In the Grinder - Our Daily Coffee Weblog

May 2011 Archives

VIDEO: Kogui Tribe, Colombia

May 17, 2011

Andrew took the amazing trek to visit with these incredible farmers in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in Northern Colombia.  Their coffee is now available! 

ID 3190, Teyuna 

The cup is much richer than most Colombians.  It has dark chocolate, tobacco, honey, and roasted peanut in the cup.  This coffee has milder acidity than many of our other Colombian microlots from Huila and other regions.  This is a very unique project, and we are very proud to work with the Kogui Tribe in Colombia!

 

 

Posted by NoahPermalink

The Motown Throwdown!

May 26, 2011

Last week I had the honor of stepping in as a judge at the second annual Motown Throwdown hosted by Coffee Express in the outskirts of Detroit. The event was the epitome of a coffee lover get-together. Tom of Coffee Express in Plymouth, MI schemed up the event to showcase the barista and roaster talents throughout Michigan, which ended up bringing out a good crowd to share the love of coffee and learn from each other.

Coffee Express staff set up all the machinery and supplies in the casual, intimate coffeeshop setting of AJ’s Café in Ferndale, just outside Detroit. Local baristas worked their magic following the USBC guidelines to see who will prevail in the judge’s eyes. Over the hoots and hollers of the barista challenge, one other judge and I fully dedicated ourselves to the roaster challenge. We blindly cupped our way through thirteen different Colombian lots roasted by local shops and wholesalers (I even snuck a Café Imports sample in the mix.) I was so busy tasting that I sadly had little time to watch the barista challenge! We narrowed the thirteen selections to the top five at which point we brewed up these five to let the audience and participants in on the fun. Keeping with the casual atmosphere, the top three winners were selected by a “majority rules” voting system. Winners walked away with armloads of Café Imports goodies and their reigning title. Until next year…
I want to extend many thanks to Coffee Express for their time and dedication to making this event such a success and for caring about showcasing specialty coffee in Michigan; thank you for inviting Café Imports to participate! Thank you also to AJ’s Café for opening its doors to the event as well as to AJ’s patrons who not only put up with a complete takeover of their local coffee joint, but also for joining in on the fun!

-Sally Rivera

Posted by NoahPermalink

Cafe Imports Has Won the #1 COE Colombia Lot!!

May 31, 2011

Cafe Imports is proud to announce that we have won the auction for the #1 winning Cup of Excellence lot from Colombia this year produced by Arnulfo Leguizamo.

Andrew just got back from a trip to visit with Arnulfo and the other producers at Associacion Los Naranjos in San Augustin, and we couldn't be happier for Arnulfo.  His winning lot sold for $45.10/lb. That is nearly $104,000 in this incredible man's pocket.  He has said that he is going to use some of the money to take his children to see the ocean; something they have never been able to do.

Cafe Imports will have roughly 2300 lbs of his coffee sold in 24kg increments.  As always, we do COE coffees pro-bono, simply charging what it costs to import the coffee, in an effort to fully support these farmers and Cup of Excellence. 

Please contact your sales associate immediately to reserve this coffee before it is all gone! 

 Here is a slideshow of Arnulfo and Andrew Miller in San Augustin in May 2011:

Mobile Video Click HERE

 Here are the full details:

Property Characteristics:Coffee Characteristics:
Farm: Primavera
Farmer: Arnulfo Leguizamo
Rank: 1
City: San Agustin
Region: Huila
Country: Colombia
Farm Size: 2.00 Hectares
Coffee growing area: 1.27 Hectares
Altitude: 1841 masl
Certification: None
Variety: 100% Caturra
Processing System: Washed Coffee
Lot Size: 43 boxes
Pounds: 2,301.63 (1,044.00 kgs)
International Jury Score: 94.05
Cupping Number #: Not Available
Price: 45.10 USD
Winning Bidder: Café Imports, George Howell Coffee, Mecca Espresso and Robert Kao and Co. Ltd
Top Jury Descriptions: Jasmine, tamarind, apricot, wild honey, lime blossom, cherries, vanilla, sugar browning, elderberry blossom, vibrant, red fruits, floral, wine, caramel, floral, bergamot, lemongrass, lychee, raisins, tea-like, kaffir lime, tea rose, tropical fruits, passion fruit acidity, stone fruit, white peach, effervescent, creamy lingering, syrupy, notably sweet from beginning to end, persistent

Posted by NoahPermalink