We have been excitedly getting ready for the biggest coffee convention in the world to finally hit Portland for the first time.

The Specialty Coffee Association of America has chosen Portland for the site of their annual convention, which means loads of coffee people from all over the world will be descending on Portland to partake in all of the coffee, food, and libations our great city has to offer.

An exciting part of the convention for us is the first annual United States Aeropress Championship, followed by the World Aeropress Championship. This is the first time for these events to be held on U.S. soil. We are honored to be roasting all of the coffee used in both competitions. The competition will bring together passionate and accomplished coffee professionals from all over the world to face off in a friendly battle for the tastiest aeropress.

The coffees of choice will be two coffees we are loving right now: for the U.S. Championship we have roasted our Guatemala Limonar, a fresh crop coffee that is extremely sweet and clean, with notes of peach and milk chocolate. For the World Championship we have roasted a short run of a great washed processed Ethiopia Sidamo, which is a refreshing and lively coffee displaying notes of bergamot, meyer lemon, and caramel.

We’re proud to have our very own Alison Cole representing Heart in the competition, and we wish her lots of luck!  Big thanks to Tim Varney, Brent Fortune, Aerobie, La Marzocco, Marco, Samuel at Keffa, Leah at Mercanta and all of those who have worked really hard to make the competition happen this week. Good luck to all the competitors, and we can’t wait to see the action!

http://worldaeropresschampionship.wordpress.com/

http://www.heartroasters.com/guatemala-el-limonar/

Sarah Mykkanen is a smart, passionate, outgoing, level headed, pretty lady—who happens to love coffee. Lucky for us, she also happens to be one of our barista’s here at Heart.

Sarah planned a solo trip to Central America for the next month and a half, where she could soak in the culture and learn about the farming practices that make it possible for her to make delicious coffee here at home. Before Sarah left for her journey, I met with her to discuss what she would be doing and how we would be kept in the loop–a bit of an itinerary run down.

The plan was simple. She would be contacting specific farms that she has enjoyed coffee from. Any knowledge she could gain along the way and take back with her—would only make her a more well-rounded barista.She will be volunteering her time wherever she can on the farms and is planning to keep an open schedule for any opportunities that may arise (she will most likely be meeting up with Wille, while he is sourcing coffee at the end of February!).

We will be sharing some of Sarah’s experiences and pictures through our blog as we receive them via email. I thought I would be editing these written experiences, but I think its’ entirety is worth reading. Thanks Sarah, for keeping us informed!

-Rebekah Yli-Luoma

                                                               January 13,2012

Sitting here, looking out over the ocean, with a wamr breeze and mangrove trees.

I can finally relax and write about the past few days and my first coffee farm visit! I am in Playa El Tunco, El Salvador, a cute little surfer town….I feel like I have been travelling for a month already.

So, Ricardo Zelaya owns Finca Santa Clara, just outside of Antigua, Guatemala. He was supposed to pick me up at 10:30 and take me out to his farm. At noon, I got a call that he was 10 minutes away. At 12:30, I saw a silver BMW roll slowly by the hostel—I knew it was him. I waved him down and hopped in his car (something I have never done in Guatemala).

A welcoming yet assertive businessman, as we wound through the cobblestone streets of Antigua, Ricardo began asking me about Heart. Asking if I was a roaster or a buyer, if we have wholesale accounts and how much coffee we buy per month. I answered his questions as best I could, explained my connection to the guy who introduced me to Ricardo. I explained that I was just a barista, but I am the one in charge of the final step in the whole coffee chain. I am the one talking to the customer and selling the coffee—and that I wanted to learn more about what he does and bring it back to the customer.

He seemed to respect my answer and the conversation lightened. I appreciate his straight forward, no BS attitude though.

This is the view driving into Santa Clara. You can see the coffee fields up the mountain

Continue reading “Sarah Mykkanen Travels: part 1” »

We have just received and roasted our first few batches of Rwanda Bufcafé. This coffee is delicious and delicate, with a very clean African profile. It’s the kind of coffee that we love to drink: soft on the palate, with clean, sweet citrus, and floral notes. We also taste notes of black tea, clove, cranberry, and caramel. Not only is the coffee delicious, but it has a great story. This coffee is from Bufcafé washing station in the Gikongoro region of Rwanda. It is a pure bourbon cultivar, and grown at 1650-2100 meters above sea level. The coffee is grown by about 400 families on small shares, where it is picked ripe, and then transported to the Bufcafé mill to be processed. Mukashyaka Epiphanie is the owner of the mill and is a genocide widow. Her mission is to rebuild the specialty coffee industry in Rwanda and the community where she lives. All coffee is hand milled and hand sorted, wet processed, and sun dried, which helps to create a coffee that is very sweet with bright, bold acidity. This is our first Rwandan coffee at Heart, and we are very impressed to see the coffee from that region continually improve year by year. This is a testament to what can happen when people work together in the face of adversity with the common goal of improving coffee quality, and improving the lives of those who work to make it happen.

-Jeremy Williamson

We are very excited to have our coffee be a part of the NYC Coffee Common event happening in Chelsea on January 19-22, at The Start-Up Store!

Coffee Common is a unique collaboration between top-notch baristas and roasters bringing the highest quality coffee to people during these special and innovative events. The idea is simple—if more people drink great coffee, prepared by passionate coffee professionals, we all win. We couldn’t be happier to be a part of this process. Coffee Common has made huge progress as ambassadors for great coffee during their first two TED events, with conferences held in California and London last year. They are taking it to the the next level this time around by going straight to the heart of New York City–Chelsea’s innovative “Start-Up Store.” The focus of the event will be hand brewed, by the cup coffee, prepared by some of the nation’s best baristas–on a variety of different brewing apparatus–all aimed at helping you create a better cup at home.

The cost is a bargain at five dollars, which covers entry, coffee tasting, and priceless knowledge on how to brew great coffee at home. We will be sending our Guatemala Puerta Verde to be brewed at the event, a coffee we feel privileged to bring to you again for the second year in a row. This year, the Puerta Verde is fantastic! Hard-candy sweetness with delicate stone fruit flavors and a finish that lingers on the palate.

We are also really excited about this coffee, because Hearts’ own Sarah Mykkanen happens to be in Guatemala at the farm this very moment checking out the plants, the mill, and breathing the air. We are very jealous, but can’t wait to hear back from her about the trip.

So, to all of our friends in NYC: go down to a great event and taste some delicious coffees! Tickets can be purchased in advance on the web site, and this is advisable, as they will be going fast.

http://coffeecommon.com/

-Jeremy Williamson

Last season was the first time we offered coffee from the incredible Finca Santa Clara, and it was quite lovely. This season we’re very excited to be bringing back a very unique micro-lot from this same farm, the “Bourboncillo.” This coffee is produced using the fruit from the “Bourboncito” or dwarf bourbon plants, which is a low yielding, high quality mutation of the Bourbon varietal of arabica. This mutation produces a cup with a beautifully clean citrus, and intense sweetness. Finca Santa Clara is a pristine farm on the slopes of Volcan de Agua in the Antigua region of Guatemala. The Zelaya family have been growing coffee at Santa Clara for four generations, and are extremely committed to both quality and sustainability, and we’re excited to be able to showcase this unique and beautiful lot. It would be very easy to make this a very long blog post describing how much we love this coffee and all of it’s unique flavor notes, but we’ll refrain, and simply say that if you like cherry and milk chocolate, you’ll love this coffee. Stop by the shop for a bag or a chemex, or visit the online store because this one won’t last

-Jeremy Williamson

Early summer brings good things to Portland: an end to the monsoon season and a chance to get some color, lots of bicycles, parades, festivals, delicious fresh produce, and fresh crop Kenyan coffees. While we love all of the coffees that we serve at Heart, there’s just a special place in our Hearts for a good Kenya, and this year, we are especially happy with the coffee we have received from Gichathaini Cooperative in Nyeri. The coffee is a combination of the SL-28, and SL-34 varietals, and the ripe cherries are picked, washed, and then fermented for 72 hours, quite long in processing terms. The fermented coffee is then placed on raised beds to dry in the sun. The meticulous processing leads to a clean and vibrant cup with a bright acidity and notes of apple, fresh berries, rhubarb, lemon tea, and cane sugar. The profile of the cup is so fruity and sweet that many have compared it to more of a fruit juice, or fruit infused herbal tea than coffee, and that’s alright with us. Come experience this unique and beautiful coffee while you can, buy it in a 12 ounce bag for home, or try a Chemex on the brew bar. -Jeremy Williamson

Continue reading “New Kenya Gichatha-ini is here!” »

Daterra Sweet Yellow is finally at Heart.  We have been waiting for this coffee for a while and we are excited about its’ arrival. This coffee will be available as single origin espresso and also it will be the main component for Stereo blend. Yes, Stereo is changing and it will be 73% Daterra and 27% Leka Wato Wollega.

Daterra Sweet Yellow is from a farm in Brazil, located in the Cerrado region (State of Minas Gerais) and in the Mogiana region (State of São Paulo). Daterra’s plantations are located at an average altitude of 3,800 ft (1,150 m) under a stable temperature of around 70ºF (25ºC), which constitutes the perfect environment for Arabica Coffee production. Furthermore, the dry season during the harvest makes this region unique for the best Arabica coffees.

Location: Barazil, Cerrado

Farm: Daterra

Altitude: 1150 m

Varietals: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Mondo Novo, Red/Yellow Icatu

Processing: Pulped Natural

Cupping notes: Sweet, creamy, nougat, green apple, and fresh butter

Daterra ships all their coffee in Vacuum sealed bags that are then packaged in boxes. This ensures that coffee will keep longer and transportation is much easier. A typical day in Portland in April, thank you Daterra for such great packaging!

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This coffee we have been anticipating for is finally here. Thanks to Alejandro Renjifo from Fairfiel Trading, we have this coffee at heart. Earlier in November 2010, we cupped 16 pre-shipment samples and Alfredos coffee was one of them. From the 16 different samples, this coffee stood out the most.  Flavors of pomegranate fruit, hard candy sweetness, and winey, with a clean green apple like acidity. Alfredo only produced 11x 150 lb bags and we got 10 of them. The one left in Colombia got blended in with some other lots so, we now can say that we are the only ones with this coffee. We are very proud and lucky at the same time. Come in and get this coffee on Siphon, Karslbad coffee machine, Chemex, Aeropress or Espresso. We will be roasting this coffee for espresso occasionally and it will be rotating with the other single origin espressos.

Farmer: Luis Alfredo Rojas

Location: Colombia, Municipality of Garzon, Huila

Altitude: 1450 m

Varietal: Colombia and Caturra

Harvesting: October 2010-January 2011

Processing: Wet process with traditional fermentation

This week, we are very pleased to announce that our coffee is being featured at Billy Wilson’s Barista! Our Guatemala Puerta Verde espresso currently sits proudly alongside Coava as well as Spella.

This is a special occasion for us and a landmark in our career as a local micro roaster, as our espresso has never before been served at any location aside from our shop!

Please pay those folks a visit if you are in the area and while you are at it, you can pick up a bag of our whole bean Kenya Peaberry!

http://baristapdx.com/

Every once in a while, the coffee elves from the coffee elf stations around the world (specifically Latin America, Africa, and Indonesia) come and drop off magic coffee beans for our roasting pleasure. Today was one of those days. While the beans are in their green state, they sit comfy in our temperature and humidity controlled room. This is just the beginning of the fun.

Here are some of the new coffees:

Ethiopia Limu Niguse – This natural processed coffee is sweetly complex with caramel, pomegranate and Rainer cherry. As we leave the Ethiopia Sidama Michicha ARDI that we loved so much, we are blessed with another amazing Ethiopian coffee to take its place. I have tried this coffee in a few different brewing methods including espresso and it is just so delicious.

El Salvador Borbollon – With flavors of milk chocolate, caramel and orange, this coffee has body reminiscent of sugar cane juice.

Sumatra Blue Batak – Blue Batak derives its name from the indigenous Batak people of Lintong who grow coffee in the hillsides surrounding lake Toba. This earthy coffee has a full body and complex acidity with molasses like sweetness.

Decaf Sumatra – This organic, water processed decaf is full of body with a sweet citrus acidity.