Stay up to date on coffee we have coming down the pipeline and our latest green coffee arrivals schedule.
Green Coffee Notes for January 2021:
- Delays continue at all of the West Coast ports due to worker shortages and an incredibly high number of incoming shipping vessels. In general, it’s taking around 3-4 weeks for shipping containers to be offloaded from the cargo ships and moved to the Annex green coffee storage
Green coffee is the dried seed from the fruit of a tree. In the past it was shipped in jute or sisal bags, which prevented coffee from becoming mouldy, but also exposed it to the facility. - Coffee arrivals we are expecting over the next few weeks include BrazilBrazil is a coffee giant . As Frank Sinatra sang, "they grow an awful lot of coffee in Brazil".: Brazil is a coffee giant . As Frank Sinatra sang, "they grow an awful lot of, BurundiBurundi coffee bears resemblance to neighboring Rwanda, in both cup character, but also the culture surrounding coffee. Burundi is a small landlocked country at the crossroads of East and Central Africa, straddling the crest of, RwandaRwandan coffee was, at one time, rarely seen in the United States as either a Specialty grade or low-end commercial coffee. There simply was not that much coffee produced in Rwanda that went anywhere besides, Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, part of Indonesia. The two primary areas for coffee production can be grouped roughly as, and an Indonesian box with coffees from SulawesiSulawesi coffees are low-acid with great body and that deep, brooding cup profile akin to Sumatra. The coffee is sometimes known as Celebes, which was the Dutch colonial name for the island. Indonesians are available, FloresFlores is an Indonesian island, and as a coffee bears more resemblance to the coffees of Timor-Leste, New Guinea and Java than to the wet-hulled coffees of Sumatra and Sulawesi. It is sweet, with good and Java
There are several types of Abyssinia, but they are not from Ethiopia but rather Indonesia. Abyssinia 3 = AB3. PJS Cramer, a Dutch plant researcher, introduced this variety in 1928, supposedly from Ethiopia seed stock. It was. That’s a lot of new coffees on the way! Check out the specifics in the lists below. - The tail end of December saw the clearance of a shipping container from Honduras
Honduran coffee was absent from the top ranks of the Specialty market, but that has changed. It has all the environmental factors on its side: soil, altitude, climate. All it's neighbors have sophisticated coffee production:, from which we’ll start listing our first lots in the 1st half of January. These are from Beneficio
In Kenya, a "Factory" is actually a coffee wet mill (called a washing station in other parts of Africa) where the fresh cherry is brought for wet-processing. It is called a wet mill usually, and San Vicente and include a range of coffees from small producers and cultivar separations. - Now that we’re through the holiday rush of orders, we return to focusing on filling out our green coffee
Green coffee refers to the processed seed of the coffee tree fruit. Coffee is a flowering shrub that produces fruit. The seeds of the fruit are processed, roasted, ground and prepared as an infusion.: Coffee menu to the tune of a half-dozen+ new coffees each week. Coffees we are targeting for the month of January are outlined below, but you should expect the occasional substitution as priorities shift. - This week we finished making selections for a February ColombiaColombian coffee is highly marketed and widely available in the US. They have been largely successful at equating the name Colombian Coffee with "Good" Coffee. This is half-true. Colombian can be very balanced, with good container. The northern Antioquian towns of Urrao and Caicedo are at the peak of their harvest, and we were lucky enough to find 100+ bags of coffee from these high altitude zones. These selections include coffee from several producers growing “CaturraCatimor is a broad group of cultivars derived from a Hibrido de Timor (HdT) and Caturra cross, highly productive, sometimes with inferior cup flavor. The main issue is the Robusta content in HdT, although this Chiroso”, the heirloom variety
Hibrido de Timor abbreviated HdT is the interspecies hybrid of C. Arabica and C. Canephora (Robusta) that was found in Timor Leste in the 1940s. It has been the bases of plant breeding for disease identified in this region a few years back, known for it’s unique cup profile (worth mentioning that Urrao farmers have twice won COE with Chiroso, including this year).
As always, send any coffee questions to us at [email protected], or wholesale questions at [email protected]. We’re here to help.
Upcoming coffees currently on the schedule to be added to our website:
| January Outlook | |||
| Brazil Dry ProcessDry process coffee is a method for taking the fruit from the tree to an exportable green bean. The whole intact coffee cherry is dried in the sun with the green bean inside. Later it FazendaFazenda is the Portuguese word for farm, hence it is the term used in Brazil. Fazenda is not a coffee-specific term. Furnas | 60 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| Brazil Dry Process Pedra Branca | 31 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
Colombia Urrao Heirloom Caturra Caturra is an Arabica cultivar discovered as a natural mutant of Bourbon in Brazil in the first decade of the 20th century, but wasn't studied until 1937. It has a good yield potential, but was | 17 | 70 KG | OAKLAND |
| Costa RicaCosta Rican coffee is typically very clean, sweet, with lots of floral accents. hey are prized for their high notes: bright citrus or berry-like flavors in the acidity, with distinct nut-to-chocolate roasty flavors.: Can a Helsar Miguel Rojas Rola | 38 | 46 KG | OAKLAND |
| El SalvadorEl Salvador coffee had an undeservingly poor reputation for years, marred mostly by the inability to deliver coffee of high quality in an unstable political climate. Unfortunately, agriculture is the first to suffer in revolution, Santa Ana PacamaraAs the name implies, Pacamara is a large bean cultivar, a cross between Pacas and Maragogype with unique flavor properties. This variant originated in El Salvador in 1958, and has spread to nearby Central American AAA | 15 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
Ethiopia Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee: it is in the forests of the Kaffa region that coffee arabica grew wild. Coffee is "Bun" or "Buna" in Ethiopia, so Coffee Bean is quite possibly a poor Dry Process Mahamed Aba Nura | 34 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| Ethiopia Org Kayon Mountain Farm | 50 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| GuatemalaGuatemalan coffee is considered a top quality coffee producer in Central America. Due to our proximity to Guatemala, some of the nicest coffees from this origin come to the United States. : Guatemalan growing regions Antigua Pulcal Inteligente | 43 | 46 KG | OAKLAND |
| Guatemala Huehuetenango Chalum Lot 2 | 34 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
| Guatemala Proyecto Xinabajul La Libertad | 47 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
| Honduras Los Andes Doña Daisy | 44 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
Honduras El Sauce Finca Spanish 101: Finca is the Spanish word for farm. Sometimes the term Hacienda is used to imply an Estate, which would mean the farm has its own wet-mill. A Finca does not necessarily have a El Plan | 20 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
| Honduras Santa Barbara Jose Esteban | 10 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
KenyaKenya is the East African powerhouse of the coffee world. Both in the cup, and the way they run their trade, everything is topnotch.: Kenya is the East African powerhouse of the coffee world. Both Nyeri Ichamama Peaberry The Spanish-language term for Peaberry is the same for "snail". See Peaberry for more information on the single bean fruit of the coffee tree. A peaberry is the rounded singular seed found in the coffee | 14 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| PeruPeruvian coffees have Central American brightness but in a South American coffee flavor package overall. The good organic lots do have more of a "rustic" coffee character.: Organic Peru ... you can get it anywhere Fair TradeFair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to empowering developing country producers and promoting sustainability.: Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to empowering developing country producers and promoting OrganicGrown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, etc.: Organic coffee has been grown according to organic farming techniques, typically without the use of artificial fertilizers. Some farms have more local Organic Certification than the La Convención | 9 | 69 KG | OAKLAND |
| SumatraIndonesians are available as a unique wet-hulled or dry-hulled (washed) coffees. Giling Basah is the name for the wet-hulling process in Bahasa language, and will have more body and often more of the "character" that Aged 5 Years Nusantara | 10 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| Sumatra Lintong Sigumpar Village | 22 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| Sumatra Kirinci Coop HoneyIn coffee, honey-like sweetness is often found, but we use terms such as refined honey (highly filtered and processed) as opposed to raw honey rustic honey sweetness. This form of sweetness is largely a dynamic Labu | 20 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
| Sumatra Wet ProcessWet-processing starts by removing the outer skin of the coffee cherry with a machine called a pulper, then fermenting the remaining fruit (with green bean inside) in water for 8-36 hours. The fermentation breaks down Gunung Tujuh | 13 | 60 KG | OAKLAND |
Incoming coffees currently on the water:
| Africa Outlook | |||
| Burundi Kayanza Yagikawa Motongo | 30 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Kayanza Dusangirijambo | 35 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Kazoza N’Ikawa Station | 34 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Kazoza N’Ikawa Station | 20 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Rwiri Yagikawa | 20 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Mutambu Colline Migoti | 20 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Monge Murambi Hill | 60 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Mutambu Colline Migoti | 60 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Wet Process Gahahe | 65 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Yandaro | 50 | 60 KG | early Jan |
Burundi Honey Process "Red honey" process gesha at a coffee farm in Costa Rica's Central Valley growing region. The honey process has nothing to do with honey other than the fact that they're both sticky! It's a term Gahahe | 50 | 60 KG | early Jan |
Burundi Yeast Fermentation Yeast fermentation involves adding different types of external yeasts to the fermentation stage of wet processing in order to help control the outcome, and ultimately, how the coffee tastes. Naturally occurring yeasts are always a Nemba | 5 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Dry Process Kibingo | 50 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Murambi | 40 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Burundi Dry Process Agahore | 40 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Rwanda Nyakarenzo Rusizi | 30 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Mushonyi Rutsiro | 30 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Nyamasheke Macuba | 25 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Ngororero | 30 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Anaerobic Kanyege | 8 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Honey Kanyege | 20 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Dry Process Rusizi | 25 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Dry Process Karambi | 10 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Dry Process Kanyege | 20 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Dry Process Nyakabingo | 20 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| CongoKivu is the general name for East Congo (Kinshasa), covering a very broad geographical area, and the lake of the same name that divides them. It borders on Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Lake Tanganyika on Cocaska Coop | 50 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Gitwe PeaberryA peaberry is a green coffee "bean" that has a rounded form: Coffee is the dried seed from the fruit of a flowering tree - each fruit having 2 seeds facing each other (the flat | 40 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Gatare Peaberry | 20 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Nyamasheke Mutovu | 25 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Karongi Gitesi | 45 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Nyamasheke Gitwe | 50 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Rulindo Tumba | 49 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Rwanda Kivu Kageyo | 57 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| TanzaniaIn terms of the Tanzania coffee character, it belongs to the Central/East African family of washed (wet-processed) coffees, bright (acidy), and mostly aggressively flavorful of which Kenya is certainly the dominant coffee. Peaberries are often Ngorngoro Nitin Peaberry | 8 | 60 KG | not yet shipped |
| Tanzania Ngorngoro Nitin EstateA "coffee estate" is used to imply a farm that has its own processing facility, a wet-mill. In Spanish this is called an Hacienda. A Finca (farm) does not necessarily have a mill. (And Finca AA | 25 | 60 KG | not yet shipped |
| Tanzania Heights AA | 60 | 60 KG | not yet shipped |
| Tanzania Ngorngoro Nitin Peaberry | 19 | 60 KG | not yet shipped |
| YemenYemen has a coffee culture like no other place, and perhaps some of what we enjoy in this cup is due to their old style of trade...: Technically, Yemen is on the Asian continent (on Dry Process Bani Mattari | 150 | 32 KG | not yet shipped |
| Yemen Dry Process Al Hiwar | 50 | 32 KG | not yet shipped |
| Yemen Dry Process Moka Khulani | 50 | 32 KG | not yet shipped |
| Yemen Dry Process Moka Small Producers | 150 | 32 KG | not yet shipped |
| South America Outlook | |||
| Brazil Dry Process Ricardo Vagne Ignotti | 30 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Lambari Adriana Guerra | 19 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Honey Process Laura Barros | 51 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Sitio Senhor Bom Jesus | 65 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Amecafe Cooperative | 53 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Sítio Dois Irmãos | 40 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Sítio São Benedito | 20 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Fazenda da Pedra | 20 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Sítio do Engenho | 23 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Minas Café Pequeño | 35 | 60 KG | Arrived |
| Brazil Dry Process Ricardo Vagne Ignotti | 30 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Brazil Dry Process Luis Ganzaga Iza | 15 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Brazil Dry Process Enivaldo Pereira | 65 | 60 KG | early Jan |
| Peru Roger Chilcon Flores Lot 8 | 14 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Roger Chilcon Flores Lot 9 | 30 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Chontali Pinas | 40 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Santiago Rafael Tapia | 10 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Marcial Olivera Diaz | 33 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Ancelmo Vera Guevara | 14 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Presbiero Herrera Torres | 13 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Elvis Davila Horna | 23 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Dry Process Jose Ydrego Gallardo | 20 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Peru Granjeros de Huabal | 50 | 69 KG | mid Jan |
| Colombia Urrao-Caicedo Las Alegrias | 24 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Urrao Finca Los Palomos | 20 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Urrao Jhon Alexander | 10 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Urrao Finca San Carlos | 24 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Urrao Valle de Penderisco | 18 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Urra Fray David Moreno | 10 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Inzá Las Estrellas | 15 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Inzá Rio Paez | 44 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Inzá Cresta El Hato | 24 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Inzá Palomos del Sur | 15 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Inzá Veredas Vecinas | 51 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia La Argentina Alberto Paya | 10 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Honey Las Aguilas GeshaGesha is a long-bean Ethiopia selection with unique cup character.: Gesha (often wishfully misspelled as Geisha) is a long-bean Ethiopia cultivar selection with unique cup character. It is most famously grown on the Jaramillo plot | 5 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
| Colombia Las Aguilas Lasso Gesha | 10 | 70 KG | mid Feb |
Indonesia USDA is (obviously) the United States Department of Agriculture. USDA also had coffee plant breeding programs in the past and one variety they distributed to Indonesia and was widely planted is called USDA (sounds like Outlook | |||
| Papua New Guinea Baroida Morita | 65 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Papua New Guinea Norikiri | 10 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Papua New Guinea Kainantu Urara | 25 | 60 KG | late Jan |
| Flores Wawo Muda Washed | 40 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Flores Wolo Wio Washed | 40 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Flores Waja Mala Washed | 40 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Flores Sobo Washed | 30 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Flores Tangkul Washed | 40 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Java Tambak Ruyung Wet Hulled | 60 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Java Frinsa Saccharic Honey | 20 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulalwesi Pulu Pulu Washed | 26 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulalwesi Angin Angin Washed | 40 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulawesi Topidi Washed | 44 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulawesi Topidi Honey | 17 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulawesi Topidi Natural | 31 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulawesi Sisola Honey | 40 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Sulawesi Sapan Wet Hulled | 30 | 30 KG | late Jan |
| Timor Leste Goulala | 25 | 60 KG | mid Feb |
| Timor Leste Lekisala | 30 | 60 KG | mid Feb |
| Timor Leste Koliate | 20 | 60 KG | mid Feb |
| Timor Leste Loi-ludo | 25 | 60 KG | mid Feb |
| Timor Dry Process Leste Kailitlau | 26 | 60 KG | mid Feb |
11 Responses
This is a fantastic service. Thank you. I’ve been meaning to ask when during the year (very generally) would we expect Guatemalan beans to arrive? From what I can tell from the newsletters, Guatemala Gesha (for example) tends to be around for a few months beginning in early summer. I remember seeing a chart with the general timelines of when during the year the beans from different countries arrive, but I’m not sure where I saw this.
Thanks for the question! Yes we think this recurring post will help you and others to track the incoming lots and know what to expect in months ahead. Here’s the short story on Guatemala: Our coffees tend to ship later because the coffees are generally higher altitude, and the harvest occurs later. Some importers start to receive coffees as early as March, whereas our lots, especially from the 1800+ meter farms in Huehuetenango etc, arrive in July. We do have some Guatemalas start to trickle in starting in mid May sometimes, some of the Antiguas that have a slightly earlier harvest period. The Gesha coffee comes from near Antigua but always requires some special care, and comes usually July-August. Hope that helps!
Is Aida’s Grand Reserve ever available any more?
Hi Michael, thanks for your question! Unfortunately, we haven’t carried her coffee in a very long time. We’ve worked to maintain one of our oldest buying relationships in El Salvador, Vicki Dalton’s Finca Matalapa. We should start seeing samples from Vicki very soon, though the harvest is a little late this year. Outside of that, we are also hoping to pick up some of the coffees we sold this year under the name “Santa Ana”, which included really nice cultivar separations of Pacamara and Pacas. That group are moving their milling operation to run entirely on renewable energy. It’s really quite impressive! You can read a little more about that project here.
-Dan
Thank you for the reply, Tom. It’s exactly what I needed to know.
Will you be offering Ethiopia DP Limu Kossa Organic again? Thank you for listing the upcoming shipments, it is a great service.
Hi Kimberly, thanks for the question! The short answer is, we hope so. But it all depends on the samples we see this harvest. We will start fielding samples from Ethiopia in the coming weeks and I’ll try to revisit your comment once we know more about that specific estate. In general, we’re trying to list the incoming coffees once they are contracted. I expect to start posting about Ethiopia in later February.
Hope this helps!
-Dan
I want to echo Beatrice’s enthusiasm for this information. I have been a regular customer since 2002 and simply waited to see what arrived. Over the years i developed some sense of the sequence. Now it is exciting to see that things I treasure are coming. Cannot wait for aged Sumatra, 4 different Yemeni’s, another DP Peru!
Hey Chuck, that’s great to hear! We’ve struggled with how much information to put out there. Sometimes coffee names and launch schedules change and we’ve worried that it might cause confusion. But ultimately, the response has been overwhelmingly positive to these new published “coffee outlooks”, and people seem to appreciate a window into what’s to come.
Glad to hear it’s taken some of the guesswork out for you.
Thanks so much for your feedback!
-Dan
Beauty!
I admit, I jumped the gun and sent a note to you to find out just what was included right here. Now I know! Thank you for the openness and for giving us an opportunity to roughly pencil in.
Hey Chris, glad to hear you found the list! We’ll be posting a new green coffee outlook at the beginning of each month.
Thanks for the note.
-Dan