Sweet Maria’s Emailer Roundup – July 2020

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

July 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.


July 2, 2020

July 2, 2020 - Latest Coffee Arrivals
July 2, 2020 – Latest Coffee Arrivals

Ethiopia Agaro Kenisa – Syrupy sweetness and texture, the cup fades to herbal rue and tropical fruit aromatics, mango and orange marmalade, a soft floral highlight.

Ethiopia Agaro Tuma Tesso – Pour-over brewing teases out the vibrant, complex profile. Flavors of ripe apricot and nectarine, baked sugar, puckering yellow cherry and fruit-floral aromatics.

Colombia Caicedo Bernardo Montoya – Versatile in the roaster, simple brown sugar with a touch of dried fruit, chocolate-covered almond, hints of woodsy spice, prune and bell pepper.

Costa Rica Don Mayo La Loma – Middle roasts are balanced, bittersweet and capture sweet flavor notes of candied walnut, chocolate biscuit, bran muffin and umami hints in the finish. Good for espresso

Flores Honey Process Laga Lizu Marselina – Sweetness like palm sugar blankets the coffee in a rustic-sweet overlay, leading into hints of natural dried fruit and aromatic cedar. Fruited mouthfeel and a mild acidic impression.

Peru La Huaca Calistro Cordova – Aromatics of cinnamon and sugar toast, hints of pomegranate and cantaloupe are tethered to brown sugar sweetness when brewed, a glimmer of lemon vibrance, some bittering in the finish.

Costa Rica Don Oscar SWP Decaf – Chocolate malted grain, popcorn, puffed wheat, caramel, honey wheat bread, rice crispy treats, soft but present acidity when roasted light. Good decaf espresso.

Updates
  • Peru – the nationwide lockdown ended on Tuesday and localized quarantine restrictions have been implemented in severely affected regions, including producing areas San Martin, and Junín starting July 1st.
  • BrazilDespite increasing Covid-19 case numbers, the coffee harvest continues to progress, although slower than usual. An exporter recently stated that activity at the port is continuing with minimal disruptions.
  • Guatemala is finishing up with a good end to the 2019/2020 coffee season. The government has extended their state of emergency until the end of July and continues to enforce current lockdown measures.

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Sweet Maria’s office and warehouse will be closed this Friday (7/3) so our staff can take a well-deserved break and get a head start on enjoying the 4th of July weekend. We’ll be back on Monday.


July 8, 2020

Latest Coffee - July 8, 2020
Latest Coffee – July 8, 2020
Congo Dry Process Kabare Katana – Intense dry process cup profile laced with berry jam, subtle earth hints, dried blueberry and a “root” note like sarsaparilla.

Colombia Inzá Las Estrellas – Supremely sweet coffee with floral honey and panela sugar flavors, hints of apple, golden plum, and a dried stone fruit accent. Good for espresso.

Sumatra Honey Process Bebesen Auliya – A sweet aspect in the front end leads into pungent, herbal and spice hints and bittersweet finish. Juicy body and a flavor note of dark tea. Good espresso.

Burundi Dry Process Kibingo – Cooked fruit and wheat flavors that bring to mind raspberry pie, a layer of barley malt syrup and a hint of pomegranate. Soft acidity and bittersweet when roasted dark.

Colombia Doña Yessica Heirloom Caturra – A dynamic cup profile, tart plum, flame grape, berry, tropical fruit accents, raspberry leaf tea and baking spice. Brisk acidity and delicate, floral aroma when roasted light.
Consecutive Bullet Batches

What happens when you roast 20 back to back roasts with a Bullet R1? Dan did it and was impressed with the results.

Keep Your Behmor Clean

Hey Behmor owners! Take a little time once in a while to give your machine a deep clean. We made a video a little while back to give you a little guidance.


July 10, 2020

July 10, 2020 - Latest Coffee
July 10, 2020 – Latest Coffee
Guatemala Proyecto Xinabajul Los Chuchitos – A balanced, classic Guatemalan profile expressing brown sugar and candy corn sweetness that extends to the aftertaste, mild bittersweetness, apple-like acidity adds a touch of brilliance. Good espresso.

Guatemala Michicoy Finca Rosma – Flavor compound that alludes to oatmeal-raisin cookie, brown sugar, black currant, cacao bittersweetness, dried fruit accent notes and a hint of dried coconut.  Good for espresso.

Sweet Maria’s Ethiopiques Version 2.0 – At Full City, berry flavors are nicely folded into a persistent bittering cacao tone, highlighted by notes of dehydrated blueberry, cranberry and dark citrus. Best with resting 48-72 hours. Good for espresso.

DIY Moka Java Blend Sampler – The Moka Java blend is probably the most widely produced blend in the world, and certainly the oldest. We’ve grouped together our own coffees to make a contemporary version of this old standby.

DIY Decaf Moka Java Blend Sampler – This is our decaf version of the Moka Java blend. This blend as non-decaf is probably the most widely produced coffee blend in the world, and certainly the oldest. We’ve grouped together two of our own Swiss Water Process (“SWP”) decaf coffees to make a close approximation of this old standby!
Moka Java

Our new DIY Moka Java sample set is great for folks wanting to get behind the wheel of the world’s most popular blend. The elements are all there. It’s up to you to construct the blend the way you want it. Read our latest blog post and learn about how this set is great regardless of if you go freestyle or stick to a strict recipe. P.S.- We made a decaf one too!

Sweet Maria's Hats

Summer has arrived. Pick up a Sweet Maria’s hat and look good while keeping those sun rays off your forehead. Trucker or bucket. You choose.


July 15, 2020

July 15, 2020 - New coffees
July 15, 2020 – New coffees
Rwanda Ibisi Bya Huye Mountain Peaberry – Flavors of honey, spice, lemongrass tea and citrus accent simple syrup sweetness, with complex Earl Grey tea, spiced finish as you exhale. Excellent light roast pour over.

Rwanda Rusizi Nyakarenzo – A range of flavors from caramel sweetness to delicate and spiced, hints of mace and cinnamon stick, buttery caramels, iced black tea with lemon. Good for espresso.

Burundi Kazoza N’ikawa Station – A “light and bright” Burundi on the City end of the roast spectrum, sugarcane juice sweetness, raisin and dried apple notes, acidity like sweet lime and cinnamon tea spiced aroma.
Origin Updates
With so many cafés closed in major cities, and less overall demand from buyers, it’s almost a curse that some producers have large harvests this season. Rwanda and Burundi finally have sizable crops, but not enough buyers demanding the coffee.

We are finally listing new crop Central American coffees, with more on the way. It may seem that our Centrals arrive quite late, considering that some arrive in February, but those tend to be the lowest altitudes, and softest flavor profiles. Consider the range of altitudes in one area, like Huehuetenango, Guatemala. There are farms at 850 meters there! Most of our coffee comes from 1800 m. That’s a completely different climate at these high altitudes, and in a way a completely different harvest time.

In their ongoing effort to prevent cervical cancer in coffee communities, Grounds For Health has come up with an HPV self-sampling test that helps the new need for social distancing. Read more about it HERE. You can donate to GFH HERE.

Guatemala has started the process of withdrawing from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), citing the ICO’s inability to proactively shield farmers from historically low prices as the main reason.

We are 75 bags away from finalizing another Colombia container that should ship to us in early August. Nariño samples will hit the cupping table soon.

The early samples from Rwanda and Burundi are still quite fresh, and we anticipate the best coffee will come later in the harvest season. Stay tuned for more specific info at the end of Summer.

July 17, 2020

July 17, 2020 - New Coffees
July 17, 2020 – New Coffees
Timor Leste Honey Process Haupu – Light roasts show a subtle citrus note that lends to the acidic impression, hints of black tea, lemon zest and dried apple, aroma of vanilla wafer and pistachio.

Brazil Colinas de PedralvaNutty aroma leads into a surprisingly fruited cup for Brazil, dried cherry and date, rustic palm sugar, peanut sauce in the finish. Good for espresso.

Colombia Inzá Carlos Apio – Initial sugar and coffee bittering flavors fade to notes of fleshy fruits, plum jelly, dried fig and cranberry juice. Immense sweetness provides a necessary backing to this fruit-forward coffee.

East Africa Sample Set – High caliber coffees in their own right, the East Africa Sample Set emphasizes flavor diversity found in the coffees from these two neighboring countries.

Brazil Carmo de Minas SWP Decaf – Chocolate wafer, hazelnut, honey-wheat bread, an undeniably sweet and big bodied decaf coffee. City to Full City. Good for espresso.
Wobble Disk Roaster

Here’s another amazing DIY roaster build from Sweet Maria’s customer, Larry Cotton. It’s based around a DIY heat gun/flour sifter design with a lot of Larry’s ingenious design features like an offset agitation disk, neodymium magnets that hold the roasting chamber onto the heating element. The magnets also conduct electricity to the motor that moves the disk.

Chiapas Video

New video! When Tom went looking at green coffee sources in the Chiapas region of Mexico, he found good quality, and was able to see neighboring farms as well.

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 We have some site maintenance scheduled for about 5 hours on Mon. night, July 20th sometime after 7pm PST. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience. Thanks for understanding.


July 20, 2020

July 20, 2020 - New Coffees

Our latest video has great footage of Tom meeting coffee producers and walking some farms in Miramar Oaxaca / Sierra Mixteca, Mexico. The area has nice altitude and varieties, but has struggled with low coffee prices and the effect of Roya fungus.

Staff Picks

Lana’s on our customer service team and is always around the endless coffee offerings that flow through our office. She put together a list of her faves. You can purchase them individually or as our newest Green Coffee Sample Set.

Genes are Back
Gene Cafe coffee roasters are back in stock. It’s a unique hybrid between a drum roaster and a hot air roaster that roasts 8oz per batch. They also ship with as free 8lb Sweet Maria’s green coffee Sample Set. Now all you have to do is choose between red or black.
 We have some site maintenance scheduled for about 5 hours tonight, Mon. 7/20 sometime after 7pm PST. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience. Thanks for understanding.

July 22, 2020

July 22, 2020 - New Coffees
July 22, 2020 – New Coffees
Guatemala Xinabajul Producers – Moderate sweetness and acidity, turbinado, demerara, raisin, brisk black tea. Dark roasts show bittersweet cacao and molasses with a hint of berry. Good for espresso.

Timor Leste Mobere – A crowd pleasing brew. Caramel and butterscotch sweetness, Dutch drinking cocoa, a bit brighter and more dynamic for Timor, fruited finishing note.

Panama Bambito Estate Typica – Simple brown sugar, buoyant body, chocolate roast flavors and a fruited hint that leads into creamy Macadamia nut.
Aeropress Tip

What’s that sticky stuff on your Aeropress plunger? Don’t worry. Sure, it looks a little gross, but It’s harmless. It comes from the natural rubber that Aeropress uses. Clean it off and press on .


July 24, 2020

July 24, 2020 - New Coffees
July 24, 2020 – New Coffees
Brazil Dry Process Minas Café Pequeño – Middle roasts meld molasses-type, rustic sweetness with roast bittering, bran muffin and a fruited accent that has elements of amaretto (like almond and cherry). Good for espresso.

El Salvador Finca Matalapa Lote Pino – Versatile, balanced, big bodied and a well-integrated acidity. Notes of pecan cookie, black strap molasses, sesame candy and robust chocolate roast flavors.

Colombia Inzá Vereda San Antonio – Raw panela sugar, vanilla caramel, raisin, fruited acidity, a bittersweet bass note, and a spiced hint caps off the finishing flavors. Good for espresso.

Guatemala Hunapu Small Producers SWP DecafCity+ is a good starting point, flavors are bittersweet with a savory hint, “Malta” (malted soda from barley hop), cocoa, bread dough, soft acidity. Good for espresso.
Guatemala
If you are looking to stock up on Guatemalas, now is a great time. We have a nice selection and most of them are from our Guatemala Xinabajul program.
Indo Sample

It’s unfair to say that Indonesian coffee has a single flavor profile since each producing nation within the country has their own processing practices, cultivars and climates. Our latest sample set is a cross-section of coffees that highlight this uniqueness. Sumatra is the axis, featuring two nice examples processed in different ways. Rounding out the set are coffees from the islands of Java and East Timor.


July 29, 2020

July 29, 2020 - New Coffees
July 29, 2020 – New Coffees
Ethiopia Dry Process Genji Challa – Layers of fruited flavors interspersed by rustic sweeteners, Genji Challa Dry Process is intense. Notes of cherry, fruit jam, berry fruit leather and apricot fruit nectar (like Kerns drink).

Guatemala Acatenango Gesha Lot 3 – Pristine, sugar in the raw, cane juice, accent notes of Assam, blackberry tea, rose hips, tangy lemon twist, floral aromatics like star jasmine and tuberose. Keep this one light and bright for a complex floral cup!
Instagram Post
Our recent Instagram post shows a few quakers we culled from a 100 gram offer sample. For those who don’t know, quakers are un-ripe coffee. They are light tan and have a dry, nutty flavor no matter how dark you roast them.

Generally, we expect most of these types of defects to be sorted out during the dry milling process. The problem isn’t the 3 full quakers up top, but rather, the 5 partial quakers that are cause for concern. In small amount, partial quakers really aren’t too much of a concern and shouldn’t have a negative affect on the cup. But a high number like this most likely will (and did).  This is why we ultimately why we passed on this particular lot.

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