehouse and processing plant was too small and could not be updated to allow flexibility in processing. The cooperative wouldn’t change their processing routine and didn’t jump on board initially with the new warehouse idea but he built the plant anyway. After other producers saw the increase in quality for Jaques’ own farm, they eventually figured out that he was right. It’s a year later, and now all coffees from the cooperative are processed at the new plant. (This is just one example of how it took a year for everyone to realize that the kid was right. We eventually made it back to the Carmo Coffees office before traveling to Sao Lourenzo (6 km away) where we would stay for the next few days.
Just before leaving for our trip to Brazil (see next post) I recieved a swell little gift box from my buddy Dave at Espresso Parts. It contained an updated version of our logo stamp (used for that home grown cup branding thing) some brochures for Bikes To Rwanda, a much needed program to help rebuild the coffee producing industry there, and…. he sent me COFFEE! Award winning coffee to be exact. Nicaragua Las Termopolis, which was the Presidential Award recipient for the country! For more detailed info CLICK HERE.
OK it’s actually been her for over a week – but the latency of his post goes to show the nature of life as a business owner. The beautiful IR-3 arrived on Monday Feb. 4 having traveled by truck from Nebraska, and after a short layover in Seattle while the mountain passes were closed. The unit fits nicely in the roast hut, as I like to call it, and if you want to see it you can view the gallery I’ve posted. Currently we’re waiting on the custom (read expensive) chimney to arrive and as soon as it is in place and the city signs off, we’re gonna cook some beans!
Guest espresso? I wish. Unfortunately this meager helping of Hairbender was just enought for my morning cappuccino and a dialed ristretto. After all the mucking around I’ve only got a third of the stuff left.The verdict: incredibly sweet and tangy, notes of caramel and fruit, nice body.
We eventually made it back to the Carmo Coffees office before traveling to Sao Lourenzo (6 km away) where we would stay for the next few days.
