Tarrazu origin gets new validation

For decades it has been generally known that the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica as an origin name for coffee is a very specific (and relatively small) region at the highest altitude of the canton of Tarrazu in Costa Rica. A canton is what we might call a "state" in the USA. The canton of Tarrazu is large and covers the area from the West Coast at sealevel to the highest altitudes of the mountains. But there are three counties at the highest altitude, which have a unique terroir and climate.

Coffee from these three provinces, which are Dota, Leon Cortes and Tarrazu (county) are grown at such a high altitude that they are always Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) and are generally superior to anything that can be grown at the lower altitudes in less-favored regions climatically. Dota in particular has been certified by geological surveys to have one of the top growing region profiles in the world.

Our Costa Rica Estate and Nectar coffees are from Dota and are grown at altitudes of 4800-6200 feet. Less than 1% of the world's coffee is grown at such a high altitude, and Dota is further distinguished by having one of the best soil qualities available for coffee - a combination of old volcanic soil and minerals mixed with rain forest organic material and clay.

We are proud and pleased to see the latest decision in the courts of Costa Rica in the battle for the purity of the Tarrazu appelation in regards to coffee. We guarantee that you will always find our Costa Rica Dota Estate coffee to be the Best of the Best!

New Tea: Phuc Long (Including Lotus Tea!)

How It Came To Pass

Phuc Long Lotus Tea

Long ago in days of yore, Trung Nguyen had a tea company called Tra Tien. They sold loose-leaf Vietnamese green tea in three varieties: classic green, jasmine green, and lotus green.
Then Tra Tien got discontinued. We searched and found a good replacement for the classic and jasmine green tea, but couldn't find any lotus green tea that held a candle to Tra Tien. Lo, how the streets of Boston did flow with tears. And angry customers--you have no idea how many people used to come by the farmers' market looking for iced lotus tea!

For years, we despaired of finding another awesome lotus tea. We would not settle! Only the best for you.

Then, we found Phuc Long. And it outshines even our memory of Tra Tien lotus tea. And there was much rejoicing. (Also giggling. Say "Phuc Long" out loud with an American accent and you'll see why--but not if your boss/kids are listening!)

A Somewhat Less Silly Account of Lotus Tea

Basket of tea and jasmine buds. Source: Wikipedia

Most people are familiar with jasmine tea; if not jasmine tea, then jasmine rice, or, if all else fails, jasmine perfume. The jasmine flower is used to scent a wide variety of items because it's one of the nicest-smelling flowers in the world.

To make jasmine tea properly (without additives), the tea leaves are mixed with the flowers in baskets or trays. Tea is highly absorbent of aromas, and the leaves quickly pick up the sweet scent of jasmine. This process may be repeated multiple times to make a stronger-scented tea. Once the flowers have imparted their aroma to the tea, they are separated from the tea by blowing them with giant fans--the lighter flowers blow away from the heavier tea leaves.

Lotus blossom. Note the yellow stamens in the center.

Lotus tea is made the same way, but with lotus flowers. Specifically, the golden stamens from the center of the flower.

These huge, magenta-pink flowers have a much subtler aroma than jasmine, one that is unfamiliar to most Americans but popular in Vietnam. It tends to taste different to everybody, but most describe it as reminiscent of chamomile, vanilla, or even a hint of anise,

Lotus tea also has a fuller mouthfeel and a slight natural sweetness. The aroma is not ruined by adding a splash of milk or packet of sugar, either, which is a bonus for those of us who love a milk tea.

It's also one of the best iced teas we have ever tried. It was incredibly popular back when we used to sell glasses of iced tea at markets, even with children who weren't normally fans of tea.

To shop for Phuc Long teas, including lotus tea, click here.

That's a lot of snow...

Recently we have been inundated, here in Boston, with almost 4 feet of snow spanning three storms in about 10 days. We now have plowed piles of snow topping 10 feet around our building! We have certainly experienced some delays in shipping, partly due to closing by UPS and the Post Office.

But generally the delays are only 1-2 business days on our end. We can't see yet what might be happening on the delivery end... hopefully people are getting their coffee and tea in a timely manner.

We apologize for the delays and hope everybody will have patience with us as we cope with this record-breaking weather extreme. If another storm comes in any time soon we will have to resort to shipping the snow to someplace else -- there is no more room for it here! (Hmm... I wonder how much snow will fit in a USPS Flat Rate box...)

Green Beans and Home Roasting

It's all the buzz this year! If you aren't, you probably know somebody who is. Here are some tips and updates on our products for home roasting.

By far our most popular gifts for home roasters are our special kits. The World Heritage Green Coffee Kit features all four of the remaining unique species of coffee on the planet - Arabica, Robusta, Liberica and Excelsa, with an educational booklet and roasting tips, and 1 oz. roasted samples of the beans as well as your choice of a half-pound or full pound of each of the green coffees.

And we wouldn't be the world leader in Vietnamese Coffee if we didn't offer the Green Unroasted Vietnamese Coffee Kit! A traditional blend of Vietnamese Arabica, Robusta and Excelsa ready to roast and enjoy as Cafe Sua Da, hot or cold.

Or if you want the beans and just the beans, most of our unique coffees are available in green beans, in 1 pound and 3 pound bags. Visit our Green Coffee Page to see the full range of offerings.

Green bean beverages

I just finished watching a video on YouTube about how to make green bean extract. I guess you get what you pay for on Youtube... this unfortunate soul wasted a lot of digital "film" and time making a drink he cheerfully described as "horrible". The problem is, somehow the making of green bean extract has circulated around as a process that requires soaking after boiling the green beans.

Well, soaking green beans is how you make water-process decaf coffee. Yes, caffeine is a slippery little molecule that is very water soluble. Swiss Water Process coffee involves soaking green beans in already-brewed coffee. The relatively large flavor molecules in the brewed coffee block the flavor from escaping into the brew, but the caffeine is not blocked and freely leeches out. Presto, 97% of the caffeine winds up in the outside liquid while most of the flavor stays inside the bean.

So, when this hapless fellow instructed his viewers to "turn off the stove after boiling and let the mixture sit for an hour" he was creating a caffeine extract, not green bean extract. Caffeine is a very bitter molecule and that is why low-caffeine coffees have a smoother taste profile. The effect on the body would be more like drinking rocket fuel than something healthy.

Here's a simple recipe for green bean extract:

1. Start with green beans that have gone straight from hulling to drying tunnels. Most coffees spend many hours traveling from the huller to the drying tables, causing fermentation. This is not a big issue but it's simply healthier if you are going to drink green beans "straight" to get beans with no fermentation. Our Costa Rica Estate beans are a perfect choice.

2. Rinse the green beans in a strainer or colander for a minute as you would any fresh food. Then put together in a saucepan one part green beans by volume to about 4 parts water that has been brought to a boil. This ratio does NOT have to be exact.

3. Boil for about 12 minutes. Then pour off the liquid through a strainer. Let the liquid cool unless you are making a hot beverage.

 4. Add any sort of fruit juice to your preference, we suggest cranberry because a little goes a long way. If the fruit juice is unsweetened you may want to add a little sweetener. You could also mix it with tea.

5. Drink and enjoy.

Taste the green bean extract by itself. It should taste a little like dilute pea soup, slightly sweet, and not at all bitter. The drink you make with it should be quite delicious. Ours are!

If you want to store the green bean liquid for later, put it in the fridge immediately.

The Making of a Master Roast

What is a "Master" roast? Or Artisanal roast? To some coffee companies it simply means they take a single-origin coffee and take care to find the optimal roast level for it (to their tastes) and perhaps are super-selective on the bean size and quality. We feel they should do this for every roast!

For us, a Master Roast should give the consumer something they can't normally get. So, we start with a single-origin base that we really love, then add 1-2 "balancing" coffees to create what we feel is a perfect blend guaranteed to tickle every palate, not just coffee drinkers who happen to hit the button with the single-origin base coffee alone. In this case we were eager to try all three of our super-special Robustas in one blend.

Then, unlike standard roasting practice, we roast each of these three coffees at its own peak level, testing to find the right level for each... and then we put them together after the roast.

This month we are featuring "Robusta Dream". Robusta appeals mostly to people who are "back-palate" oriented, who like low acidity, high body/crema, and good persistence in the memory (retention). Because low-altitude Robustas get a bad rap from people who are not really coffee experts, there are extremely few good Robustas on the market and not one Robusta blend that we know of. But we love being first!

So, we roasted the beans together in the ratio we wanted - 50% Vietnamese screen 16, 25% Peaberry Dalat, and 25% Bantai super-high altitude Robusta. Then we poured out the beans and see how that temperature point treated each type. Note in the picture that the peaberry (round, unsplit beans) look burnt, while the other sources were two different shades of medium roast. We theorized that the higher sugar content of the Peaberry was causing a burnt sugar effect.

Next we brewed two lots, one run a little darker than the other, which actually gives us 6 points of reference. We definitely preferred the lighter of the two roasts, where more of the creamy, buttery mouthfeel of the Robusta was better preserved, and the overall taste had more dimensional appeal. The darker roast seemed a little "flat".

So, by comparing the three color levels and the taste profiles, we determined that it would be good to roast the Peaberry at 15 degrees less, and the other two should be 5 degrees apart (+10, +15) to achieve the best taste on this blend. The result: Robusta Dream. A coffee even the non-Robusta fans really loved. We hope you enjoy this recap of our Robusta Dream Master Roast coffee for this month!

Click here to shop for this coffee on our Exclusive Offers page.

NEW - Guatemalan Antigua blend

While visiting a coffee expo in New York we made the acquaintance of people from a wonderful organization working in Guatemala to provide a market for indigenous items, including coffee, jewelry, clothes and crafts.

Antigua Highlands

They have created a select blend of coffee from three different regions, primarily Antigua, with a Bourbon Arabica base (they had us at "Bourbon"!). This coffee has all the plusses - it's certified organic, super-high-altitude, shade-grown, sun-dried, direct trade, charitable... and has amazingly rich taste. It's another Latin American coffee we have found that is so smooth and delicious that we are drinking it black or with cream because it just doesn't need to be sweetened (but it plays well with sugar if you want!).

We are roasting this coffee a little lighter than our standard Full City, it's a bona fide Medium Roast. It's also available green (unroasted) and is a great coffee for a beginning home roaster because it is very forgiving and has several optimal roast points. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Read more here.