The EthiopiaEthiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, or a coffee cultivar: Ethiopia, or more specifically the Empire under Haile Selassie, was known as Abyssinia. The name is Latin, derived from... ...more DP Blues
Without even considering the musical horror that the title suggests, let’s get to the point: Harar and Sidamo Dry- Process (DP) coffees are in having some “issues”. Everything seems a bit off this year; many lots I have cupped possess strong defects. These mustyOff aroma and flavor that reminds one of a dank, moldy closet. This flavor can hint at a dangerous coffee mold and should not be consumed.: Off aroma... ...more “damp closet flavored” coffees are due to unseasonable rains that occurred during harvest, when the coffee is laid out to dry on raised screens or patios. If those coffee cherries get wet, drying is delayed or (even worse) the moistened fruit layer of the coffee cherryOriginally coffee literature referred to the fruit of the tree as a "berry" but in time it became a cherry. It is of course neither. Nor is the... ...more starts to get moldy. It requires great diligence to cover the coffee when rain is immanent, and quickly get it back out on the screens when the skies clear, so we are finding some nice lots of dry-processed Harar and Sidamo. To be specific, we had a good lot of MAO Horse Harar early in the harvest, and a 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... ...more 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... ...more lot from Oromia later in the season. We have a nice Sidamo from Moredocafe Coop, and (perhaps even better) a lot from Trabocca coming very soon. None of these are as bright as last year’s coffee (which was in turn not as bright and intense as the 2005 lots). None have that wild blueberryBlueberry flavors in coffee take different forms. Dried blueberry was something we first encountered in natural Harar coffee from Ethiopia. It seemed to be most potent in fresh... ...more character … however we are finding the dried peach, apricot and mango notes. So even in an “off” year, with a lot of cuppingCupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... ...more work, good coffees can be sourced. As an alternate, we have found an excellent 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,... ...more Sana’ani that will be coming to our offering list early September, and this might bode well for Sana’ani and Mattari lots we have lined up for December arrival too. So consider Yemeni coffees as an Ethiopia dry-process alternative. Also, wet-processed Ethiopia such as Yirgacheffe seem unaffected by the weather problems, and our Kochere lot is truly spectacular this year. We have some exotic new Dry-Process (DP) coffees from other origins too: 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,... ...more Dota Dry- Process is brightly fruitedIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... ...more but retains the rusticA general characterization of pleasantly "natural" flavors, less sophisticated and less refined, but appealing. : What is Rustic? This is a general term we came up with... Dried... ...more sweetnessSweetness is an important positive quality in fine coffees, and is one of five basic tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Savory (Umami). In coffee, sweetness is a highly... ...more and chocolateA general flavor or aroma term reminiscent of chocolate. But what type? Usually described with more specifics.: Chocolate is a broad, general flavor or aroma term reminiscent of... ...more endemic to DP coffees. We have a dried-onthe- tree IndiaS-795 is a variety based on the " S-Line" coffees of India, and stands for Selection 795, It has a very fine cup, one of the best in... ...more coffee coming too; this means the coffee cherryEither a flavor in the coffee, or referring to the fruit of the coffee tree, which somewhat resembles a red cherry.: Either a flavor in the coffee, or... ...more turned to “raisin” stage intact on the tree, and patio or screen drying was unnecessary. This full contact with the tree while drying produces an intense bodyAssociated with and sensed by mouthfeel, body is sense of weight and thickness of the brew, caused by the percentage of soluble solids in the cup, including all... ...more, fruit and chocolate cup character. Look for Mallali 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... ...more on our list soon. And of course, new cropRefers to fresh shipments of green coffee within the first month or two of the earliest arrivals ... not quite the same as Current Crop, which means the... ...more DP Brasils are due in November, with Moreninha Formosa, Camocim and Poco Fundo always having tons of fruityIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... ...more DP character. (PS: I also have my fingers crossed for special dry-processed Ethiopia Limmu and Golocha micro-lots I have lined up for October arrival. Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley is still theoretically possible, although their seems to be a crop shortfall, and not enough of it to go around.) -Tom
Too Much Green
We hear a lot on the homeroast email list about people overwhelmed with their accumulation of green coffeeGreen 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,... ...more. The fact is, it’s easy to buy too much, especially if you roast just for your own consumption. It’s easy to upgrade to a 5 lb. bag when you know you like a coffee, but those 5 lb’ers can add up into a serious stash. And here we are at the time of year when new arrivals are coming fast and furious. We are adding 2-4 coffees per week, with small lots, special GeshaGesha is a long-bean Ethiopia selection with unique cup character. Gesha is the name of the town in Western Ethiopia where the original samples were collected. Spelling it... ...more coffees, Cup of ExcellenceThe Cup of Excellence is a competition held yearly in many coffee-producing countries, designed to highlight the very best coffees from each origin.: The Cup of Excellence (COE)... ...more auction lots, super Kenyas, rare bird-dropping coffee (i.e. the Jacu lot), all of these coming and going in a matter of a couple weeks. It may seem odd to have your green coffee supplier suggesting that you buy less, but look at it this way: your continued happiness with home roasting is in our self-interest too. Yes, the discounts on larger quantities make it more attractive, as well as the benefit of lower
shipping cost per lb. on larger orders. But getting stuck with a huge amount of a particular green coffee when all these new, exciting arrivals continue to emerge … well, that’s not fun either. Homeroast list people seem to roast a lot for friends and family, which helps with “stash reduction.” Some have roasted coffee for churches and charities, which is a great idea! One suggestion that has come up goes something like this: could I produce a forecast of incoming arrivals so people can getting a better glimpse of what’s on the horizon? And the answer is NO! Why? Well, I have all kinds of small-lot coffees that are forever “in-the-works” and often times they simply do not play out. The more proactive I am with coffee sourcing, the more I go to originIn coffee talk, it refers to a coffee-producing region or country; such as, "I was just at origin." Of course "Origin" for most product we use is not... ...more, discuss possible quality projects with farmers or millers, the more “iffy” a bankable, high-quality lot often becomes. It seems counter-intuitive but true. For example, in MexicoMexican coffee originates from South-central to Southern regions of the country. For that reason, coffees from Coatepec and Veracruz are much different from Oaxacan Plumas, which are in... ...more I visited a cooperative who was open to the idea of “lot separation” for each grower community, allowing me to cup test the quality rather than mixing them all up. Well, the lots weren’t that great, and the coop needed the separated lots to fill contracts for blended coffeeA blend is a mixture of coffees from multiple origins. Coffees are typically blended to produce a more balanced cup. A blend of roasts of different levels is... ...more. Even though I was offering to pay far more than Fair Trade prices, they just couldn’t do it, and in fact the resulting cup quality didn’t justify doing it in the first place. In HondurasHonduran 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.... ...more I tried to work directly with a small farm I had met through the Cup of Excellence. But getting this small lot to port, consolidating it for shipment with other coffees, and actually getting that box on the boat was a logistic nightmare. The coffee was ruined in transit. (Don’t worry, the farmer was paid … but the feasibility of micro-lotA term that designates not only a small volume of coffee, but a lot produced separately, discreetly picked or processed to have special character. Read the full definition!:... ...more Honduran coffee failed in this case). If I continue on this tack, I could write a tome of failed coffee offerings. As is more often the case, I cup-test and reject lots that importers have offered based on pre-ship samples. In the elaborate world of the coffee trade, samples sent before the coffee is transported must reasonably match samples when it arrives in port. Oftentimes they don’t, which means I am quite used to having my hopes dashed against the rocks of fermentAs an aroma or flavor in coffee, ferment is a defect taste, resulting from bad processing or other factors. Ferment is the sour, often vinegar-like, that results from... ...more, phenol, baggyThe flavor of coffee that has been stored for too long, it has absorbed the flavor of whatever it has been stored in. : Coffees that are held... ...more, musty, swampy, sweatyUsually a taste defect, reminiscent of the smell of flavor of sweat, sometimes considered mildly positive.: Usually a taste defect, reminiscent of the smell of flavor of sweat,... ...more … just to name a few common defects. We have 2 useful resources on our site; look for Tom’s Cupping Log link at the bottom of green coffee pages for a sense of what I do daily in accepting and rejecting lots, and the Coffee Harvest Timetable for a sense of crop timing. Both are approximate (I log about 2/3 of the coffees I cup, and with the timetable …well, it’s a crop and it varies). But they can help you make good choices and not become overburdened with too much green. -Tom
Deja-Vu All Over Again
Note the computer image in this newsletter? You too could be wearing that all over your city! Would you? Well, I would, so I guess that’s why we made another odd t-shirt. In this case, the image is from an internet “cabana” in David, PanamaPanama coffee ranges from medium quality lower altitude farms to those at 1600 - 1800 meters centered in the area of Boquete in the Chirqui district near the... ...more. It’s a stopover point on your way up to the highlands where the small coffee estates are located. I guess they figure it’s one last chance to check email. I guess a primitive painting of technology strikes me as being
charming. Anyway, these shirts are in glorious lo-tech 2 color and feature a little coffee cup logo on the back, way down at the hip. -Tom
Sweet Maria’s Coffee
1115 21st Street, Oakland CA 94607
web: www.sweetmarias.com
email: [email protected]
Sweet Maria’s Green Coffee Offering List
as of Sept 6, 2007 – there are many, many incoming lots weekly.
Check the web site – this list is certainly out-of-date!
Central American 1 lb 2 lb 5 lb 10 Lb 20 lb
Costa Rica Coop Dota Dry-Process $5.20 $9.88 $22.62 $43.16 $80.08
Costa Rica Dota 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... ...more Special $5.20 $9.88 $22.62 $43.16 $80.08
Costa Rica La Horqueta “Top 50 meters” in transit
Costa Rica Tarrazu -La Minita $6.80 $12.92 $29.58 $56.44
Costa Rica Naranjo Caracol PeaberryThe 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... ...more $4.95 $9.41 $21.53 $41.09 $76.23
Costa Rica – Vino de Arabia $5.90 $11.21 $25.67 $48.97 $90.86
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... ...more SHB Pulp NaturalPulp natural is a hybrid method of processing coffee to transform it from the tree fruit to a green bean, ready for export. Specifically, it involves the removal... ...more -San Emilio $5.00 $9.50 $21.75 $41.50 $77.00
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... ...more Antigua Retana Yellow BourbonYellow Bourbon is a subtype that has fruit which ripens to a yellow color, found mainly in Brazil where it was first grown. Bourbon coffees are named for... ...more $6.90 $13.11 $30.02 $57.27
Guatemala- FincaSpanish 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.... ...more San José Ocaña
