A note about the weather, and more New Coffees
Carrie Masek
The Polar Vortex has come again to the Chicago area! Today isn’t too bad (temperatures in the low single digits with negative windchills), but tomorrow and the next day (Wednesday and Thursday) are going to be cold. None of us want to venture out tomorrow when the high temperature is expected to be only -12 degrees F (-46 F with windchill). Thursday may not be much better, but we don’t know at this point. As a result, the orders we receive after we finish roasting today (around noon) will be roasted and mailed after the temperature rises into positive degrees F, hopefully Thursday, but we may need to wait until Friday. Sorry for any inconvenience!
Now for more new coffees! First, two new coffees from Brazil:
Organic Brazil de Fatima is back! We love this coffee from the highlands of Brazil. The flavor is beautifully robust with cherry and brown sugar sweetness and caramel richness combined with a rich body and smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
We also have a new decaffeinated Brazil, Decaf Brazil Serra Negra. Water processed (of course!) this naturally processed decaf has a smooth and heavy body, with rich chocolate notes brightened by a hint of lively citrus. All of the flavor of a good Brazilian coffee, with none of the buzz.
From other parts of the Americas:
Costa Rica La Montaña. We just received a new, late harvest microlot coffee from Costa Rica. Grown on the La Montaña estate in Tarrazu, this coffee features a gentle floral aroma with lemon topnotes, toffee sweetness and a rich, nutty finish. Add a smooth and silky mouthfeel for a fantastic example of why we love the coffees of Costa Rica!
The new crop coffee from Ecuador is here! Another coffee good enough to deserve our Roaster’s Gold, Ecuador Hacienda La Papaya features complex fruit sweetness, berries – pulpy fruit and citrus – balanced by winey topnotes and chocolate richness. Smooth and delicious, this year’s coffee from Ecuador is everything coffee should be.
Finally, two new crop coffees from Ethiopia!
The new crop of Ethiopia Natural Lake Abaya is here! We’ve been expecting it for months and were delighted when it finally arrived last week. Grown on a single estate, this year’s Ethiopia Natural Lake Abaya is practically perfect. Intense and complex, with a silky mouth feel, full body, strawberry and peach sweetness and dark chocolate richness, this is a coffee worth waiting for!
Ethiopia Queen City Harrar. This year’s Harrar is intense and complex. The roast we brewed featured gentle cherry and strawberry sweetness and dark chocolate richness, along with a full body and smooth mouthfeel. Yum! Remember, though, Harrar is grows wild on the hills near Mesala, Ethiopia. This wild and wonderful coffee may change flavor pot to pot and even cup to cup.
We hope all of you stay warm during these very cold days! We will be drinking extra coffee to help fight off the chill. My favorite warming cup is a latte made with steamed milk and Espresso Trieste, spiced with a dash of warming cinnamon. Share yours, and I may add it to this blog to help other readers stay warm.
Thanks for reading Coffee by the Blog!
~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast