Zingerman's Coffee » Roaster’s Pick

Honduran Microlot

apomykala — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:05:15 +0000

We’ve been buying Honduran coffee from Union MicroFinanza (UMF) for over a year now. UMF provides microloans and in-country assistance to farmers. With the help of UMF, the farmers have been producing better and better coffees to the point where this year the best lots were separated out. These were offered as microlots instead of being blended together at the co-op. A premium was paid to the farmer for these coffees. We purchased all of the lot from a single farmer, Filadelpho Jaurez based solely on it’s flavor. It has tropical fruit up front with notes of honeysuckle and the pleasant bittersweetness of grapefruit.

Holiday Blend 2011

apomykala — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:14:16 +0000

The first sip of our 2011 offering had everyone commenting on how incredibly sweet it is. It then develops flavors of orange rind, ripe plum or pear with a touch of minerality. The finish is long and left us with the subtle hints of warming, savory herbs, making us think how well this coffee would pair with roasted poultry.

This blend comes from 3 notable farms with whom we work: the Guatemala Ixil A’achimbal, the Brazilian Daterra Estate and a bit of Indian from the Sethuraman estate. It’s bright and fruit with a smooth rich body and a touch of spice.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Guatemala Ixil A’achimbal

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:56:26 +0000

This is the 3rd year we’ve enjoyed this special coffee and it’s the best yet. It is a true success story of native farmers getting their land back and re-establishing themselves through the production of great coffee. In cooperation with an NGO and importer in Seattle, the farmers are producing quality coffee and being paid a premium for it. It is unique in that the farmers themselves set the price for the coffee. This coffee has a floral blossom aroma, velvety body and flavors of dark berries and toast.

Honduras Finca Liquidámbar

hmetler — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:41:07 +0000

We are featuring a Honduran micro-lot from Finca Liquidámbar. The coffee has notes of plum, milk chocolate and a subtle hint of grapefruit; a crisp clean cup. The coffee is produced by Reina Mercedes Claro. Our friend Mike Love first saw Reina’s coffee at a Cup of Excellence competition two years ago. This year Mike brought in the entire lot and offered to share it with us. We fell in “love” with it on first sip.

Espresso Mambo #2

hmetler — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:50:35 +0000

This is only the second espresso we’ve offered in 7 years and, like mambo music, this espresso has many influences. It starts with the Brazilian coffee in our Espresso Blend #1 for a sweet base and then heads off to Guatemala for some bright notes. We then add a touch of some very carefully dark-roasted funky Sumatran and finish with a very special Indian directly imported from our friend Nishant Gurjer. Nishant’s Kaapi Royale farm has been a favorite of ours for a few years now. Espresso Mambo #2 has a pronounced and pleasant brightness with flavors of lemon, spices and a hint of minerality.

July Roaster’s Pick – Uganda Bugisu

apomykala — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:44:06 +0000

We’re happy to welcome back this great coffee from Uganda. The Bugisu mill, which has been our favorite for some time now, has switched to organic farming. This coffee is grown at high elevation on the slopes of Mt. Elgon near the Kenyan border. The altitude contributes hints of ripe sweet lemon and cocoa to the flavor. The citrus is sweet rather than acidic. Both of these tastes are softened by an overall toastiness.

It is a staff favorite for cold brew and combines well with our espresso which is also a sweet coffee.

Costa Rica Terrazu

apomykala — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:19:08 +0000

We look forward to each year’s new arrivals from Costa Rica and have chosen one from the most famous coffee growing region, Tarrazu. It’s high grown at about 1,500 meters.

In the cup it gave us notes of a grapefruit, honey and malt. It also makes a fine addition for home espresso, so check it out. We’ll keep some in the third grinder just for single origin espresso lovers.

This is a fantastic summer coffee; the staff can’t get enough of it.

Indian Mysore Nuggets

apomykala — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:36:37 +0000

We’ve been a big fan of Indian coffees since we started roasting.

This coffee is from the Ossoor Estates in Manjarabad and is a new find for us. This crop is the best Indian coffee we’ve had in 5 years.

It has a wonderfully rich body; hints of sweet and warming spices (think cardamom); and a long clean finish.

It is grown between 3,000 and 3,250 feet elevation on a 120 year old farm. The term “nugget” is believed to come from the gold mining that once took place in this region.

Papua New Guinea Peaberry

gthergaonkar — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:18:04 +0000

We were recently offered a small lot of peaberry PNG from the Kimel farm in the Kuta region.

Normally, two seeds develop inside each coffee fruit. In a small percent of the berries only 1 seed is formed and wraps around the fruit and is called a peaberry. Because of this small size, it must be roasted a little more gently.

This PNG has flavors of sweet citrus, floral and a nice bright finish.

Rwandan

apomykala — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:40:07 +0000

The New crop of Rwandan coffees have finally arrived after a year of anticipation and we are very excited that they are finally here…..
Rwanda has some of the best coffee growing conditions in the world. This coffee is grown on the steep slopes of northern Rwanda’s volcanic mountains, where the rich soil, high altitudes and abundant rainfall give the coffee trees along the mountain slopes the best environment for high quality yield. Our cupping notes best describe this coffee as sweet and smooth with orange/peachy notes and has a long deep finish.

If you’ve not had a cup, come on down and try it before you buy it.