On August 7th, Come and watch as the top baristas in Alberta and Saskatewan compete for a chance to represent the region at the Canadian Barista Competition in Toronto.
Get involved behind the scenes or just come out to cheer on your favoriet baristas.
This is open to all of the public and is being held at:
Fratello Coffee Roasters
4021 – 9th Street SE
Calgary, Alberta
Tickets are available for $5.00 at the door. Entrance also gives you the ability to win the 50/50 draw at the end of the evening.
Fratello Coffee Roasters recently visited Erwin Mierisch and his family in Nicaragua to tour their coffee estates in order to choose the next Lot of coffee to bring to Calgary.
As you will see, Finca Los Placeres is a beautifully run estate which ensures every detail is managed to perfection. You can taste this dedication when drinking their coffees.
This is an interesting question, and one that does not have a quick answer. I often compare coffee to wine as there are many comparables. All bottles of red wine from Italy do not taste the same. It is dependant on the vineyard, the grape (Merlot, etc..), the harvest, soil conditions, altitude, weather conditions of that particular harvest in that particular year, in that particular region. All of this is also true with coffee.
Nicaragua, for example typically has farms with lots of gain in elevation. You can have a single farm which grows coffee from 800 meters all the way up to 1800 meters. Elevation plays a significant part in the quality of coffee. Soil conditions & make up, the varietal of coffee cherry (Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, etc…), weather conditions, region with in the country (or the country itself) are some variables that make up the flavors found in a coffee. As important, is the way the coffee cherries are harvested. Selectively picking only the ripest red cherries develops a sweeter and more balanced acidity in the cup.
However, what I wanted to talk about was what happens AFTER the coffee cherries are picked. Once a coffee cherry has been picked, it must be processed, dried, rested and then exported. EVERY step along the life cycle of coffee affects the end result in your cup of coffee. Today, I wanted to explain a little bit about processing of coffee cherries at the Wet Mill.
We are pleased to introduce a new Direct Trade Nicaraguan coffee: Los Placeres Estate, which is replacing the Finca Limoncillo Estate, is officially available on our on-line store.
100% Caturra, Honey Prep. Aromas of caramelized cherries, a delicate butter body, flavors of milk chocolate & pecans with a clean lingering grape acidity. Cupping Score 90.00
Los Placeres Estate is from a different area on the farm, however from the same farmer as Finca Limoncillo. We have been working with Erwin Mierisch and his family for 3 years now. They are still dedicated more than ever to quality, evidenced by winning another Cup of Excellence award. This is their 4th year in a row receiving this prestigious award and currently hold the record for the most money received per pound at auction.
2010 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #5
2009 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #7
2008 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #2
2007 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #27
Here is a link from our farm visit with them in January when we visited Nicaragua in order to source this coffee.
Want to look cool and impress all of your friends and family? Then buy a Fratello T-shirt.
New Fratello t-shirts are hot off the press. Black, slim fitting, cotton shirts are silk screened with the name Fratello Coffee Roasters over a paint splattered checker-board design. There is nothing printed on the back.
All Fratello t-shirts are limited run (about 120), one time only prints. After they are sold out, we will never run the same shirts twice.
We have made 3 new coffee addtions to our on-line store, each offering a unique cup profile to what has previously been offered.
We were asked by many people to introduce a new region from Africa….so we did. Tanzania Songea Peaberry is a fully washed auction lot that has creamy black tea aromas, which compliment sweet flavors of peaches and mangos. A creamy body and vibrant grape acidity. Read full review by Kenneth Davids, CoffeeReview.com, May 2010.
Fratello Continues to explore new Direct Trade relationships and were happy to establish one in Costa Rica from the Tarrazu region. This year we began working with Luis Zeledon and his family at the Rio Jorco Micro Mill. This single estate, 100% Caturra has fresh brown sugar and praline aromas. Sweet flavors of red apple and black currants, finishing wiht a long silky mouth feel. Read full review by Kenneth Davids, CoffeeReview.com, May 2010.
Fratello Coffee is proud to introduce an exclusive new coffee available from the Tarrazu Valley in Costa Rica. Last month, we wrote about a Micro Mill Revolution happening in this region, this is one of those special micro-lots we wrote about.
The Rio Jorco Micro-Mill employees between 4-6 people & has 65 pickers during harvest season. Rio Jorco is situated at an altitude of 4600 feet, and like many farms in Tarrazu faces the Pacific Coast. The strong winds from the Pacific are important as they create a defined dry season. This dryness causes a stress on trees creating extra sweetness in Tarrazu coffees, and especially in the 100% Caturra lots we chose from Rio Jorco.
Rio Jorco which was once known as Hacienda Jorco, is rich in history and has played a key role in the development of excellent coffee within the Tarrazu region. The Rio Jorco Micro-Mill processes all of the coffee from their own estate. unlike in their early history of 1910, when the coffee had to be taken from Jorco to San Jose using Oxen or on horseback. Though the distance was only 15 miles it was a long trip up winding muddy roads. This required oxen to be changed 2 or three times and a one day trip was considered fast.
At the moment, everyone at Fratello Coffee seems excited about brewing coffee on a Chemex. I’m loving the body and cleanliness that the Chemex produces. It seems to extract a syrupy mouth-feel that I always love in coffee.
As you will see, a Chemex is easy to use and is also inexpensive to buy.
Fratello has just begun selling two new coffee brewing devices which are now available on our on-line store. The Chemex & Aeropress aren’t new to the industry; however, are new to us.
Both of these devices brew coffee extremely well. At the moment I’m really enjoying the Chemex.
I find that the extraction of this method brings out a syrup body and sweetness in the cup that is hard to match with other brewing methods.
This Aeropress is also very interesting.
This will certainly be my brew method of choice for when I’m traveling & camping. It is fast, easy to use and requires very little clean up. I get a very clean cup with this method of brewing and find it great with coffee that has a pronounced acidity. (Read the rest of this post)
