I got beans!

The latest shipment is in. On the pallet; Mexican Fair Trade Organic Chiapas UDEPOM, Peru Fair Trade Organic APARM, Guatemala Fair Trade Organic Huehuetenango PALHU and Ethiopian Harrar Horse.

UDEPOM (Union De Ejidos Prof. Otilio Montaño) is a cooperative of around 600 farms. The small farms range from between 1–10 hectares (2–20 acres) of steep rainforest in the mountains of Chiapas. This is a great central crop of heirloom Typica and Bourbon trees. I roasted a sample of this coffee a couple weeks ago, the initial post roast notes were somewhat confusing (I suspect poor methods on my part-I don't have silver spoons to cup with so...). I could swear I tasted crackers. Later the cup developed into an amazing bouquete of berry and caramels with chocolate. This is one bad ass bean.

Peru APARM
"This Peruvian region depends on the organic coffee industry for its livelihood. Thanks to Fair Trade, our standard of living has substantially improved, and the whole community has benefited from the programs we have implemented. I especially want to thank everyone who supports organic Fair Trade coffee. With their support, a star twinkles in our lives and leads us to a promising future."

Miguel Trigoso, APARM Marketing Manager

APARM (Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios Rodriguez de Mendoza) is comprized of around 300 farms located in the Amazonas region of northeastern Peru. They cultivate Tyipca, Bourbon and Caturra Varietals. They use a wet process and sun dry. The wet processing is of interest to you Espresso lovers, if you know then you know about great coffee and Espresso and we've probably talked about it before, if not you can come ask and I'll show you what it's all about. (sounds like a blog comming about that one)

Guatemala Huehuetenango Palhu. In Huehuetenango they cultivate Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai varietals. This coffee is grown at an altitude of around 6,500 feet. The area is a microclimate stuck in harsh conditions, near freezing temps on one side but a trade wind of dry warm air protects these plants from the other, quite lucky to get this one. They use a wet process in the region's tradition. We're looking forward to a unique sweet cup with orange and chocolate notes.

I've written on Harrar Horse before. There is a symbol of a horse on the bag, a mark from the territory it's grown in, Harrar, in Ethiopia. Where this coffee is grown there is a man named Mohamed Abdullahi Ogsadey, MAO for short. They chant his name to honor him in Harrar as the pioneer of the coffee trade industry there. There is a story that I'll blog about sometime. The conditions for coffee plants are prime for the region this year. The Dry Process lends itself to wild and complex flavors as well and we're looking for an incredible blueberry cup as has been reported time and again. I can't wait for this one.

I'll be roasting up a storm tonight. Sometimes between the time the beans are sampled from their place of origin and arriving here for me to roast things change, moisture content and exposure to bad air (to put that lightly). I'll save cupping notes on them all for Friday.

I'll go on someday in a blog, the more research I do the more drama I find that surrounds each country of origin. All I can say is take your time, appreciate the cup and it's flavor. Those flavors come from another place on the planet and even if you have no knowledge of the region, you can still taste the earth of a foreign land and have appreciation for the people that make that possible.

For The Love Of Coffee