Archive for the 'Commentary' Category

Page 3 of 5

i-Roast2 Swan Song

Published on January 7, 2011 in Commentary. 0 Comments

The i-Roast2 was thought to be a goner about a year ago.  Although many home roasters covet this product, the US importer  told us more than a year ago that it was unlikely they would be bringing it here any longer.  They had rejected a defective shipment in 2009 and that seemed to be the last batch.  But, one final shipment has arrived in the US and we have been informed once again that this may be the last.  We have secured a number of these roasters and expect them to move quickly.  If you have been waiting for the return of the i-Roast2 don’t wait long too long to act !

This round of roasters is identical to those in the past with the exception of the two preset profiles. In the past one of those profiles was intended for a fast or dark roast, the other for slow one. Now, the profiles have been replaced with one preset for high chaff coffees, the other for low chaff coffees. These designations are being made by i-Roast; they say Preset 1 for high chaff coffees is exemplified by Central and South American; Preset 2 is for beans with medium to light chaff such as Arabic, African, Indonesian and decaffeinated. Decaffeinated coffees are very low in chaff but guessing chaff based on sweeping origin generalities just is not accurate. Preset details are as follows.

i-Roast2 New Presets 2011

i-Roast2 New Presets 2011

i-Roast2 Former Presets 2009/10

i-Roast2 Former Presets 2009/10

The i-Roast 2 by Hearthware is profile programmable home coffee roasters and has a real fan base. This i-Roast2, which replaced the i-Roast a couple of years ago, adds several desirable features to an already well-established and popular product. This unit is fairly sophisticated, inexpensive and is one of the few roasters capable of producing dark roasts for the home roaster.  Get them while you can.


Hottop adds emergency ejection knob

Published on December 20, 2010 in Commentary. 0 Comments
Hottop emergency ejection knob

Hottop emergency ejection knob

Hottop announced the addition of an emergency ejection knob to both of their models and has modified the model numbers to designate them as such.  The new model numbers are KN-8828B-2 and KN-8828P-2 (note the -2 addition).  While this announcement has just become formalized, roasters purchased from us since summer have had this latest emergency feature.  Added strictlyas a safety measure, the knob protrudes from the rear of the roaster.

Hottop notes that while emergencies are quite rare, situations can arise such as power failures, which would cause the coffee to sit in a hot drum.  Pulling the ejection knob will get them out. Read the applicable sections of the Hottop owner’s manual for complete usage information.

Ejection knob detail

Holiday 2010 stock status

Published on November 8, 2010 in Commentary. 0 Comments

As we enter the 2010 holiday season we wanted to let everyone know that we are in great shape regarding our stock of Technivorm coffee brewers and various home coffee roasters.  We carry 4 thermal models of the Technivorm including the KBT-741 in polished silver and also in black; the CD Thermal (CDT); and, the smaller KBTS.  All are in stock and we ship most brewers the day your order arrives.

Also in good supply are Behmor home coffee roasters of which we are a large volume dealer.  We also have Hottop, Fresh Roast and Nesco home coffee roasters in stock and ready to ship.

The same holds true for all models of the excellent Baratza coffee mills:  Virtuoso, Vario, Maestro and Maestro Plus.  The newest model, the Precisio, will arrive shortly.

You will find our prices to be the best around and most equipment comes with free or bonus shipping plus other incentives.  We are looking forward to serving your holiday needs for equipment as well as green coffee.

Incoming coffee

Published on August 9, 2010 in Commentary. 0 Comments

New coffees continue to arrive or are on their way.   These coffees will be available on our site within a week or so but we just wanted to give you some advance on them.

We have four  new coffees coming from Panama, all new crop of course. They are:

  1. Hector Vargas’ Panacoffee microlot from Boquete, a blend of Typica and Catuai that is just sensational. We know Hector for some years and we bought all of this coffee.  In the Best of Panama this year, his coffee commanded a high price and a lot of competitive bidding.
  2. Two from Wilford Lamastus’ Elida Estate, also in Boquete, his Elida Estate Reserve, always a top ranking fully washed coffee; also his natural process version of the same coffee.  Processing without washing produces a completely different cup profile.
  3. The ever-popular Carmen Estate by Carlos Aguilera of Volcan Panama, just across the ridge from Boquete.

All three growers (and their four coffees) are top shelf.

Just arrived today and will be on our site within days is Yemen Mocha Harazi that we directly imported.  This is carefully selected, top quality coffee from Yemen.  Yemeni coffee can be very tricky to purchase and this one is excellent.

We still have two coffees still to list from our trip to Costa Rica, Jose Arce’s Finca Chepe and Monte Copey de Dota.

This is a difficult and expensive year for Kenya coffee but we just found an auction lot of peaberry from the Guama mill.   It has a lot of depth and layers of flavor.   Lastly, a new decaffeinated coffee for us, Mountain Water Processed from Honduras.

In all, nine new coffees will hit our offering list within days.  Details and pricing to follow. Check our “new arrivals” section.

Best of Panama 2010 results

Published on May 7, 2010 in Commentary. 0 Comments

Best of Panama 2010 competition results were sent to us yesterday. Here are the top ten coffees and their corresponding scores.

1. Esmeralda Geisha 93.81
2. Panacoffee Geisha (Tito Vargas) 90.79
3. Carleida Geisha 88.82
4. Carmen estate 88.35
5. Don Diego (Volcan area) 86.68
6. Elida Estate 86.42
7. El Burro Estate 86.17
8. Pacamara Don Julian 85.91
9. Kotowa Don K 85.48
10. Don Diego 85.39

This year organizers of the competition asked jurors if they would roast, cup and score coffees in their own facilities. Participating jurors, which included our Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea, were required to follow the same protocols observed when the event was held in Panama. All coffees were coded and unknown to us and all participating jurors. An auction of these winners will take place on May 25th. The top three places are Geisha, as the varietal is increasingly planted throughout the area with much success.

We are happy to see farms of several of our friends in the top group and will have a number of their coffees in the coming weeks and months. Please keep on eye on the new arrivals section of our site.

The private auction of coffee from Hacienda Esmeralda will be on May 18th. It will not include the winning lot from this competition.

Various coffee ramblings

Published on March 28, 2010 in Commentary. 0 Comments

There are a few noteworthy events taking place in the world of coffee at the moment.  It’s a great time of year because most coffee throughout Central America has just been harvested and the best of them are either in repose or are in transit to consuming nations.  This resting period after processing allows flavors to mellow and mature, so the top coffees repose for one to two months.  This is especially true of very high grown coffees that initially can be quite acidic with newly harvested, grassy overtones;  seasoned cuppers know the great potential that augers for them.  Like barrel tasting new wine and getting a sense of how it will taste later in the process  The good news is that we have secured some fantastic coffees from Guatemala and Costa Rica, having recently returned from touring farms there and doing extensive cupping (more on this to follow shortly).  Some, but not all of our Panama coffees have been selected.  We are looking at other origins in the region and evaluating samples;  we expect to be in El Salvador on the International Panel in May, where we will taste the country’s best offerings along with other cuppers.

Kenya coffee this year will be considerably more expensive that any in recent memory.  We strive to have one or more top, auction lot Kenya AA coffees and this year we will continue this practice.  However, it’s going to cost more if we and you want to have those terrific coffees we’ve gotten used to.  Weather patterns are changing globally and in some origins growers are gradually planting higher to offset warmer conditions.  Continue reading ‘Various coffee ramblings’