COLOMBIA SUPREMO

The coffee Kenneth Davids referred to as "One of the best exemplars of its type." Produced by farmers growing traditional typica varieties of coffea arabica, this most traditional coffee has received accolades from critics, connoisseurs and coffee drinkers everywhere. A wonderful example of the connection between shade growing and great coffee.

Body: Medium

Acidity: Medium

Aroma: Powerful, exhilarating

Flavor: Classic, vanilla-nut-toned flavor complex, a slight sweetness

Conclusion: "This one keeps coming; vistas of completeness unfold in small, repeated waves of exhilarating revelation. The profile is built around a deep-toned version of the classic vanilla-nut-toned flavor complex. Bird-lovers who want to know why (aside from the gigantic advertising budget) Colombian coffee is famous. This deeply dimensioned coffee hints at the heady quality of the old time Colombias, before the growers started cutting down trees and planting hybrids. Also suggests why the quality freaks who may not know the difference between a white-crowned sparrow and a crow, still get behind the shade coffees: Because they typically come from traditional varieties of coffea arabica that taste better!" * Quoted from The Coffee Review. Cupping with Ken Davids

FRENCH ROAST

Deeply roasted shade grown coffees, chosen from a group of farms in Central and South America unequaled in their ability to deliver coffees which can stand up to the rigors of French Roasting. Dark and mysterious, this French Roast has been carefully brought to the perfect dark roast: complex and powerful but never bitter.

Body: Medium

Acidity: Medium to low (due to roast level)

Aroma: Intense, smoky, hints of spice

Flavor: Long deep chocolate notes; sweet with a nice touch of nutty bitterness.

Conclusion: A great coffee with chocolate desserts, or for cream and sugar users. Try blending this coffee with lighter roasted Indonesians or Central Americans, to develop your own "private" blend.

GUATEMALA ANTIGUA

This may be the most respected farm in all of Guatemala. The family has been farming here since the 1700's. Heavily shaded, ecologically sensitive; a true piece of history, and, year-in, year-out, one of our buyer's favorite coffees. The heirloom Bourbon trees produce small, very dense beans at high altitude levels of 5000-6000+ft. Situated between two active volcanoes, the deep rich soils create a stunning coffee, which is a true snapshot of two centuries of sustainable agriculture.

Body: Light to Medium

Acidity: Pronounced and lively when brewed properly

Aroma: Complex with floral notes

Flavor: Sweet and smoky, very well balanced with a wine-like quality, and a beautiful clean finish.

Conclusion: The rich volcanic soil and high altitude of this growing region brings you a very complex coffee. Guatemala Antigua remains, as it was a century ago, one of the world's top growing regions and this is one of its best plantations. A "world cup" unlike any other, and respected by all in the industry. Blend it only after brewing it straight for a month to fully appreciate it.

ORGANIC MEXICO ALTURA

Finca Irlanda was one of the world's first intentionally organic (biodynamic) coffee farms; and today is almost certainly the industry's most well known. First settled in the late 1800's when the land was mostly tropical grassland, Rudolf Peters purchased the farm in the 1900's and dedicated much of the land to a forest preserve. Presently there are 300 hectares under biodynamic coffee production. Heavily shaded Bourbon trees dominate, although several other varieties are also growing there (one year we bought Margogype from this farm). Septuagenarian Walter Peters now manages the farm, and has been left alone by the paramilitary and guerilla bands alike because of his reputation for fairness. Enjoy this coffee for all the right reasons!

Body: Medium to full

Acidity: Lively

Aroma: Nutty, Subdued

Flavor: Sweet with a touch of spice, mild vanilla tones

Conclusion: This is definitely one you don't want to miss out on, if only to know what the best of organic practices are capable of producing. Because the region has had some rough years politically and climatically we feel very fortunate to be able to bring you this fine coffee.

ORGANIC PERU

This coffee comes from the town of Jaen in the Norte province of Northern Peru. Most coffee from Peru is shade grown and the Northern area is home to old arabica typica cultivars, which are not usually found on full sun plantations in the Americas. This area is also home to many neotropical migrants and rare birds such as the critically endangered White-winged Guan (thought to be extinct) and the Peruvian Plantcutter. Interestingly, guano, or bird droppings, is used as organic fertilizer. An exemplary South American coffee: sweet as a peach, medium-bodied and clean. A perfect mild coffee, great for all-day drinking, or when an easy-to-drink cup fits the bill.

Body: Medium, smooth

Acidity: Light, delicate

Aroma: Honeysuckle and peach

Flavor: Sweet and smooth

Conclusion: A great morning cup, sweet and gentle with a perfectly smooth body. A slightly darker roast provides a depth of flavor which balances the mild character of this Peruvian bean.

ORGANIC COSTA RICA

Tierra Madre ("mother earth") is a cooperative growing effort of several small organic estates high in the rugged mountains of Costa Rica . They represent some of the precious few remaining shaded coffee growing areas in this country of increasingly technified coffee production. The beans here mature more slowly and become sweeter and more dimensional than their full sun, chemical-intensive neighbors. Coffee as Mother Earth intended? The birds in the trees overhead think so; and so do the small farm-holders who receive a premium price for these beans.

Body: Medium to full

Acidity: Sweetly balanced, mild

Aroma: Lively, fragrant

Flavor: Classic Costa Rican-rich, complete and dimensional

Conclusion: Coffee which lives up to the public relations eco-image that Costa Rica has promoted over the last twenty years. This is as close to being "bird-perfect" as we have seen in Costa Rica. In fact, one of the farms was used in shooting the movie "The Jungle Book", due to its preservation of the forest canopy.

Eco-OK NICARAGUA

This is one out of only a handful of coffee plantations certified ECO-OK by the Rainforest Alliance. The Selva Negra (Black Forest) farm in recent years has won U.N. and other international awards for its preservation of biodiversity on its vast property. The land is mostly rain and cloud forest that supports over 175 varieties of birds and 85 different varieties of orchids as well as larger animals like sloths, monkeys, and mountain lions.

Body: Medium to full

Acidity: Medium to bright-particularly early in the crop year (June -September)

Aroma: Fragrant with dark chocolate hints mingled in floral tones.

Flavor: Reminiscent of a subtle Antigua-world class dimensionality and balance. A great blender, especially as a base for espresso.

Conclusion: Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Yet this land, suffering from poverty civil wars and natural disasters can produce intense beauty from chaos. Truly a birder's paradise, Selva Negra just happens to have a world class coffee plantation hidden beneath the rain and cloud forest.

PANAMA BOQUETE

This shade grown coffee is grown near the small mountain town of Boquete, resting on the skirts of the sleeping giant Volcan Baru in the Western province of Chiriqui. The area borders two ecological reserve parks: the Volcan Baru National Park and the Parque Internacional de la Amistad. The farms we buy from are approximately 4,000-6,000 feet above sea level and focus on environmentally sustainable methods of producing coffee. Much of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's ground-breaking research on the shade coffee/migratory bird connection was conducted here.

Body: Medium

Acidity: A touch of brightness, lingers in the after-taste

Aroma: Bright, eye opening

Flavor: Light and smooth, slightly complex

Conclusion: High, light bright and clear. Sweet light bodied and delicate. A perfect afternoon or evening coffee.

ORGANIC EL SALVADOR

Over the years, 98% of El Salvador's original rainforest has been lost. This coffee is working to reverse this trend. This small farmer cooperative was founded in 1980, incorporating the principles of social change, economic growth, and cultural tradition into its production. Located in the Los Naranjos region, one of the highest coffee growing regions in El Salvador, the cooperative is dedicated to regeneration of the surrounding rainforest. Today San Rafael Los Naranjos is a refuge for bio-diversity. The coffee cultivated is exclusively from traditional Bourbon cultivars, an heirloom variety of the very highest quality.

Body: Light smooth

Acidity: Light and delicate

Aroma: Caramel, floral

Flavor: Nutty and mild.

Conclusion: A light to medium bodied coffee with bright hints of nuttiness. Mild yet complex, sweet and enjoyable. A fantastic first cup of the day.

DECAF CO2 ORGANIC PERU

This certified organic, shade grown coffee comes from a cooperative of small farms from the Chanchamayo region. From its tropical South American birthplace, this coffee travels to Germany, where it undergoes the unique CO2 decaffeination process. 100% natural, this process uses only water and carbon dioxide to gently remove the caffeine from the coffee, keeping its unique, delicate character intact.

Body: Medium to full

Acidity: Medium to bright

Aroma: Floral, delicate

Flavor: Intense and complex

Conclusion: The coffee has fantastic, bright and lively tones peeping through a dark and smoky body. Great in a French press in the afternoon, when you want to experience a truly delicious coffee without the caffeine.

DECAF CO2 MEXICO "CUSTEPEC"

This extraordinary coffee won first place in Coffee Review magazine's review of leading environmental coffees. An amazing feat for a decaffeinated cup, this speaks well not only of the beans but also of the natural CO2 decaffeination process. It gently replaces the caffeine in the chemical matrix, and carries it away while leaving behind the essential coffee flavor nuances. Reviewer Ken Davids described the coffee as "A tribute to dimension and balance... a complete classic coffee, medium-bodied, with a discreetly wine-toned acidity and just a touch of darker roasted pungency.

Body: Medium

Acidity: Winey and fruity

Aroma: Sweet and spicy

Flavor: balanced, complex and deep.

Conclusion: Connoisseur Ken Davids summed up his impressions as follows: "A bi-coastal coffee: Enough power and pungency for the West and enough subtlety and brightness for the East. Not only did the CO2 decaffeination process leave impressive aromatics in the bean, but the roaster avoided drying out the coffee, always a danger with delicate, heat-tender decaffeinated beans."