Cold Grinds, Cool Beans...Mas Mocha

Guatemala comings and goings

by badbeard2 24. March 2018 15:21

Said good-bye tearily to the last beans from La Morena, an exceptional women-produced coffee, as we welcomed in the exceptional Finca La Maravilla microlot from highland Huehuetenango. La Morena will be back soon!

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Coffee News | The Grind

CAFE IS FINALLY HAPPENING!

by badbeard2 9. March 2018 13:18

The wait for the cafe is finally over...Abundancia Coffee Boutique, home of Badbeard's roasting facility, has soft-opened, here at 5829 SE Powell Blvd. Portland 97206. My coffee partner Faisal, whose exceptional family Kenya coffees we have carried for a couple years now, is as hopped up as I am.

Official Grand Opening date tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 28, and I will update here.

We will be featuring many fabulous and boutique coffee...my Rocket espresso machine is purring. The cool Curtis Seraphim 2-headed pourover prepares in all manner of methods. We will have light fare (no space for a kitchen, so we are limited to fine offerings from purveyors around the city) and beer/wine/cider. There will (eventually!) be 8 beer taps offering our collaborative coffee beers from Unicorn and 54_40, and a steady rotation of the country's best craft offerings (several 2018 Good Food Award winners are ordered up). Please stop by if you're in the area! Very friendly staff! 

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Coffee News | Food and Drink | The Grind

Comings, goings, doings...

by badbeard2 9. March 2018 13:00

Couple of notes on existing stocks...temporarily discontinuing the Filtropa #4 filters for awhile as we await a shipment from Holland...might be a couple of months!

Our award-winning Colombia Narino Galeras will be back in stock middle of next week...flew off the shelves!

This Sunday, March 11, Ecliptic Brewing in Portland is site of the 4th Annual Baker's Dozen Coffee Beers/Beers/Donuts/Coffee event. We will be offering "Bad Manuka"; a collaboration with excellent  54_40 Brewery (Washougal, WA), brewsmith John Lovegrove tipping his hat to his homeland, New Zealand, with his contribution of whiskey-soaked Manuka chips, and yours truly with a combo of Papua New Guinea Kiam and Colombia Finca Florida Pink Bourbon. Totally delicious. We will be ordering up some future batches to serve at the cafe, where the tap list will be growing...

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Coffee News | Food and Drink | The Grind

Colombia Pink Bourbon is back 1/22/18

by badbeard2 22. January 2018 22:23

Loved this coffee the last two years and jumped on a few bags when they arrived in Portland last week...admittedly heavy on Colombians these days but heck, they're fresh and tasty and unusual....about as far from the "Juan Valdez" coffee profile as I can imagine. A country with such incredible biodiversity must be celebrated, as the coffee sector reflects the hard work of the mostly smallholder producers. This year's Pink is from Cesar Augusto Yantel and his farm Finca (la)Florida in Huila department. 

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Arrivals: Ethiopia washed Yukro fabuloso, Peru SWP Decaf

by badbeard2 26. December 2017 12:34

This Yukro is the bomb! A relatively new co-op, Kata Muduga, in the Jimma Zone of Oromia in SW Ethiopia, central of all great things coffee. On the cupping table, any washed coffee that can fool me and others into thinking it's a natural process is AUTOMATICALLY booked. Special stuff for drip or single origin espresso.

The Peru Swiss Water Process Decaf is chocolately and delicious.

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Arrivals, last ditch rush orders still possible..coffee screams HAPPY HOLIDAYS

by badbeard2 16. December 2017 21:33

Most recent sample arrivals were two excellent Papua New Guinea coffees, Kiam and Marenban Estate,  both from the Eastern Highlands region. The (washed process) Kiam is  big-bodied and citrussy sweet and offered stand-alone. The Marenban is going to be reserved for blends (Archipelagos Anonymous and Midnight Tango, This is My Espresso in a darker roast profile and a light-medium touch for This Is MY House) although I must say it's top-shelf...just had to choose which to lay in with in quantity. Have always been fond of this country's production and gluttinous for good Far East coffees in general. While watching an early episode in Season 2 of "The Crown" there was a scene in PNG, in the 50s, when peoples in "tribal dress"...this being in the late '50s....were still "emblematic" of New Guinea, as it was known. A very rich place culturally and agronomically! Helped in my decision-making process!

We're now out of Colombia Pink Bourbon, a real hit from past months, but happy to report that it will again be arriving in late Jan./early Feb. 2018...currently sailing the high seas, headed to the US on a container ship.

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Coffee News | The Grind

Colombia Yellow Bourbon and Natural Decaf arrived 11/27

by badbeard2 27. November 2017 14:21

Always-excellent microlots arrive from partners Traviesa Coffee in Manizales around this time of the year, from recent (Sept. thru Nov.) 2017 harvests with great anticipation. The 100% Yellow Bourbon from Finca La Esmeralda in Pitalito is bright, juicy sweet, citrusy and we love it. The always-popular Natural Decaf from the Manizales decaffing plant is always a winner too, lively and fruity.

More delish Pink Bourbon will be coming on the next Traviesa container at the end of January, 2018 to take the place of our current stash, which is down to a few pounds, but please try the Yellow!

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Beefcake Sumatra Lintong Boru Batak limited quantity offering

by badbeard2 16. November 2017 15:18

Now that spot coffees are getting more available in Portland, trying to take advantage...thanks Buckman Coffee Factory for offering! Beautiful and big-bodied Sumatra Lintong Boru Batak in da house, only 30 kg. of it. Once gone it's gone.

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Accolades for Badbeard!

by badbeard2 12. November 2017 18:18

Fab News! Badbeard’s notched the PEOPLE’S CHOICE award at the  2017 Cascadia Roasters Cup event this past Saturday (held at Buckman Coffee Factory) in Portland, which was open to all. Importer Genuine Origins gave 20 pounds of the same “mystery coffee” participants to roast as they saw fit. 44 roasters altogether submitted their 2.5 lbs. and a  professional cupping jury did their analysis and scoring of five coffees at a time, followed by the presentation to the public (including attending roasters) of drip coffee. I had opted for a light-medium roast to present, finding a nice caramelly sweet spot with citrus notes in the orange family…apparently this resonated with the drinkers, who voted anonymously for their favorite. Unfortunately I had to leave the event in the middle but my bud Lisa from Happyrock Roasting in Gladstone did me a solid and sent me text messages and an award announcement  vid as the field was winnowed down to the finalists.  So happy! And special thanks to Cassy and Joey Gleason of Buckman/Marigold Coffee and everyone involved for running such a smooth show.

Today I ordered a lot of this coffee..a washed Colombia Galeras from the Nariño Department.. to put out there for the public. Check back here and for the arrival date…should be cranking it out the week of Nov.20, and this is a really nice go-with coffee for Thanksgiving!

 

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Organic Sumatra arriving 11-3-17, yum

by badbeard2 2. November 2017 21:52

Timely arrival of this excellent Indonesian as our stash of Java and Bali is exhausted. The Irham Junus family in Takengon, Aceh Province is a seed-to-cup producer which sells all of its coffee to our importer partners Royal in Emeryville, CA. You can watch a short video of this enterprise here. We haven't had the certified organic Takengon IKA in a couple years and missed it! This 2017 crop edition is very chocolatey and would even make a nice PSL, but then I'd have to shoot you....

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