The Boss - Big and Heavy (Winter 2009 Mix)

Deep and sweet thickness and chocolate berries con panna. Chocolatey goodness with some sneaked in herb and berry notes. Touch of citrus kiss in the finish. Thick, thick, sticky and gooey. A whole lot of good chocolate and fruit in your cup. It’s tougher than a trucker.

Kicks ass as a straight shot but really comes alive in milk. Chocolate and gooey caramel make sweet coffee love with the sweet steamed milk to make that most wonderful of things…

Coffees in the mix: Brazil Monte Christo, India Jasmina, Ethiopia Dale Select

Sweet Reserve - Brazil Daterra - (Single Estate, Rainforest Alliance, Utz Kapeh, vacuum packed at origin)

Red candy apple sweetness married to a cornucopia of lovely brown sugar and butterscotch notes. Dustings of cocoa and hints of peaches and cherry pie. Just the lightest hints of sweet acidity brings a wonderfully complex balanced. Satiny mouthfeel and well rounded body. Sweet, sweet, sweet like candy!

Only the ripest cherries are sorted out and then it is vacuum packed at origin to preserve freshness.

Selva Andina Decaf - (fair trade, organic, co-op, shade grown, decaf)

Piquant and lively acidity snaps on the tip of the tongue. There is a nice sweet alomnd flavor that swells in the middle and leads into a nicely balanced finish. The body is crisp with no heaviness and the super high elevation shines in the clean and crisp notes with a hint of rounded citrus and black tea.

Finca Vista Hermosa Edlyna (relationship , single estate & shade grown)

Bittersweet chocolate and soft lemony acidity as single origin espresso makes your face dance in joy. Exceptionally intense layered complexity shines in french press or Melitta pour over. Likes hotter water between 204-206 F and somewhat courser grind overall.

This Edlyna lot made it to the final jury selection for 2008 Cup of Excellence.

The Edlyna microlot from FVH is one of our favorites each year. We have chosen it two years in a row as one of our top lots from the Martinez family. It is a fantastic amalgamation of flavors and aromas. Edlyna is a decisively feminine cup. She is a beautifully sweet example of a perfectly cultivated and processed highland Huehuetenango coffee with crisp lemon and floral notes dancing tightly with dark chocolate. Edlyna is a very structured and solid coffee. But it is also a complexly rich coffee that throws in some wildly savory saffron and herb notes combined with hints of super dark cherries. It is not a coffee for the weak willed or those who require complacency. But if you like your coffee to be like a globe trotting rich aunt who dispenses gifts from abroad and brings a smile every time she arrives then drink up and know delight.

Monte Christo - Brazil Daterra - (shade grown, estate grown, rainforest alliance, sun dried natural)

A super low toned, sweet & sultry syrupy song. Heavy without earthiness, low bass notes mix with some twinkling floral & fruit notes. A bit more sweet light fruit and syrup mixed with rich savory candy cap mushrooms and almonds. A sexy natural sun-dried brazil.

Sweet Reserve - Brazil Daterra - (Single Estate, Rainforest Alliance, Utz Kapeh, vacuum packed at origin)

Red candy apple sweetness married to a cornucopia of lovely brown sugar and butterscotch notes. Dustings of cocoa and hints of peaches and cherry pie. Just the lightest hints of sweet acidity brings a wonderfully complex balanced. Satiny mouthfeel and well rounded body. Sweet, sweet, sweet like candy!

Only the ripest cherries are sorted out and then it is vacuum packed at origin to preserve freshness.

The Boss - Big and Heavy (Winter 2009 Mix)

Deep and sweet thickness and chocolate berries con panna. Chocolatey goodness with some sneaked in herb and berry notes. Touch of citrus kiss in the finish. Thick, thick, sticky and gooey. A whole lot of good chocolate and fruit in your cup. It’s tougher than a trucker.

Kicks ass as a straight shot but really comes alive in milk. Chocolate and gooey caramel make sweet coffee love with the sweet steamed milk to make that most wonderful of things…

Coffees in the mix: Brazil Monte Christo, India Jasmina, Ethiopia Dale Select

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Dominion Vilones - (relationship, organic, co-op, and shade grown)

Ambitiously sweet tangerine flavors alight on your tongue. Sparkling orange crush soda pops into creamy maple syrup, vanilla and cherry salt water taffy. Syrupy, silky mouthfeel.

Dominion Trading co-op is the ambitious project of Ethiopian Dante Vilones. Family farmers pick the coffee by hand at its peak ripeness, leaving any unripe cherries on the tree to be selected later. These ripe cherries are put in sacks and carried on the head, by donkey, or cart to the cleaning plant. These coffees are then meticulously processed and sorted for quality. 60% of all profits from the import goes back to the farmers. For 2008 a new eco-pulper reduces water waste by more than 80% and dramatically improved quality and flavors. This is the second year of our partnership.

Ruseyini Kinunu - Gishyita, Rwanda - (Co-op and Shade Grown, small stakeholders, Bikes to Rwanda coffee)

Sweet syrupy goodness whispers hints of tropical exotic citrus, nibbles at the edges of savory with a rounded butterscotch pallet lick. Yeah it seriously licks you back and you like it. Honey dipped mission figs, dustings of African cooking spices and black tea notes round out this complex mid toned heavy coffee. Acidity is sweet and tight but not high. Mouthfeel is smooth and thick but not heavy. Give in to the Kinunu. Preparation Recommends: The Rwanda Kinunu is a thick and bouncy coffee that seems to love to balance on the edge of sweet syrup and savory style. Try it in a pour over where the sweeter citrus and fig notes glide across your tongue. As a french press it is decadent and thick and makes you want to sit down for a spell or ride a bike up a mountain.

Guatemala Finca Vista Hermosa-Hermosa Reserva 2008 - (relationship, single estate, shade grown)

Supernaturally balanced soft lemon blossom acidity with dark chocolate truffle mouthfeel. Northern lights soft grape and citrus notes meld with melon and chocolate touches. A sublime, never ending finish of absolute coffee love.

Because of Barefoot's five year partnership with FVH we always get first choice on which microlots we buy. For 2008 Barefoot bought the entire Vista Hermosa lot. In our blind cuppings it was an immaculate standout. So much so that we paid the Martinez family and extra $.25 a pound based on its flavor score. We also upgraded the packaging and had the entire lot of 100 bags vacuum packed at the dry mill in Guatemala. This is the first time a non Cup of Excelelnce Guatemalan coffee has ever been vacuum packed at origin. This will preserve the incredible freshness and vibrancy of this amazing coffee so that it tastes fresh harvested all year long. Being a judge at the 2008 Cup of Excellence enabled our cuppers to know the flavors of all the coffees in that auction we can state that the Vista Hermosa lot is absolutely in the top ten of the coffees we tasted in the auction.

Selva Andina Decaf - (fair trade, organic, co-op, shade grown, decaf)

Piquant and lively acidity snaps on the tip of the tongue. There is a nice sweet alomnd flavor that swells in the middle and leads into a nicely balanced finish. The body is crisp with no heaviness and the super high elevation shines in the clean and crisp notes with a hint of rounded citrus and black tea.