SCAA 2013 – Day Three Impressions

We just finished the last day of the SCAA event 2013 and what a day. It was a hard start this morning after a long night out here in Boston, but we started promptly at 9 AM, checking in at the Barista Nation Satellite Cafe to make sure everything would go well for our featured coffee sharing and coffee talk today. Our friends from Verve Coffee Roasters got us started with some nice Colombian coffee and they made sure we are ready to go for our turn at the Cafe.

Promptly at noon we took over the helm of the Barita Nation Cafe and we had something very special to offer to our visitors. We pulled some very unique shots with an amazing coffee from Costa Rica – the La Rosa Natural. Everyone who stopped by just fell in love with this outstanding coffee with the Mandarine and Tangerine and floral tones and then the long and nice finish. We got a lot of nice compliments on how we roasted it and how wonderful it turned out. Thanks everyone for stopping by and sharing with us this special coffee and special thanks to Silvia Vindas the producer of this great coffee from the Beneficio Ecologico Cerro Alto. And special thanks to all the folks who just stopped by to try our coffee, because they heard it from the word of mouth on the show floor!

Just around two PM we had the next highlight of the day, our talk on Direct Trade Relationships and How it affects the Cup you are serving to your customer. We had a good turnout for the talk and it was nice to see some producers in the audience who really wanted to see how they can work better with roasters and coffee shops and can get a better sense how their coffee is used and appreciated. The Barista Nation team told us that they videotaped the talk and will share it with us on YouTube; so once we know where it is posted, you will have a chance to see it. We will let you know the link!

    

In the afternoon we got a chance to hit the show floor one last time and it was good that we did. We had been searching for some amazing teas to not only offer you the best coffee but also the best teas in the market, and we found something truly special. We will let you know soon more about it, but if you are looking for a great tea besides your coffee, we will have a nice treat for you very shortly.

And then just a few minutes ago, the winners of this years Coffee Competition were announced and it was a tight race on a superb level. We have been watching the competitors over the last few days and were impressed how they handled their presentations and how well prepared they all were. Here are the winners, in case you have not yet heard it yet:

• United States Barista Champion - Pete Licata, Parisi Artisan Coffee
• United States Brewers Cup Champion - Erin McCarthy, Counter Culture Coffee
• United States Cup Tasters Champion - Erin Wang, Molinos de Honduras
• Roasters Choice Competition - Caitlin McCarthy-Garcia(Equador), Equator Coffees and Teas

And we rounded up this fantastic day, meeting with our long time friend Ricardo Azofeifa, the two times Barista Champion from Costa Rica. It was good to see him and to share the exciting passion about coffee.

 

And there is one last thing we wanted to share, some amazing hand coffee grinders. We will add some of them into our portfolio, so if you do not want an electric grinder, this might be for you. Let us know if you like them!

      

SCAA 2013 – Day Two Impressions

Another great day at the SCAA event 2013 in Boston. The day started with some amazing coffees from El Salvador in the Portrait country of 2013. We had the opportunity to attend a special cupping of some featured Pacamara coffees and it is just fair to say that this year is a fantastic year for El Salvadorian coffees. At the cupping each of the six coffee regions of El Salvador was featured and the Pacamara’s they had to show, were just outstanding. For those of you who have never heard of the Pacamara variety,no worries, it is a hybrid that was created by artificially crossing the Pacas and Red Maragogipe varietals.

With the inauguration of this intraspecific hybrid researchers sought to combine the desirable characteristics of the Pacas variety such as its shorter size, shorter internodes, higher productivity, adaptability to local conditions and its ability to resist wind, sunlight and droughts with the plant vitality, the lushness of its big leaves and bigger bean size of the Maragogipe, as well as its better cup quality.

The Pacas is a natural and spontaneous mutation of Bourbon, similar to Caturra in Brazil and Villa Sarchi in Costa Rica. This variety was discovered in 1949 in the San Rafael farm – in the Ilamatepec/Santa Ana Volcano – which belongs to a family last named Pacas, acquiring their last name as its own. By that
time, some people thought that it was a hybrid between Typica and San Ramón, but later it was confirmed that it was a natural mutation because of its progeny did not show any phenotypical variations.

The Red Maragogipe is a mutation of Typica, it is also known as the Arabica coffees giant, it shows a very tall size, large leaves, cherries, etc. In general, its architecture is open and messy, it is not a high yield producer but the cup quality is notable. This variety appeared in 1870 in the Maragogipe province in Bahia, Brazil.

But we also promised to present some other exciting new products and here is one that we will be introducing in our product line shortly. It is catering especially to all our Mediterranean friends in the Bay Area and we hope you will be as exited about it as we are. A fully automatic Turkish Coffee Maker made by kefette. We have been offering Turkish ground coffee for quite some while, but for many people it has been quite difficult to create a great cup of turkish coffee. That is no longer that difficult. This new coffee maker introduced just this year is making turkish coffee a “walk in the park”. Just add a spoon of turkish ground coffee and sugar in the cup, put it in the coffee maker and about 2 minutes later you have an amazing turkish coffee ready to drink. We have received the first unit and will be able to showcase once we are back in the Bay Area and we also will be adding it to our online store shortly. So there is no more excuse to not have you turkish coffee after dinner!

The afternoon was again filled with a whole set of cuppings this time with our producers from Costa Rica, who were able to come to this years coffee event in Boston. Our friends and export partners at Exclusive Coffees hosted the cupping session and it was great to prepare the cupping with the farmers and then see a great crowd turn out for a special cupping to represent the coffees of Costa Rica. Everything was represented, from Fully Washed coffees to Yellow and Red Honeys, Black Honeys and even some Naturals. And to top of the cupping, even some of the first ever Costa Rican Geisha coffees were up for tasting. This was a real treat and showed what Costa Rican coffee is able to do and what palette of flavors it can present.

 

Don’t forget tomorrow we will be serving a very special natural processed coffee from Costa Rica for those who are here in Boston at the Barista Nation Satellite Cafe on the first floor from noon to 2 PM. Come and stop by if you are in Boston and say hello and even more enjoy a cup of outstanding coffee from Costa Rica.

We also have a featured talk/presentation at the event at 2 PM at the stage at Barista Nation cafe, where we will share a little more about direct trade relationships and why they are important and how they influence the cup of coffee. We hope you will be able to join us!

SCAA 2013 – Day One Impressions

As every year Tico Coffee Roaster is participating in the annual coffee even, the SCAA event. This year the event is hosted in the beautiful but cold city of Boston. We currently have 40F and it is raining. But as always the coffee is keeping us warm and awake, so that the raindrops don’t matter.

This year is a special event for us, as it is the first time that we will be serving our coffee during the event and provide an opportunity for the specialty coffee community to experience the unique coffees we roast. We will be at the satellite cafe (hosted by Barista Nation) on Sunday from noon to 2 PM.

But this show is not just about our unique coffees, but much more about the latest trends in the coffee industry. We had a chance today to go through the show floor and here are a few highlights we discovered today.

The new Mazzocco Linea PB just was announced today and is a evolution of one of the most famous espresso machines ever build. Piero Bambi refined and sharpened design elements and fine-tuned performance attributes that have made the Linea Classic a specialty coffee icon. The Linea PB introduces a new level of performance, reliability, and craftsmanship that carries the Linea forward in a way that is familiar, yet also fresh and new.

We were at the presentation of this new version if the Linea and we have to say it is a nice piece of Art and craftsmanship.

The Hario Pour-Over Brewing Station now also comes with interchangeable tea brewers that add a great flexibility to every coffee shop. With the integrated scale it makes is easy to handle and to pour the perfect cup every single time. And now that you can do tea and coffee with just exchanging the cone filter for a tea brewer, there is no more excuse not to serve the best coffee and the best tea at the same time.

Also on the restaurant equipment side there are a lot of improvements. Now the commercial brewers get more and more gourmet capabilities and it is also good to see that Bunn is just revamping their commercial line with their new Bunn BrewLOGIC® technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there are these amazing Dutch Coffee Brewers made of Bamboo. It is great to see that coffee is not just about the perfect brew but also about art, and these brewers are definitely a piece of art. This will definitely be a piece of eye-candy in every coffee shop.

 

Speaking of eye-candy and art, why not also get some fashion? Well also this is here at the SCAA event. Purses and Wallets made out of coffee bags and they look quite nice. It is clear that the coffee community is thriving and come up with great ideas. What we especially liked with these bags, they are donating quite a bit of the proceeds to help kids, that gives it a great social aspect, besides just being trendy.

There is quite a lot more what we have discovered today and we will get you more details tomorrow. So stay tuned and check back tomorrow for more …

Origin Trip 2013 to Costa Rica – Day 3

Today was another very successful day for Tico Coffee Roasters in Costa Rica. We focused this beautiful sunny day on coffee farm visits in the Central Valley. We also had planned to spend some good quality time with our two farmers from the central valley and so we only went to visit those two. The morning started out at Beneficio Cerro Azul, the micro mill who is processing our La Rosa Natural coffee. We met with Silvia Vindas the owner of the micro mill and were walking with her through the farm and the micro beneficio (how they call the micro mill here in Costa Rica).

We were able to not only see what great work they have been doing this year in taking care of the plants and the process, but also were able to take a look at the great results their hard work has produced. At the moment they are preparing the first coffees for shipment and it really turns out to be a fabulous year for Cerro Alto.

 

And one new very exciting project they have started this year, is carbon neutral certification. Silvia and her team have been working very hard to obtain this certification and do everything to improve year over year. We are very proud about the amazing work she is doing. And we know that every single cup of La Rosa Natural is transmitting this hard work to the cup.

 

The afternoon we went to see our long term partner and friend Juan Ramon Alvarado Rodriguez from Las Brumas del Zurqui. Ramon has been a pioneer in honey processed coffee over the years and you have been able to experience his excellent work in the Las Brumas Red Honey coffee. This year has been another outstanding year for Juan Ramon. He has continued his excellent work and built on the experience from winning the Cup of Excellence in 2012. He continues to invest in new improvements and that clearly shows in what he produced this year.

 

Especially his black honey that he is producing looks like another great success. We were able to see it resting and waiting for preparation. It looked very promising. And the coffees we have cupped from this years harvest are clearly outstanding. But not only the coffees are promising, also the other work he is doing in his farm. Working on some Geisha varieties, experimenting on the processing methods and also how the farm is maintained. It is just a pleasure every time we come back and visit Juan Ramon to see how his passion for coffee translates into amazing coffees.

 

And then we also found one little extra surprise in Juan Ramon’s farm. The first coffee flowers of the season are just getting ready to open. As it just rained last week (the Costa Rican’s call it Aguacero) it caused the plants to sprout and they are just getting ready to open. Within the next few days it will smell amazingly in the Central Valley, when the flowers open in all the coffee farms and people will be looking forward to the start of the new coffee season.

Origin Trip 2013 to Costa Rica – Day 2

After a very successful first day yesterday, this day should turn out even better. We started the morning with a few more cuppings at our partners and friends Exclusive Coffees. As we were planning to go to see our partner farms in the West Valley, we decided to cup especially West Valley coffees from our favorite farms like the Aguilera Brothers and Helsar. Starting off with two rounds of 10 coffees each was a great start in the morning.

 

And how nicely these coffees turned out. Costa Rica definitely had a great year 2012 and the few dry weeks during the drying period made the coffees just exceptional.

After finishing round two, we got on the way and drove up to the West Valley to start our coffee farm visit. First stop was a Finca we had not visited before, but we wanted to stop by for a long time and get to know and start working with the farmers. Finca Cero San Luis has been producing outstanding coffees over the years and we wanted to see if they might be fitting in our portfolio. And what a pleasant experience. We met with Alexander and his wife and discovered that they had invented a great new way to dry their honey processed coffee. They built double raised beds so they can shade dry the honeys and the wind is blowing through the layers. Alexander has specialized in slow drying and the double beds slow down the drying process. We loved what we saw at their farm and how nicely they maintain not only the farm but also the coffees and the plants. We might just have found a new candidate for the new coffee season …

From Cerro San Luis we continued in the West Valley and stopped by at our old friends from Herbazu micro mill as well as Sin Limites. On the way we discovered that one of the Herbazu brothers just started his own micro mill under the name La Perla del Cafe and he had a great reason to start his own work. He has been producing amazing coffees and now with his own micro mill he is taking this to the next level. Carlos has been working hard to create something very special and now he is just producing one of the finest coffees. It was nice to meet him and the entire family and we immediately felt welcome.

The last stop for the day in West Valley was our long time partner and producer of one of our most amazing coffees, Helsar de Zarcero. The Helsar Organic coffee that we have been roasting now for a few years has been the best organic coffee that Costa Rica produces and Don Ricardo is doing an outstanding job producing this special coffee and such difficult climate conditions. And this year turns out to be another incredible year. Ricardo is just finishing the harvest and the coffees are going through the last part of the drying process. And all we could see and taste was so promising that we can’t wait to get this coffee so we can roast and share with all our coffee lovers.

Origin Trip 2013 to Costa Rica – Day 1

It is about the time of the year when we embark on our annual origin trip to Costa Rica to discover new coffees and to visit our coffee farms in Costa Rica. This years trip is a tightly packed short trip of just a week, and we have a full but exciting agenda. We will start off the week visting our friends and exporting partner – Exclusive Coffees. We have been partnering with them for several years now and they have been a great partner of ours. With their help and in their roasting lab we are able to cup (the way coffees are professionally tasted) the most unique boutique coffees from Costa Rica.

They are also helping us to work year round with our farmers and allow us to stay in close contact not only with the farmers, but also ensure that the farmers work hard on improving the coffee quality. And over the years it has paid off. Even though there is a crisis in the coffee regions in Central America with leaf rust, the farmers we work with and the boutique coffees they produce have been mostly spared. And this is mainly due to the great work of our farmers but also due to the working relationship we and Exclusive Coffees has with them. Constant education and feedback is essential to make the farm sustainable and improve over time.

But to kick off this years origin trip, we started of with cupping several coffees on day one, kind of a warm up … Two tables with 24 coffees each and what a great start. We cupped several coffees from our farmers and we have not been disappointed at all on what we tasted. 2013 turns out to be an amazing year in Costa Rica and the coffees are better than we had hoped, mainly due to a dry period during the patio drying, which made them exceptional.

 

It is great to see how well our farmers are doing this season. We were able to cup several coffees from our farmers, Las Brumas del Zurqui (the farm that grows the Las Brumas Red Honey), Zalmari (the farm that grows the La Margarita Honey), Cerro Alto (the farm that grows La Rosa Natural), Helsar (the farm that produces Helsar Organic) and Aguilera Brothers (the farm of La Aguilera). In addition we tried several coffees of other farms we have been working with in the last years and overall it was a pleasure.

But this was just the start of this exciting week. Tomorrow we will be able to visit some of our farmers in the West Valley Region and see how they are doing this year. This is also a great opportunity for them to learn about the feedback we are hearing from you on the coffee and we are looking forward to share with them how much you enjoy their hard work and the outstanding coffees they produce.

We will provide more tomorrow after the first day at the farms, it will be an exciting day, especially with the great weather we have here …

We just added a new movie trailer announcing our newest coffee arrival La Pena

We just added a new movie trailer announcing our new La Peña coffee. We hope you will enjoy watching! http://ow.ly/gaMe3

Featured Coffee – Helsar Organic

Helsar Organic is grown and processed by the partnership of Ricardo Perez Barrantes and the brothers Marvin and Felipe Rodriguez. They have a great understanding of the effects the pulping, fermentation, and drying process has on their coffee. The Helsar micro mill is the first carbon neutral certified micro mill in the world.

History
The well-known micro mill Helsar de Zarcero has been providing highest quality for several years. Nine years ago, Ricardo Perez, Marvin Rodriguez and Phillip Rodriguez opened the micro mill in the Llano Bonito de Naranjo microregion so they could provide traceability and quality processing for their own coffee crops. Very soon after, neighboring farmers began approaching them to have their coffees processed, since they could keep their lots separated at the mill. Helsar became the center of the micro milling movement in Llano Bonito de Naranjo by enabling small producers to produce higher quality coffees and achieve higher prices for their coffee beans. The mill has worked with te farmers, providing education and cupping opportunities in order to improve the coffee year after year. Today, the mill processes coffee from ten families in the surrounding area.

Geography
West Valley Coffee Region – The Helsar Micro Mill is located in the West Valley on a high ridge in the area of Alajuela, in the coffee areas of both Zarcero and Naranjo. They grow 100% Arabic coffee varieties at an altitude from 1650 to 1800 meters (5400 feet to 5900 feet) above sea level.

The people

Helsar Organic coffee is grown and processed by the partnership of Ricardo Perez Barrantes and the brothers Marvin and Felipe Rodriguez. Ricardo Pérez Barrantes, a partner in the mill, has great understanding of the effects the pulping, fermentation, and drying process has on their coffee. His willingness to work closely with the roasters who buy his coffee coupled with his skill as a processor allows him to present them with fabulous coffees.

The Helsar micro mill is deeply rooted in the local community and has taken actions to measure and compensate for its carbon footprint by planting trees in a local biological reserve. They just recently became carbon neutral certified by “Control Union Certifications” and the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.

Processing
Helsar is well known in the specialty coffee world for its sustainable practices. Organic fertilizer is made on site from the coffee cherry pulp combined with molasses, mined zinc, boron, and other minerals. Microorganisms are cultured from soil collected on nearby mountains and added to the natural fertilizer in order to provide disease protection for the coffee plants.

Helsar is using low impact Penagos aqua pulping machinery to process the coffee cherry and recently invested in new machinery that improves the cherry sorting prior to depulping, a crucial step that has enabled huge leaps in the final quality of their coffee. This Helsar Reserva lot was mechanically washed and meticulously dried on covered patios.

Coffee profile

The well composed cup has the flavors of molasses and cherry jam with the support of lush flavors of raspberry, strawberry and fragrant lavender. The cup is soft, round with vanilla overtones. Exotic, dry aroma of dark fruit, plummy. Very pleasant overall and balanced.

Buy this coffee at the Tico Coffee Roasters Online Store

Coffee Details:
Name: Helsar Organic
Farm: Helsar de Zarcero Micro Mill
Origin: Costa Rica
Region: West Valley
Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
Altitude: 1650-1800 meters
Processing Method: Fully washed & sun dried

September 15 – Independence Day in Costa Rica

On September 15 Costa Rica is celebrating and rejoicing its over 190-year old independence from Spain. By 1821, after almost 300 years of colonialism in the region, Spanish occupation ceased in the Americas and independence was granted to Costa Rica.

Since the moment the country became independent, its first head of State president Juan Mora Fernández, the first head of state (1824), helped Costa Rica to develop independently of its neighboring countries, a trend that would forever set it apart from other developing nations in the area. Fernández fortified the burgeoning country’s infrastructure: he built roads, established schools, and distributed land grants to anyone willing to plant coffee, the most profitable export crop at that time.

The coffee industry proved to be the most important in unifying the nation. Both the rich, elite plantation owners and the peasant small farm owners developed a mutualistic relationship with one another. Small farm owners were encouraged to grow coffee and then sell the beans to larger plantations, who then prepared the beans for export. As coffee quickly became Costa Rica’s principle export in the mid 1800′s, plantation owners, now wealthy and powerful, began to invest in their nation’s infrastructure. A road was built to transport coffee to Puntarenas, Costa Rica’s primary port.

In 1820, coffee had for the first time been shipped from Puntarenas to Chile, from where it would be sent on to England. This was the start of what was to become a very profitable relationship, so profitable that from 1843 until 1880 coffee made up between 85 and 95% of the nation’s exports. By then, most of the coffee production was being shipped directly to England. Coffee became the new trend in Europe. With European money flowing into the country (or at least into the hands of a few coffee barons), Costa Rica started to become more cosmopolitan. Europeans immigrated to protect their interests and to stake their claim in Latin America’s new tropical frontier. By 1844, a university was founded in San José and liberal European ideologies began to permeate into the political arena.

Associated with the coffee boom were many advances in development, including the founding of banks (with a combination of British and Costa Rican capital), the construction and improvement of roads and port facilities, the establishment of the country’s first telegraph system which connected Cartago with Puntarenas (via San José, Alajuela, and Heredia), and the building of the nation’s first railway linking Alajuela, San José, and Cartago. Even the construction of the country’s premier architectural showpiece, the National Theater, can be traced to the prosperity brought by coffee production.

Today, coffee continues being our “grano de oro” or golden bean. The coffee production has specialized through the years giving as a result beans with superb taste and quality.

Click here to discover the unique coffees from Costa Rica

Featured Coffee – Las Brumas Red Honey

Las Brumas Red Honey is grown and processed by Juan Ramon Alvarado Rodriguez at his Las Brumas del Zurqui farm and micro mill. Juan Ramon and his farm just won the “Cup of Excellence” as the best coffee of Costa Rica in 2012, which is a testimony to constant innovation he is driving by optimizing the sustainable and environment friendly coffee production process which guarantees product excellence and consistency in the cup.

History
Juan Ramon Alvarado Rodriguez and his Beneficio Brumas del Zurquí is an institution in the Costa Rican coffee community with an ample history in the cultivation and production of one of the finest coffees in the world. He has distinguished himself for years by processing only high quality coffee, which is carefully selected from his plantations and supported by a highly technical and modern operation, to guarantee the highest quality coffee and a consistent cup. He upholds highest standards and quality regulations, resulting in the classification of his coffees as Boutique coffees, the highest level achievable.

Brumas del Zurquí, was born out a necessity, due to low coffee prices in the early 20th century. Carballo’s family has been dedicated to coffee since 1880 and growing coffee has been the economic base for the family. When the coffee prices in the world market dropped in early 2000, Juan Ramon was trying to change the future of his family with a new way of producing coffee, by giving a new value add to coffee (introducing new production processes like Honey processing and red honey processing), continue the activity of producing only high quality coffee, maintain team work and achieve a sustainable production system especially with economic viability in mind. He also focused on environmental awareness and social security for his entire team to differentiate himself in the coffee world.

Geography
Central Valley Region – The Beneficio Brumas del Zurqui is located in San Francisco of San Isidro in the Province of Heredia up in the hills just a little north of the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. They grow only 100% Arabica coffee varieties at an altitude of 1275 to 1600 meters (4200 ft to 5400 ft) above sea level and produce 100% honey coffee.

The people

Brumas del Zurqui in its current form was established in 2004 by Juan Ramon Alvarado & Natalia Gomez, whose family has been involved in coffee production since 1890. Juan Ramon Alvarado is an agronomist who graduated from Earth University in Costa Rica and is an expert in analyzing sugar levels in honey coffee.

Processing
The Brumas del Zurqui micro mill is very well known in the world of coffee and just this year in 2012 won the “Cup of Excellence” award in Costa Rica as the best coffee of Costa Rica. All the coffees at Brumas del Zurqui are honey processed, which is an environmentally friendly method of processing ripe coffee cherries. The basic principle of Honey method lies in picking only perfectly ripe cherries, which is achieved by measuring their sugar content (brix grades) during the ripening period. Juan Ramon is an expert finding the perfect timing for his coffee cherries.
At the end of each harvest day, freshly picked cherries are collected, weighted and pulped in electrical pulpers. With their mucilage still fully attached, they are spread on African drying beds. These raised beds are made using locally sourced material, wire mesh and black plastic netting.Depending on weather conditions, the usual drying cycle takes 10-12 days. At the end of this stage, the water content of the beans is approx. 11 %, perfect for this amazing coffee.

The true benefit of the honey processing method is the lack of water used. Not a single drop is wasted for pulping, washing or fermenting. Therefore, comparing to the traditional washed method, there are provable savings of around 2000 l (53 gal) per bag of green beans (60 kg / 130 lbs). Furthermore, using traditional African drying beds rather than mechanical dryers (guardiolas) saves huge amounts of electricity or fossil fuels. All this makes the Honey method the most environmentally friendly coffee processing technique at present time.

Coffee profile

This amazing coffee has an aroma of exotic flavors with sweet, dried fruit, ripe cherry, nuts, caramel and chocolate. The cup has a sweet fruity acidity, honey and floral nuances with a buttery smooth body and mouth feel. It is extremely well balanced with a complex yet crisp taste that develops hints of winyness.

Buy this coffee at Tico Coffee Roasters Online Store

Coffee Details:
Name: Las Brumas Red Honey
Farm: Brumas del Zurqui Farm
Origin: Costa Rica
Region: Central Valley
Varietal: Caturra
Altitude: 1200-1600 meters
Processing Method: Semi-washed, red honey prep & sun dried