Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Halo Bariti

Our new arrival an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Halo Bariti. This coffee is being marketed and officially labeled as a Yirgacheffe, but in truth, it is grown too far south to be Yirgacheffe and doesn’t share many attributes with a Yirgacheffe. This is a brand new FTO co-op from a previously undeveloped region south of Yirgacheffe. The co-ops name is Halo Bariti, and has only been in existence since 2012. The members of the co-op own their own land and can boast that they have the highest altitude to work with in the entire country of Ethiopia (4800 to 6800 feet above sea level). It’s an area where wild, heirloom coffee grows naturally, and even though this co-op is cultivating the coffee plants for commercial sale, they still grow heirloom varietals native to their land, some of which aren’t grown anywhere else in the world.
This is a natural (dry) process coffee and so we are roasting it lightly — barely even out of the 1st cracks. The coffee exhibits a fruity flavor of blueberry and jammy, smooth, creamy, very sweet (toasted marshmallow), aromatic, no earthiness or fermented notes whatsoever. It is not a fruit bomb — it is well balanced. Everything about this coffee is enjoyable.
It is one of the last Ethiopians of the season.

Happy Holidays

Have a safe and Happy Holiday from the boys and girls at Swamp Collie Coffee.

Cheers

Ian

xmas_2014_s

Guatemala Huehuetenango, Adiesto

Hooray, this years Guatemala Huehuetenango, Adiesto arrived. Roasted up a pound two days ago so will give it a try today.

Cleaning Day

A down day for the roaster here. Time to clean her up for the next few weeks of roasting.

CheersRoaster_1

Ian

New Roaster Funding Campaign Is Launched

Hey folks, business has grown faster than expected and the pups and I have run out of capacity on our old roaster. We have launched a kickstarter campaign to raise funding for a new roaster. Check it out at

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1500607077/help-we-need-a-new-roaster

I hope you consider investing – you’ll get some great coffee as a result!

Cheers

Ian

Kickstarter Campaign Ready To Go

Very exciting! We’re about to launch our kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the new roaster. Stay tuned we’ll connect you to the site when it launches.roaster_1

Cheers

Ian

Fruity and Sweet

The new blend is working out well. The fruit and wine flavors from the Ethiopian Harrar are working well with the chocolate and caramels from the Costa Rican La Magnolia. Getting the roasts done for the Durham Kennel Club trials this weekend.

La Magnolia in the Roaster

From Happy Mug one of our Green’s suppliers: “Costa Rica grows perhaps the finest coffees of Central America, and this one makes their reputation even stronger.  La Magnolia is grown in the Tres Rios region at 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level.  The cultivars are Caturra and Catuai, and beans are sorted out as a large size 16 screensize.  The aroma has a nice floral smell.  The acidity is not overbearing, and the aftertaste is clean and pleasant, making it easy to go back for another refill.  The taste of the coffee is incredibly sweet with subtle undertones of maple and honeysuckle and walnut, although to most people is going to taste like “smooth, sweet, normal coffee”  This particular coffee has built itself up a strong reputation in the coffee world.”

roaster

Harrar today.

Well getting caught up on the Harrar orders. This bean is an Ethiopian Harrar Deep Blue, it is a good sweet coffee with blueberry and lemon notes. Now, in the perfect world, I’d leave lemon for the Yirgacheffes and keep it out of my Harrar — it’s just that the lemon distracts from the blueberry, making it less mesmerizing than some year’s crops (we’re spoiled).  However, the balance is decent and the coffee very drinkable.