SEARCH RESULTS
Coffee, Yemen, and Trump’s Travel Ban
Coffee is, in its very nature, an international beverage, the product of a global community of producers, exporters, importers, roasters and coffee-loving consumers. Coffee is a continual, ongoing collaboration that brings together tens of thousands of individuals at international events, and that generates millions upon millions of emails, phone calls and face-to-face meetings among people of
Yemen Asrar Haraz
Haraz (also Haraaz, other spellings) is a celebrated coffee growing region in north-central Yemen, west of the capital of Sana’a. Although Ethiopia is the botanical home of Coffea Arabica, Yemen introduced the beverage to the rest of the world in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Yemeni coffee is still grown from ancient heirloom cultivars of arabica on stone-walled terraces ringing fortress-like
New Roasting Companies Carry the Third-Wave Torch
According to Global Exchange, an international human rights organization based in San Francisco, there are more than 1,200 coffee roasters in the U.S. Aside from the consumer who ultimately purchases, brews and drinks coffee, the coffee roaster is the end of the line in a complex supply chain that involves tens of millions of people, including producers in 50 coffee-growing countries; those who
Kenya Nyeri Thageini Peaberry
Produced by the Tambaya wet mill, a member of the Rumukia Farmer’s Co-op Society, from trees of the admired SL28 and SL34 varieties. This sample consists entirely of peaberries, a kind of bean that results when the coffee fruit develops only a single, oval bean rather than the usual pair of flat-sided beans. Peaberries produce a somewhat different (often better) cup than normal beans from the same
Carmo de Minas Canaan Estate Natural Pedreira Microlot
Produced on the Canaan Estate entirely from trees of the Yellow Catuai variety of Arabica. A “natural” or dry-processed coffee, which means the beans or seeds were dried encased in the entire fruit. Naturals form the backbone of the Brazil coffee industry, but this lot reflects a particularly refined approach to the method. This coffee tied for the third-highest-rated in a test of
Brazil Naturals: Tradition Meets Trend
Although Coffee Review has published a number of articles over the years focusing on coffees from Brazil, we have never specifically focused on the coffee type generally called “Brazil naturals”: Brazil coffees of the Arabica species that have been dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed (as is the case with conventional “washed” or wet-processed coffees). Brazil
Kenya Nyeri Kiama FCS Ichuga Factory Peaberry
Despite challenges ranging from unclear government coffee policy and urban encroachment on prime coffee lands to chronically unstable weather, the famed Kenya coffee auction system and its participating cooperatives continue to produce some of the world’s most elegant and distinctive coffees. This sample consists entirely of peaberries, a kind of bean that results when the coffee fruit develops
Category Rankings
Over the past couple years, Coffee Review's annual “Top 30” ranking of the year's most noteworthy coffees has attracted considerable attention. As many readers have noted, our rankings tended to favor high-scoring coffees produced from botanical varieties of Arabica with striking sensory properties: coffees of the Gesha/Geisha variety, coffees from the distinctive traditional Ethiopian varieties,
Traditional Coffees of Central America: Quest for the Classic
We’ve seen two conflicting, yet overlapping, trends at the growing end of specialty coffee over the past decade. On one hand, greater and greater homogeneity. Traditional coffee tree varieties, varieties that may not taste unique, but do taste subtly different, are being replaced by disease-resistant, higher-yielding varieties that incorporate robusta genes and, well, usually don’t taste different
Honduras Santa Barbara Finca Las Brisas
Honduras, until recently a largely overlooked Central American coffee origin, has been producing increasing volumes of fine coffee over the past several years. Denis Teruel’s farm Las Brisas produced this classically structured coffee from trees of the heirloom Bourbon and compact-growing Pacas varieties of Arabica. Victrola is a small-batch, hands-on roaster with a passionate commitment to
Burundi Kayanza Province Mpanga Washing Station
This exceptional coffee was selected as the No. 20 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2015. Burundi is a small, landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Most coffee is grown in the mountains of the north, bordering Rwanda. Benefiting from ideal growing conditions and large plantings of local strains of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica, Burundi
New Starbucks Reserve Coffees
For the past ten years or so smaller, hipper, more nimble roasting companies have dominated the coffee conversation in America, outflanking Starbucks in roast style (lighter than Starbucks), freshness (roast-dated packaging), coffee selection (precisely identified seasonal small lots), brewing (by the cup, often by hand), and even design sensibility (usually blunt, simple and utilitarian, often
Ethiopia Sidama Ardi
A spectacularly fruit-toned though unusually refined example of a dry-processed or “natural” coffee, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Victrola is a small-batch, hands-on roaster with a passionate commitment to quality and distinctiveness. Visit www.victrolacoffee.com or call
Colombia Caldas Laderas del Tapias
Established in the first decade of the twentieth-century, Finca Laderas del Tapias devotes forty-percent of its arable land to protected forest and is in the process of becoming Rainforest Alliance certified. Victrola is a small-batch, hands-on roaster with a passionate commitment to quality and distinctiveness. Visit www.victrolacoffee.com or call 206-624-1725 for more information.
Open Source Espresso Blends
With this espresso tasting we focus on what appears to be a new trend in espresso blending – the open disclosure to customer and competitor of the identity of the specific green coffees that compose a blend, as opposed to the deliberate secrecy around blending that has prevailed in the coffee industry for decades. The old approach to blending implied secret mastery of arcane coffee knowledge that
Sumatra Aceh Adsenia Ketiara
This coffee is certified organically grown and produced by the Ketiara Cooperative, located in the Takengon highlands of Aceh Province above Lake Tawar, exclusively from an older variety of Arabica called Adsenia. Coffees from the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra are valued for their complex fruit, earth and aromatic wood notes that result largely from unorthodox fruit removal and
Kenya Nyeri Tambaya Peaberry
Produced by the Tambaya wet mill, a member of the Rumukia Farmer’s Co-op Society, from trees of the admired SL28 and SL34 varieties. This sample consists entirely of peaberries, a kind of bean that results when the coffee fruit develops only a single, oval bean rather than the usual pair of flat-sided beans. Peaberries produce a somewhat different (often better) cup than normal beans from the same
Honduras Santa Barbara Las Brisas, Denis Teruel
One of Victrola’s Reserve series of rare super-microlot offerings, produced from trees of the Pacas and Bourbon varieties of Arabica. Finca Las Brisas produced only six bags of coffee this harvest, all of which were purchased by Victrola. Honduras, until recently a largely overlooked Central American coffee origin, has been producing increasing volumes of fine coffee over the past several years.
Rwanda Hinga Kawa
Produced by the Hinga Kawa Women’s Association of the Abakundakawa Cooperative from trees of the heirloom Red Bourbon variety of Arabica. Victrola is a small-batch, hands-on roaster with a passionate commitment to quality and distinctiveness. Visit www.victrolacoffee.com or call 206-624-1725 for more information.
