Sweet Maria’s Emailer Roundup – January

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

January 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.


January 2, 2020

Heat Gun Sifter Roaster

The sifter/heat gun setup has gained a lot of popularity among home coffee roasters that want to build their own machines. A fine example is Sweet Maria’s customer Thomas Meeks. Take a look at this creative build that he installed onto a rolling cart.

Flavor Spectrum

Did you have a chance to check out the variety of coffees we dropped this week?  There’s something for everyone here with flavor notes ranging from honey and brown sugar to green tea and green grapes They are all delicious and most are great as espresso too!

Sumatra Aceh Tengah Bies – At City+ herbaceous and earthy, complex roast tones, rice syrup, lemon balm, basil, and resiny pine aroma. Full City+ quiets much of this and is so chocolatey. Good for espresso.

Guatemala Antigua Finca Melanie – A clean cup with transparent sweetness, green tea, bracing acidity and green grape accent. Full City brings bittersweetness and a berry note. Exceptional acidity for Guatemala.

El Salvador Santa Ana Miravalle H1 – Underlying sweetness of toffee and caramel, notes of cacao nibs, candied nut and green tea. Bitter-to-sweet roast tones at Full City with raisin and dried fig. Good espresso.

Honduras Comayagua Angel Vasquez – Unrefined sugar sweetness accented by herbaceous rue and Thai basil, citric acidity, berry accents, bittersweet cocoa and a walnut accent note. Good espresso.

Costa Rica Helsar Asdrubal Chavez – A sturdy cup, honey note, brown sugar, balance of sweetness and bittering components, high % cacao bar and hints of dried fruit and coconut. Infinitely drinkable! Good for espresso.


January 10, 2020

January 10, 2020 - Latest Coffees
January 10, 2020 – Latest Coffees
Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Sidama Bombe – For those who truly enjoy fruited naturals; notes of dried fruits are pervasive, mulled apple cider, tea-like fruited accents and dark, pungent spice notes like cinnamon stick and nutmeg, and aromatic wood hint. Intense dry process flavor!

Colombia Nariño Las Estrellas – “Las Estrellas” is truly a star coffee, perfumed honey sweetness with accents of mandarin orange, beeswax, herbal tea and fleshy stone fruits. Vibrant cup when roasted light.

Brazil Dry Process Pedra Branca Yellow Bourbon – Robust cocoa roast flavors are matched by unrefined, molasses-like sweetness, with dried banana and berry accents, and rum candy in the aroma. Good for espresso.
Behmor Panel

Beep! The new Behmor roaster upgrade panel is in stock. It includes an updated processor with more memory and a shorter refresh time for more effective profiling. This updated panel allows compatibility with 110V and 220V electrical grids and most importantly, it beeps to notify you of the Unattended Feature and end of roast warning.

Dogs Calendar

Sweet Maria’s 2020 Dogs of Coffee Calendars are now only $5. Five bucks for 11.5 months and awesome dog photos…what a deal!


January 14, 2020

Behmor Light Roasts
Behmor 1600 coffee roasters offer a lot of control when roasting your coffee. The manual controls allow you to adjust your roast curve on the fly and if you are feeling like flying on auto-pilot, you can do that too. 

Dan put together great Behmor video tutorial. This one is on how to get started if you are into light roasted coffee.
Ethiopia DP Org
Have you had a chance to check out the trio of coffees we added last week? They are still in stock so get some while you can.
Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Sidama Bombe – For those who truly enjoy fruited naturals; notes of dried fruits are pervasive, mulled apple cider, tea-like fruited accents and dark, pungent spice notes like cinnamon stick and nutmeg, and aromatic wood hint. Intense dry process flavor!

Colombia Nariño Las Estrellas – “Las Estrellas” is truly a star coffee, perfumed honey sweetness with accents of mandarin orange, beeswax, herbal tea and fleshy stone fruits. Vibrant cup when roasted light.

Brazil Dry Process Pedra Branca Yellow Bourbon – Robust cocoa roast flavors are matched by unrefined, molasses-like sweetness, with dried banana and berry accents, and rum candy in the aroma. Good for espresso.

January 17, 2020

January 17, 2020 - Latest Coffees
January 17, 2020 – Latest Coffees

The new coffee additions this week are outstanding. Panama Gesha is a must for fans of floral coffees. It’s a bit expensive but worth it. We also launched a new Honduras sample set that includes the new Organic Santa Maria Doña Aguilar.

Panama Esmeralda Gesha – At City, floral jasmine notes are indisputable. A tightly-knit profile of simple syrup sugar, lemon, mandarin, ginger powder, and with floral and pink bubblegum aroma.

Kenya Kiambu Fram Farm AA – Unrefined sugar sweetness envelopes top notes of tangy lemon and complex citrus, stone fruit, blackberry and a subtle baking spice aroma. A classic, bright Kenyan cup.

Guatemala Antigua Finca Cabrejo – Cabrejo shows balance across the roast spectrum, bold raw sugar and bittersweet chocolate flavors, big body, and hints of dried date and raisin, baking spice, and lemon tea when roasted light. Good for espresso.

Kenya Kiambu Evans Farm AA – Start with City+, where you can expect a sweetness of raw sugars marked by Earl Grey tea and cardamom, lemon cookie, citrus zest and an interesting olive oil-like finishing note.

Honduras Organic Santa Maria Doña Aguilar – A sweet, clean cup that comes off on the delicate side when roasted light. Notes of caramel drizzled almonds, brown sugar, cacao nib accent and hop flower aroma.

Honduras 4 lb Sample Set – What an awesome deal. Our new sample set is a convenient way to pick up 4 Honduran coffees, including the new Organic Santa Maria Doña Aguilar.
Light Behmor Roasts

Having trouble getting a light roast with your Behmor? Check out our video tutorial that provides a good  jumping off point for roasting light with your Behmor.

Honduras Sourcing

In the past, Honduras, as a coffee origin has positioned itself with volume-oriented exporters, making it difficult for us to find great coffee there. While we may have struggled to find a consistent source, we are still able to find excellent coffee to buy as we continue to travel there.


January 21, 2020

Featured Green Coffees

Our latest coffee additions have been very popular and some have already sold out. The good news is we still have a large selection of amazing green coffee in stock. Here’s a few!

Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Sidama Bombe – Are you a fan of fruited naturals? This intense Ethiopia organic has dried fruit notes with pervasive mulled apple cider, tea-like accents and dark, pungent spice notes like cinnamon stick and nutmeg and aromatic wood.

Honduras Organic Santa Maria Doña Aguilar – Sweet and clean with a delicate side when roasted light. Notes of caramel drizzled almonds, brown sugar, cacao nib accent and a hop flower aroma.

Guatemala Antigua Finca Cabrejo – This Guatemala shows balance across the roast spectrum, bold raw sugar and bittersweet chocolate flavors, big body, and hints of dried date, raisin, baking spice and lemon tea when roasted light. Good for espresso too? Yup!
Coffee Books

With so much digital information in our lives these days, it’s nice to sit down with an actual, analog book once in a while. Check out our selection of books about coffee and home coffee roasting if you want to learn something without looking at a screen.


January 25, 2020

January 25, 2020 - Latest Coffees
January 25, 2020 – Latest Coffees

This week, we offer up another dry processed organic Ethiopia with amazing complex sweet aromas and flavor notes. Also check out our new Colombias, Dominican Republic and others. It’s as great week to be a home roaster!

Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Limu Kossa Farm – Fragrance and aroma are potent. Complex molasses and sorghum sweeteners, pine syrup aroma, dried berry, raisin and prune, big cocoa roast flavors when roasted dark. Good espresso.

Kenya Nyeri Rukira AB – Excellent Kenya pour over, light roasts show flavors of pomegranate, pink grapefruit and orange, hints of candied citrus and cranberry, with sweet herbs and baking spice in the finish.

Colombia Buesaco Alianza de Granjeros – Caramel sweet overtone, notes of apples baked with cinnamon and brown sugar, elegant green apple acidity and spiced finish. Bittersweet chocolate with darker roast development. Nice espresso.

Dominican Republic Jarabacoa Don PepeRestrained, balanced and sweet, this Domincan fits in with our washed Centrals in many ways. Brown sugar, chocolate, roasted almond, cinnamon powder and basil. City+ to Full City. Good espresso.

Guatemala Antigua Hunapu Ciudad Vieja – Semi-sweet chocolate chips, brown sugar, chocolate-walnut brownie and apple-like acidity. Classic, balanced Guatemalan coffee and fantastic daily drinker. Good espresso.

Colombia Buesaco Vereda Veracruz – Traces of dried fruit and almond in the cup, atop an undercurrent of panela raw sugar and bittersweet cacao bar. Apple-like acidity makes for a juicy mouthfeel.

January 28, 2020

6 under 6
Nothing in life is free but that doesn’t mean everything has to be expensive. As you know, coffee roasting is cost effective when you compare the cost of green coffee to roasted coffee but it can still add up when putting together those large orders. We never import inexpensive coffee for the sake of it being cheap. We only import great coffee that happens to occasionally be under six bucks a pound. Here’s six great choices…all for less than six bucks each.

Timor Leste Goulala Village – Sweet cup character, butter cream frosting and mild bittering bass notes are illuminated by tart goji berry, lemon rind and an almond meal finishing note.   $5.85/lb

Brazil Dry Process Pedra Branca Yellow Bourbon – Robust cocoa roast flavors are matched by unrefined, molasses-like sweetness, with dried banana and berry accents, and rum candy in the aroma. Good for espresso.   $5.65/lb

Colombia Inzá Veredas Vecinas – Persistent sweetness, a framework of unrefined sugary flavors like light brown sugar, raw panela and toffee, raisin and roasted almond accents, and deep chocolate flavors with roast development. Good espresso.   $5.95/lb

Honduras Comayagua Angel Vasquez – Unrefined sugar sweetness accented by herbaceous rue and Thai basil, citric acidity, berry accents, bittersweet cocoa and a walnut accent note. Good espresso.   $5.75/lb

Honduras Organic Santa Maria Doña Aguilar – A sweet, clean cup that comes off on the delicate side when roasted light. Notes of caramel drizzled almonds, brown sugar, cacao nib accent and hop flower aroma.   $5.65/lb

Honduras Cerro Negro La Lesquiñada – Balanced dark sugar sweetness and roast tone, top notes of raisin, dried stone fruit, a green herbal accent, high % cacao bar, and a dark berry accent. Good for espresso.   $5.65/lb

coming down the pipelline
  We expect to have new Rwandas more of that great Panama Gesha late in the week. Before that, look out for additions from Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Nicaragua.

A clean roaster is a safe and efficient roaster so we are working on tutorials for cleaning both the Behmor and Bullet.

“Chocolate” is a very popular flavor note among Sweet Maria’s customers so we are bringing back the Box of Chocolates sample set.    

January 31, 2020

January 31, 2020 - Latest Arrivals
January 31, 2020 – Latest Arrivals

Remember that Panama Gesha we added 2 weeks ago? We now have more of it along with a good variety of new arrivals from Rwanda, Ethiopia and Guatemala. Yes, Gesha is expensive, but if you are really into floral, light and citrusy coffes, Panama Gesha is worth every penny.

Panama Esmeralda Gesha – At City, floral jasmine notes are indisputable. A tightly-knit profile of simple syrup sugar, lemon, mandarin, ginger powder, and with floral and pink bubblegum aroma.

Rwanda Karongi Gitesi – Raw sugar sweetness underscores the cup, black and green tea notes, mandarin orange and apple accents and tea-like, crisp finish. A delicious, delicate pour over!

Rwanda Kivu Kageyo – Versatile in roast level and brew methods, the cup reveals layers of brown sugar, cinnamon, cane juice, clove, blueberry, chocolate and more. Good espresso.

Ethiopia Guji Uraga Tome – Floral impressions of tuberose and star jasmine, with simple syrup sweetness backing elegant Earl Grey, mace and fruited hard candy accents, and acidity like black tea with lemon.

Guatemala Chimaltenango Concepcion Buena Vista – Classic bittersweet espresso and crowd pleasing coffee, caramel, toffee, honey, dried green apple accent at City/City+, hefty chocolate roast flavors at Full City. Good espresso.
Rwanda Kageyo

Rwanda Trading Company (“RTC”), a private coffee company with a social mission, stepped in and bought the Kageyo wet mill after the mill went bankrupt in mid 2000’s. Instead of taking over, they allowed the cooperative structure to continue, serving what was already a thriving coffee community. RTC helped in many ways, including funding a larger capacity de-pulping machine and installing the power necessary to run it. But Kageyo still needs to solve their space issue in order to increase production. Check out our recent post and videos focusing on Kageyo.


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