It's February! A Month Full of Love... For Coffee!
Carrie Masek
Grumpy groundhogs, Valentine’s Day, virtual Mardi Gras parties and celebrations to recognize the contributions people of African descent have made to this country: that's a lot of excitement for a month that’s only twenty-eight days long. Whether you want to wake up your favorite "groundhog," savor a Cafe au Lait, or share coffee and chocolate with your Valentine, we have the coffee for you.
For a bold cup, perfect for waking up grumpy “groundhogs,” or blending with steamed milk for a Mardi Gras Cafe au Lait, try Midnight Treat, our Coffee of the Month for February. Rich, bold and complex, Midnight Treat is a smooth, heavy bodied blend that gets any day off to a bold start. Available all month in both full and 1/2 roast pouches .
For those who prefer award winning “practically perfect” flavors, our Exploration Coffee for February is 2020 Cup of Excellence winner from Ethiopia, Ethiopia Guji: 2020 Cup of Excellence Winner. Roasted to a City roast level, this naturally processed coffee is intense and complex, with a smooth, full body, jasmine aroma, honey sweetness, cocoa richness and a lingering sweet cocoa finish.. Available in full and 1/2 roast pouches all month.
We have two new exciting Colombian coffees this winter. The Colombia Cauca Women’s Cooperative is a smooth, rich, and balanced coffee that is a flawless example of traditional Colombian coffees, and is also produced by a women’s rights organization in Colombia. The Caldona Cauca is an anaerobically naturally processed Microlot (Coming from a single farm!) that has an herbal complexity that heightens the richness of Colombian coffees. We also want to highlight one of our favorite coffees, New Orleans Roast 1803
New Orleans is justifiably famous for its coffee, and we did a little research into New Orleans’ coffee culture. The first coffee vendor at the French Market was a woman named Rose Nicaud. She was of African descent and a former slave. She also started New Orleans’ coffee culture.
New Orleans Roast 1803 was inspired by the kind of coffee she roasted, ground and served. New Orleans is now known for very dark roasted coffee (often blended with chicory). Midnight Treat is a good example of this type of coffee, but we’ve always preferred our New Orleans-inspired blend roasted light. We discovered that Rose’s coffee was described as a “pile of golden powder.” That’s exactly what you’d expect with a very light roasted coffee. She prepared her coffee as a pour-over, and from what we learned about her technique and people’s reaction to her coffee, served a cup that would meet the today’s highest standard.
If you’d like to taste a coffee similar to the one Rose served, consider trying our New Orleans Roast 1803. Ask for it light. Our Roaster’s Choice level is City, but Rose probably roasted it even lighter, to a Cinnamon roast level. Roasted that light, the coffee will brew up with a lively fruit flavor and a brighter, more assertive spice note. To order the coffee the way Rose roasted it, choose “Roaster’s Choice” for roast level and write “Cinnamon” in the box for Additional Instruction before you finalize your order. We’ll do the rest!
Do you have any special plans for this short, but busy month? If so, please join the conversation and share your thoughts on the Facebook thread or in a comment on this blog. Or, if you'd like to share your opinions with the wider world, leave us a coffee review on Google or on your favorite review site. Not only do we value your opinions, but reviews help more people find us. Help us connect coffee lovers to fresh, quality coffee!
And finally, to thank the readers of this blog, we’re offering a free 1/2 roast of Midnight Treat with your first order of the month. Just write, “February,” in the box for Additional Instructions and we’ll throw in the 1/2 roast pouch at no extra charge.
We wish all our customers continued good health and some February fun.
~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast
If you’re interested in learning more about Rose Nicaud or New Orleans’ coffee culture, here are some links about them.
https://www.nola.com/300/2018/11/rose_nicaud_new_orleans_coffee.html