Posts Tagged ‘inauguration’

Peregrine Coffee in Philadelphia Daily News

January 12, 2009 in press | Comments (0)

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Obama Java

From T-shirts to rap songs to sold-out Washington hotels, there’s enough commercial activity surrounding Barack Obama’s inaugural to resuscitate the economy (if it lasted more than a week).

The Peregrine Coffee Co., based in Tacony, has its own entry – a $17 Presidential Pack featuring two bags of custom-roasted coffee beans, one from an estate in Kenya, the birthplace of Obama’s father, the other from a farm in Hawaii, where Obama was born and spent most of his childhood.

The company’s owner and chief roaster is Kevin Lawrence, 40, a former marketing specialist with American Express and the Franklin Institute, who was drawn into the business after his coffee-maker died six years ago.

“First I was trying to find the best coffee pot, then I hooked up with a Web site for coffee geeks, next I found a subset of folks converting popcorn poppers into coffee roasters in their backyards,” Lawrence said. “The Internet is a dangerous thing.”

He opened Peregrine last June in a converted garage on Friendship Street, with a view of I-95. Lawrence imports raw beans from single-origin coffee farms around the world, roasts them to order for specific customers and delivers by priority mail in small batches, about half a pound, enough to sustain an average household for a week or 10 days. Any longer, he says, the coffee beans can’t be considered fresh.

“If you toast and brew it properly, it’s a totally different beverage,” said Lawrence, who compares his job to that of a wine steward, helping “clients” identify their tastes and match them to specific beans and roasts.

His analysis of the Presidential Package? The Hawaiian beans have a “chocolatey, nutty taste,” Lawrence said, while the Kenyan beans hint of grapefruit and black currants, sort of “fruity.” He denies that Republican spinmeisters have any influence on his descriptions. “Peregrine tries not to take a political stance,” he said.

Staff writers Bob Warner and Michael Hinkelman contributed to this report.

Have a news tip? Gossip? Suggestion? Contact Bob Warner at warnerb@phillynews.com, call 215-854-5885, or fax 215-854-5910.


Hawaii 2008 Kona: Moki’s Farm, Roger and Vivian Rittenhouse

January 11, 2009 in tasting notes | Comments (0)

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Call central casting ask for a picture perfect coffee bean and this is what you get.  These are beautiful beans! The smells are sweet and spicy with buttery chocolate, cinnamon and cardamom.  Once you take a sip of this, you know that it is a special coffee —  it is very balanced, rich and smooth with milk chocolate, a touch of malty-musty-almonds and a citrusy-floral note.  What stands out is the magical mango-juice finish: just as the slightly dry acidity passes, out jumps the mango from side-stage, joined by sweet floral tones reminding one of lavender combined with the soapy sweetness of artichoke’s aftertaste.  Not just a looker, this coffee is a talented star with real depth and complexity: a rarity indeed.


Toasting the New President with Coffee

January 7, 2009 in special | Comments (0)

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PHILADELPHIA, PA January 6, 2009 – If you are collecting examples of unusual inauguration festivities, Peregrine Coffee in Philadelphia has a unique offering. Peregrine celebrates the inauguration of our 44th president with the limited edition Presidential Pack – two custom roasted bags of single-estate coffee, one from Hawaii and one from Kenya. The whole bean coffees are top tier examples from the Amukui Estate in Kenya, and 100% Kona beans from Moki’s Farm in Hawaii. For more information, please visit http://www.peregrinecoffee.com.
“Barack Obama’s heritage is linked to two of the world’s finest coffee-growing regions,” explains Peregrine owner/roaster Kevin Lawrence. “Putting together the Presidential Pack is our small way of welcoming him into office, and helping people celebrate his presidency in an uncommon way.”
Peregrine Coffee is a small artisan coffee roaster specializing in fresh single-origin beans and bespoke coffee services. All beans are roasted to order in small batches and mailed to customers around the country within hours of roasting. What sets Peregrine apart is its bespoke service, which helps clients identify their favorite flavors and then matches those tastes to a personally ideal bean, which can be stored at Peregrine’s workshop and roasted and delivered on demand. Peregrine also custom roasts coffees to go with the specific flavors of a wedding cake, or with a special menu of any kind. For more information, please contact kevin@peregrinecoffee.com or (215) 240-4474.
CONTACT: Luise Z. Moskowitz, Peregrine Coffee Media Relations
(215) 240-4474