Where:

Walnut Bridge Coffee House
2319 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-496-9003

When:

Sunday, March 8th, 10am – 11:00am

Coffee:

Kenya Amukui Estate
Indian Monsooned Malabar Coelho’s Gold
Brazil Cerrado

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.

If you want to introduce someone to Peregrine, but don’t know if they might prefer a fruity light roasted Kenyan or a chocolatey decaf, a Peregrine gift certificate is the perfect choice.

Sometimes the first sip of a new coffee makes us giddy. The complexity in this bean is astounding. The tasting notes read like a Sauterne or a top notch Washington Riesling. Apricots and peaches abound. Smells like wild strawberries had a fling with the raspberry bush and that combo is what emerges on first sip. There is a lot of acidity but not in a sour or tart way — very crisp. The finish is extremely long and fruity. Extremely limited quantity.

A gorgeous bean that opens up like a fine wine in the cup. Layers of fruit come through: black currant and raspberries are clearest. Hints of chocolate and a bit of grapefruit. As the bean ages, the grapefruit moves to center stage. Some spice flavors, like nutmeg and cinnamon, emerge on the finish. Very sophisticated, bright and balanced. A personal favorite of the Roaster!

September 12, 2008

Good to the Last Drop

Peregrine Bespoke Coffee Service

We awoke to find a man taking over our kitchen. We thought, Should we beat him with this baseball bat?

But he offered us great coffee, and we decided he’d go unharmed.

The man was Kevin Lawrence, owner of Peregrine Coffee. He came over to let us try his bespoke coffee service (we had no intention of ever beating him).

He brought five beans (Colombian, Kenyan, Indian, Guatemalan, and Panamanian) that he ground and brewed while asking which flavors we wanted first thing in the morning. We sipped and sampled, then ordered our favorite batch. Which he will now deliver, fresh roasted, every week, month, or as we need it.

The coffee was good. Real good.

And Lawrence escaped, although we considered holding him hostage.
Available online at peregrinecoffee.com.

Daily Candy