last week was spent on the phone, talking to dozens of importers and farmers about their very best coffees and ordering samples of these coffees. all this week, boxes have been arriving and we’ve been roasting and labeling small bags of beans as anticipation builds. “here’s a coffee grown on a secret island in a lake in rwanda” “this box has three coffees from the island of java!”
today we gathered mid-afternoon with seltzer water, crackers, and 40 of the very best coffees on the market. even the bad coffees garnered serious discussions.
“this coffee tastes woodsy”
“more specifically, i think it tastes like a pencil”
“yes!! and not a cheap pencil — one of those fancier pencils with cedar in them”
“this coffee tastes like grass”
“not farm grass — more like lawn grass”
“maybe grass mixed with weeds”
“i would say something like a clover leaf”
“yes! a clover leaf!”
(both coffees were unanimously rejected after their thorough evaluations).
we found 5 exceptional coffee beans — mostly indonesians — but also some africans and central americans. tomorrow will be spent on the phone, and next week: we will have some fun new beans to offer to you.