4-26-13

 

Spring has sprung here in Durham, NC, and, along with favorite seasonal vegetables – like the crazy amount of arugula in my little garden – it's exciting for northern hemisphere favorites Finca El Puente and Finca Nueva Armenia to return, as much because they are remarkable coffees unto themselves, but also because of the months of richly diverse offerings that will inevitably follow.

 

When visiting Finca Nueva Armenia in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, the Recinos brothers, Jorge and Javier, are effusive about the baby coffee trees funded in part by our 2009 Holiday Blend project – for which $1 per pound was donated to a reforestation project on their farm and in the surrounding area, watch a short video of the nursery in action at the time of its inception. As ever, their coffee is fantastic: clean, clear notes of green apple, grape, and almond above a crisp acidity and juicy body.

 

Marysabel and her husband, Moíses Herrera, continue the refinement of their exploration of varieties at Finca El Puente in Marcala, Honduras, making improvements at the mill, and so on. Their main lot from Finca El Puente offers lighter purple-lavender and plum notes, black cherry, sugar cane sweetness and toast nut in the finish. And, of course, we're eager for the future, when the building momentum of their variety exploration yields new and different microlots, as well.

 

So, please join us in welcoming fresh harvests of these two familiar favorites, and, happy spring!

 

Sincerely,
Nathan

 

 

4-15-13

 

Congratulations to 2013 US Brewers Cup Champ Erin McCarthy! One of our Team NYC techs, when he's not brewing award-winning coffee, Erin (on right in photo) helps to make sure that our wholesale customers have well-tuned gear to make great coffee for their customers. Erin was a finalist at the Northeast Regional Brewers Cup Competition earlier this year and took top honors in Boston this weekend with an incredible Gesha variety coffee from Hacienda Esmeralda in Panama.

 

Southeast Regional Brewers Cup Champ (and SE regional sales rep for Counter Culture) Jonathan Bonchak was the second-place Brewers Cup finisher with a meticulous preparation of fresh crop Haru from Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. And, Everyman Espresso's Sam Lewontin placed fourth in the US Barista Championship with an engaging presentation.

 

Huge congrats to all of these guys for their hard work, along with many other inspiring coffee professionals making us proud with our coffee in Boston this weekend.

 

Big thanks to everyone who pitched in to make the national coffee competitions such a great showcase for talented and dedicated coffee people. Thanks as well to all of the hard-working staff and volunteers from Counter Culture and our Boston-area wholesale partners – special shout-out to Counter Culture DC's Alex Brown and Durham's Matt Souza! And, we'd like to once again thank Prima Coffee Equipment, La Marzocco, and Sprudge for co-hosting (and deejaying) a really kind-of-crazy party at our Boston Training Center.

 

Sincerely,
Nathan

 

3-22-13

 

A week remains before our organic composting workshop in Ethiopia! What workshop? You know, the one that we're sponsoring with the $1-per-pound donation from our Holiday Blend sales! You had forgotten? Well, I suppose I can't blame you, because a lot has happened since the holidays!

 

Find out how your support of our Holiday Blend Program is helping to bring organic agriculture into action with this workshop in Yirgacheffe.

 

Thanks,
Kim Elena

 

2-22-13

 

We're proud of all of the competitors at this year's Northeast Regional Barista Competition (NERBC) for continuing to elevate the craft of coffee. We're honored to have so many dedicated, talented folks representing our coffees, as well. And, we are super-excited that Samuel Lewontin of Everyman Espresso in New York won the NERBC Barista Competition!

 

Check out Samuel's suggested espresso parameters for Mpemba – the coffee from Burundi used in his winning presentation.

 

Brian Gellently from Ultimo Coffee in Philadelphia also used Mpemba and placed second in the barista competition! In the Brewers Cup, Counter Culture NYC's Erin McCarthy and Amanda Whitt from Everyman Espresso were both finalists using Buziraguhindwa, also from Burundi.

 

Congratulations and thanks for all of your hard work!

 

Sincerely,
Nathan