Baroida Estate in Papua New Guinea has produced some of our favorite coffees of the last two years. In the 15 years since he purchased the estate– originally founded and then sold by his father, Ben– owner and manager Nichol Colbran has worked constantly to improve the quality of the coffee produced there. In 2005, Nichol’s son Chris moved to the estate and began the Tairora Cherry Project, focusing on improving transparency, buying and processing practices in the Colbran’s relationships with farmers in the surrounding area. These myriad improvements led to some wonderful and striking small lots of coffee– like the Bonta micro-lot we shared with you earlier this year– as well as larger lots which provide a clearer, cleaner expression of the flavors we already know and love in coffees from Baroida.

Chris Colbran who manages the farm with his father Nichol ColbranPhoto c/o Counter Culture

Like the main lots from Baroida, the Tairora Cherry Project is a blend of four different varieties: Typica and Arusha, each known for striking stone-fruit flavors like cherry and plum; and Bourbon and Caturra (a dwarf variety of Bourbon,) both known for their surgary sweetness. These coffees are de-pulped at the Colbran’s mill, and then dry-fermented for 36 hours, amplifying their wonderful fruity acidity and aromatic qualities.

The resulting coffee is dynamic, juicy and wonderfully balanced, with cherry and plum flavors complementing a deep molasses sweetness and savory, spicy undertones. It’s easily one of the best coffees we’ve had all year. Come get some of this crazy tastiness before we drink all of it!

There have been several coffees this year that have been delightful and were excellent coffees to highlight, but there are always a few stunners that make the all-star list! The Luz del Carmen from Ecuador with its layered flavors of cherry, vanilla, golden raisins, and buttered toast is definitely in my top three from this years coffees.

Ecuador was able to fly under the radar of Counter Culture’s green buyers for a while because there is far more robusta than arabica produced in Ecuador. Robusta is easier to care for and has a greater crop yield than the other major species of coffee, Coffea arabica, and, because of this, is cheaper to produce. Since arabica beans are superior, robusta is usually limited to use as a filler in commercial coffee blends.

In this and most cases, the modest farms with much smaller yields are setting the bar for cup quality. A lot of the coffees we serve at Everyman come from smaller farms with intimate picking, sorting, and processing practices. Coffee is a labor intensive business and high quality coffee is a tedious tale from crop to cup.  That being said, isn’t it amazing that this pristine coffee is grown on a farm that is managed by a 75 year old widow?

At 75, Luz del Carmen Alverca Casillo is probably the oldest microlot producer with whom we have ever worked, which just goes to show that top-tier coffee isn’t as much of a young person’s game as the industry stateside would lead us to believe. And if the quality of her coffee and her advanced years weren’t impressive enough on their own, get this: Sra. Alverca is a widow who lives alone, so there’s no doubt that she manages her farm and her coffee from beginning to end. She has nine children – eight daughters and one son – but as they have all married and left the house to start families of their own, she hires local labor to pick coffee during the                                                                                         harvest.” – www.counterculturecoffee.co

My favorite thing about coffee is connecting with and telling the story of the people who are dedicated to producing high quality coffee. Though there’s a huge reward in the layers of flavors in a paramount cup, as a coffee farmer it is a risk to commit to quality standards, as many steps to improve quality are long-term investments. When people demand better coffee the lives of people like Luz del Carmen get much better. Stand  up, demand quality and reward extraordinary producer’s like Sra. Alverca.

No I’m not a playa but I crush a lot, especially on delicious Ethiopian coffees. I regulate every shade-grown, including washed and naturals…

Therefore, in honor of our 2012 Regional Winner Katie Carguilo we introduce our new “By Hand” selection: Idido natural sundried! If you are ready for a cup of coffee that tastes like strawberry jam, pastry, and dried fruit then we have one question for you, “Aeropress or Pro Cone, ladies?”

We have an extremely limited supply of this coffee left so hurry over. No seriously, like come by tomorrow…

This is the lush landscape of the Eastern Highlands in Papua New Guinea.

Photos c/o Counter Culture Coffee's Flickr

Baroida is a serious contender for quality in the specialty coffee market.  The farm was founded in the 1960′s by Ben Colbran and his family. The farm was sold to a trust in 1979.  For many years Ben’s son Nichol Colbran managed Baroida without ownership.

Photos c/o Counter Culture Coffee's Flickr

After a six year hiatus from managing the farm, Nichol purchased his family’s farm back from the trust. He found the farm had been badly mismanaged and had fallen into a state of disrepair. Nichol and his family began the daunting task of refurbishing the practices of quality on the farm. Needless to say, good job guys! This farm produces coffee that yields an exciting and vibrantly sweet cup.

We are fans of Baroida, but I was beside myself when I heard that Counter Culture’s first micro-lot from Papua New Guniea was available. Of course, I was even more excited to find out the micro-lot was connected with Baroida!

The micro lot represents one day’s worth of washing and is primarily comprised of coffee from a single village named Bonta. This selection has even more intensity and complexity. Sadly, civil war has sprung up recently in the region and the village’s harvest has been destroyed. This is yet another reason to treasure this micro-lot because it may take a few years before we will see this coffee again. Unfortunately, political instability, civil wars, and even genocides are not uncommon in coffee producing regions. Hopefully buying this coffee and praising the people who produce it will, in some small way, help to support the rebuilding of the village.

Karatu

Blackberry, raisin,  ripe tomato

Region: Thika

Varieties: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 (less than 5 percent)

Elevation: 1,883 meters

Harvest: October 2010 – January 2011

This coffee, from the washing station Karatu in Thika, Kenya, really stood out to Counter Culture’s roaster Tim Hill. The coffee’s  “distinctive dark fruit characteristics” prompted Tim to declare it one of his favorites on his pass through the country earlier this year.

At Everyman, we are big fans of the dynamic profiles from Counter Culture’s Kenyan coffees; they’re sweet, juicy acid bombs that never disappoint. We have been grooving on the long fermentation post soak Kenyan’s all year and are proud to offer this coffee from the Karatu washing station in Thika, Kenya.

It’s wonderful how the clean bright juicy acidity is cut by a combination of savory, sweet undertones. Basically, it’s got a lot going on and that’s to be expected because it’s a KENYAN!

Are we all clear on how superior Kenyan coffees are? Ok good come get some…

Our coffee roaster Counter Culture created a series of

illustrated slides that explain the current scope of coffee as a commodity

As you may already have noticed, some of our drink prices are rising this week. Our prices have been pretty stable over the past two years, so this may require some explanation.

Two major factors played into this decision. First, the price of unroasted (or “green”) coffee has been rising dramatically for some time now. Without getting into the nitty-gritty details of international coffee trade, this means that coffee is more expensive for everyone: importers, roasters, us here at Everyman and folks at cafes around the world. We’re super committed to bringing you coffees that we’re stoked about, so we’re not going to cut corners in order to maintain our prior price point; we have to keep pace with these rising costs.

Second, we’ve been working on sourcing some truly exceptional and unique coffees for our hand-poured coffee selection. These coffees offer some mind-blowing gustatory experiences, but their quality & rarity makes them significantly pricier than our other offerings.

Due to these influences, look for some incremental increases in the price of drip coffee, espresso, americanos and our hand-poured coffee selections over the next week or so. We hope you’ll agree that the coffee’s bangin’ enough to be worth the money. Thanks for bearing with us!

Love,

Sams

WE ARE OPEN 8AM TO 6PM

Thanks to DR. Eric Jesus Grimm who has graciously volunteered to travel through the storm we are open! Be patient remembering that Eric is working that line of under caffeinated New Yorkers by himself. Please Tip him for his bravery and fuckinawesomeness.

THANK YOU JESUS…