Tepeyac is a small, close-knit community in the mountains of Matagalpa where local life revolves around the coffee harvest. This coffee comes from three family farms, all of which are located 1,000 to 1,2o0 meters above sea level.
Tasting Notes: Smokey, sweet, hint of molasses
Price: $11/12 ounces
Nicaragua Tepeyac
Tags: Nicaragua
This coffee comes from a presidium of 170 smallholder farms that grow and process coffee in accordance with protocols designed to guarantee the sensory, environmental and social quality of the final product. The organization is a project of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, which was established to fund efforts that “defend local food traditions, protect local biodiversity, and promote small-scale quality products.”
Tasting Notes: medium bodied, cherry and cedar notes
Price: $12/12oz
Guatemala Huehuetenango
Tags: Guatemala
This coffee is grown near the town of Namadzi in the Southern Highlands of Malawi, an area better known for producing world-class teas. Coffee has been grown here only since the early 1980′s, but with increasing sophistication. The coffee trees, consisting mainly of Catimor and to a lesser extent SL 28 varietals, grow in clay loam at between 3,400 to 3,800 feet above sea level. The coffee farms all maintain programs to subsidize the cost of housing, health care and education for workers and their families.
Tasting notes: medium bodied with caramel and green apple notes
Price: $12/12oz
Malawi Pamwamba
Tags: Malawi
This coffee is from the Ruvuma region, which is located at the southern tip of the country along the border of Mozambique. Coffee trees, mainly bourbon hybrids, grow in rows on steep hillsides in volcanic loam at altitudes of between 1,200 and 1,800 meters.
Tasting Notes: citrusy with floral notes and earthy body
Price: $12/12oz
Tanzania Ruvuma
Tags: Tanzania
We are proud to offer this Fresh Off the Roast exclusive, the 2011 harvest from the farm of Alejandro Picado, which is located at 1,200 meters above sea level. Known locally as Pastor Alejandro (he’s single, but helps to support his extended family), his farm is part of Las Nubes (The Clouds) Cooperative, made up of small farms that dot the border between Matagalpa and Jinotega. These farms are high up into the mountains, far from the nearest town and mostly off of the electrical grid.
Most of the officers of Las Nubes are women, who many of the members consider to be more prudent managers than men. The cooperative has been working to separate their coffees by producer in order to effectively regulate quality. Growers hand select out imperfections on raised screens on their farms before further sun drying and processing occurs in the valley below. Farmers receive technical assistance through their producer’s association, and some have received zero-interest loans to improve their wet mills and to build storage sheds.
We were able to purchase this coffee directly from Pastor Alejandro through our partnership with Gold Mountain Coffee Growers, LLC. The relationship between Las Nubes and Gold Mountain has resulted in the highest prices coop members have ever received for their coffee.
Tasting Notes: malted barley, floral notes, cocoa
Nicaragua Alejandro
Tags: Nicaragua
Manufactured for us, we find that these food-grade nylon cone filters allow more of the coffee oils to pass through to the cup while still filtering out any fine particles. We designed them for the Hario V60s, but they are cone shaped and can be used with several other hand-pour devices. The material is durable enough to last hundreds of use (though care should be taken to preserve the seams to extend the life of the filters).
Price: $7.50 per filter, shipping is free.
Size #2
Size #3
Tags: Coffee Maker
This select lot of coffee from the “Heart of Africa” consists entirely of bourbon varietal beans from the Kayanza region. As the largest export of this until-recently-war-torn country, coffee revenues have helped to rebuild the country’s farming communities.
Tasting Notes: wine-like acidity, burnt toffee, hint of fruit leather
Price: $12/12oz
Tags: Burundi
Coffee drying beds in Michicha, Ethiopia
This coffee comes from a group of smallholder farms in the Guji subregion of Sidamo. Whole coffee cherries are carefully sun dried, allowing the fruit to slightly ferment. This adds a depth and complexity to this creamy cup of coffee.
Tasting notes: tart cherry, cocoa, full bodied
Price: $11/12oz
Sidamo Dry Processed
This coffee comes from the small farms in the Kochere region, which borders Yirgacheffe and Southern Oromia. The beans are carefully washed and then dried in the sun at the local Nardos mill.
Tasting Notes: chocolate, citrus, hint of molasses.
Price: $11/12oz
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Tags: Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe
Cerrado is a vast tropical savanna that spreads over the Brazilian states of Goias and Minas Gerais. Although agriculture is relatively new to the region, its level terrain has lent itself to rapid development and modest mechanization. It is now a major source of coffee exports from the country.
Tasting Notes: creamy, bittersweet chocolate, nut
Price: $11.00 for 12 ounces
Tags: Brazil
Just as with the traditional Sidamo we also offer, these beans come from a group of smallholder farms in the Guji subregion. However, instead of being laid out in the sun to dry with the fruit still on, this coffee is wet-milled to highlight the coffee’s inherent flavor.
Tasting Notes: chocolate, floral, nut
Price: $12/12oz
Sidamo Wet Processed
These strictly high-grown coffee beans come from the western region of El Salvador in the Ataco and Apaneca mountains, where they have been grown, harvested and milled under the supervision of the Salaverria Family for more than 100 years. The growers separate a portion of their crop and dry them in the sun with some of the fruit to attached to give these beans a wonderful fruit essence.
Tasting Notes: cherry, bittersweet chocolate, hint of lime and sage
Price: $12/12oz
Tags: El Salvador
This coffee is comes from Naranjo in Costa Rica’s famed Tarrazu growing region. This coffee is grown and processed by a small group of farmers who joined together to build their own mill for preparing their beans for export. Cattleya Especial beans are gathered from the four farms that are also Rainforest Alliance certified.
Tasting Notes: Baker’s chocolate, orange zest
Price: $11.00/12oz
Tags: Costa Rica
This coffee comes from the Mogiana region in Brazil’s Northern Sao Paulo State. This is a classic dry-process bean in which the coffee cherries are dried in the sun on raised beds and turned by hand 8 to 12 times a day to ensure that they dry uniformly.
Tasting Notes: dark chocolate, smooth walnut finish
Price: $11.00/12oz
Tags: Brazil
