Recent Cupping session

I had a few coffee's to cup for http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/ . Phil had heard of the planned session and decided to make a visit. We sampled some Brazilian coffees, a Yemen, a Bolivian, and one from Papua New Guinea. Phil was kind enough to bring some Panamanian boquete coffee. The Panama boquete was simply amazing and I am in the process of trying to acquire some for Sandpiper coffee in the near future. Here is a picture of Phil jotting sown some scores after he sampled one of the many coffees.

If you are in the San Diego area and would like to learn more about cupping coffee or if you would like to experience cupping coffee, feel free to contact me at my email: info@sandpipercoffee.net

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coming soon

I have reserved some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from the Oromia coop. This is a wonderful bean I should be recieving cupping samples soon, I will post my scores and results and if it is acceptable we will have some long awaited Yirgacheffe back in stock. The Decaf coming in the next couple weeks will be a Panama Decaf from the Carmen Estate, I have had this same coffee in its non decaf form and I can't wait to see the translation.

Joe

Dacaf is coming

I have been getting periodic requests for decaf coffee. The problem with decaffeinated coffee is that the processing shortens the shelf life considerably. This problem is regardless of the type of processing. Since I am just a micro roaster at the moment, I don't have the volume of Decaf customers to justify purchasing bags of it and potentially risk having quality issues. So a solution has presented itself that I can get smaller quantities of Decaf coffee soon. Stay tuned!

Joe

Oromia coop Ethiopian Harar November's Hot Bean

This month I will focus on one of my all time favorite coffee's Oromia coop Ethiopia Harar. Traditionally Harar has wonderful Blueberry notes along with some earthiness and in the case of Oromia its very common to get Licorice root flavors along with some raw honey/Maple. This years crop upon initial cupping disappointed me in that my favorite flavor trait is the blueberry and this seemed to be significantly less than in previous years. Upon accidentally allowing this coffee to "rest" a few more days than I usually allow for, I was able to find the elusive blueberry flavors that make Harar one of the best coffee's for the absolute best value. Of course, I try and focus on Fair Trade organic and other socially conscious certified coffee's so that does eat away at some of the cheaper value's that most roasters enjoy. Fortunately the extra money that I pay for Oromia Coop coffee is well worth it, I truly feel they provide a superior coffee consistently year to year. I have said this before and I'll repeat it here if I had to choose only one coffee region to drink for the rest of my life it would be Ethiopian coffee hands down.

Here is the Bean Bio from Elan Organic:

Ethiopia
Harrar, Yirgacheffe &
Lekempti
Historically, Ethiopia is the oldest recognized country of origin
and Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. In 1960, Ethiopia became
a member of the Inter-African Coffee Organization. Elan’s Organic Ethiopian coffees come from
a farmer group called Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU), which was
founded in June 1999. OCFCU is a union of 34 small cooperatives benefiting 22,734 smallholder
farmer members.
Three major farming systems are recognized and practiced; Forest Coffee which grows under a
forest canopy with very little human interface, Small Farm/Cottage Coffee, the most prevalent,
comes from small farms and is shade grown and often intercropped, and Plantation Coffee,
which is the system that utilized modern coffee planting and processing practices.
Coffee in this southwest region is known, as the Highland Coffee with average altitude of 1,750
meters.
Coffee Specifications:
Variety: Arabica
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean
Altitude: Yigacheffe: 1770-2200meters
Harrar: 1510-2120 meters
Lekempti: 1700-2200 meters
Shade: Traditional Polyculture
Harvest: Yirgacheffe: September-February
Harrar: October-February
Lekempti: February-August
Certifications: USDA/NOP/TransFair USA
Coffee Characteristics:
Quality:
Harrar: Medium to light acidity, full body, genuine mocha flavor with blueberry notes
Lekempti: Good acidity, medium body, fruity finishes
Yirgacheffe: Bright acidity, citrus flavor, medium body, floral and spicy notes

info provided by: Elan Organic coffee

An interesting visit- cupping related

I had a visit from one of our members on the www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com forum, Phil who goes by comptrguru at GCBC. He was picking up some Brazil Poco Fundo coffee from me and we began discussing various things. At some point in our conversations he mentioned that he has a background in Chemestry and in wine tasting. He proposed creating a kit that has flavors isolated for cuppers trying to identify certain traits. I mentioned that there is an aroma kit that is available, but this is something that has much better potential in my eyes. He explained that he had created this already for the wine tasting community he was involved with and that it would be easy. So anyways I thought this is a great idea, something that I see could be a great tool for anyone who would like to dabble or become proficient in coffee cupping. I will update on progress of Phils cupping kit. Who knows? maybe some really intersting descriptors on my cupping notes will start appearing.

Joe