Klatch Coffee - El Salvador Las Mercedes Pacamara

Photo courtesy of Klatch Coffee. 

The King bean of Central America returns in the gates of Klatch Coffee. Our new crop comes from a hybrid Arabica coffee tree grown in high altitude and fermented prior going into the mill maintaining the natural sweet honey flavors.  

This very special and rare coffee has chocolate and citrus notes on the break. Royal acidity, complex flavors of chocolate, grapefruit, honey and herbs. A powerful and ruling cup. 

What drew Klatch Coffee to Las Mercedes was great coffee, but what we fell in love with was the people, the process, and their passion to make the coffee so great. It begins with hand picking only ripe mature cherries, and then subjecting them to intense screening before depulping to eliminate twigs, leaves and other foreign material. At the wet mill the cherries are received into ceramic tiled ditches, washed with fresh collected rainwater from their own tanks and immediately fed into a pulper, which consists of rotating disks or cylinders, each one fitted with adjustable knives. These are designed to separate the bean from the flesh of the fruit while leaving each bean intact in its parchment envelope. They then dry the coffee on clay patios to ensure even drying. 

The same care and consideration invested in the coffee is invested into the Las Mercedes community. The Ortiz Family has always been devoted to taking care of those who have helped in their success, by providing clothing, food and health care. In addition, Las Mercedes is constantly making efforts to preserve natural wild life by taking special care of the disposal of by-products from the mill in order to avoid contamination also, in compliance with our certifications, chemical and pesticides are carefully store and managed by trained personnel, avoiding intoxication and contamination. In the last years, a great effort has been made in planting native trees to preserve these species. 

Finca Las Mercedes is a beautiful coffee farm with dedicated owners who care for their community, their workers, the environment and, nonetheless, seek to provided specialty coffee. We are proud to offer this limited Direct Trade coffee that is also Rainforest Alliance Certified. As part of our Direct Trade contract, 25 cents of every pound is given back to fund community sports programs and Los Ortiz medical clinic. To read more about Los Ortiz medical clinic please visit cafelasmercedes.com/dispensary.asp. 

Because Pacamara supplies are truly limited, we urge you to order right away to guarantee your share of this most rare and delicious coffee. 

REGION: Cerro El Tigre 
VARIETAL: Pacamara 
FARM: Las Mercedes 
ALTITUDE: 1560 M 
FARMER: Ortiz Barriere 
ROAST: Medium 
NOTES: King Bean of El Salvador

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Victrola Coffee - Empire Blend

Photo courtesy of Victrola Coffee

In homage to the art deco masterpiece that popular opinion believed was impossible, our Empire blend was thoughtfully created to carry the distinction of "the only blend that is not espresso". We chose three Latin American coffees that would compliment each other well in body, acidity and mouth-feel and the results are delightful: tobacco, dried fruit and toasted marshmallow followed by a clean, balanced cup full of sweet chocolate and linear acidity. Perfect if you can't decide on a single origin, perfect with toast in the morning or cookies in the afternoon.

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Klatch Coffee - FTO Ethiopian Gedeo Worka

Photo courtesy of Klatch Coffee. 

One of our most popular coffee returns to Klatch! Our new crop offers an abundance of fine flavors from the birthplace of coffee. This is the bowl of berries we come to expect from a clean Ethiopian Natural. It's composed of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries along with its additional notes of bing cherries and the unexpected tropical fruit nuances. Overall, the subtle hints of vanilla and slight cocoa powder hold the flavors together, providing a bright acidity within a creamy and juicy body. 

Ethiopians are proud to claim coffee as having been first discovered growing wild in their majestic highlands. With the coffee ceremony foundation to their national culture, Ethiopians cherish coffee as both a drink which unites the nation, and a treasure to share with sharp coffee drinkers from every corner of the world. 

Fed by fresh mountain water, and matured through 'thirteen months' of sunshine, the rich resonance and variety of the sundried coffees contrast with the delightful floral and aromatic flavors of the natural coffees to provide an unrivaled range of tastes, highly esteemed by many and fully loving up to their reputation as outstanding specialty coffee. 

This coffee was sourced by Mike, earlier this year during his Ethiopian Cupping Caravan Trip. This caravan brought 24 international coffee buyers face to face with the people who grow some of the best coffee in the world. The cupping caravan was an exploratory trip designed to benefit coffee professionals on both ends of the chain, from farmers to roasters. 

Coffee Reviewed scored Ethiopian Gedeo Worka 92 points, there blind assessment was stated as: "big, syrupy mouthfeel and a long, deeply resonant finish particularly distinguish this coffee, but the rich acidity is impressive too, as are the sweetly pungent aromatics: fir, dark chocolate, cherry, almond." 

Gedeo Worka was awarded with a Good Food Award Gold Seal in 2012. Nicknamed the “Oscars” of food, the Good Food Awards were created to honor food and drink producers who have demonstrated a commitment to building a ‘tasty,’ authentic, and responsible food system that honors farmers and producers. 

REGION: Gedeo 
VARIETAL: Heirloom 
FARM: Worka 
ALTITUDE: 1750 - 2400 M 
FARMER: Co-ops 
ROAST: Medium 
NOTE: 92 pts by Coffeee Review, 2012 Good Food Award

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Alvin's of San Francisco - Autumn Spiced Chai Tea

Photo courtesy of Alivin's of San Francisco. 

6 oz Packet: Spiced Autumn Chai with long leaf Ceylon, dried orange peel, cracked clove, allspice berry, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.

Introducing an all American version of an Indian classic. Alvin's Autumn Spiced Chai is a warm and zesty blend of Ceylon long leaf black tea, dried orange peel, cracked clove, allspice berry, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. This seasonal delicacy has been blended with autumn in mind. Perfect for a crisp morning or a chilly autumn night. Great as is or with honey or brown sugar. A perfect complement to spiced cider.

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Klatch Coffee - Colombia (Frutas) La Virgen

Photo courtesy of Klatch Coffee. 

La Virgen offers a wonderful representation of what Colombian coffees are all about. It has an elevated floral, perfume-like fragrance, a balanced body and acidity with flavors of citrus and cherry. 

On December 12, 1715, Dona Francisca Salazar Valdez, daughter of a very wealthy Spanish landowner named Francisco de Salazar y Barrios y Petronilla Valdes, donated 3 hectares of their Hacienda to build a town that was to be named in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe. During most of the 18th century, the small town with a small church near the Suaza river was known as La Viciosa. A huge earthquake struck on November 16, 1827 and completely destroyed the town but caused few deaths. A year later, the town was rebuilt on nearby grounds and renamed Guadalupe to honor the Virgin that protected them from the earthquake. 

Guadalupe is located in the valley of the Suaza River, about 2 hours south of Neiva, on the route to Florencia, the capital of the department of Caqueta. 

The idea was to create a coffee growers association in the municipality of Guadalupe came from 4 coffee growers from the vereda La Esperanza: Javier Joven Penagos, Javier Figueroa Nunez, Fernando Guzman and Pablo Cuellar. In June 2003 these 4 gentlemen organized a meeting with some other coffee growers of the region and presented to them the idea to create a group with the objective of improving their income and their quality of life through the joint commercialization of their coffee. By offering higher volumes of coffee to exporters, they could achieve higher prices. 

Throughout the years, the group has managed to develop a few programs with the objective of obtaining certifications, improving their quality of life and helping preserve the environment. 

The group today has about 100 members and during 2011, they sold 400,000 kg of parchment coffees to several exporters, mainly coffee RFA and Cafe Practices. Javier Joven Penagos, one of the funding members, is the current president of the group. 

REGION: Municipality of Guadalupe, Dept. of Huila 
VARIETAL: Caturra, Colombia/Castillo 
FARM: Grupo Asociativo Villa Esperanza 
ALTITUDE: 1400-1900 M 
FARMER: Various 
ROAST: Medium 
NOTES: Fully sun-dried

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Klatch Coffee - Guatemala Huehuetenango

Photo courtesy of Klatch Coffee.

Our new Huehuetenango (way-way-tenango) offers bright tropical medley of sweet papaya, lemon and mango on the nose that transcends into a clean apricot and brown sugar, sweet almond and cherry in the cup. 

This coffee comes from El Mirador Finca El Rincon in La Libertad, Huehuehtenango, which is managed by the Molina family. The coffee is grown between 1,550 and 1,700 meters above sea level, and the varietals include Bourbon and Caturra. 

Huehuetenango is a city and a municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The municipality's population was over 81,000 people in 2002. The city is located 269 km from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American Highway before reaching the Mexican border at La Mesilla. 


91 POINTS FROM COFFEE REVIEW 

Blind Assessment: Balanced; soft but lively. Honey, night-blooming flowers, black cherry, crisp roasted cacao nib in aroma and cup. Sweetly tart, lively acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Deep, juicy finish. 

Notes:Produced from trees of the Caturra and the heirloom Bourbon varieties of Arabica. Huehuetenango is a particularly admired Guatemala growing region. 

Who Should Drink It: A fine exemplar of the gently balanced, quietly seductive, Bourbon-influenced style of Guatemala. 

REGION: Huehuetenango 
VARIETAL: Bourbon + Caturra 
FARM: Finca El Rincon 
ALTITUDE: 1200-1800 M 
FARMER: Molina Family 
ROAST: Medium 
NOTES: Micro-Lot, Washed process

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Apple Caramel Cinnamon Coffee Cake - The Coffeecake Connection

Photo courtesy of The Coffeecake Connection.

APPLE CARAMEL CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE 

IT'S BACK!!! A favorite especially this time of year. Our Apple Caramel Cinnamon all natural, buttermilk coffee cake is bursting with the crisp tart taste of Granny Smith Apples and the right amount of cinnamon and topped with only the best caramel sauce - a great choice as Summer comes to an end and nights cool down for Fall. Serve warm with ice cream for a great Fall dessert! 

Unlike many other coffee cakes, we use no preservatives or additives - just how grandma used to – and we’ve added a modern twist to the coffee cake experience. 

Not only will our coffee cakes send your (or your gift-recipients) taste buds to coffee cake heaven, you’ll be just as “wowed” with how it arrives. Exquisitely hand-packaged with a custom gift card in a chocolate brown gift box and neatly tied with beautiful raffia ribbon, this cake is perfect for gift-giving, not just self-indulgence. 

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Coffea Roasterie - Organic Ethiopia Zelele Microlot

Photo courtesy of Coffea Roasterie.

Tasting Notes 
Soft citrus notes with a creamy, luscious body and sweet, tropical fruits. 

About This Coffee 
It's pretty common to see farmer specific microlots come out of South and Central America. But to see one make it's way out of Ethiopia is a big deal. Most of the problem is due to farmer's lots which aren't big enough to justify setting the coffee aside for sale. So to see a coffee come from Ethiopia with the tractability back to the farmer level, it's crazy. We are glad that we were able to receive some of this coffee. 

Region: YCFCU, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia 
Varietal: Heirloom Varietals 
Processing: Washed and sun dried 
Growing Elevation: 1950 masl

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Alvin's of San Francisco - Kona Blend

Photo courtesy of Alvin's of San Francisco. 

16 oz: 50% Mix, Light/Medium Roast, Floral and fruity essence with hints of citrus and papaya.

Some of the best Kona Extra Fancy beans mixed with other South and Central American beans. Fruity hints of citrus and papaya with a floral bouquet. 50% Kona blend roasted light/medium.

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Victrola Coffee - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe YIRGZ

Photo courtesy of Victrola Coffee.

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and as such, the coffee trees thrive in their natural environment.  Most coffee there is grown by small-hold farmers whose ripe coffee cherries are processed and dried at a local mill or cooperative.  Typically the trees are wild varieties that grow in the ecosystem they evolved in, contributing to the great cup diversity found from one microregion to another.  This natural relationship between the coffee trees and their environment allows the plants to grow at extraordinary elevations, often beyond 6000ft, as with this coffee from Kochere.  For these reasons Ethiopia continues to produce some of the most complex and desirable coffees on the planet.

The “Z” in “YIRGZ” denotes Zero Defect. The distinction of “zero-defect” indicates the remarkable sorting process the producers of this washed coffee employ.  Seeds are hand sorted for defects for 10 minutes per 10 kilograms, as opposed to the conventional hand sorting of 2 minutes per 24 kilograms.

This meticulous processing translates to a clean and complex cup. Ginger and cinnamon, lemon and a prominent sweetness combine in aromatics reminiscent of ginger cookies, and the brewed coffee carries ginger, citrus and stone fruit with a surprisingly heavy body for a washed Yirgacheffe coffee.

Facts 
Region: Yirgacheffe
Elevation: 6234-6890 feet
Process: Washed
Varietals: Heirloom
Harvest: Oct-Dec: 2012

Tasting Notes
Fragrance/Aroma: Cinnamon, Ginger, Lemon
Flavor: Ginger, Lemon, Under-ripe Peach
Body: Syrupy
Finish: Clean
Acidity: Bright

Pour Over Parameters:
Coffee- 19g
Water- 300g

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Rusty's Hawaiian Coffee - Ka‘u Classic Dark Roast

Photo courtesy of Rusty's Hawaiian Coffee

Of our three types of Classic coffees, this one is the smoothest. The dark roast softens this coffee’s brightness and brings out more hints of chocolate.

Otherwise, it shares the characteristics of the Classic Medium Roast. This coffee consists of the Typica variety, grown in the rich soil and cool climate of the Mauna Loa volcano’s southern slope.

If you’re on the islands, we’d love for you to try it at several restaurants and farmers markets. Confession: We have a soft spot for the restaurants of renowned chef Alan Wong, who supported Rusty’s Hawaiian long before Ka’u coffee gained popularity.

Taste: Chocolate and berries, with citrus notes

Roast: Dark

Varieties and Processing Methods: Typica, washed and sun dried

Altitude: 1,600-2,100 feet (500-650 meters)

Stories: 
"Ka'u coffee inspires Alan Wong's "The Blue Tomato" 
"In Modern Luxury Hawai'i, coffee is glamorous"

Pumpkin Coffee Cake - The Coffeecake Connection

Photo courtesy of The Coffeecake Connection Company.

PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE - FLAVOR OF THE MONTH

Our Pumpkin coffee cake has just the right blend of clove, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg blended into the pumpkin filling that is then added to our "signature" buttermilk cake batter to create one of the best pumpkin coffee cakes you will ever eat! This treat is unmistakably ideal for family gatherings or for your Thanksgiving celebration. Serve up as a dessert with your favorite ice cream, caramel sauce or whipped cream.  

Unlike many other coffee cakes, we use no preservatives or additives - just how grandma used to – and we’ve added a modern twist to the coffee cake experience. 

Not only will our coffee cakes send your (or your gift-recipients) taste buds to coffee cake heaven, you’ll be just as “wowed” with how it arrives. Exquisitely hand-packaged with a custom gift card in a chocolate brown gift box and neatly tied with beautiful raffia ribbon, this cake is perfect for gift-giving, not just self-indulgence.

Click here to purchase this coffee.

Beansmith Coffee - Nightingale Blend

Photo courtesy of Beansmith Coffee 

Nightingale Full City Roast Blend boasts all the richness and depth of a dark roast, yet preserves the subtle flavors of origin the that are too often roasted away in your average dark coffee. Along with the heavy body and chocolate notes you’d expect from this roast level,  Nightingale offers a delicately balanced acidity that translates dark berry notes and a winey complexity.

Get out your French press and get ready to warm your hands on real ceramic – this is a ""sit-back-in-your-favorite-chair-and-sip"" coffee.

Our Signature Blends exist for one sole purpose – sustainability.  We are a seasonal roaster, which means we offer the finest coffees we can acquire from each particular harvest season. Though we often carry beans from familiar countries of origin, the specific origins from within those countries change with each season, as do the flavors of the coffees themselves.

We have developed our signature blends to showcase specific flavor profiles drawn out by different roasting techniques, in order to offer consistent, non-seasonal choices to our coffee shops and retail customers year round.  Focusing on flavor rather than origin guarantees that the coffees we use for blending are seasonally fresh and of the highest quality, and while the origins may change, the core attributes of the blend stay intact.  

With options from bright and fruity to smoky and brooding, there’s sure to be a Beansmith Signature Blend that feels as familiar as an old friend.

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