Limited-Edition Coffees

When I first encountered Mamuto, I believe it was the best lot auctioned in Kenya that year. (All Kenyan coffee lots were auctioned through 2006; in 2008 the system was "liberalized," permitting direct sales as well as auction coffee) In our first year of roasting this coffee, Mamuto received Coffee Review's first-ever score over 95. Mamuto has scored 96, 97 and 96 Points respectively for crops from 2006, 2007 and 2008. We now have Mamuto's best lot from the most recent harvest. We purchased this lot directly and without hesitation; it was, again, one of the most outstanding lots we tried this past buying season and we have been privileged to always cup the cream of the crop!

Taking inspiration from their family, Mr. Mathagu explained to me, he and his wife named the farm by combining the first two letters from three words: his name, Mathagu, as the father; Muthoni, his wife's maiden name, as mother; and toto, meaning child or children in Swahili: thus Mamuto. Mr. and Mrs. Mathagu have six children - three boys, three girls

Farmer: Walter Paul and Muthoni Mathagu
Region: Kirinyaga
Altitude: 5,000 ft.
Rainfall: Low to moderate+
Soil: Volcanic loam
Arabica variety: Bourbon Sl 28 and SL 34
Size of Farm: 21 acres total; 13 acres of coffee
Roast: Full Flavor

Please click here to view more images of this coffee farm.

Please Note:
1) Orders need to be placed for our Limited Edition Coffees by 8:00 am Eastern Time
2) Orders received will not be shipped until the ROAST DATE indicated per the schedule; and
3) Orders received that include REGULAR COFFEE items in addition to scheduled Limited Edition coffees will be shipped on the date that the limited coffee is roasted to minimize your shipping cost, UNLESS you leave a message in the Notes Box indicating you want us to ship your regular coffee separately.

La Montaña is all about balance and proportion. It gushes with layers of sweetness from hot to cold. Complex flavors of honey, rich, black Assam tea, malt, stone fruits and a touch of roses and soft lavender are finely woven together. It can truly be called a classic coffee.

La Montaña is made up of 100% Pacamara beans. Pacamara is a rare variety of Arabica coffee plant that produces very large beans. Despite their extra size they are dense and packed with unique sweet flavor notes when carefully produced. Pacamara is rapidly gaining a reputation in specialty coffee as one of the pinnacle varieties of Arabica coffee.

La Montaña has earned top scores in recent Central America Tasting at CoffeeReview: Prize-Winning Coffees from Central America and Colombia

Farmer: Raúl Ochoa Hernández
Region: Chalatenango
Altitude: 4,500 ft
Rainfall: Moderate+
Soil: Clay loam
Arabica variety: Pacamara
Farm Size: 5.60 Hectares

Please Note:
1) Orders need to be placed for our Limited Edition Coffees by 8:00 am Eastern Time
2) Orders received will not be shipped until the ROAST DATE indicated per the schedule; and
3) Orders received that include REGULAR COFFEE items in addition to scheduled Limited Edition coffees will be shipped on the date that the limited coffee is roasted to minimize your shipping cost, UNLESS you leave a message in the Notes Box indicating you want us to ship your regular coffee separately.

QTY 12 oz - Roasting TUESDAY September 7th! - $17.95 Whole Bean Drip Grind Espresso Grind Press Pot Grind

Next Roast September 13th!

Powerful aromatic plumes of full-bodied sweet ripe apricot, mango and sparkling peach laced with jasmine.

All La Esmeralda coffee is sold at auction in micro-lot sizes. Only 6,600 lbs were produced this year, half a normal year. First we received samples of all the micro lots available. We bid from the start for our favorite lot, from a section of the farm called Mario Carnaval. It is the oldest section of the farm, consistently selected as the first place winner for the Best of Panama competitions. While the bid price we had to pay was far, far steeper than the previous year it was a better coffee – more buttery and sweeter – and it went for lower prices than a few other lots which were higher grown but, in my opinion, less profound, balanced and layered. These lots were still higher grown; but I have learned that at a certain point, usually around 5,000 feet, higher altitude is not as important as micro-climate. I have seen this with certain Kenyas – like the great Mamuto which is around 5,000 feet in elevation

Farmer: Price and Daniel Peterson
Region: Boquete
Altitude: 4,900 – 5,400
Rainfall: high
Arabica variety: Gesha

Please Note:
1) Orders need to be placed for our Limited Edition Coffees by 8:00 am Eastern Time
2) Orders received will not be shipped until the ROAST DATE indicated per the schedule; and
3) Orders received that include REGULAR COFFEE items in addition to scheduled Limited Edition coffees will be shipped on the date that the limited coffee is roasted to minimize your shipping cost, UNLESS you leave a message in the Notes Box indicating you want us to ship your regular coffee separately.

Kiamariga is a small, spectacular lot which we will roast from time to time. The cup is saturated with immaculately transparent perfectly ripe succulent blackberry subtly layered with traces of plum and dark red cherries. It is without trace of astringency, having great layered depth and a velvet-soft sweetly disappearing finish - a Kenya of unforced power, full body and great elegance. It is, as with all our Terroir coffees, kept in perfect condition with our special storage system.

The Kiamariga Cooperative mill is about 100 miles north of Nairobi in the great coffee-growing Nyeri district. It serves over one thousand small growers who live nearby at around five thousand feet in altitude on the edge of the Mt. Kenya forest. The average farm size is a half acre with an average of 250 trees each. I visited Solomon Dei, a member of Kiamariga, at his farm, seen on right. The Kiamariga mill is seen below, early in the morning. The green coffee, drying on racks, is still covered in yellow plastic to protect from morning dew and possible rainfall overnight. Fermentation tanks with roofs protecting from the sun are on the left, and curing of recently dried coffee is in the large structure to the right, open on the sides for proper ventilation. Full flavor roasted.

Region: Nyeri
Altitude: 5,000+ ft.
Rainfall: moderate
Soil: Volcanic loam
Arabica variety: Bourbon SL 28 and SL 34
Average size of farms: 0.5 acres

Please Note:
1) Orders need to be placed for our Limited Edition Coffees by 8:00 am Eastern Time
2) Orders received will not be shipped until the ROAST DATE indicated per the schedule; and
3) Orders received that include REGULAR COFFEE items in addition to scheduled Limited Edition coffees will be shipped on the date that the limited coffee is roasted to minimize your shipping cost, UNLESS you leave a message in the Notes Box indicating you want us to ship your regular coffee separately.

Certified Organic!
Check Back for Next Roast!
Serra do Boné is a multiple award winning organic farm in the region Mata de Minas (means forest of the state Minas Gerais), which was discounted as a quality producing area until Cup of Excellence came along in 1999. Serra means mountain range, do means of, and boné means tight fitting headdress, or a woman’s small round hat.

Jennifer and I found the coffee to be medium bodied offering up elegant soft nutty notes with hints of orange and sweet lime. A wonderful easy drinker.

The text and images below are from the Cup of Excellence website.

Overview:
Fazenda Serra do Boné is located in the mountains in Araponga, in the Mata de Minas area of Minas Gerais. It was purchased in 1988 and at the time had only 17 acres devoted to coffee. Since then the owner has gradually expanded the area planted in coffee, which now stands at 215 acres. A preserved native forest makes up the property’s remaining 180 acres.

Coffee Processing System
Carlos Sérgio Sanglard is a committed conservationist. Believing that in preserving nature he can also preserve the health of his co-workers and the people who drink his coffee, he resolved to adopt an organic approach to the management of his crops.

Verifying that the region had the potential to produce specialty coffees, he embarked on a process of separating and tracking the lots based on standards for organic production. Since then special care has been taken at every step in the process, from the washing and pulping to drying the coffee on suspended concrete patios.

Commitment to Quality
Since opting for organic production and investing in the processing infrastructure, the grower has achieved outstanding results:
* 1st place, “Cup of Excellence,” Mata de Minas, 2003
* 4th place, “Cup of Excellence,” 2005
* 2nd place, specialty coffee competition, Minas Gerais Extension Services (EMATER–MG), 2007
* 1st place, specialty coffee competition, Minas Gerais Extension Services (EMATER–MG) and finalist, “Cup of Excellence,” 2008

Now among the winners of the 2009 “Cup of Excellence,” Carlos Sérgio Sanglard is proud that he has been able to produce organic coffees of such high quality on his property.

Farm Size: 395 Acres
Coffee growing area: 215 Acres
Forest: 180 Acres
Certification: Organic
Altitude: 3900 feet
Variety: Red and Yellow Catuai
Processing System: Pulped Natural

Top Jury Descriptions:
Aroma/Flavor black currant, pear, muscat, juicy, spicy, orange. apricot, caramel, floral rose, molasses, slightly nutty, almonds, sweet pipe tobacco Acidity- malic, Notes- long finish. (The jury is composed of over twenty specialty coffee buyer-cuppers from around the world)

Please Note:
1) Orders need to be placed for our Limited Edition Coffees by 8:00 am Eastern Time
2) Orders received will not be shipped until the ROAST DATE indicated per the schedule; and
3) Orders received that include REGULAR COFFEE items in addition to scheduled Limited Edition coffees will be shipped on the date that the limited coffee is roasted to minimize your shipping cost, UNLESS you leave a message in the Notes Box indicating you want us to ship your regular coffee separately.