This exceptional coffee is exported through Ethiopia’s only female miller/exporter, an exceptional woman. Asnakech Thomas is one of the most inspiring figures in Ethiopian coffee today. Native to the Amaro region, Asnakech decided in 2005 to return to her homeland to improve coffee quality at her mill and in local communities.She is one of the few people to travel weekly between Addis and the coffee areas. The Amaro Mountains are a small range separating the communities of Amaro on the eastern slopes from Nechisar National Park and the lowland tribal areas of Arba Minch in southwest Ethiopia, Sidama region. The local coffee varieties, relatively light population, waterfalls and highland bamboo forests are among the many unique features of the area.

All Amaro Gayo coffee is certified organic. Prices paid for this coffee are at the extreme high end of market, social programs are in the works including possibilities for assistance with capacity building and coffee job creation, schools, clean water and medical care.

Altitude: 5200 feet

Processing Method: Natural

Grade: Strictly Hard Bean

Varieties: 10-15 local varieties, some very long seeds similar to Harar

Processing Method: Natural

Grade: Strictly Hard Bean

Cup Characteristic: Intense honey-like aroma, redolent of flowers and blueberry. Delicate in the cup with a soft, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, balanced acidity and fresh flavors of ripe stone fruit, lemon, tangerine and more flowery honeyed sweetness. Finishes cleanly, developing a quiet sweet fruit-toned chocolate in the long.

Clean, smooth and wonderfully balance. Palhu has sweet vanilla and caramel aromatics. The cup is medium to full body with hints of dark chocolate and caramel. A soft and delicate bright lemon note in the finish that lingers with a clean and refreshing mouthfeel.

Name of Coffee/ Nombre del café:
FINCA LA PROVIDENCIA
Region & Geography/ Región y geografía:
Region: HUHUETENANGO
Geography: Mountainous
Altitude/ Altitud:
1,550 MTS.(asl)
Climate/ Clima
Temperate to cold FRIO
Soil Type/ Tipo de suelo:
Clay
Cultivars/ Variedad de café
CATURRA(75%), also: BOURBON, CATUAI and MUNDO NUEVO
Preparation & Drying Process/ Tipo de proceso:
WET MILL, SUN DRYED AND MACHINE DRYED
Harvest & Exportation Time/ Meses de la cosecha y exportación:
Harvest: January to April; Export: February to June (Depends on contracts)
Farm Size/ Tamaño de la finca:
Farm Total Area: 33.8 hectares; With Coffee: 24.8 hectares
Certifications/ Certificaciones
NO CERTIFICATIONS
History of Farm or Cooperative/ Historia de la finca o cooperative:
FINCA LA PROVIDENCIA IS THE PROPERTY OF THE PALACIOS FAMILY SINCE 1954
A TOTAL OF THREE GENERATIONS HAVE RUN THE FARM
FIRST GENERATION: Mr. MAXIMILIANO PALACIOS (Grandfather)
SECOND GENERATION: Mr. JAVIER PALACIOS FUNES (Father; recently passed away in 2007 at the age of 91)
THIRD GENERATION: Mr. MAX ARIEL PALACIOS VILLATORO (Currently in charge of the farm)
THERES NOW A FOURTH GENERATION OF PALACIOS FAMILY NOW, BUT THEY ARE NOT IN ANY ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION AS OF TODAY. LEAVING ALL THE RESPONSABILITY OF THE FARM TO Mr. MAX ARIEL PALACIOS, WHOM IS AN EXPERT AGRICULTURIST AND HAS BEEN IN THE FARM FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS.

I’ve had a lot of comments on the trailer’s paint job. Tim worked his butt off painting this thing in 90 degree heat. Here’s a few pics of him at work.

At the top of the page you’ll see a link for Video’s and Movies. Check it out from time to time . I just posted a video I did called “better people”.

All coffee will now be packaged in 12 ounce bags. I probably should have done this from the beginning, particularly in retail stores where everyone packages the coffee in 12 ounce bags. Most customers didn’t realize they where getting more coffee and reacted only to the higher price point. Also for those of you that don’t know, for every pound of coffee roasted there is an approximate 4 ounce weight loss. That means for a 132 pound bag of coffee there is 33 pounds lost. I hope everyone is cool with this change.

In a what the heck let’s give it a shot attempt to make the cut in a recent espresso analysis at Coffee Review, we submitted a bag of “who’s yer daddy“. Score 91 points.

When I started Redeye Roasters just over 3 years ago Sumatra Iskandar was one of the first coffees that I purchased. Since that time , in my opinion the coffee started taking a nose dive and went from great to only average. This recent lot of Iskandar is however everything it used to be when it was great. It’s like seeing an old friend. Sumatra’s rich volcanic soil contributes to it’s earthiness which in many bad cases can taste very funky, like dirt. Not so with Iskandar, it is more refined and extremely well prepared.

Sumatra is the 3rd largest producer of coffee in the world. Iskandar comes from the area surrounding Lintongnihuta with most of the coffee coming from the markets at Doloksanggul and Lintongnihuta. The coffee is picked and depulped on the farm, most farmers do it all by hand using manual depulpers. Coffee is depulped the the same day it is picked and the farmers will let the coffee ferment for 24 hours prior to washing. Washing is done by hand and farmers agitate the coffee in basins until it is clean. After washing, the parchment coffee will be set out on tarps or patios to dry for about 30 minutes to an hour. After drying, the coffee is bagged and sells it to a local coffee collector. The local collector brings their purchased coffee to the local markets where it is sold to producers who are responsible for further drying and hulling the coffee. Iskandar is brought to a testing lab in Medan. Here the coffee is tested for initial quality and then cupped where it will need to meet stringent requirements for approval. The results are a thick and bold body with a distinct hint of butterscotch. An exceptionally clean cup with a woody spice finish.

After numerous attempts to come up with a design for the mobile café that ultimately would be implemented as a “vehicle wrap, I decided to pursue a different direction. The white box needed to look cool, hip, magical, and by all means a head-turner. Enter Tim Clorius, a graffiti artist living in Portland Maine whose paintings are on display throughout the community in Portland. He was born and raised in Germany. Tim’s medium is aerosol spray cans. He works with the vision in his head, no sketches or drawings. This was a tough issue for me to swallow. But we talked about his concept and guaranteed I’d be happy with the results. Besides I saw his portfolio and that is why I wanted him in the first place. Hell he’s European so it has to be good.
As I watched Tim work with objects, shapes, and textures meticulously assembling them in multitudes of viewpoints. It became clear that Tim’s concept was influential of the cubist movement that began in the 20th century pioneered by Pablo Picasso. Shapes and objects intersecting at random angles that removed any coherent sense of depth, was one of cubism’s distinct characteristics. The big white box was a canvas and each of the four sides had its own concept that intersected with the right angle of the other side. There are no signs of the real world here — just an artist expressing his freedom of abstract forms — an art and coffee manifesto under one roof. Stop by the Hingham Farmers Market on Saturdays from 10-2 and say hello.