What's brewing this month at thumpFebruary
January
We’re thrilled to finally offer a single origin espresso that rivals Stumptown’s delicious Hair Bender espresso! Hair Bender espresso is a blend of up to eight different coffee beans from origins around the world, whereas the Guatemala Finca el Injerto Single Origin Espresso uses coffee beans from just one coffee farm, Guatemala’s famed Finca el Injerto. Like Hair Bender espresso, Guatemal Finca el Injerto S.O.E. also has a roast profile that is carefully developed specifically for espresso brewing. Thump is now using this single origin espresso in all of our traditional espresso drinks: doppios, macchiatos and traditional cappuccinos. But if your interest has been piqued, feel free to request it in any of our espresso drinks! December  Flavors: A rose fragrance debuts flavors of pear, coconut and marshmallow with caramel throughout the cup. Panama Duncan Estate, Organic, Direct Trade returns to us from year to year. In this most recent growing season, the producer of this coffee, Ricardo Koyner, experienced especially challenging wet weather conditions that threatened his crop. Diligent attention to his coffee and careful use of organic fertilizer helped Koyner overcome the challenges presented by Mother Nature. To read more about this coffee, please visit the Stumptown site. October & November
September
AUGUST
To learn more about Stumptown's Direct Trade green coffee selection, please read this month's thumpology article. July
“… [We] immediately noticed the quality of their harvest and the active improvements to their processing operation. This lot represents the first clean washed processed version of what could be some of the oldest Arabica strains in the world… “In the Gera District of Western Oromia, there remain large tracts of pristine forest where tall, spindly coffee trees grow wild. Many coffee farmers in Ethiopia are now planting tree varietals that are recommended by local research centers, however, the farmers of the Nano Challa Cooperative have stayed close to traditional planting methods. Their coffee consists of an unknown number of indigenous varietals, brought from the forest and culled over generations. In addition to coffee, the Gera forest is also known for honey production. ‘Both coffee and honey production require us to manage our forest resources closely,’ explains a local leader. ‘If people cannot support themselves and the forest at the same time, then the trees will be the first to suffer. We are proud that our forests have given us a gift to share with the world.’ “ “Flavors: Fresh ginger and raw honey notes run fragrantly rampant in a coffee laden with profoundly sweet flavors of candied orange and sugarcane juice.” To learn more about this coffee, please go to the Stumptown website. June
May
Every coffee has an interesting story. In this case, Costa Rica Helsar Reserva Direct Trade’s story involves the coming together of two different coffee producers, and how the innovative and sustainable practices of the Helsar de Zarcero micro mill, where this coffee is processed, insures coffee quality and ongoing learning for is 10 coffee producing families. Stumptown writes, “This Helsar Reserva lot comes from two different producers: Magdalena Vega Vega and Leonardo Red Salazar. Magdalena Vega Vega inherited a 4.5 hectare farm a few years ago from her seven brothers. She currently produces about 10,000 pounds of Caturra and Catuai varietal green coffee each year. Leonardo Red Salazar acquired his farm through inheritance many years ago. He grows Caturra varietal coffee on about eight hectares, producing 18,000 pounds of green coffee each year. Both of these producers work closely with Helsar micro mill to optimize their coffee quality. Helsar is well known in the specialty coffee world for its sustainable practices. Organic fertilizer is made on site from the coffee cherry pulp combined with molasses, mined zinc, boron, and other minerals. Microorganisms are cultured from soil collected on nearby mountains and added to the natural fertilizer in order to provide disease protection for the coffee plants. Helsar micro mill is deeply rooted in the local community and has taken actions to measure and compensate for its carbon footprint by planting trees in a local biological reserve and using low impact Penagos aqua pulping machinery to process the coffee cherry.” "…Renowned micro mill Helsar de Zarcero has been providing top quality lots to Stumptown for four years. Nine years ago, Ricardo Perez, Marvin Rodriguez and Phillip Rodriguez opened the mill in Llano Bonito de Naranjo microregion so they could provide traceability and quality processing for their own coffee crops. Neighboring farmers began approaching Helsar to have their coffees processed since they could keep their lots separated at the mill. Helsar became the center of the micro milling movement in Llano Bonito de Naranjo by enabling small producers to receive higher prices for their coffees than at the local co-op. Traditionally, the co-ops blended all the individual farms together into huge homogenous batches with no regard to quality. The mill has worked with farmers, providing education and cupping opportunities in order to improve the coffee year after year. Today, the mill processes coffee from ten families in the surrounding area." April
This is the first peaberry coffee we have featured. Characterized by its pea shape, and different from a normally developed coffee bean that can be split into two halves, a peaberry coffee bean has only developed one of the halves of the bean (hence the round, dense "pea" shape) lending the bean a smooth, sweet taste. Peaberry coffees are separated out from the other coffee beans and only comprise around 5% of any given farm's annual production. March
We are thrilled to offer a handful of new Central American and Ethiopian coffees. Variety is the spice of life and in part is what makes drinking coffee really interesting. One of our new offerings is Ecuador Loja, Organic / Direct Trade. Stumptown shares, “Our Ecuador Loja represents coffee from 27 farmers from the PROCAFEQ producer’s association in Quilanga de Loja and the APECAP producer’s association in Palanda de Zamora. Over the last three years, Stumptown has worked with these producer associations to improve the quality of coffee and in turn the quality of life for their members. This shade grown coffee was depulped using manual depulping machines, fermented in tanks, washed by hand and laid to dry on raised beds.” Stumptown helped these two coffee producer associations focus on developing high quality coffee, and the time and effort really shows through in the cup. February
Ah! A new coffee to explore! We look forward to getting to know this one as it has bedazzled us with amazing berry flavors, most notably, raspberry! January
This is the first decaf coffee we’ve ever featured, and it’s the
first single origin decaf coffee we’ve come across. Most decaf coffees
are a blend of beans from different growing regions throughout the
world, whereas this coffee comes from microlots in Pedregal de Inza in
Colombia’s Cauca Valley. To learn more about this interesting coffee, the relationship Stumptown built to bring this coffee to you, the chemical-free Mountain Water decaffeination process, and the coffee producers’ efforts to improve their land and the quality of living for their employees, please read more about Stumptown Colombia La Piramide here. December
The backbone of what makes thump, thump, is Stumptown’s Hair Bender espresso blend. Ever changing so slightly to incorporate new crop beans, this dynamic and delicious elixir is what keeps us excited about the art and science of coffee! If your regular habit is to mix espresso with milk and flavor, consider getting closer to Hair Bender by joining us each Friday from 2:30-5:30pm for 50% off on all doppios, macchiatos and cappuccinos. This is our weekly celebration of Hair Bender prepared as espresso and the art of coffee making. Stumptown writes: HAIR BENDER is a complex blend featuring coffee from all three of the major growing regions; Latin America, East Africa and Indonesia. We devote constant attention to Hair Bender and are proud of its status as our most popular coffee. We often say our dedication to coffee at the farm level, including how the coffee is grown, picked, separated and processed is what sets Stumptown apart. The Hair Bender is no exception to this rule. Unlike many other espressos of the world, Hair Bender features fully washed coffee as its backbone, and can have five to eight different coffees at any given time. We hand select these coffees to provide clarity along with the sweetness and complexity we are seeking. We continually taste this blend and each of its components (on the cupping table as well as espresso) to maintain the balance of flavors.” FLAVORS: Coffees from every major producing region provide the individual components of this complex sweet and savory blend which yields flavors of milk chocolate, caramel, jasmine, meyer lemon, apricot and pineapple. To learn more, please visit Stumptown Coffee Roasters. November
Stumptown shares that, “The Torres family has been cultivating coffee in the West Valley for 60 years. They pioneered coffee production in the Barranca region of Naranjo. They also pioneered the cultivation of the Villalobos varietal, a mutation of the heirloom Typica varietal developed in the nearby town of Sarchi. After meticulous cherry selection our lot is mechanically demucilaged of its fruit and dried on patios. The Villalobos is produced in limited quantity on only eight hectares of land.” FLAVORS: Perfumed fragrances of rose petal segue harmoniously with molasses aromas before transforming into cup flavors of honeycomb, date and mandarin orange. October New to thump, Ethiopia Suke Quto is bursting with complex aromatics and dynamic flavors in the cup! True to form for a wonderful Ethiopian coffee! Stumptown writes, “Suke Quto is a producer’s association located in the Oodo Shakisso district of Ethiopia’s southern zone of Guji. This lot represents the finest coffee from their third harvest in history, since they first planted coffee in 2004. The sixty-eight producer members of Suke Quto grow their heirloom Ethiopian varietals on 291 hectares. After careful cherry selection, our lot was depulped from its skin, traditionally fermented in concrete tanks, washed, soaked to increase fruit-like acidity and dried on raised beds.” Please read more about Ethiopia Suke Quto on the Stumptown website. September
Ethiopia Mordecofe Direct Trade, Organic has returned this year better than ever! One of our all time favorite coffees that you’re sure to fall in love with if you haven’t already. Stumptown writes: “We’re proud to be offering Direct Trade Mordecofe for the third consecutive year. Haile Gebre left his government post as director of all cooperative business in Ethiopia to return to his grandfather’s land to cultivate coffee. His farms and washing station are located in Guji’s Mora Mora River Valley in southern Ethiopia. Haile’s process includes a 6-hour washing technique that leaves his coffee beans perfectly clean. After soaking, the coffee beans are gently dried on raised beds.” Read more about this coffee. July & August June A favorite from last year has returned: Costa Rica Montes de Oro Direct Trade! The folks at Stumptown write: “The Gamboa Chacon family has produced coffee in the Tarrazu region since the 1800s. In 1977, Tuto Gamboa began managing his family’s farms and acquiring new land for coffee cultivation. With premiums paid for exquisite quality for the past three years, Tuto and his son Emilio purchased their fourth farm: Finca Teresita. Emilio ensures strictly ripe cherry and fully washes it with INGESEC technology. The coffee is gently dried on African beds to increase mouth feel. The taste and texture of honey completely envelops ripe cherry and fresh peach in this sweet bright cup that finishes with juicy tangerine.” From the Coffee Farms of El Salvador’s Aida Batlle, coffee cherry tea is a fruity “infusion” similar to hibiscus, prepared by steeping dried, ripe coffee cherry fruit. The tea is delicious served hot, or iced, and is caffeinated. These coffee cherries were dried at their peak ripeness on the small coffee farms owned and operated by renowned El Salvador coffee producer, Aida Batlle. Coffee Cherry Tea is a traditional drink of Latin America, Yemen, Ethiopia and the Middle East. To learn more about Aida Batlle, her award winning coffees and innovative coffee growing practices, please revisit our Dec. 2008 thumpology. May From the Coffee Farms of El Salvador's Aida Batlle, Cascara Coffee Cherry Tea is a fruity "infusion" similar to hibiscus, prepared by steeping dried, ripe coffee cherry fruit. Cascara is delicious served hot, or iced, and is caffeinated. These coffee cherries were dried at their peak ripeness on the small coffee farms owned and operated by renowned El Salvador coffee producer, Aida Batlle. Coffee Cherry Tea is a traditional drink of Latin America, Yemen, Ethiopia and the Middle East. To learn more about Aida Batlle, her award winning coffees and innovative coffee growing practices, please revisit our Dec. 2008 thumoplogy article. April FEATURED COFFEE: Ecuador Quilanga Reserva Direct Trade Organic Over the last two years, Stumptown has worked with farmers in the Loja province of Ecuador to improve the quality of their coffee. A first from Ecuador! Here’s another coffee where several years of work with Stumptown’s green coffee buyers preceded its arrival at thump! Stumptown describes the Ecuador Quilanga Reserva: “Over the last two years, Stumptown has worked with farmers in the Loja province of Ecuador to improve the quality of their coffee. Valle el Ingenio (Valley of the Genius) sits at the heart of the Andes in Southern Ecuador. In traditional South American fashion our Quilanga Reserva coffee is processed manually with hand-crank depulpers, fermented in small tanks, then washed and laid to dry on either patios or raised beds. This is our first single origin offering of our Ecuadorian coffee. Our Quilanga begins with the scent of hibiscus, maple and lemonheads which lead to flavors of Rainier cherry and hibiscus with a long, sweet and lemony finish.” March FEATURED COFFEE: Burundi Bwayi Direct Trade Stumptown Coffee Roasters has worked for several years with Burundi coffee growers to bring their coffee to us, and we’re excited and grateful to share in the fruits of their labor! Here’s how Stumptown describes the Burundi Bwayi Direct Trade: “Violet and raisin aromatics open the flavor gates to perfectly clean notes of plum, black cherry and orange zest that are complimented by a syrupy body.”  FEATURED COFFEE: Kenya Gatomboya Our Kenyan coffee lovefest continues this month as we introduce Kenya Gatomboya, grown across the valley from our beloved Gaturiri. Howdy neighbor! Stumptown writes, “The Gatomboya Factory faces the Gaturiri Factory directly across the valley. Both washing stations are part of the Barichu Cooperative union. 700 small holder coffee farmers make up the membership of the Gatomboya Factory. Each farmer grows only SL28 and SL34 on their high altitude farms. Coffee cherries are selected for optimum ripeness then graded meticulously at the washing station before being accepted and processed with the utmost care in true Kenyan fashion.” Read more about Kenya Gatomboya here. January 2010, December & November FEATURED COFFEE: Kenya Gaturiri Direct Trade We’re in love with this coffee! Really lovely dry aromatics and a wonderful cup! Stumptown tells more: “Only a handful of coffees can match Gaturiri’s completeness and complexity. Kenya’s process is the most intricate in the coffee world with double fermentation, intermittent washing and extended soaking. Wet coffee is taken from the soaking tanks to pre-drying beds which wick away most of the moisture on the beans before they are piled on another bed to gently finish the process. Grand Cru Kenyans have unmatched mouthfeel, dark fruit flavor and enlightening aromatics.” OCTOBER This coffee is produced by Aida Battle, a female coffee farmer and Cup of Excellence competition winner, a prestigious accomplishment awarded to coffee producers whose meticulous farming practices yield outstanding coffees and record prices at auction. Stumptown describes the flavor as “perfume and rose petal aromatics introduce flavors of rainier cherry, blackberry and champagne grapes with a caramel finish.” SEPTEMBER FEATURED COFFEE: Indonesia Gajah Aceh Peaberry Direct Trade For the first time, we're featuring an Indonesian coffee - and for the first time, Stumptown is proud to announce an established Direct Trade relationship coffee from the Indonesia growing region. (Read more about coffee growing regions at thumpology.com.) If you have previously shied away from Indonesian coffees because of their syrupy body and herbal characteristics, you'll be pleasantly surprised by Gajah Aceh's enjoyable, clean cup! Stumptown describes this coffee as: "Dark fruit tones dominate the aromatics of a cup profile filled with ripe fruit notes of tamarind, blackberry and citrus." AUGUST  FEATURED COFFEE: Costa Rica Montes de Oro, Direct Trade "We shared a French press of the Montes de Oro the other morning. Wow! We love it even more than when we carried it previously! The bright notes are toned down a bit for a nicely balanced cup." - Kent & Hazel Here's how Stumptown describes it: "The producers behind Montes de Oro, Emilio and Laura Gamboa, cultivate their coffee in San Pablo de Tarrazu. Emilio personally oversees the processing each and every night of the harvest. He ensures strictly ripe cherry and fully washes it with INGESEC technology. The coffee is gently dried on African beds, which provides time for sugar development. Flavors: Rainier cherry and clementine orange flavors meld harmoniously with sweet notes of honey, caramel and milk chocolate." JULY  FEATURED COFFEE: Cold-Brewed Toddy Iced Coffee Deliciously different, cold-brewed toddy coffee tones down the treble and turns up the bass – it will rock you. We spent nearly a month testing different beans, blends, brewing times and water to coffee ratios. Well, we’re especially proud of what we’ve come up with! It’s exceptionally refreshing, with full bodied chocolate notes. For those of you new to toddy, this is an iced coffee drink we brew as a concentrate using cold water, lots of coffee grounds, and lots of time - nearly a full day for brewing! The cold water does not extract the high citrusy notes or as much of the acids that you will find in drip coffee. The lower notes that give coffee its body and richness are extracted instead. The result is a smooth, rich, almost sweet, refreshing drink that doesn’t taste watered down or bitter like the classic iced coffee. People whose stomachs react to the acidity of hot coffee especially enjoy the lower acidity of toddy. JUNE: Guatemala Finca el Injerto Cup of Excellence #1 Pacamara
Rwanda Kanzu Microlot Direct Trade & Muyongwe Direct Trade
Also check out how Stumptown's "Bikes To Rwanda" program is raising money to build, distribute and maintain cargo bikes for Rwandan coffee farmers. When asked what would really improve their quality of life, the farmers said they needed a reliable way to transport their harvested coffee from their mountainous growing region. From that conversation, Bikes To Rwanda was born and cargo bikes were ingeniously designed to safely carry heavy loads for these farmers. To learn more about this ongoing project, go to Bikes To Rwanda. The home page shows a boy on a wooden bike that is traditionally used for coffee transport. The word "impossible" crosses my mind. The "media" page shows one of the "Bikes to Rwanda" cargo bikes. Wow! What a wonderful improvement! - Hazel APRIL:Ethiopia Mordecofe Sidamo Organic
ELEVATION: 1700-1900 meters VARIETAL: Ethiopian Heirloom FLAVORS: Black tea and candied lemon fragrances become oolong tea and lemon candy flavors in a transparent cup with the flavor of raw sugar. Haile Gebre owns and operates his Mordecofe washing station in the Guji region of Sidamo. With decades of experience managing processing centers across the country, Gerbe is now primed to take Ethiopian coffee to higher levels. This year's Mordecofe Sidamo lot is the prime representation of what washed Ethiopian coffee should be. MARCH:Ethiopia Bera Tadicho Organic
El Salvador Santa Rita - Direct Trade
El Salvador Kilimanjaro - Direct Trade, Organic
El Salvador Kilimanjaro is a former Cup of Excellence competition winner, a prestigious accomplishment awarded to coffee producers whose meticulous farming practices yield outstanding coffees and record prices at auction. The Cup of Excellence (COE) competitions occur annually in Central and South American countries, and for the first time in 2008, in Rwanda. READ MORE> DECEMBER:
Costa Rica Herbazu - Direct Trade
 FEATURED COFFEE: Ethiopia Mordecofe Sidamo Organic LOCATION: Mora Mora River region of the Guji Valley JUNE, JULY & AUGUST: FEATURED COFFEE: Cold-Brewed Toddy Iced Coffee Once the season hints at warm weather, we get requests to start making our divinely refreshing cold brewed toddy. Most brewing processes use hot water and take a relatively short time, anywhere from 23 seconds to 6 minutes. Toddy however, requires cold water, a lot of coffee grounds, and patience, about 20 hours! The cold water does not extract acidic, or citrusy notes, like hot water. The result is a wonderfully smooth, ever so slightly sweet, refreshing beverage that's served iced. Click here to learn more about toddy coffee. MAY:  Costa Rica Montes de Oro - Washed Processed From Kent: This is the same bean we were serving a few months ago, however the current lot has been processed differently. The fully washed process produces a cleaner, brighter, and slightly sweeter flavor. Where the previous lot exhibited flavors of grape, cherry and milk chocolate; the current lot shows lemon, dark chocolate, and brown sugar. I love the way this bean illustrates the importance of the processing method on the final cup quality (see Thumpology - Processing Coffee). (photo courtesy of Erika Schultz) APRIL: NOVEMBER:  Nicaragua Los Delirios Grupo El Eden Lot - Direct Trade (Direct Trade) Near the town of Pueblo Nuevo in Nicaragua, the Canales family farm - known as Los Delirios because locals thought Daniel Canales to be “delirious” for buying this abandoned farmland 25 years ago - produces some of this country’s most highly prized coffees. According to Stumptown Coffee Roasters, the Grupo El Eden Lot grew at 1200 and 1450 meters above sea level. Daniel Canales, Eddy Canales, Norman Canales and Nicolas Rosales all produced this blend of Caturra, Typica, Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon varietal beans. Here’s what Stumptown Coffee Roasters says about this special organically grown coffee purchased directly from the Canales family for higher than Fair Trade prices: “The Grupo El Eden lot will delight you with notes of vanilla blossom, butterscotch candy and lemon peel.” OCTOBER:  FEATURED COFFEE: Panama Carmen Estate This straight up from the coffiends at Stumptown: Explore the excellent Carmen Estate Coffee website here. SEPTEMBER:  FEATURED COFFEE: Nicaragua Los Delirios - El Cipres y Ojo de Agua Micro Lot (Direct Trade & Organic) This month we dive into some of the new crop harvested in Central America in late spring/early summer. Near the town of Pueblo Nuevo in Nicaragua, the Canales family farm — known as Los Delirios because locals thought Daniel Canales to be “delirious” for buying this abandoned farmland 25 years ago — produces some of this country’s most highly prized coffees. This “micro lot” consists of beans harvested from the El Cipres y Ojo de Agua section of the Los Delirios farm. Here’s what Stumptown Coffee Roasters says about this special organically grown coffee purchased directly from the Canales family for higher than Fair Trade prices: “Caturra, Typica and Bourbon varietals are all present in this lot, which grew between 1200 and 1400 meters above sea level. Candied orange, apricots and sugar cane are notes found in the Cipres y Ojo de Agua cup.” JULY + AUGUST: FEATURED COFFEE: Cold-Brewed Toddy Iced Coffee Just in time for the summer heat, we’ve got toddies for hotties! Come cool off with Bend’s only cold-brewed, toddy-style iced coffee. The cold brewing process eliminates much of the coffee’s acidity, lending it a smooth, rich, full-bodied flavor. Click here to learn more about toddy coffee. JUNE:  Mexico Zaragoza Organic Fair Trade Sweet cherries, plums and rhubarb with an intense citric finish — that's Stumptown Coffee Roasters' flavor profile description for this premium Mexican coffee. Come try it for yourself and give us your own description. MAY:  Ethiopia Misty Valley Idido (Organic) Roaster Stumptown Coffee describes this as truly unique coffee, due to the fact that it is a dry processed coffee from the Yirgacheffe area of the Sidamo region of Ethiopia. Ever since washing stations were built in Yirgacheffe about three decades ago, Yirgacheffe has become a very prestigious and sought after coffees by those looking for a very exotic and perfumey cup. The process unleashes the sparkly clean, lemon, tropical, floral and chocolate profile we associate with a quality cup of Yirgacheffe coffee. Re-introducing the dry or natural process to these coffees has created a remarkable combination of a ”wild” coffee that still retains the traditional notes of lemon, and altering the profile drastically, by adding other wild flavors and contributing to a thick syrupy mouthfeel. Making a drastic processing change like this was risky for the farmer, but lucky for those of us who love dry processed coffees since it was a smashing success. The Misty Valley Idido is one of the cleanest dry process coffees we’ve ever tasted. In this case, the cup has strong flavors of strawberry, as well as lemon, starburst, black licorice and a thick syrupy mouth feel. APRIL:  Fair Trade: Rwandan Musasa Roaster Stumptown Coffee describes this as "Beautiful, clean coffee as a result of washing stations built by a USAID/PEARL project which improved quality and price in a country devastated by genocide. Sweet chocolate, pineapple juice, myer lemon and a lush floral character." MARCH:  Farmer-Direct: Good People, Excellent Coffee March's featured coffee is Stumptown’s Finca El Injerto. Since 1905, Arturo Auguirre's family has been producing this coffee on the mountainous hillsides of Huehuetenango with sustainable farming methods and meticulous processing. This is the first of Stumptown’s “relationship” coffees — directly working with the coffee farmers to improve both the quality of the crop and also conditions for workers. Stumptown has been buying beans at higher than market and Fair Trade prices and working closely with this family farm since 1999. The effort has paid off— this farm just won first place in “Cup of Excellence Guatemala.” The resulting cup is complex with a full body, a lush, fragrant aroma with flavors of milk chocolate, butterscotch, fruit and a long, juicy finish. Thump is proud to serve Stumptown Coffee, because Stumptown shares our passion for providing the freshest, most unique coffees, roasted by hand in small batches and enjoyed at their peak. |
Stumptown says: "The Aguirre family produced the first prize winner at Cup of Excellence again. Arturo Aguirre and son took meticulous care during the cherry selection stage through extended fermentation, soaking and a delicate drying process. The lot was given extra time to rest, building composure within the flavor profile paralleling a fine wine resting in barrels. The lot comes from the middle of the harvest ensuring maximum sugar development which directly relates to the coffee's bursting floral notes, saturated sweetness and ripe fruit flavors." 
We're excited to offer you coffees from Rwanda, both our featured Kanzu Microlot Direct Trade and Muyongwe Direct Trade. Seeing these coffees make it to the consumer is the result of tremendous effort on the part of key green coffee buyers such as Stumptown's Aleco Chigounis. The revitalization of Rwanda's coffee production is one important way this war torn country is healing from and moving on from its recent tragic history. Please read Aleco's trip notes for a compelling snapshot of Rwanda's vibrancy and challenges as well as Aleco and Stumptown's role in the movement to help Rwanda thrive once again. It's a long entry, but well worth reading! The entry is on 
From Stumptown Coffee Roasters:
From Stumptown Coffee Roasters: “Bera Tadicho is a subregion of the southern Ethiopian province of Sidamo. Over 400 producers with an average of only 3 acres each, deliver cherry to the receiving station. At altitudes soaring to heights of 2300 meters above sea level this is one of the highest producing areas in the entire coffee world. After being traditionally fermented and carefully washed, coffee beans are sent to dry delicately on raised drying beds. Flavors: Our Sidamo displays a floral aroma and nuances of milk chocolate and berries in the cup.”
From Kent: “I included a sample of the Santa Rita in our public cupping in January and was pleasantly surprised to find it was the crowd favorite. It is an unusual bean because it is a "natural processed" Latin American, whereas most Central American coffees are washed processed. When done properly, the natural process can produce sweeter, more berry-like flavors with a syrupy mouth-feel. I also like the fact that it was processed under the guidance of Aida Battle, who we had the good fortune to meet several weeks ago at Stumptown in Portland. Her Finca Kilimanjaro is one of my all-time favorite coffees, so it's no surprise that this coffee is of such high quality. Thank you Stumptown for finding another unique and exquisite bean!”
This month, Thump’s featured coffee is El Salvador Kilimanjaro Direct Trade, Organic. This coffee is produced by Aida Battle, a female coffee farmer who Stumptown recently invited to Portland to speak at their “Meet the Producers” series. (See the 
Location: Karatina de Nyeri
A really cool bean that very few farmers in the world are growing. From Stumptown: "The Barrantes brothers are pioneers of the micro mill movement that is producing unprecedented quality in Costa Rica. Herbazu, their farm in Lourdes de Naranjo in the West Valley, is planted almost entirely with the Villasarchi varietal, a mutation of bourbon renown for excellent quality and productivity at higher altitudes. Herbazu's beans are demucilaged mechanically using Bendig equipment and then patio dried."
