JJ Bean Coffee Roasters

MARCH RESERVES: TWO BRASILS AND A SUMATRA

We've been priveleged to carry some great coffees through to the end of the 2010 growing year. Often, in March and April, roasters can be discouraged as they wait for new crops from Africa and the Americas to start arriving, and many years we have felt this same discouragement. This year, however, we are quite thrilled to have two delicious new crop Brasils (one of which is a single-origin espresso), and a classic Sumatra. We realize this Sumatra is not for everyone. It's earthy, huge in body, and doesn't have the refinement many people have come to expect from clean Central and South American coffees. And to those people, we simply say, this coffee is not for you.

FAZENDA CAPÃO - BRASIL
        Tasting Notes: Comfort coffee. Sweet, toasty, round, warm,
                caramelized sugars.
        Varietal: Catucaí
        Altitude: 1280 m
        City: Piatã
        Owner: Glacimário M. Santos
        Region: Chapada Diamantina (Bahia)
        Processing: Pulped natural and dried on patio

TAKENGON MANDHELING - SUMATRA
        Tasting Notes: Giant body, earthy dark chocolate, and Burgundian forest
                floor. Sumatra haters keep quiet; this is not for you!
        Certifications: Fair Trade & Organic
        Grade: Grade 1 Mandheling
        Region: Aceh, North Sumatra
        Processing: Wet hulled
        Varietals: Bergendahl, Djember, Ateng, Catimor, Java

CARMO ESTATE - BRASIL (Single Origin Espresso)
        Tasting Notes: It’s back baby! Mild, sweet, generous body, brown sugar,
                toasted nuts.
        Region: Minas Gerais
        City: Heliodora
        Owner: Túlio Henrique Rennó Junqueira
        Varietals: 100% Yellow Bourbon
        Altitude: 950-1200 M
        Prep: Pulped natural, patio dried

TRIP TO ORIGIN: VISIT TO FARMS IN GUATEMALA

Perhaps even more exciting than our current list of coffees is the trip that many of our staff are taking part in right now. Lead by Grady and JJ, some JJ Beaners are experiencing a coffee education and purchasing trip through a number of farms in Guatemala, many of which have produced coffees that we've been drinking this past year. The goal is not only to expose more of our staff to the processes behind the coffee we drink, but also to build vital relationships with the farmers and workers the produce our coffee.

The following week, another group of JJ Bean staff will be heading down to Guatemala to be building homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Check out our website in the coming weeks for an update on the trips with photos and journals of the staff who went.