Tag Archive for 'el salvador'

Coming Soon: The Black Cat Project

Published
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Luke
on October 6, 2008
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Black Cat is the espresso blend from our roaster Intelligentsia that we use to make all of our espresso based drinks.  The Black Cat Project is a formal effort by our roaster to continually improve upon and refine their signature blend based on the very best in season coffees they can get their hands on.  It is also an effort to bring delicious single origin coffees to market for espresso brewing.  We had a couple glimpses of what was to come earlier this year, but I’ve been waiting for an update ever since we pulled the last shots of that single origin El Salvador months ago.  Anyway, I just got this email from Intelli regarding the status of the Black Cat Project.  I’m pretty excited about it and wanted to share it…

Hi,

Black Cat will soon become Black Cat Classic, why? Because when the Black Cat Project goes live everything will be Black Cat….Black Cat is essentially becoming a mark like Tres Santos, or Inmortales - and there will be variations of the blend and single origins flown under the Black Cat flag. (Kid O will eventually become Organic Black Cat Blend…)

The bigger and more exciting news is that the Black Cat you’ll get this week is Direct Trade!

Some info from our buyers:

The blend currently consists of two coffees. It is :

- Brazil Fazenda Santa Alina 80% (100% Yellow Bourbon)
- El Salvador Los Inmortales “El Borbollon” 20% (100% Bourbon)

Fazenda Santa Alina

Santa Alina is located in the Grama Valley outside Pocos de Caldas in Minas Gerais. Volcanic soil, good latitude, shade and decent altitude combine to yield consistently very sweet coffees. This coffee is actually grown at 1200m, after which it is pulped and dried on a raised, ventilated bed, a patio and finally a mechanical dryer.

Santa Alina is bordered by numerous other well known coffee farms, including Fazenda Cachoeira, Fazenda Rainha and Fazenda Barreiro  (Map).

As far as flavor notes, you can look for some big cherry sweetness, strong citrus and a syrupy chocolate support. Enjoy!

I’m a big fan of the changes made to the blend over the past year.  Intelligentsia is the kind of company I like working with- always pursuing a better way and never resting on their laurels.  I like the brightness and sweetness we’ve been getting from the Black Cat- it’s just so darned tasty.  I love that all of the coffees are going to the direct trade model and that they’re releasing the components of the blend.  Finally I’m looking forward to the near future when we’ll be able to offer a single origin espresso menu to go along with our brewed coffee menu.  Good stuff indeed!

Here’s the new menu, kids

Published
by
Luke
on September 17, 2008
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Not to be confused with a kids menu… ladies and gents here are your coffees and teas.

The El Salvador coffee from the Los Inmortales project is here.   We’ll be dialing it in tomorrow morning.  By the way, Intelli’s roast of the Esmeralda was voted one of the world’s best coffees by Saveur Magazine.  I think you should take the day off, come on down to the Strip, and drink some coffee.  The weather is supposed to be great all week.

The Legend of Esmeralda

Published
by
Luke
on September 17, 2008
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. 3 Comments

This time last year we offered the infamous $22 cup of coffee.

We took some flack for charging such a high price, but the reality was at our cost of $198/lb we were only making about a dollar on each sale.  We sold about 1% of the world’s supply of the highest quality lot of the coffee ranked FIRST. IN. THE.  WORLD… 4 years in a row- the Esmeralda Especial.  We did it because we were excited to try it and wanted to share it with our customers.  As a bonus we got a lot of free PR, and customers are still talking about it a year later.

Sure we had some customers that wanted to try it solely for the novelty of it, to say they spent $22 on a cup of joe, but for many it was a unique and rare coffee experience.  The coffee tasted fantastic- everyone drank it black… in for here cups.  Best of all we had many great conversations with customers about coffee VALUE and QUALITY- and what it takes to pull off the stunning flavors in the cup.  This kind of quality does not happen by accident.

Here’s the new stuff.

This year’s crop was vacuum sealed at origin, to best preserve the delicate aroma, flavor, and acidity that make this coffee so unique.  Our roaster Intelligentsia decided not to purchase the top ranked lot, but what this means is that we’ll be able to offer this fantastic varietal brewed fresh to order for $7.  We’re going to do one size only- a 10oz.  No to-go cups please.  Bring a friend, split it, enjoy it.

As a funny aside to all this seriousness- we received our usual coffee shipment today. Next to all the big boxes full of coffee there was this tiny little box… what was inside? Was it the Esmeralda?

A Morning at Intelligentsia

Published
by
Luke
on June 16, 2008
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From BoingBoing… good find by a couple of our regulars- thanks to both Tristan and Michael, you were about 15 minutes apart in your emails.

Kyle and Deaton at the Intelligentsia Roasting Works give a nice walk through of the roasting process.

Two Micro Lots on Tap

Published
by
Luke
on June 12, 2008
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We’ve had a couple of Micro Lot coffees on and off the menu for the past week- we would order a little, get it in, then sell out quickly.  Here’s the lowdown on these special, limited offering coffees…

Fazenda do Sertão, Brazil
Originally meant to be a part of the Black Cat Espresso Blend- this coffee practically jumped off the cupping table and into a press pot!  Caramel and toffee flavors dominate this pulped natural coffee.  Low acidity but you get a just hint of mango. Available for a limited time only!

Los Inmortales, El Salvador Micro-Lot: Finca Matalapa
The cream of the (Finca Matalapa) crop- this coffee features notes of white grape and sweet apple.  The body is silky smooth and finishes with a hint of vanilla.  Won’t be around long.

The brew bar menu has been updated at long last.  More updates coming as all the new centrals start to roll in.