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News Archive

Coffee Common at TED 2011

3-4-11

We're very proud and honored to be a part of the cadre of roasters and baristas collaborating on Coffee Common, which made its debut this week at TED 2011 in Long Beach, CA. Much more than simply a provider of coffee for TED participants, Coffee Common was handcrafting some of the world's most unique, delicious coffees and delivering a message about the complexities, intellectual puzzles, and amazing opportunities that the coffee trade presents. Our own Lem Butler, Erin Meister, and Peter Giuliano were there, brewing Buziraguhindwa Microlot 2010 and celebrating the wonders of coffee.

Best,
Nathan

Back from the Road: Two Nicaragua Field Lab Reports

1-27-11

Since 2004, we have hosted a Nicaragua Field Lab. This year, instructors Peter Giuliano and Kim Elena Bullock were joined by Meister, Karen McCallister, and a small group of coffee professionals and enthusiasts. The eight-day trip offered hands-on exposure to each step of the coffee production process at origin – from harvest to export – and a full-immersion opportunity to learn about the benefits and challenges of building long-term coffee relationships.

To help to bring the experience home, Peter and Kim Elena filed a joint trip report in our ORIGINS section and Meister posted a fully annotated photo essay on Flickr.

Thanks,
Nathan

Now Available: Harfusa

1-26-11

We're thrilled to be able to make Harfusa – a classic example of coffee from Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia – available now.

A few weeks back, Coffeereview.com joined us in our enthusiasm for a delicious lot of Harfusa. (Read the full review at Coffeereview.com.)

Our head roaster, Tim Hill, just returned from a trip to Africa, and we posted a set of his stop at the Harfusa co-op washing station in the famous Yirgacheffe district of Ethiopia.

Best,
Nathan

Back from the Road: Honduras, Part 2

1-19-11

Our Sustainability & Producer Relations Manager Kim Elena Bullock recently put together a few photographs from her recent trip to Finca El Puente in Marcala, Honduras (at right). In November, Kim Elena visited the Caballero-Herrera family and, in addition to touring the farm, they sat down for a conversation about quality, pricing, and the volatile world coffee market.

The floral aroma of Finca El Puente may be a distant memory so many months after we sold out of last year's lot, but Moisés and Marysabel are on our minds because January and February are the peak of the harvest at Finca El Puente and most of the northern hemisphere's coffee-growing regions. We're anxious to see what this year brings.

Read Kim Elena's update on her trip to Honduras in our COFFEE ORIGINS section.

Thanks,
Nathan

Back from the Road: Honduras, Part 1

12-22-10

Finca Pashapa has long been committed to organic certification, dedicated to independence from commercial farming inputs (meaning they make all of their farm's compost and fertilizer out of their own materials, like manure), and the integration of the Salazar family, which owns the largest farm in town, with the surrounding community. Photo by Kim Elena Bullock.

Our Sustainability and Producer Relations Manager Kim Elena Bullock posted a Trip Report from her visit to Honduras last month. Kim Elena included a Flickr photo set from her visit to the Salazar family farm, Finca Pashapa, in La Labor.

Read Kim Elena's full report in our COFFEE ORIGINS section.

Thanks,
Nathan