Best of Panama, Wilco and many coronas

We are learning that the key to a successful round of sample roasting should include many beers (or tequila or even bourbon), Wilco and an occasional thunderstorm.

Under Chris’ tutelage, Jodi learned the art of sample roasting at our very fine mother-in-law roasting shack. With 31 coffees in the Best of Panama competition this year..that is about 8 hours of sample roasting spread out over a couple of days..Jodi was the master of the Probat when it was all over.



Chris has a very special “cooling technique” that was passed on to Jodi which involves taking the roasted sample outside for some fresh air and blowing on it to cool it off as quickly as possible. Cooling beans as quickly as you can when they come out of roaster is key to stop the chemical reaction that keeps on keepin’ on while the beans are hot.

I had never had a coffee from Panama until last year. Some of them were the most incredible coffees I had ever tasted (who knew that coffee could taste like bergamot?). This year is no different. The top 8-9 coffees were especially fantastic.
Even in their green state, these coffees smelled wonderful. Chris couldn’t keep his nose out of them.

The online auction will take place tomorrow and we have our sights set on our favorite of the bunch. We are hopeful that with a little help from our friends (you know who you are) all will go well. We have our bottle of celebratory tequila just waiting to be cracked open….

Good to the last drop

We had another great turnout this past Saturday for Part 2 in our four part educational series. This second class was all about espresso. We cupped some of the coffees in our Streamline blend and then tasted them prepared as single origin shots. Many folks have never experienced how radically different coffees can taste depending on the brew method. It was super fun and I am pretty sure many of those in attendance might still be high from all the caffeine that was ingested.

Don’t miss part three on Saturday, June 3
Best of Panama
This is your opportunity to compare super-high-grade coffees from one country, to compare the often-surprising differences between coffees from different estates. We participated in the Best of Panama auction last year and found some truly amazing coffees, and we’re looking forward to sampling this year’s crop.

To sign yourself up email Daniel at daniel(at)victrolacoffee(dot)com

This is for you Mike…

Having a great time. Wish you were here….

Gas Prices getting you down??…….

Our very own Dom Cyr is now heading up the Victrola Bike Messenger coffee delivery service! Need killer coffee for your office? home? Just send an email to Dom to find out more about how to get coffee delivered to your doorstep/office-step by bike and a friendly face! dom(at)victrolacoffee(dot)com.

Bolivia CoE…don’t ever leave us

After our coffee class this weekend, we pressed up a couple of pots of our Bolivia Juan de Dios Blanco Calama Marka, the #1 ranked coffee in the Bolivia Cup of Excellence Competition. Holy cow, this coffee is amazing! It reminds me of the Esmeralda from Panama; not necessarily in flavor but in its complexity and wonderfully delicate flavors that seem to explode all over your tongue and make you exclaim “I can’t believe coffee can taste like this!”.
We put everyones cupping notes for this coffee on a big white board during our Cupping 101 class and it looked something like this:

I would throw in honeysuckle, toffee, buttery and nectarine..and also just plain awesome. We roast this coffee on Wednesdays and don’t have a lot left so make sure to drop in or place your order online.

Class is dismissed

Thanks to all the great folks who came by for our super fun Intro to Cupping class! We had a nice group of 20 or so that (bless their hearts) got themselves out of bed early on a Saturday morning get some coffee schooling.
Dom demonstrates how to really make the most of the dry aroma.
Jodi & Chad work the hot water while Daniel keeps the crowd occupied.
From cupping form to white board..we wrote down all the descriptors everyone came up with to describe the coffees on the table.
Our group naturally ended up in our small back room where all the magic happens. Chad waxed poetic on roasting and fire prevention.
We will be hosting “coffee school” in a 4 part series that will help folks to fine tune their palates, learn about coffee growing, harvesting & processing, compare brewed single origin to single origin espresso and more really cool stuff. To get in on all the fun, please email Daniel at daniel(at)victrolacoffee(dot)com

Happy Birthday April!

April is the cafe manager extraordinaire. We celebrated her birthday this week with drinks at the Garage and a kick ass chocolate cake hand crafted by Rebekah ..secret ingredient-Colombia Huila Isnos!