Produced at the high-elevation Mpanga washing station or wet mill 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.
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Brasil Carmo De Minas Fazenda Monte Verde Bourbon
Composed entirely of beans from the yellow-fruited strain of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica. Processed by the pulped natural method, in which the skin is removed from the coffee fruit immediately after picking, but the seeds or beans are dried with the sweet pulp, or fruit flesh, still adhering to them. The Monte Verde estate, run by farmer José Canato, has consistently placed high in the
Honduras Santa Barbara Beneficio San Vicente Caracolillo
This sample, one of Victrola’s Reserve series of rare super-microlot coffees, consists entirely of peaberries (caracolillo or caracol in Latin-American Spanish), 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 crop, from
The Top 30 Coffees of 2013
View list of Top 30 Coffees of 2013 Coffee Review introduced 100-point reviews to the specialty coffee industry in 1997. Over the years since then we’ve cupped tens of thousands of samples and produced reviews for nearly 3,500 coffees. We are often asked, “What is the best coffee?” To which we give the obvious answer: “There is no single ‘best’ coffee.” Of course, visitors to our website
Honduras El Cielito Finca Las Brisas
Produced from trees of the heirloom Bourbon variety and Pacas, a dwarf selection of Bourbon. Finca Las Brisas is a tiny farm that produced only twenty-three 150-pound bags of coffee this year; Victrola Coffee bought the entire lot. Honduras, until recently a largely overlooked Central American coffee origin, has been producing increasing volumes of refined coffee over the past few years. Victrola
Colombia Valle del Cauca Cerro Azul Geisha AAA
This exceptional coffee was selected as the #8 coffee in the Coffee Review Top 30 Coffees of 2013. Produced from trees of the rare Ethiopia-derived botanical variety Gesha (also spelled Geisha). Gesha was planted on the Granja La Esperanza farms as part of a ten-year project to improve coffee quality and to introduce new botanical varietals to Colombia; Cerro Azul is one of those farms. With its
Lintong Sumatra Dolok Sangul
This coffee was sourced entirely from Dolok Sangul, a village south of Lake Toba. Coffees from the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra are admired for their complex earth and fruit notes that appear to result largely from unorthodox fruit removal and drying practices called “wet hulling.” This is a particularly refined example of the type. Victrola is a small-batch, hands-on roaster
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere G1
Yirgacheffe is a coffee region in southern Ethiopia that produces distinctively floral- and fruit-toned coffees from traditional varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. Yirgacheffe coffees like this one processed by the wet or washed method (fruit skin and pulp is removed before drying) typically express great aromatic complexity and intensity with a particular emphasis on citrus and floral
Lighter and Brighter: Single-Origin Espressos
Coffees from a single farm or cooperative roasted for espresso preparation – aka “single-origin” or simply “SO” espressos – are now a familiar presence on high-end coffee menus and counters in North America, and in many East Asian countries as well. But it was not so long ago that the argument ran that a single coffee from a single origin would always be too limited in its sensory properties to
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere Grade 1 Espresso
The Kochere District adjoins the Yirgacheffe coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia, famous for its distinctively floral- and fruit-toned coffees from traditional varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. Yirgacheffe-style coffees like this one processed by the wet or washed method (fruit skin and pulp is removed before drying) typically express great aromatic complexity and intensity
Three Trends at the Cusp of the New Year
As the New Year settles in I thought it might be worthwhile revisiting some interesting coffees recently reviewed outside the framework of our monthly review articles. All but one were reviewed in either December 2012 or January 2013, and all reflect in one way or another ongoing trends at the top end of the specialty coffee business. Kenya Endures Or more than endures; continues producing
Kenya Mukurweini Kamuchuni AA
Produced by the Ruthaka FCS Cooperative from trees of the admired, Bourbon-derived SL 28 variety of Arabica as well as the hybrid Ruiru 11 variety. Despite grower discontent and urban encroachment on prime coffee lands, Kenya continues to produce some of the world's most elegant and distinctive coffees. AA is the highest grade of Kenya coffee based on bean size and freedom from physical
Honduras Santa Barbara Beneficio San Vicente Caracalillo
This sample, one of Victrola’s Reserve series of rare super-micro-lot coffees, consists entirely of peaberries, caracalillo in Latin American Spanish, 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 crop, from which they may
Honduras Santa Barbara Finca Las Brisas
Produced from trees of the heirloom Bourbon variety and Pacas, a dwarf selection of Bourbon. Finca Las Brisas is a tiny farm that produces only twelve 150-pound bags of coffee per year. Honduras, until recently a largely overlooked Central American coffee origin, has been producing increasing volumes of refined coffee over the past few years. Victrola is a small-batch, hands-on roaster with a
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Wote Konga
Most Yirgacheffe coffee is prepared by the conventional wet method, in which the skin and pulp are removed from the beans or seeds before they are dried, encouraging a cleanly high-toned, often intensely floral- and citrus-toned cup. This Yirgacheffe is a "natural" or dry-processed version, however, meaning the beans/seeds were dried inside the fruit, encouraging a flavor profile more pungent than
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere Grade 1
The Kochere District adjoins the Yirgacheffe coffee growing region in southern Ethiopia, famous for its distinctively floral- and fruit-toned coffees from traditional varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. Yirgacheffe-style coffees like this one processed by the wet or washed method (fruit skin and pulp is removed before drying) typically express great aromatic complexity and intensity
Colombia Huila Monserrate Yaneth Gil Microlot
Produced by Yaneth Gil in the admired high-elevation coffee growing community of Monserrate. 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.
Coffees of Colombia 2012
Both the dark side and the bright side of the trend toward offering select, precisely identified lots of green coffee (aka “microlots”) showed up in this month’s sampling of thirty-four coffees from Colombia. On the bright side, we cupped several precisely identified, small-lot coffees that expressed pure and subtle variations on the classic Colombia high-grown profile. On the dark side, we had
Kenya Thika Chania Estate Natural Process
"Natural" process means the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after removal of the fruit. This coffee consists entirely of the heirloom “French Missionary” Bourbon variety trees grown by the Harries family on the Chania Estate. 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
Still Tops: Coffees of Kenya
Generally the central highlands of Kenya produce some of the most complex and subtly distinctive coffees in the world. There are a few other coffee origins/types that may be more distinctive, meaning more different from the sensory norm for coffee: Ethiopia Yirgacheffes, the very finest traditional Sumatras, the small but growing volume of coffee produced in Panama from trees of the Gesha variety.