- At Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, it is all about the coffee. Here, you can order BRCR's award-winning beans, and learn about the different varietals, their flavors, as well as the countries and farms from which they are sourced.
- Colombia: Best of Huila Blend12 oz: $15.99During his February trip to Colombia, Chuck was invited to be a judge for the Best of Huila Competiton in Pitalito. Through this event, we were reconnected with the Asocampo farming group - the group we worked with for the inaugural Roasters United Competition!! This group, headed by Yuir Maryeth Cuellar, excels at quality control and are driven to not only export the finest Colombian coffee, but they also hope to get more Colombians excited about what they do. The group runs a roastery and cafe in Timana that serves their coffee exclusively to the locals. Though there were some outstanding micro-lots - including some outstanding nano-lots we brought in like a Purple Caturra or Pink Bourbon - this blend is in line with how we approached Roasters United in ensuring that farmers don't have to rely on having auction-winning lots every year to be able to sell their lots for a good price. The florally on this cup presents intoxicatingly thick when ground fresh (think magnolia), with delicate cream and crisp chocolate in aroma. In the cup: very silky with a mélange of floral notes, butter, honey, and caramel.
- El Salvador: Black Honeyed Finca Las Nubes12 oz: $18.99This is the fifth year we have worked with the Salaverria family, who own several farms and a large mill in Santa Ana called JASAL. This Direct Trade offering is from their farm Finca Las Nubes. The family is obsessive about quality and eager to experiment with different processing methods. Among other very successful experiments, the Black Honey processing the past few years has been a favorite of ours and this year is no exception. For "honey processed" coffee, a small amount of the mucilage (the innermost layer of fruit) is left to dry on the bean. For a black honeyed, more mucilage is left on the bean during drying which can lead to a deeper, sweeter coffee, very similar to a natural but silkier. In the cup we have persimmon, cinnamon, and dark rum.
- El Salvador: Finca Santa Rita12 oz: $18.99Earlier this year, our Head Roaster, Heather Brisson-Lutz made the trip down to El Salvador to visit our long time Direct Trade partners, the Salaverria family, who own several farms and a large mill in Santa Ana called JASAL. The family is obsessive about quality and eager to experiment with different processing methods and new varietals. This is the fifth year we have worked with them and we look forward to a continuing our long relationship with the family. Unfortunately, El Salvador was devastated by Roya, with some estimates claiming the country lost close to 70 % of the crop in 2013. The trickle down effect is profound, not only for the farmers themselves, but everyone who depends on coffee for employment, the harvesters, truckers, those who work at mills. The Salaverria family lost close to 50% of their harvest. The Santa Rita Farm is located on the slopes of the Ilamatepec Volcano in northern El Salvador and is shade-grown, like all of their coffees. While quantity was down, the Salvaerria did an incredible job to maintain the high quality for the coffee they did produce.This washed processed lot is a fairly indicative example of what we look for in El Salvadoran coffee, with honeysuckle, star fruit, and almond.
- El Salvador: Loma La Gloria Red Honeyed Pacamara12 oz: $18.99One of our new Direct Trade coffees from Anny Ruth Pimentel. We have been able to develop a great relationship in a very short time here, working with Anny Ruth and her team on experimenting with processing, and even meeting the "father of the Pacamara" Angel Cabrera on a visit this year! Finca Loma La Gloria grows on the slopes of the San Salvador Volcano with an elevation of 1400-2000 meters, and much of the Pacamara varietal is grown in the high altitudes of the crater. Tasting notes: Very intricate, rose, raspberry, rhubarb, plum. We have worked with Anny Ruth to supply the farm workers - millers and cherry pickers - with Eco-Stoves as a Beyond the Bean Project. When possible, BRCR likes to go beyond paying great prices for great coffee to the owner of a farm or mill and directly and positively influence the life of the workers all the way down the supply chain. By supplying 24 Eco-Stoves with proceeds from Anny's last harvest, the workers save money on fuel while saving precious natural resources and creating a healthier family environment. This lot is 100% RED HONEYED Pacamara and is one of two exclusive honeyed lots we are bringing in from Anny this season. Typically with a Honeyed coffee, the skin and a portion of the mucilage (meat of the coffee cherry) is removed, which higher amounts of removal getting lighter colors - White, Yellow, Red, or Black. Anny, however, also varies the thickness of the layers of coffee on the drying beds to add another dimension and level of control to the process. Then the coffee is dried in parchment without fermentation. The extra layering with a red honeyed process allows for some more complexity of flavor to develop from naturally occurring fermentation, as well as a mouthfeel and tactile sweetness closer to a naturally processed coffee.
- El Salvador: Loma La Gloria Yellow Honeyed Pacamara12 oz: $18.99One of our new Direct Trade coffees from Anny Ruth Pimentel. Finca Loma La Gloria grows on the slopes of the San Salvador Volcano with an elevation of 1400-2000 meters, and much of the Pacamara varietal is grown in the high altitudes of the crater. Tasting notes: Intense, pineapple, cream, white wine. We have worked with Anny Ruth to supply the farm workers - millers and cherry pickers - with Eco-Stoves as a Beyond the Bean Project. When possible, BRCR likes to go beyond paying great prices for great coffee to the owner of a farm or mill and directly and positively influence the life of the workers all the way down the supply chain. By supplying 24 Eco-Stoves with proceeds from Anny's last harvest, the workers save money on fuel while saving precious natural resources and creating a healthier family environment. This lot is 100% YELLOW HONEYED Pacamara and is one of two exclusive honeyed lots we are bringing in from Anny this season. Typically with a Honeyed coffee, the skin and a portion of the mucilage (meat of the coffee cherry) is removed, which higher amounts of removal getting lighter colors - White, Yellow, Red, or Black. Anny, however, also varies the thickness of the layers of coffee on the drying beds to add another dimension and level of control to the process. Then the coffee is dried in parchment without fermentation. The mid-to-low level of layering with a yellow honeyed process allows for some complexity of flavor to develop from naturally occurring fermentation, and some mouthfeel and tactile sweetness like a natural, though this is closer to a washed.
- El Salvador: Loma La Gloria Natural Pacamara12 oz: $20.99In developing our relatively new relationship with Finca Loma la Gloria, we have been able to consistently raise the bar in a short period of time. Any Ruth Pimentel's willingness to go above and beyond is amazing to us, and after the huge success we had with her honeyed Pacamaras last year, she went out on a limb and did a full natural processing for us this time!! Finca Loma La Gloria grows on the slopes of the San Salvador Volcano with an elevation of 1400-2000 meters, and much of the Pacamara varietal is grown in the high altitudes of the crater. Tasting notes: A wide spectrum of floral notes and fruits, but notably concord grape, pomegranate and hibiscus flower. Extremely juicy and creamy. We have worked with Anny Ruth to supply the farm workers - millers and cherry pickers - with Eco-Stoves as a Beyond the Bean Project. When possible, BRCR likes to go beyond paying great prices for great coffee to the owner of a farm or mill and directly and positively influence the life of the workers all the way down the supply chain. By supplying 24 Eco-Stoves with proceeds from Anny's last harvest, the workers save money on fuel while saving precious natural resources and creating a healthier family environment. Notwithstanding the gamut of semi-washed types of processing out there (like the yellow and red honeyed we get from Anny Ruth), most coffee is either "washed" or "natural." Washed doesn't mean that other coffee is dirty, just as natural doesn't mean that other coffee is, well, un-natural. Natural, or dry-processing and sometimes referred to as the ancient method, means that the meat of the coffee cherry is left on the pit (coffee bean) rather than mechanically separated and washed/fermented to fall away. Under good care, this leads to a cup with more long chain sugars and usually more fruit notes.
- Guatemala: El Injerto Red Catuai12 oz: $19.99This Bird Rock exclusive Direct Trade lot comes from what is considered one of the best coffee farms in the world. El Injerto has been a fixture in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence for the last several years, bringing home many 1st place victories including this year. We have had the honor of working directly with El Injerto for six years now. El Injerto is Rainforest Alliance Certified (RFA), one of the oldest and most well-established "Eco-Tags" in global commerce. RFA is a non-profit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and to ensure sustainable livelihoods, with some focus being on child labor, forced labor, and discrimination. Aside from the over 1100 acres used for coffee farming between 1500 and 2200 meters above sea level, the Aguirre family have preserved a large portion of land as a thousand-year-old virgin forest, which gives the farm its special climate and adequate conditions to have clean water that springs directly from the mountains. This delightful little number is a 100% Red Catuai lot. A lot of natural sweetness and very buttery, with cherries, butterscotch, and milk chocolate.
- Guatemala: Finca El Zapote12 oz: $19.99This fully washed lot is a blend of the red bourbon and red catuai varietals. Wilfrido Perez and his son Hernan have started to started specialize in micro-lots recently - working in a more detailed way separating lots and varieties and monitoring the quality of these. Grown in the famously rich soils within the mountains of Cuilco, Huehuetenango, this is a very juicy cup, with some white rose florally, pear, and lychee. Huehuetenango, is at the foot of the Cuchumatanes, the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America, and wind patterns sweeping in from Mexico make it possible to avoid frost when growing coffee at extreme elevation. This elevation allows the plants to respirate more freely which in turn makes each cup of this coffee naturally oh-so-much sweeter.
- Guatemala: La Providencia Maragogype12 oz: $19.99Guatemala has quite a few farms that go by the name La Providencia - second in commonality only to Esperanza or "hope." This lot, however, is not a common coffee, being comprised 100% of the Maraogype cultivar. These beans are known as the "elephant bean" and you will see why as soon as you open your bag! Very sweet and delicate in the cup with maple, milk chocolate, and nutmeg.
- Ethiopia: Gera Limu12 oz: $19.99A smooth washed Ethiopia from what used to be the Kingdom of Kaffa. Coffee grows wild in the mountains and forests here and this is thought by many to be the birthplace of coffee. In the cup we have dates, cardamom, and malt chocolate. Gera farm spans the highlands of the Jimma zone in eastern Oromia at an altitude 1900-2100 meters. We always look for high elevation farms since the altitude has so many positive effects on coffee, like the über-sweetness that shows up in this cup. Amongst the avocado and apple trees, the select heirloom plants that comprise this lot are shade grown under Acacia and other trees. This farm takes specific care to conserve soil and water and protect from pollution of the environment. For the employees of the farm, the Enterprise provides houses, schools for children, potable water, electricity, health care, recreation facilities, etc. free of charge. Their whole production system is based on sustainability principles for the farming environment, living and working conditions of employees, and of course to produce high quality coffee!
- Ethiopia: Wenago Natural Processed12 oz: $19.99We are always on the lookout for a big and clean natural processed microlot to feature, and this one comes to us from the same people who we worked with for our 94-point Farm-to-Cup Boke Konga a little ways back. Each of the about 700 farmers (average of 2 hectares each) who contribute up to this lot from the Wenago Mill grow their coffee up to 2000 meters above sea level. This lot of mixed traditional heirloom cultivars is dried with the cherry fully intact for 18 days (weather dependent) on raised drying beds. An intense cup, dominated by blueberry, strawberry hard candy, vanilla bean, and ganache with a light milkiness.
- Kenya: Karagoto12 oz: $20.99A classic Kenya - big, clean flavors with dynamic acidity - from the Tekangu Co-op in Nyeri. Very similar to the 94 point Makwa we had from the same region in the past. Part of what makes Kenyan coffee so unique and in general a favorite of us coffee nerds is the processing. Many Kenyan factories are experts in processing and exacting when it comes to quality control. This lot of the much-sought-after SL 28 and SL34 varietals gets its thick sweetness from its growing altitude way up there at almost 2000 meters above sea level. The combination of the rich, red soil of the region, extreme altitude, and Kenyan care, give us a dense cup with with notes of black currant, blackberry, and butterscotch.
- Kenya: Thageini12 oz: $20.99This Kenya comes from 905 members of the Aghuti Farmers Cooperative Society, whose farms range above 1600 meters above sea level. The Society has 4 washing stations, called factories in Kenya. In Nyeri, just west of Mt. Kenya, these stations are very fastidious in the way they traditionally apply ferment-and-wash methods rather than using a mechanical method pre-wash like so many in the Americas do. The result is a coffee with very clearly defined characteristics. This lot is compromised of the famous Scott Laboratories decedents of Bourbon (bred to be drought resistant in addition to their phenomenal cup quality), and the more disease resistant Ruiru-11. Ruiru-11 is a hybridization of the SL28 and SL34 that brings more stability to the farmers in terms of what they can expect from their crops. Recently reviewed by Ken Davids of Coffee Review: A levitating Kenya cup with flawless structure and extraordinary aromatics, lushly tropical, yet elegantly pure.
- Burundi: Nyabikaranga12 oz: $19.99Jean Clement Birabereye founded the Mpanga (pronounced Panga - M is silent) Washing station in the Kayanza province in 2008. Each year he buys cherries from approximately 300 family owned farms in the province, all of whom have farms at 1700-2000 meters. Since he started the mill, Jean has focused exclusively on producing high end coffee and has appreciated a lot of success - especially in the Cup of Excellence. They won the Cup of Excellence (COE) in 2014 and placed in the competition in 2011, 2012, and 2013. This is a rare micro-lot that has gone through extra sorting at the mill. This coffee is from the Nyabikaranga region and named after the highest peak in that area. We have not had Burundi coffee in quite some time, though this lot is similar to the Teka lot we had in 2012 that received 91 points on Coffee Review. In the cup: Very sweet; medium bodied; Oolong tea, malty, vanilla. BRCR is working directly w/ Jean via our work with Burundi Friends International which is a non-profit based in San Diego. BFI works to eradicate severe poverty in Burundi and works to provide both educational materials and medical supplies to those in need. in 2016 BFI will establish a literacy program with Women in Coffee.
- Sumatra: Tano Batak12 oz: $20.99From northern Sumatra around Lake Toba just like the Ulos Batak that we placed #2 in Coffee Reviews 2014 rankings. Batak loosely refers to a number of ethnic groups in the area, while "Tano" and "Ulos" are bean size sorting terms, or grades for green coffee. This coffee comes from a collaboration of a hundred small holder producers in Lintong. Collaborative coffee is the most common way things are done in Indonesia and Sumatra. This is a wet-hulled coffee which is, again, traditional to Sumatra. This wet hulling is known as Gilling Basah and produces a coffee that is thicker bodied and syrupy. Here we have outstanding quality control to insure a consistent cup that represents the very best of what Sumatran coffee can be like while also keeping any rustic flavors from being overwhelming. Much brighter and cleaner than most Sumatran coffees. A huge coffee, very traditionally Sumatran with cherry, bourbon, clove, and notes of white pepper. Fifty cents from every retail bag of coffee we sell of this Tano Batak goes to SURFAID, a non-profit working to assist families in Sumatra with water sanitation, nutrition, malaria prevention.
- Espresso: Divine Droplets Ii12 oz: $19.99For a limited time only. We have fresh crop coffees arriving all summer long from across Africa, so we designed as blend to highlight a few of them. Creamy chocolate mousse and a honey-like syrupy base with layers of mixed berries, citrus and floral aromatics. Recommended dose is 22 grams to yield a strong short 23 grams in 30-34 seconds.
- Bird Rock Blend12 oz: $16.75Easy-drinking and perfect for the traditionalist, our Uganda Kawacom is a cause coffee and fully traceable. The Uganda brings depth and development to out traditional, earthy Sumatra in this latest version of our popular blend. This organic coffee is full-bodied with a subtle pop of acidity; rich robust, balanced and sweet. Certified Organic by CCOF.
- Brazil: Decaf Swiss Water12 oz: $17.99Swiss-Water Processed decaf. This is a nice, big-bodied, rich, decaf w/ cashews and milk chocolate.
- Peru: Decaf Swiss Water Organic12 oz: $18.99This is an organic-certified decaffeinated coffee from Peru. For those looking for a milder, smoother decaf. Nutty, creamy, with a sweeter finish.
- 50/50 Blend - Medium12 oz: $16.75For a milder tasting experience and half the caffeine. For this blend of regular and decaffeinated coffee from Latin America. Number 26 on the Imbibe Magazine's list of the "50 Most Notable Drinks" - May/June 2012!
- Uganda: Sipi Falls Organic French Roast12 oz: $17.99We visited the Sipi Falls mill in 2013 and we were impressed with their quality control and how well-run the mill is, so we made the return trip this past season. When we support farms in countries that operate under oppressive governments with especially poor infa-structure, we have an added responsibility to give back on some level. As we have done in the past with Ugandan coffee, we are donating 50 cents per retail bag sold to the Change the Truth organization. This orphanage works to support some of the almost 2.2 million children in Uganda who have lost their parents to civil war and extreme poverty. As well as being certified organic, the mill is Rainforest Alliance Certified, meaning that the farms that produce the coffee for this lot, must have safe working conditions and must pay their employees a sustainable wage. The mill is located on Mt. Elgon, a volcanic mountain in the eastern reaches of the country.The ancient volcanic slopes are cool, tempered by altitude, primary forest and refreshing streams, rivers and waterfalls. Many smaller farms (averaging around 1.89 hectares or ~4.6 acres) contribute their harvests making this a truly collaborative process. We we are calling this a French Roast, we roast much lighter than what is traditionally thought of as a "French". For example you won't see much oil on the surface of the beans. But, this coffee is still thick bodied and satisfying with dominant dark chocolate and molasses.
- Tea: Bolivia Cascara Maquina Coffee Pulp Tea8 oz: $14.99Here, the skin of the coffee cherry has cured with Lemon Verbena and orange rind, which softly emphasizes the pleasant tartness of the steeped tea. The tea is very low in caffeine, but very high in antioxidants and is naturally sweet. For best results, use about 18 grams of cascara to 300 grams of 200°F water. Allow to steep for 4 minutes, strain, and enjoy. You should get big notes of citrus, a sweetness passingly familiar as coffee perhaps, and honey in both flavor and body. .
- Tea: Bolivia Cascara Traditional Coffee Pulp Tea8 oz: $13.99Cascara is made from the skin of the coffee cherry that surrounds the coffee bean. The skin has been sun-dried, lightly roasted, and gently aged. In Yemen, this tea is referred to as Qishr. The tea is very low in caffeine, but very high in antioxidants and is naturally sweet. For best results, use about 18 grams of cascara to 300 grams of 200°F water. Allow to steep for 4 minutes, strain, and enjoy. You should taste notes of citrus, green apple, and honey.
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