Another big day! …We are offering two Geshas together as the Panama Garrido Gesha Collection: 1/2lb Panama Garrido Gesha Traditional Wet-Process and 1/2lb Panama Garrido Gesha Pulp Natural Process … look for effervescent jasmine in the Wet Process and a fuller body with stone fruit in the Pulp Natural. Check out Tom’s full write-up on this very limited offering. We are also happy to re-stock our Mandheling standard Sumatra Takengon Classic, as most of you know is a heavy-bodied chocolate and spiced cup, good for darker roasting too. Maria

It’s a big day! We are listing El Salvador Peaberry “Aida’s Grand Reserve” (1lb limit)! Please click through to Tom’s full review. Some of you remember this from previous harvest,… juicy mouthfeel with semi-sweet chocolate and Monukka raisin in the cup, this time ranking at a 93 overall score! ! Next is another special preparation coffee, Costa Rica Peaberry-Petite Bean Experiment (2lb limit), with a shifting flavor profile from cherry and plum to brown sugar and syrup. Again, don’t miss the full reviews for details. Last up is a great espresso blend component, the return of Panama Guyami Indian Robusta Rustico with baker’s chocolate in the cup. Also great in a French Press !

Three new coffees to announce: Guatemala Palo Blanco WP Decaf with apple notes, raspberry and clean and bright finish. Next up is the Peru FTO Aparm Coop Typica, a balanced cup with Dutch cocoa and almond. Lastly, we have the new Ethiopia DP Haile Selassie Sidamo, a cleanly fruited cup with cardamom hints. Check out the full review for details on a slightly different dry-process method resulting in a sweet profile with peach, vanilla and mango sweetness.

I am very happy to announce the availability of Sweet Maria’s Coffee Unofficial 2010 Dogs of Coffee Calender!! Tom and I had the idea to print a calendar of all the great dog photos he has taken at origin, but alas, that great idea occurred to us last March. Not a good time to sell a calendar. But November is! The calendar has 15 full color images of dogs from all parts of the coffee producing world. (We even slipped in a photo of our old dog Francy under one of the Typica trees in our backyard in Oakland.) The price is $6 and $2 of that will be donated to a number of charities active in coffee producing countries, including Coffee Kids, Grounds for Health, Doctors without Borders, etc. Check it out! (Can you tell I am excited about it?)- Maria

Three more coffees… ! ! ! Check out the reviews, here’s the rundown: Brazil Cerrado DP Fazenda Aurea… a straightforward Brazil profile, chocolate-laced at darker roasts. Good as a blend base or for espresso preparation. We are adding a new Nyeri coffee: Kenya AA Nyeri Tambaya with grapefruit, jasmine tea and a complexity that gives it very high marks indeed. Last but not least is Yemen Mokha Harazi, a high-grown and fairly clean coffee with rustic accents and dried fruit. This is sweet and for fans of the Ismaili especially. Try it dark as espresso too!

We’re adding an exciting coffee that we had decaffeinated ourselves: Kenya Nyeri Ndiaini-Kiagundo WP Decaf. Read Tom’s blurb for the full review. It’s a combination of Kiagundo and Ndia-ini farm coffees, an effervescent cup with a great fruit aroma and changing fruit tastes in the cup. We’re very excited about this offering and Tom ranks it as the highest point score given to a decaf: above 90!

Happy Election Day! We are adding 3 Brazil coffees today. Here they are: Brazil Daterra Farms - Sweet Yellow, a mix of Bourbon and Icatu cultivars, with a sweet and savory balance of aroma and taste. Try it as a single-origin espresso! Second up is Brazil Organic Nossa Senhora de Fatima, a nice balance of sweet and savory flavors and aroma; fans of Poco Fundo take note. Lastly, we have Brazil Fazenda Vista Alegre Natural Dry, a natural process coffee with a big beefy body and marked low acidity. Check out Tom’s full notes for more.

Ultraviolet light is useful to see problems with coffee like mold and
bacteria, but these are things that affect low grade lots that are
already quite damaged. However, when I suspect drying problems with
coffee, I check it out anyway. Some recent Sulawesi wet-hulled lots
have been very surprising under UV light, and in general UV shows the
problems with the wet-hull process overall (although our Blue Batak
Sumatras fare well under UV light. This was a surprise. An Ecuador
Cariamanga lot with a nice cup, but some odd off notes cropping up
way too often. The green coffee loots PERFECT. But under UV light,
small nicks, little marks were I suspect the pulper scraped against
the coffee seed due to misadjustment. Then in fermentation the
damaged areas are in contact with mucilage and bacteria, rather than
being protected by the parchment layer. The result is some off cups,
but mysterious since there was little clue under normal light. I
could not get the coffee to “light up” completely under UV for the
photo so the arrows assist in seeing the glowing areas, and then the
little pulper kiss marks can be seen.
–
-Tom