Let me start off by talking about beer. I like IPAs. I like European pilseners. I don't like Lambic beer. I don't like fruity beers. As some notable coffee experts have said, "If I wanted my coffee to taste like blueberries, I'd put blueberries in it." I feel the same way about beer.
I mention that because I understand that everyone has likes and dislikes. Whether its coffee or beer, most people have preferences for a particular style. And there's nothing wrong with that.
Many of you have voted by your purchasing (the type of voting that really counts here) that you favor coffees grown in the Americas. For some it's the price point (the Africans and Sumatrans have generally been more expensive), but for most it's the flavor profiles - typically medium-to-high acidity, sweetness, notes of chocolate, caramel, citrus and florals, medium body, short and sweet finish.
We could argue that you'd find many of those characteristics in African coffees. The Tanzania Finagro from earlier this year certainly fit that bill. And the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe we're introducing this week could pass for a Panamanian or Costa Rican coffee.
We'd also note that for professional tasters, it's generally the Kenyans that float their boat - balance, nuance and "true coffee" flavors. Many pros consider the Kenyans the most sophisticated and "complete" coffees out there.
So we think our current offerings of African coffees offer plenty to please any palate.
However, we also know what coffees move off the shelves, how fast they move, and what gets ordered for brew bar press pots and Abids. American coffees move faster than Africans and Asians here. Much faster.
Given we're a couple of weeks away from receiving this season's crop of South American coffees, we've only got Africans (and blends) to offer. So we're doing something we normally wouldn't do just to see how it works: We're bringing in non-Intelligentsia coffees for retail sale.
Over the past five years we've often featured non-Intelligentsia coffees as "guest" espressos or per cup specials. But we've never put any out for sale. That's changing this week.
In addition to the Intelligentsia Kenya Gichathaini and Thiriku and the Ethiopia Organic Yirgacheffe and Sidama, we'll be offering the following coffees for a limited time:
Stumptown Guatemala Finca El Injerto Bourbon
Stumptown Guatemala La Concepcion Buena Vista
Barismo Costa Rica Helsar de Zarcero
Barismo Brasil Santa Barbara
Both Stumptown and Barismo reflect the same kind of attention to detail in purchasing and roasting as Intelligentsia. And both roasters follow direct trade principles for most of their purchases. We're not giving up one iota of quality in offering coffees from either roaster.
As we've told Intelligentsia, this doesn't mean we're changing roasters. But we do want to achieve a couple of things:
1) Continue to offer current crop American coffees for as long as possible (we may continue to offer some Centrals even after Intelligentsia's South Americans come in).
2) Determine whether we need to increase our selections for the holidays
We're also hosting a tasting this Saturday (1pm, free) at which some of these coffees will be featured along with the Kenyans/Ethiopians.
And as a side note to our esteemed Town Manager who hails from the Pacific Northwest and has made the request in the past, we believe Stumptown is throwing in some Hairbender.
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