November-December 2019 Newsletter
Holiday closing dates will be as follows:
LAST ROAST will be on Wednesday 18th DECEMBER 2019.
LAST SHIPPING DAY & CLOSE will be Friday 20th DECEMBER 2019.
REOPEN on Tuesday 7th JANUARY 2020.
As per our usual practice, customers are reminded that we will be running our stocks of roasted coffee down to zero, and late orders may be filled by whatever coffees are available, not what you actually ordered. This means that we cannot guarantee the contents of orders after Wednesday the 18th, so what you get may be more or less a lucky dip.
Given the usual shipping chaos that engulfs both the post and couriers, early ordering is advised. Based on past years some of the orders shipped on the Friday won't arrive until next year. Also, a reminder that due to the volume of orders we may take a couple of days to roast and ship, instead of our usual next day timeframe.
There won't be a January special coffee but I'll try to organise a brief January newsletter as soon as we're up to speed. As usual at this time of the year, this month's special coffee is meant to be really special. Unlike last year, when my bulk supply of green coffee wasn't up to scratch, this year's special was even better than the sample. I'd easily rate it as a 92, the highest scoring coffee I've seen for a few years.
The Christmas special (available right now!) is Colombian Tres Dragones @ $72.00/kg
It has a powerful upfront strawberry acidity which is balanced by a rich creamy mid palate. The finish is velvety smooth with pronounced chocolate tones.
M-m-mm, strawberries, chocolate and cream, what more could you ask for?
This coffee is one of the very few special lots that fall outside the standard Colombian processing guidelines. Strict laws were passed in the late 1890's in order to regulate the quality of coffees exported from Colombia. Fundamentally, all Colombian coffee for export had to be washed Arabica, with the beans graded according to size.
The reputation for quality and consistency led to Colombian coffee being regarded as the benchmark against which all other coffees were
measured. It also led to the greatest coffee marketing campaign of the 20th Century, Juan Valdez and his donkey, which established Colombian coffee in the minds of American consumers all the way up to the White House.
What makes the Tres Dragones special is that it's a natural, i.e. dry processed Colombian. As with the rest of the world, Colombia has realised that the various methods used to process coffee cherries can lead to big improvements in flavour. (e.g. The Burundi Yeast Fermented.) With commodity coffee prices so depressed, it makes sense to aim for excellent prices for specialty lots, and increase the types and amounts of specialty coffees on offer.
Finally, for those worried about my impending retirement I hope to have more news in the New Year. Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Until next year
Alan
The Christmas special (available right now!) is Colombian Tres Dragones @ $72.00/kg
It has a powerful upfront strawberry acidity which is balanced by a rich creamy mid palate. The finish is velvety smooth with pronounced chocolate tones.
M-m-mm, strawberries, chocolate and cream, what more could you ask for?
This coffee is one of the very few special lots that fall outside the standard Colombian processing guidelines. Strict laws were passed in the late 1890's in order to regulate the quality of coffees exported from Colombia. Fundamentally, all Colombian coffee for export had to be washed Arabica, with the beans graded according to size.
The reputation for quality and consistency led to Colombian coffee being regarded as the benchmark against which all other coffees were measured. It also led to the greatest coffee marketing campaign of the 20th Century, Juan Valdez and his donkey, which established Colombian coffee in the minds of American consumers all the way up to the White House.
What makes the Tres Dragones special is that it's a natural, i.e. dry processed Colombian. As with the rest of the world, Colombia has realised that the various methods used to process coffee cherries can lead to big improvements in flavour. (e.g. The Burundi YeastFermented.) With commodity coffee prices so depressed, it makes sense to aim for excellent prices for specialty lots, and increase the types and amounts of specialty coffees on offer.
Finally, for those worried about my impending retirement I hope to have more news in the New Year. Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Until next year
Alan
