Cold brew coffee tasting this Sun Aug 29th, 12-1pm!!!

Since we have a little Boston Globe coverage on cold brew coffee culture growing in Boston, we thought it would be a great idea to give those who have never had a chance to taste our style of cold brew a free option. Come by this weekend for a free sampling Sun around noon.

The Globe also has coverage of our cold brew recipe. For our coffees and the style we serve in shop, the real game changing difference is the throw weight. That is a fancy way of saying we use a hefty dose of coffee to water ratio. When you use a proper dose at a grind that isn't too coarse with good coffees (not french roast!) the flavors are so complex, layered, and vivid but smooth. The texture is viscous, weighty, and pleasant. We like to enjoy it in small servings over ice, undiluted.

Not all cold brew is the same though. Traditionally, toddy has been widely served but it's often french roasted coarsely ground concentrate that is strong needs to be diluted with a fair amount of water. Something to think about when samples the many variations.

On another note, check out this article the NYT has on coffee bars, we get a passing mention as one of them.

Notes for Aug 19th

There are a few new options in our lineup to check out:

Under espresso, we are keeping a tiered system where you have a flagship example of what we are about (Soma), a changing series of unique pairings (Wabi), and a newly minted series of blends we have at our local accounts.

We decided to drop the Sonata moniker and will be going to 3 bean pairings for a simple espresso series that is numbered to represent the taste profile. Basically, instead of looking for Sonata 9, look for espresso 9.

We will also have a larger range of single estate espresso (Single Origin Espresso or SOE) that will expand as we go forward. Look for the Trinidad, Llano, Nubes, and Sao Judas. In the coming weeks we will add several more to the lineup.

On the drip coffee side, we have a growing lineup of coffees, most notably the new El Bosque has been banging out great reviews. We will add Columbian offerings next week as well so keep an eye out.

The chocolate tasting is up and coming this weekend so don't miss out.

Also, for anyone interested in getting a home/office/professional espresso or grinder setup serviced, give us a call. We are slowly expanding our repair service to handle local home users as well. Doing espresso machine repairs in the Boston/Cambridge metro just made sense since so many of our local customers have good home/office setups. Call us during business hours or drop by with your machine to our Arlington location.

We also have started offering a lineup for ordering of home espresso gear for the home barista. we will have a catalog up soon that has a full lineup of professional espresso grinders/machines for the home or office for those willing to go the distance for great espresso.

From Guatemala

Our new Guatemalan coffees are available online, check out the info sheets when you have a chance.

We reconnected with Armando Melgar at Finca Trinidad this year and got more of this coffee to revive our Soma project, but the Trinidad will also be available as a SOE. The Trinidad is a very sugar cane sweet coffee with nice balanced aromatics and a soft pleasant body as a shot. It's going to get a lot of mileage in our new lineup.

Finca Trinidad's younger plantings at near the top of the mountain.

Our newest arrival is Miriam Leal de Villaneuva's El Bosque. This farm has 70-90 year old trees producing red and yellow heirloom bourbon. Our Project next year will separating specific lots and trying some variations of patio processing. Not like this coffee has real faults though, it's beautifully expressive and complex. This coffee has a layered and intense aromatic reminiscent of pear blossom but very heavy and sweet. If you can get past enjoying the aroma to actually sip the layered clarity of the cup, you find fresh plum mid cup that lingers into a baked apple finish.

Our photos from visiting the farm were a mixed batch due to time of day and lack of camera battery. Being in a forest (hence the name Bosque) of 15-20ft coffee and still larger shade trees late in the day makes for poor photography.

Check out our info sheet on this coffee and look for our other info sheets on future coffees as well.