Sweet Maria’s Emailer Roundup – February, 2020

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

February 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.


February 3, 2020

Behmor Video

It’s important to keep your Behmor clean. Removing baked on oils, chaff and dust will extend the life of your machine, resulting in awesome (and safe) roasts. Here’s a step-by-step video about keeping your Behmor in good shape.

Still in stock
If you got a little busy over the weekend and didn’t get a chance to check out the coffees we added, here they are…still in stock…still delicious.
Panama Esmeralda Gesha – Indisputable floral jasmine notes. Simple syrup, sugar, lemon, mandarin, ginger powder and pink bubblegum aroma.

Rwanda Karongi Gitesi – Raw sugar sweetness, green tea, mandarin orange and apple accents and a crisp finish.

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

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

Guatemala Chimaltenango Concepcion Buena Vista – A crowd pleasing coffee, caramel, toffee, honey, dried green apple accent, hefty chocolate flavors. Good espresso.
CYOC Podcast

Listen to the Craft Your Own Coffee podcast for great insights on coffee culture, brewing, drinking and now, home roasting. We had the pleasure of bring interviewed and featured in their latest (and upcoming) episodes about home roasting basics.


February 5, 2020

February 5, 2020 - Latest Coffee
February 5, 2020 – Latest Coffee
El Salvador Ataco Finca Villa Maria Bourbon – Villa Maria holds a balanced center into 2nd snaps. Equal parts sweet and bittering, raw sugars, semi-sweet chocolate chips and baking cocoa. Good espresso.

Papua New Guinea Urara Arusha – Shimmering acidity and top notes of fruit and spice spill out from dense, underlying sweetness. Pulpy orange juice, spiced tea cakes and jam-like fruited characteristics. Limited supply.

Costa Rica Tarrazu La Casona SF 1900 Lot 2 – Rounded cup, molasses and cane sugar, baking cocoa, vanilla and tea-like acidity. Full City builds a more chocolate-toned cup. Good for espresso.
Bullet Cleaning
Cross Section Header

Aillio Bullet owners should open up their roaster on occasion to clean out all that fuzzy chaff dust and coffee oil residue. Doing so will give you accurate readings, the best tasting coffee and a safe machine. We just put together a pdf guide covering the basics of how to clean your bullet and it’s infrared bean temperature sensor. By the way, we are eagerly awaiting our next shipment of Bullets and hope to have more in stock some time this spring.


February 7, 2020

February 7, 2020 - Latest Coffees
February 7, 2020 – Latest Coffees
Rwanda Dry Process Rusizi Nyakarenzo – Intense dry process, blueberry jam, maraschino cherry, natural dried stone fruit, dark spices and red wine accent. Light roasts yield a vibrant, citrus-like acidic impression.

Brazil Dry Process Fazenda Alta Vista – Nuanced chocolate roast tones are complimented by burned caramel, pecan cookie, chocolate-covered peanut and a mild fruit accent. A full-bodied brew. Good espresso.

Nicaragua Acopio Suyatal – Layers of bittersweet cocoa and brown sugar, a hazelnut accent and walnut finishing flavor. Dark roasts have a flavor of chocolate walnut brownie. Good for espresso.

Honduras San Sebastian Renan PerezPungent burned sugars, sugar-coated almond, celery soda, dried apple, full-bodied, chocolate roast flavors with deeper roast development.
Yukiro 10% off

We know you. You want a great coffee. You want a good deal. Use the code YUKIRO2020 (for Sweet Maria’s Emailer subscribers only, because we love you for reading them) and take 10% off of Ethiopia Yukiro Cooperative. It’s a high scoring, well balanced coffee with a lot of sugary, citrus and fruit notes like pink grapefruit, green apple and nectarine. You can expect a nice, delicate floral aroma as well.

YUKIRO2020
expires on Feb.15, 2020


February 10, 2020

Coffee Podcast

Have you listened to the Craft Your Own Coffee podcast? They just released the second part of an interview with Byron, our marketing manager, about how simple and easy home coffee roasting can be.

Outside article

Outside Magazine posted an article about home coffee roasting. If you ever set off your kitchen smoke alarm or evacuated your Vienna roast to the backyard when you were getting started as a home roaster, reading this might bring you back to when you were learning the ropes. BTW, they misheard us during the phone interview. First crack sounds like twigs snapping, not “Twix”.

Latest Quartet
We added four delicious coffees last week. Lucky you…they are still in stock.
Rwanda Dry Process Rusizi Nyakarenzo – Intense dry process, blueberry jam, maraschino cherry, natural dried stone fruit, dark spices and red wine accent. Light roasts yield a vibrant, citrus-like acidic impression.

Brazil Dry Process Fazenda Alta Vista – Nuanced chocolate roast tones are complimented by burned caramel, pecan cookie, chocolate-covered peanut and a mild fruit accent. A full-bodied brew. Good espresso.

Nicaragua Acopio Suyatal – Layers of bittersweet cocoa and brown sugar, a hazelnut accent and walnut finishing flavor. Dark roasts have a flavor of chocolate walnut brownie. Good for espresso.

Honduras San Sebastian Renan Perez – Pungent burned sugars, sugar-coated almond, celery soda, dried apple, full-bodied, chocolate roast flavors with deeper roast development.

—-

Use the code YUKIRO2020 (for Sweet Maria’s Emailer subscribers only…yes, you) and take 10% off of Ethiopia Yukiro Cooperative. It’s a high scoring, well-balanced coffee with a lot of sugary, citrus and fruit notes like pink grapefruit, green apple and nectarine. You can expect a nice, delicate floral aroma as well. 

YUKIRO2020
expires on Feb.15, 2020


February 12, 2020

February 12, 2020 - Latest Coffees
February 12, 2020 – Latest Coffees

Seriously, we are doing our best to not flood your inbox with marketing emails but it’s hard when there are so many exciting coffees arriving at our warehouse. For instance, we have these two fantastic coffees from Burundi that we added today. By the way, they are great for both drip and espresso.

Burundi Mutambu Colline Migoti – Sparkling acidity shines through a foundation of chocolate and dark sugars, with accents of lemon grass tea, semi-sweet chocolate and cocoa-covered raisins. Good for espresso.

Burundi Rwiri Yagikawa Station – So much flavor to unpack; dried stone fruit, cinnamon powder and clove spice, pink grapefruit and perfumed floral hints, mouth-cleansing black tea-like acidity. Good espresso.
Burundi Podcast

Speaking of Burundi, a few years back Tom recorded this informative podcast episode about Burundi’s coffee production systems. Give it another listen.


February 14, 2020

February 14, 2020
February 14, 2020 – Latest Coffees
You ? coffee.
We ? you.
Three great new arrivals from Rwanda, Colombia and Peru.
Rwanda Nyamasheke Mutovu – Aromatic butterscotch sweetness, vanilla-caramels, accents of peach and Earl Grey tea and a smattering of baking spices. Dark cacao bar at Full City (and beyond). Good for espresso.

Colombia Urrao Finca Los Palomos – Deliciously-fruited Urrao coffee, stewed plum and dried fig, a soft citrus note, dense sweetness of panela and molasses. Chocolate and berry when roasted dark.

Peru Alto Pirias Graciela Espinoza – Middle roasts have candied toffee and chocolate flavor notes like Almond Roca or Heath Bar. Subtle hints of all spice, dried cherry and black tea.

Don’t forget about the duo of Burundis we added a few days ago. We love them and we think you will too.
Staff Picks

Ever wonder what coffees the Sweet Maria’s staff enjoys? Ryan, our merchandise manager and Coffee Shrub sales team member, has a few that she really likes.

Rwanda Kageyo

A few weeks back, we launched a program where we tacked a few cents onto the price of our Rwanda Kivu Kageyo coffee so we could contribute the proceeds to the Kageyo washing station. The fundraiser’s been very successful and thanks to everyone’s help, we were able to donate over two times the amount we did last year. An even bigger thanks goes out to the long time Sweet Maria’s customer (who wished to remain anonymous) that contacted us and contributed $1000!


February 18, 2020

Rwanda Mutovu

New crop Rwandan coffees are in house and along with them, we have the return of Rwanda Nyamasheke Mutovu, a coffee with great butterscotch sweetness, vanilla-caramels, peach, Earl Grey tea, baking spices and dark cacao bar at darker roasts.

We’ve been lucky enough to buy coffee from the Mutovu processing station since they started in 2012. Mutovu is one of the most consistent Rwandan coffee processing stations and each year’s coffee scores at the upper range of all our Rwandas. A meticulous process and improvements made to the washing station are apparent each time we visit.

We Still Love You
On Valentine’s Day, we told you that we loved you and that we were adding these great coffees. We still love you and the coffees are still in stock.
Rwanda Nyamasheke Mutovu – Aromatic butterscotch sweetness, vanilla-caramels, accents of peach and Earl Grey tea and a smattering of baking spices. Dark cacao bar at Full City (and beyond). Good for espresso.

Colombia Urrao Finca Los Palomos – Deliciously-fruited Urrao coffee, stewed plum and dried fig, a soft citrus note, dense sweetness of panela and molasses. Chocolate and berry when roasted dark.

Peru Alto Pirias Graciela Espinoza – Middle roasts have candied toffee and chocolate flavor notes like Almond Roca or Heath Bar. Subtle hints of all spice, dried cherry and black tea.
Hearthware

Here’s a blast from the past. For those of you that have been home roasting for over 10 years, you probably remember the iRoast air roaster made by Hearthware. Do you remember the machine that came before it? It was called the Hearthware Precision. We wrote about it back in the day and never deleted the page from our library…because that’s how we roll.


February 19, 2020

February 19, 2020 - Latest Coffees
February 19, 2020 – Latest Coffees
Hey! Real quick, we wanted to let you know we just added a trio of new coffees to the list. The Colombia is fruited and chocolatey at dark roasts, the Sulawesi is complex with tea, cherry, a lot of body and the the decaf is just plain super. There’s a lot of variety going on here.
 
Colombia Inzá Rio Paez – Raw cane sugar and fruited sweetness, notes of dried cherry, black currant, apple and a creamy macadamia note in the finish. Chocolatey dark roasts. Good for espresso.

Burundi Collines SWP Decaf – This decaf is all about chocolate bittersweets, City+/Full City roasts bring out flavors of high % cacao bar, chocolate-malted grains, baking cocoa, chocolate muffin and more! Good for espresso.

Sulawesi Red Honey Tana Luwu – Light roasts are complex, notes of cherry pulp and wheat ale, green tea, jamaica tea, green apple and fruited acidity. Full City shows rock solid bittersweetness and massive body.

February 21, 2020

February 21, 2020 - Latest Coffees
February 21, 2020 – Latest Coffees
Hello. Here’s three great coffee for those of you that are into big, heavier flavor notes.  The Flores has a heavy body with deep notes of chocolate. The Java is surprisingly bright and our latest Espresso Workshop Blend was designed to give you great shots with lots of bittersweet and acidic fruit notes. If you were hoping for coffees on the opposite end of the flavor spectrum, CLICK HERE.
Flores Wolo Wio – Big body and weighty mouthfeel, balanced undercurrent of unrefined sugar and bittering cacao nibs, chocolate muffin, cocoa powder, toasted pumpkin seed and long, bittersweet finish. Good for espresso.

Java Sunda Frinsa Estate – Surprising acidity for the origin and velvety chocolate flavors are easily developed. Chocolate-macadamia, Nutella, cocoa covered raisin and a lemon twist. Good espresso.

Espresso Workshop #46 Hama-O-Rama – Start with Full City, balanced bittersweetness, rich chocolate flavors, high % cacao bar, bracing acidity, subtle floral aroma, tart lemonade, orange peel, berry juice, anise and more. Fantastic espresso.
Capresso

The new Capresso Infinity Plus burr grinder packs the most bang for your buck compared to other $100 grinders. Sure, it’s not made to withstand commercial use. Sure, we are skeptical about it producing a perfect espresso grind but if you serious about not spending a fortune on a grinder that will make your daily pour over tasty, this is a great choice.


February 26, 2020

Flores

Flores is an Indonesian island we have sourced coffee from for years, but now with an increased focus. The co-ops we buy from include many small-holder farmers that do a range of processing methods. Some producers in Flores tend to ferment their coffee for a lot longer than necessary which can result in off fruity notes. Nonetheless we do find great micro-lots of coffee from Flores and are currently working with a group who provides farmer training in hopes of better processing and consistent quality. Flores coffees are known to have crowd pleasing flavors with well-rounded notes so roasting some is sure to result in a cup every end of your palate will enjoy. This means a range of flavors, from the more subdued and clean tasting wet-process coffee to the more fruity and rustic honey and natural methods.

Roasted Storage

If you have a an active roasting schedule and grind through your weekly batches within a few days, you don’t have to obsess over how you store your coffee. Zipper bags, paper tin tie bags, deli tubs or food storage containers will do the trick. If you are looking to preserve your roasted coffee for longer than a week, consider looking into a storage container with airtight seals and a one-way valve. Check out our archived article on coffee storage for more info.

Quakers

You have probably seen them before…those tan beans that occasionally appear among dark brown roasted coffee beans. They are called Quakers. Check out our recent blog post to learn about quakers and why we think you shouldn’t stress out about seeing a few of them in your roasts.


February 27, 2020

February 27, 2020 - Latest Coffees
February 27, 2020 – Latest Coffees
This week’s arrivals are really impressive. We have dry processed coffees from Ethiopia and Brazil along with sugary, sweet choices from Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Guatemala.
Colombia Buesaco Luis Fernando Benavidez – Bodied and sweet at a broad range of roasts, caramelized sugar, candied pecan, raisin, pistachio torrone and nut brittle candies. A ribbon of bittering chocolate at Full City.

Ethiopia Dry Process Hambela Buku 13 Screen – Light roasts have a floral aroma, with allusions to dried strawberry and prune, tamarind paste, burdock root, anise and molasses. Rustic fruited notes like Harar with the delicate side of a Guji too. Wild espresso.

Costa Rica Los Crestones Finca Alaska – Interplay of unrefined sugar and bittering roast tone, semi-sweet chocolate, malted barley syrup, oatmeal cookie finishing flavor of raw cacao nibs. Fantastic dual-use coffee. Good for espresso.

Peru Huabal San Francisco – Pungent toasted sugars, cacao bar, baking cocoa with fruited notes hinting at dried apple and golden raising when roasted light. Holds up extremely well to darker roasting too (BIG chocolate flavors). Good espresso.

Brazil Dry Process Fazenda Agua Limpia – Burned brown sugars, baking cocoa, nutty accents of almond and peanut, fruited hint, cheap chocolate in the finish. Good for espresso.

Guatemala Proyecto Xinabajul Bojonalito – A demurara-like, raw sugar sweetness underscores subtle top notes of dried apple, a mild black tea flavor and date pieces. Robust chocolate character at Full City with subtle dark fruited accents.

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