Monday, Monday, Monday!!! (And Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday!!!) We have 34 samples of Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence coffees to cup. There’s so many, we’re splitting it into two days, with two flights each day. Need a reason to escape from a mundane Monday and/or Tuesday? Stop on by the Roastery around noon-ish to two-ish (you might want to give us a call at the roasting room, 206.325.6080) and join us in sampling yet more of the world’s best coffees.
Month: May 2007
We won the #4 Best of Panama!
We spent the better part of yesterday morning checking in on the bidding frenzy for the 25 Best of Panama coffees. Our hearts were set on the #4-ranked coffee, the Katowa Organico (which we got a couple years back when it was ranked #7), which our bidding group (consisting of our buddies at Ritual Roasters of San Francisco and Barefoot Coffee Roasters of Santa Clara… special thanks to Andy Newbom at Barefoot who did all the stressful bidding) won! Look forward to seeing that on the shelves soon. Here is a view from the Katowa Farm:
However, the real excitement was watching the #1 ranked Hacienda la Esmeralda climb up to a record-smashing $130/lb green!! Holy smokes! However, keep your fingers crossed, because we’re working our connections to get our hands on some of this amazing coffee as well.
Get your suits out, ’cause we’re literally swimming in coffee samples…
We couldn’t resist.
We’ve been anxiously awaiting the samples from the Best of Panama for the online auction (to occur on May 29). Every year, coffee farmers in Panama submit their lots to an international panel of coffee professionals, who then have the daunting task of narrowing the field to a mere 25 winners. Last year’s competition was fierce, proving that Panamanian coffee deserves their excellent reputation for yummy coffee.
Now it’s our job to roast, taste, and evaluate these 25 amazing coffees to determine which one we might like to bid for. Keith literally just finished roasting all of them, and now we’ll dream of beautiful acidity and delicate floral notes until this Friday at 12pm, when we’ll begin cupping the first of three flights. Since there are so many, we’ll probably go until 3pm, and you are more than welcome to join us! Just stop in at the Roastery location at 310 E Pike St, and ask the barista which way to Panamania (ha ha, I couldn’t help myself)!!
Hope to see you there!
Headlines read: Victrola’s Brazil receives score of 88!
Thanks Kenneth Davids! Check out the blind cupping description at Coffee Review! It’s nice comments like these that keep Keith from throwing himself in the hot roaster. Just kidding!
We’re proud of this review, particularly because our Brazil is such a prominent component in our espresso blend.
Ah, nothing like coffee on a Sunday morning…
Thank goodness Jen brought bagels, because we needed a little extra something to get us jump-started for the first session of the cupping series last Sunday! Well, it doesn’t hurt to have easy access to copious amount of coffee, either…
We had a great group of people there, and spent the better part of the morning getting better acquainted with coffee and this thing we call cupping. Perry gave us a history of coffee, Jen and Chris brought in their coffee tree/shrub (it’s still kinda little) so Lindsay could talk about it, and Mychal and Keith gave us the LD on cupping terminology and logistics. We kept it real by sitting in Roasting Room, roaster style, on our fancy coffee buckets.
You, too, can sit on buckets with us in the Roasting Room! Next one is Sunday, June 3 at 9am, when we’ll be talking about processing methods and how they affect the taste of coffee. Space is limited, so reserve your spot by emailing cupping@victrolacoffee.com
Just a heads up: very soon we’ll be getting TONS (ok, maybe just pounds) of samples for the upcoming Latin American auctions for the Best of Panama and Cup of Excellence competitions. This means lots of sample roasting and lots of tasting, and we hope to share some of these delightful coffees with you! Those Wednesday public cuppings at 1pm just might feature some surprise coffees…
Victrola Coffee Roasters 