Tree Town Blend

October’s “Coffee of the Month” just might make your day!
Ari Weinzweig, CEO & Co-Founder of Zingerman’s 

tree town blend coffee bag

I have to admit that I’m generally biased against coffee blends. More typically, I prefer to taste one origin at a time, so I can backtrack to where it came from and understand what the growers and producers are doing. But, this new Tree Town Blend from the Coffee Co. took me by surprise. I love it. I’ve been drinking it pretty much daily this month and, other than when I go out of town, I’m pretty sure I’ll be drinking it every day for the rest of the month as well.

Why “Tree Town?” Because, of course, trees are embedded in the name of our town. Founded nearly 200 years ago, in 1824, the original spelling was Annarbour—it was named for the wives of the founders who were both named Ann and the Bur oak groves which were so prominent in the area (and a good reason why it’s right for us to smoke over oak wood logs at the Roadhouse).

Aside from the fact that it tastes so good, the blend does seem sort of perfect for Ann Arbor. Like the town, it’s made up of interesting components that come from the far corners of the earth that are blended by local culture and expertise to make something really special. I was actually having a hard time remembering the five origins in the blend so Erin Dion from the Coffee Company came up with a clever mnemonic device nice phrase to help me embed it in my mind: “Tree Town Coffee Means Killer Beans”.

T is for Tanzania
C is Costa Rica
M is for Myanmar
K calls up Kenya
B brings back Brazil

All together they make something special. Every time I taste it, it pushes my old bias further into the background. It sure does have an excellent flavor! The Coffee Company crew called it, “Caramel, stone fruit, cocoa. Complex and juicy.” I agree. I’ll add nutty and toasted sesame. It’s a medium roast which to my taste helps make it super smooth. The other day I tried it out at the Coffee Company brewed with three different methods and all were excellent! Here are my tasting notes:

Fetco (those are the bigger, bulk, brewing machines) — Really fine. Shockingly smooth for this brewing method. Well-rounded. Dark toasted sesame.
Pour over — Lighter, cocoa, toast.
Chemex — “Wow! Wine-y, smooth, brown cane sugar syrup (like we get from Charles Poirier)

I’m hoping for a nice fall day where I can sit under a big, beautiful, old tree, and reflect a bit on where I get to live, and appreciate all the Ojibwe people who lived on this land for so many centuries, and then the men and women who formally founded the modern version of this very special town of which I feel so fortunate to be a part.

 

Excerpt from Ari’s weekly Top 5 E-Newsletter. To stay in-the-know about things that Ari is excited about in the Zingerman’s family, sign up here