Cup of Excellence Part II: Competition Craze
The Cup of Excellence and similar competitions can create a sort of craze amongst participants. While the goal of producing award winning coffee is a good one, do competitions always communicate what is best in a holistic sense?
Diverse Colombia - Five New Coffees
This past week we released five new coffees from Colombia, highlighting some of the diverse growing regions found in this wonderful South American country.
The production and trade of Puer tea has a long, storied, and many faceted history. Produced from a large leaf variety of Camellia Sinensis, Puer is made particularly unique by the fact that it can be aged for decades or longer and continues to develop a positive depth of flavor and texture with age.
The Cup of Excellence was started in 1999 by Specialty Coffee pioneers George Howell and Susie Spindler and continues to be a respectable enterprise that positively influences consumer perspective and shapes producer communities.
In June of 2018 we visited our friends who run the Long Miles Coffee Project in Burundi. Here are some photos!
Featured Producer: Carlos and Julie Batres, Montecarlos Estate
Located in Apaneca, El Salvador, Montecarlos Estate is a breathtaking farm that presents one of the more complete visions we have ever seen of what the Specialty Coffee movement is capable of.
India, Karnataka PB, New Education Lot Offering
Our second Education Lot from India from the 2016/2017 Harvest Year, this is yet another remarkably clean, remarkably enjoyable coffee from a terroir that is greatly underrepresented by the specialty coffee industry.
Ethiopia, Homacho Waeno, New Seasonal Offering
Homacho Waeno is our first release from southern Ethiopia this year, our previous lots having been selected from the western part of the country. The lot, which is made up of coffee from some 3,500 small holder producers, is certified organic, and comes to us via the Sidama Coffee Farmer's Cooperative Union.