Sweet Maria’s Emailer Roundup -October, 2020

Our monthly digest from the Sweet Maria’s Email list, announcing new coffees, new content and new events!

October 2020 offerings are all listed here, for your reference. If you want to read about our arriving coffee, events, product and news, sign up for our emailer.


October 2, 2020

Latest Coffee Oct. 2, 2020
Latest Coffee Oct. 2, 2020
Today’s additions to our green coffee list bring great variety. No matter what your tastes are, there’s coffees here that you will want in your stash. Interested in tasting how much processing plays a role in flavor? Check out our new Sumatra set that includes Sumatran coffees processed with wet hulled, wet, dry and hybrid methods.
Burundi Gatare Masha – Sweet across a wide range of roasts, sugar in the raw, burned sugar, a distinct honey-floral note, cinnamon powder, essence of stone fruit and pear, delicate honeysuckle aroma. Good for espresso.

El Salvador Nejapa Finca El Cipres – Dense mouthfeel underscores flavors of Hershey’s syrup, semi-sweet chocolate, carob and bittering baking cocoa finish. Mild apple-like acidity and roasted nut accents.Good for espresso.

Kenya Nyeri Gatugi AAFruited flavors are hard to miss, raspberry tea, pomegranate, ripe berry, pulpy orange juice and a hint of vanilla extract. Bright acidity and wine-like fruity accent notes.

Nicaragua Dipilto Finca La LagunaCity+ roasts produce brown sugar and bittersweet cocoa, a mild acidic impression, Brazil nut and walnut finishing notes. Chocolate roast tones are easily developed with dark roasting.  Good for espresso.

Sumatra Multi-Process Sample Set – Taste the affects processing has on flavor profile with this four-pack of different process types from a single group of coffee growers. This cross-section of unique coffees from the Gunung Tujuh cooperative includes their Grade 1 wet-hulled (on sale at the moment too!), a wet-process fully washed coffee, the hybrid honey/wet-hulled coffee and a fruity, dry process coffee. 

October 7, 2020

Latest Coffees Oct. 7, 2020
Latest Coffees Oct. 7, 2020

Costa Rica Helsar Finca RolaSweetness and brew-versatility in middle and dark roasts, vanilla caramel and walnut, coffee candy, nuanced cocoa flavors like tootsie roll, torte and smoked chocolate. Good for espresso.

Costa Rica Helsar Cascara Fruit Tea – It’s tea, made from coffee, and you can eat it! Yes, these dehydrated coffee cherries are crispy, tart and sweet. No roasting necessary, just steep a fruited tea, try as sun tea, or use as a snack in place of dried fruit. Flavors of hibiscus, tamarind, passion fruit, apple, raisin. With or without sweetener, this one’s great.

Guatemala Patzun Finca Las Camelias – Brown sugar, cane juice sweetness and bittering coffee character are at the center, surrounded by fruited accent notes like raisin and blackberry that flourish, with a wine-like aroma as it cools.

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Check out a “sciency” new post in our library and take a very close look at the coffee fruit. Tom put together images from some great macro photos and really unwrapped what makes up a coffee bean.


October 9, 2020

emailer 10/9
Latest Coffees Oct. 9, 2020
Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Shakiso Bookkisa – There’s a lot going in the cup, a profile heavily weighted in fruit flavors, raspberry and blueberry preserves, tropical fruit salad, nectarine, mango, a hint of green melon, with a delicate orange blossom floral note.

Guatemala Xinabajul Mejor de Libertad – Rounded sweetness, apple acidity, “dessert”-like notes of pecan pie, caramel flan and caramel-covered apple. Dark roasts have a dash of dried fruit and clenching bittersweetness. Good for espresso.

Sumatra Aceh Tengah Bies – At City+ herbaceous and earthy, complex roast tones, resiny palm sugar, fresh basil, and aromatics of pine and sandalwood. Full City+ quiets much of this and is so chocolatey. Good for espresso.

Kenya Kiambu Fram Farm AA – Very complex when roasted light to medium roast levels, orange juice, lemon rind, bright acidity, stone fruit, cardamom, whole clove, spiced tea cookie, anchored by an abundance of sweetness in the brew.
 
Wet Processing

Wet processing is the most common way coffee goes from fruit to dried seed ready for shipment and is associated with cleaner and brighter coffees. Take a deep dive into wet coffee processing’s history and all it’s stages in our library.


October 13, 2020

Latest Coffees Oct. 13, 2020
Latest Coffees Oct. 13, 2020

Guatemala Acatenango Gesha Lot 4 – Impressive body and sweetness, perfumed floral aroma. Cup flavors hint at red apple, simple syrup, corn silk tea, lime, and grape. Potent floral notes of jasmine and tuberose. Good for espresso.

Timor Leste Organic Letefoho – A wine-like apple flavor that I find delicious atop an underlay of unrefined sugars, a walnut note and mild herbal accents. Light roasts are vibrant and 2nd crack roasts develop intense bittersweetness.

Burundi Kayanza Gakenke – Gakenke hits familiar Burundi flavor territory, brown sugar, Earl Grey with that bergamot oil aroma, lemon juice, anise. Capable of producing rich chocolate with roast development. Good for espresso.

Kenya Kiambu Mandela Estate AA – Mandela Farm AA evokes jam-like smells with citrus highlights, and cup flavors like raw sugar, nectarine, orange peel, pomegranate, Earl Grey and Sencha tea are structured by bracing, citric acidity.

What is on our minds
  • Remember that video we posted a few weeks back? The one with 5 minute answers to coffee questions? Well if you wanted just the audio, here it is in podcast form.
  • We have been getting up close and personal with green coffee on our Instagram lately. Check it out for some great macro shots.
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October 16, 2020

Latest Coffees Oct. 16, 2020
Latest Coffees Oct. 16, 2020

Sumatra Wet Process Pantan Musara – A sweet and clean Sumatra, raw sugar and vanilla, honey aroma, root beer, pine, herbal hints. Dark roasts are very different, chocolate bittersweetness prevails. Good for espresso.

Kenya Kiambu Evans Farm AA – Lighter roasts unlock a bittersweet undertone that enhances a citric, and fruit-accented, cup profile. Tart citrus juice, lemon grass tea, cardamom, grape accent and a creamy hazelnut note.

Costa Rica Helsar Macho Arce – Demurara sweetness, balanced core coffee flavors are accented by a twist of orange, apple, walnut and hints of both herbal and black teas. We enjoyed dark and light roasts. Good for espresso.

Air Fryer roasting

Oven Roasting Is Not Cancelled: It’s been years since we updated our information about oven or toaster roasting because honestly it has many drawbacks. Buying a new Convection Toaster Oven (Air Fryer) made Tom revisit the process, since the high flow of convective air roasts coffee quite well. He discovered using a drum/rotisserie had the worst results in cupping, but roasting on the air fry tray worked really well.

  • Cascara…it’s the dried fruit from a coffee seed so it’s technically coffee, but you generally steep it in hot water, so it’s also tea, but wait, you can eat it too, so it’s food as well. Whatever you call it, cold or hot, it’s tasty and refreshing. Try some.
  • If you have been patiently waiting and thinking about buying one, Behmor roasters are back in stock! Check out the features and pros & cons. It could be the right roaster for you if you want 1lb batches, have enough space for it and don’t mind getting used to the controls.
  • We are working on another Sweet Maria’s staff picks feature with all dry processed coffees. Keep an eye out next week.

October 23, 2020

Sweet maria's Emailer
Latest Coffee October 23, 2020
El Salvador Ataco Finca Ganuza – Bittersweet and balanced, milk chocolate, cocoa powder, brown sugar, sweet cream and roasted almond in the aftertaste. A prime choice for milk drinks. Good for espresso.

Guatemala Antigua Finca Buena Vista – Classic-toned espresso and crowd pleasing coffee, flavors of bittering chocolate, buttery caramel, toffee, lemon balm accent and a moderate acidity level. Good for espresso.

Kenya Othaya Mahiga Peaberry – A sweet-tart note of berry lemonade, transparent sweetness, rock candy, fruit syrups, and accents of blueberry and strawberry. Darker roasts have a berry/smoked chocolate note.
What's on our minds
The Prismo is an awesome Aeropress attachment. Tom’s been using it and shared his notes, including why you shouldn’t use it with the inverted technique.

The new Nesco roaster is a great machine for those looking for a simple, clean way to turn green coffee into brown coffee.

Watch the second episode of our 5 Minute Answers video series.

Hey Bullet users, Aillio is getting ready to launch RoasTime 3 and an updated Roast.World. We have all the details in our library.

We are looking forward to the holidays but are bummed that our retail space will need to remain closed so we decided to post the first in a series of videos giving you updates about holiday sales, shipping times, etc.

Roasting coffee in your air fryer’s rotating drum has pros and cons…mainly cons. Tom did it so you don’t have to.          

October 26, 2020

Latest Coffee October 26, 2020
Latest Coffee October 26, 2020

Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Kebele Birbissa – Fruit reductions, dried peach and strawberry, rhubarb pie filling, cranberry juice, a hint of orange points to citric acidity, and a subtle floral aroma. A fairly clean cup for dry process coffee.

Colombia Pavón Finca Los Palomos – Intense with complex raw sugar sweetness, viscous in texture and presents notes of stewed plum, black tea with a bracing lemon note, pancake syrup and bittering citrus peel in the aftertaste.

Colombia Urrao Valle del Penderisco – Molasses, demurara sugar, moderate brightness, accents of berry and hibiscus flower tea. Dark roasts boast heavy-handed cocoa roast flavors and plum. Good for espresso.

Colombia Tolima Productores de Ibagué – Unrefined sugar sweetness is central to the cup, accented by top notes of oatmeal cookie, molasses, dried date and cola nut, with plum-like acidity.

Meet Patrick

Meet Patrick. He works in our warehouse and makes sure our coffee and merchandise goes to where it needs to go. Like many of the staff at Sweet Maria’s, Patrick loves great coffee and has an interesting background story that brought him to his current position with us. Learn more about Patrick and the coffees he chose for this round of Sweet Maria’s Staff picks.

Nesco rotation

As you may have heard, we recently started selling the new Nesco roaster. It works similar to an electric popcorn popper roaster but moves the beans a lot slower. We just added short video to the Nesco page to demonstrate this difference.


October 30, 2020

New Coffees October 30, 2020
New Coffees October 30, 2020

Panama Anaerobic Fermentation Volcan Baru – Full City roasts manage to pull out an impressive level of toffee sweetness, dried green apple and walnut top notes, fruited acidity and bittersweet finish. Good for espresso.

Colombia Ibagué Rio Combeima – Delicious in the light to middle roasts, panela and molasses sweetness, winey apple and plum hints, a cinnamon note, tannic black tea and cranberry-like acidic impression.

Costa Rica Don Oscar Limones – Bittersweet flavor characteristics respond readily to roast development, honey graham and moderate acidity in lighter roasts, reverberant bass notes and carbonized sugars when taken darker.

Guatemala Antigua La Parcela Melanie – Moderate sweetness, honey comb and raw sugar, Sencha tea and black currant hints, and bracing acidity. Full City roasts produce a flavor of berry-laced chocolate.

Guatemala Paraíso La Colibri – A uniquely fruited cup that has characteristics of honey process. Pulpy fruit and green grape flavors come into view, along with a baking spice aroma, once raw sugar and clean nut tones fall away.

Kenya Kiambu Mandela Farm AB – A vibrant Kenya at City+ roast level, citric acidity ties together notes of unrefined sugar, baked goods like peach scone, hints of citrus zest and sweet herbals. Good Kenyan espresso.

Sumatra Honey Process Kerinci Seblat – Layered sweetness like demurara, rice syrup, and honey, accented by dried stone fruit and golden raisin, and herbal aroma of sweet basil and pineapple sage. Good for espresso.

Sweet Maria’s Polar Expresso Holiday Blend – Roll out the holiday cheer with our limited edition Polar Expresso blend! Velvety shots extract complex layers of dark chocolate truffles, ganache dessert, and bittering roasted cacao nibs, accented by sweetened cranberry juice, citrus peel, spiced aromatics and tart, lemon acidity. Fantastic espresso.

Larry Cotton's Wobble Roaster

Every once in a while, Sweet Maria’s customer, Larry Cotton hits us up with a video of his latest coffee roasting creation. Every time, we are impressed with Mr. Cotton’s ingenuity and creativity. His latest roaster is an updated version of his Wobble Disk machine.

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