Save 20% on our great single origin and single estate coffees now through March 8th.

Exciting new-crop beans in from El Salvador, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Colombia, India, Brazil and Guatemala. All small lots, very limited quantities.

Click here to shop and use discount code MAR13 at checkout.

Discount is valid on in-stock beans and the coffee club. Expires March 8, 2013.

This cup has a very attractive, clean-fruited character from start to finish. In the dry fragrance, there is a mild cherry-vanilla and hint of coffee flower scent, along with hazelnut roast tones. Adding the hot water to brew, wet aromatics reveal caramel and cane sugar with a touch of peach and nut. In the cup the fruit has ample stone fruit characteristics (peach and apricot), malic sweetness, nutty roast tones and medium body. It’s a mild cup overall, lightly fruited, very refined overall. The aftertaste is slightly drying, but sweet and pleasant.

A top quality Hawaiian bean from Maui, not Kona! Dry fragrance from this coffee has a muted fruity quality, with a dusting of cocoa powder. The flavors turn to a sweet grain, maple syrup, dark honey, and a Cocoa Puffs chocolate note. On the break there is a bit of sweet melted butter and a touch of chamomile tea. The cup has very low acidity, with a rustic sweetness, intense sweet fruit, and oily body. It has honey and maple sugar flavors, and a nice grain note, like honey wheat puffs. There is a muted, mild chocolate flavor, more like milk chocolate syrup, which is underscored by the thick body.

Wonderful combination of chocolate, caramel and nuts, the typical profile of great coffees from Brazil. This exceptional example also shows spices on the finish, especially a cinnamon note. The acidity is present but not heavy on the citrus, making it a interesting single origin espresso, reminiscent of an Illy light roast. Superb farming techniques from this superior single estate.

Peregrinations: Monthly Coffee Club

February 2010 selection

Single Estate

Costa Rica, Lourdes de Naranjo, Herbazu Farm

This surprising single estate coffee from Costa Rica behaves quite a bit like a top Kenyan!  The cup starts with distinct citrus and mixed fruit aromas with a clear sweetness.  The brightness in the cup is definitely lemon blended with berries following with deeper caramel-sweetness notes – very Kenya!  A great example of a bright, complex Costa Rican.

From the Importer:

“Cafetalera Herbazu is a well-known farm in the West Valley region, the Lourdes de Naranjo area to be exact. It is on of the early pioneers in independent, small mill coffee farms, the work of the Barrantes family. They grow a type of Villa Sarchi cultivar that they have used for so long, it has become their own mutation in a way. It’s quite a short plant (Villa Sarchi is a dwarf mutation of Bourbon, as is Caturra). The mill and drying patios are right in the center of the farm, which ranges from 1550 to 1700 meters. They don’t employ much shade on the farm, and their particular type of Villa Sarchi seems adapted to this exposure. This offering is a wet-process style estate grade, which is a forced demucilage process (as opposed to traditional fermentation wet-process).”