Category: Uncategorized

From the "Sweet Marias" website: "All the tenets of a "daily drinking" coffee, caramel chews, roasted almond and pistachio, torrone candy, pungent dark chocolate roast flavors, and velvety mouthfeel. City+ to Full City+. Good for espresso." This is my first roast from El Salvador and I love it. It has that classic chocolate note, full… Continue reading El Salvador Santa Ana Pacas: 2/24/2022

The Finca Cabrejo is just outside of Antigua on the road from Guatemala City. The finca spans 1,585-1,920 meters ASL. A well balanced, nicely bodied with cocoa notes beneath a dried fruit accent, this much anticipated lot is already out of stock at the distributer.

Al-Qafr Hawari coffees were originally sold in Moka, the very first commercial market for coffee dating back to the 1600's. Four hundred years later, farmers are still growing coffee in the region. This coffee lot is comprised of coffees from the small holder coffee farmers in Al-Qafr District. Hawari is the name of the local… Continue reading Yemen Al-Qafr Hawari: 10/30/2021

A classic Ethiopian bean with the fruit-forward notes. At a darker roast we have some cocoa bittering in the finish. This lot comes from a private coffee processing site in Refisa village in Nensebo, grown at ~2000 meters ASL. Here around 600 farms roughly two hectares or less in size contribute to the mill. From… Continue reading Ethiopia Organic Dry Process Refisa: 10/30/2021

The Dusangirijambo coffee cooperative is in Sogestal Kayanza, northern Burundi (about 1700m ASL). Built about 6 years ago, it serves farmers in the area through buying and processing the local coffee, and also providing agronomical support, preparing coffee for export at a central dry milling facility, and linking to the international market, like me. ``Well… Continue reading Burundi Kayanza Dusangirijambo: 7/24/2021

The small village of Piñas is located in Peru's northern district of Chontalí, and home to about 30 coffee producing families. These beans are wet processed and purchased farm to gate. Peruvian and Guatemalan fincas are generally higher altitude than Brazilian or even some African plantations, and as a result yield denser, more slowly maturing… Continue reading Peruvian-Pueblo de Piñas: 7/14/21

This a bright and cheery coffee. I roasted it to Full City and Full City+. I recommend the + for espresso and the Full City for drip, but I don't follow rules and tend to enjoy a lively espresso.

I received a lot of beans from the region of Pedralva in Brazil. There is a lot of coffee grown in this region, but these beans come from relatively small farms (compared to the massive industrial farms of Brazil) Most of the beans are hand picked meaning which means better quality control and separation of… Continue reading Brazil: 5/8/2021

This coffee cooperative is in western Ethiopia and has over 650 members who are farming coffee at between 1900 and 2000 meters elevation. The farmers are assisted in part by a union that provides marketing, exporting, and representation on an international scale. I love Ethiopian coffees for the bright and fruity notes and I tend… Continue reading Ethiopia Gera Genji Challa

The coffee community, Migoti, in Mutambu, Burundi. Photo from Sweet Maria’s I Love working with beans from Burundi. Lighter roast of this batch are bright and spicy, while darker roasts pull out a honey-cinnamon note in my espressos. The warehouse is already out of this lot, otherwise I would pick up some more. But still,… Continue reading Burundi Commune Mutambu