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Roastmaster's Quarterly Coffee: Timor-Leste
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Our Quarterly Coffee Feature
from Southeast Asia
Timor-Leste from Southeast Asia
Our Quarterly Roastmaster's Select coffee is wet-hulled, and we've talked about this a few times but just in case, here's what that means:
"Wet hulling’s popularity can be attributed to producers’ need for prompt payments. It was also adopted specifically by many producers who lacked the drying infrastructure that was needed to shelter drying parchment from the high humidity and inconsistent rainfall typical in Sumatra. At higher elevations with constant humidity and unpredictable rainfall, drying can prove to be slow, risky and difficult." -Sucafina
‘Wet Hulling’ or ‘giling basah’ in Indonesian is not to be confused with wet processing. Wet hulling is similar to wet processing initially – with the first steps of picking and pulping the coffee beans, then fermenting in order to break down the fruity layer of the coffee cherry called the mucilage, which is washed off the next day. The difference is, the drying process is much shorter in wet-hulling and it’s only dried until 50% of the moisture remains, resulting in lower acidity levels and more flavor and aroma.
Altitude: 1,000 to 1,900 meters
Processing: Wet Hulled "giling basah"
Farmer: A variety of small farms in Timor Leste
Varietal: Catimor, Timor, Typica
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Single Origin Club: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from. Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted, bringing out their unique aromas and flavor notes.
We are thrilled to share the fascinating stories behind each coffee. This month, Roastmaster, Jacob Long, hand-picked our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, which also happens to be one of our 2017 Roaster of the Year award winners! Join our Single Origin Club now to have only the finest of coffees delivered to your doorstep each month
Coffee from Ethiopia
Our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe is one of three award-winning roasts from our 2017 Roaster of the Year prize. It's grown by the Worka Cooperative located in southern Ethiopia at about 2,000 meters above sea level. The cooperative is comprised of around 411 members, and is part of the larger Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU). The Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Gedeb coffee is picked and pulped and washed on the same day, then to be dried in raised beds for no more than seven days.
"Delicate, deeply sweet. Baker’s chocolate, magnolia, peach, black peppercorn, sandalwood in aroma and cup. Gentle, rounded acidity; velvety mouthfeel. The richly drying finish consolidates to baker’s chocolate and peach. An engaging coffee particularly appealing to those who value delicate, cocoa-toned coffees with gentle acidity and engaging spice notes. Reassuring environmental and socio-economic credentials.” -coffeereview.com
Altitude: 2,000+ meters
Processing: Washed, dried in raised beds
Farmer: Worka Co-op (YCFCU)
Varietal: Indigenous heirloom varietals
Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Light Roast coffee.
From the RoasteryJuly Single Origin Club: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
read more -
Single Origin Club: Guatemala Guaya'b
What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.
Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted.
This month we're sharing our Guaya'b coffee grown in Guatemala by the Guaya'b Cooperative and light-roasted here at Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, CA.
Guaya'b from Guatemala
The farmers of the Guaya’b Cooperative grow coffee under a dense forest canopy that doubles as the winter home for dozens of species of migratory birds as well as local flora and fauna. It wasn’t always this way.
When coffee was introduced to this remote region 40 years ago, it was promoted as an alternative to subsistence agriculture, and farmers were taught to clear forests to make way for this new cash crop. Fortunately, these farmers are closely connected to the health of their land, and have re-established their once logged forests providing much needed shade and diverse ecosystems in which coffee thrives.
Now, a new generation of farmers works to cultivate coffee and a variety of other cash and subsistence crops to increase incomes, and to protect the health of the land. Thanks to their partnership with our importer, Elan Organic Coffee, Guaya’b has perfected the art of picking, depulping and fermenting their coffee to produce deep, juicy, and full flavored coffee with a truly distinctive character.
Altitude: 1,300-1,600 meters
Processing: Wet/washed
Farmer: Asosicacion Guaya’b Civil
Varietal: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra
In fact, the farmers’ coffee is so unique that they periodically run into trouble with ANACAFE, Guatemala’s national coffee marketing wing, which tries to subdue Guaya’b’s flair and replace it with a more generic cup profile produced by less-inventive processing methods.
Not content to merely develop members’ coffee production, Guaya’b has a pilot organic honey project, which also helps to increase coffee yields thanks to improved pollination.
Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Guatemala Guaya'b Light Roast coffee.
From the RoasteryJune Single Origin Club: Guatemala Guaya'b
read more
Single Origin Club: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from. Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted, bringing out their unique aromas and flavor notes.
We are thrilled to share the fascinating stories behind each coffee. This month, Roastmaster, Jacob Long, hand-picked our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, which also happens to be one of our 2017 Roaster of the Year award winners! Join our Single Origin Club now to have only the finest of coffees delivered to your doorstep each month
Coffee from Ethiopia
Our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe is one of three award-winning roasts from our 2017 Roaster of the Year prize. It's grown by the Worka Cooperative located in southern Ethiopia at about 2,000 meters above sea level. The cooperative is comprised of around 411 members, and is part of the larger Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU). The Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Gedeb coffee is picked and pulped and washed on the same day, then to be dried in raised beds for no more than seven days.
"Delicate, deeply sweet. Baker’s chocolate, magnolia, peach, black peppercorn, sandalwood in aroma and cup. Gentle, rounded acidity; velvety mouthfeel. The richly drying finish consolidates to baker’s chocolate and peach. An engaging coffee particularly appealing to those who value delicate, cocoa-toned coffees with gentle acidity and engaging spice notes. Reassuring environmental and socio-economic credentials.” -coffeereview.com
Altitude: 2,000+ meters
Processing: Washed, dried in raised beds
Farmer: Worka Co-op (YCFCU)
Varietal: Indigenous heirloom varietals
Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Light Roast coffee.
July Single Origin Club: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
read moreSingle Origin Club: Guatemala Guaya'b
What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.
Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted.
This month we're sharing our Guaya'b coffee grown in Guatemala by the Guaya'b Cooperative and light-roasted here at Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, CA.
Guaya'b from Guatemala
The farmers of the Guaya’b Cooperative grow coffee under a dense forest canopy that doubles as the winter home for dozens of species of migratory birds as well as local flora and fauna. It wasn’t always this way.
When coffee was introduced to this remote region 40 years ago, it was promoted as an alternative to subsistence agriculture, and farmers were taught to clear forests to make way for this new cash crop. Fortunately, these farmers are closely connected to the health of their land, and have re-established their once logged forests providing much needed shade and diverse ecosystems in which coffee thrives.
Now, a new generation of farmers works to cultivate coffee and a variety of other cash and subsistence crops to increase incomes, and to protect the health of the land. Thanks to their partnership with our importer, Elan Organic Coffee, Guaya’b has perfected the art of picking, depulping and fermenting their coffee to produce deep, juicy, and full flavored coffee with a truly distinctive character.
Altitude: 1,300-1,600 meters
Processing: Wet/washed
Farmer: Asosicacion Guaya’b Civil
Varietal: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra
In fact, the farmers’ coffee is so unique that they periodically run into trouble with ANACAFE, Guatemala’s national coffee marketing wing, which tries to subdue Guaya’b’s flair and replace it with a more generic cup profile produced by less-inventive processing methods.
Not content to merely develop members’ coffee production, Guaya’b has a pilot organic honey project, which also helps to increase coffee yields thanks to improved pollination.
Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Guatemala Guaya'b Light Roast coffee.
June Single Origin Club: Guatemala Guaya'b
read moreSingle Origin Club: Kenya Nyeri Peaberry
What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from. Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted, bringing out their unique aromas and flavor notes.
We are thrilled to share the fascinating stories behind each coffee. This month, Roastmaster, Jacob Long, hand-picked our Kenya Nyeri Peaberry coffee, which also happens to be one of our 2017 Roaster of the Year award winners! Join our Single Origin Club now to have only the finest of coffees delivered to your doorstep each month.
Coffee from Kenya
This Kenyan coffee is grown on the eastern slopes of Aberdares mountain ranges in Nyeri County, Kenya by the family-owned farms of the Othaya Farmers Co-operative Society Limited (FCS). Established in 1956, FCS has more than 14,000 members who generally have half acre plots averaging 250 coffee trees.
Tasting this coffee at its freshest is not something to be missed. This light roast from Africa has a unique mouthfeel with hints of milk chocolate, ripe peach, and caramel. We’re especially fond of this single origin, because it helped solidify our title as 2017 Roaster of the Year, from Roast Magazine. Along with our Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Paul’s Blend, the Kenya Nyeri Peaberry was judged during a blind tasting alongside a variety of other entrants – and came out on top. We had the opportunity to meet with Jim and Phyllis, representing the Othaya Cooperative, at the Global Coffee Expo in April, 2017, and snagged this photo of them with our Roastmaster, Jacob Long.
Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Kenya Nyeri Peaberry Light Roast coffee.