The New Year is upon us and we thought it would be a great time for a review of the past years coffee’s, with an update of what’s to come in 2011.  Last year was an exciting year for us at PT’s Coffee Roasting Co..  We made new coffee discoveries, in Brazil and Guatemala, and received great reviews for coffees that have become favorites for many.  The New Year brings an new excitement of new-found coffee discoveries and fresh harvests. We’ll continue our outstanding relationships with the current Direct Trade Farms and develop a few new relationships that we hope will become just as rewarding.

The Year In Review - 2010

In January our classic offering, Moka-Java Organic Blend, received a 90-point review.  And that was just the beginning of what would become our all-new Organic Line of Coffees.  If you haven’t checked these coffees out yet, you’re missing some wonderful Single Origin Organic and Blended Organic coffees.

One of our goals last year came to fruition around mid-year when some of our blends took on a new look and others got new names.  The Moka-Java Organic Blend is now called “OLD 93″ in honor of our company founding February 3^rd, 1993.  Another popular blend, Kansas Sunrise, became an immediate hit with its new name – Farm Girl Blend.  And Rolling Thunder changed to Thunder Road.  Same great coffees, just some updated branding.

In March, another of our 2010 discoveries, Ethiopia Sidama – Ardi, received a 92-point review from Ken Davids of Coffee Review.  We also developed the Ardi as a Single Origin Espresso and Robin Seitz featured it in the Midwest Regional Barista Competition and United States Barista Competitions.

2010 was a good year for espresso as well.  Through dogged determination, experimentation and discovery, we launched Flying Monkey Espresso. With a flavor profile that is gently fruit-filled and an undercurrent of licorice and aromatic wood, Flying Monkey Espresso has become extremely popular in it’s first year. In addition to Flying Monkey, Jeff Taylor, co-founder and coffee buyer for PT’s, and Holly Bastin, staff Barista Trainer, developed our first Seasonal Espresso Offering - Don Roberto Espresso Reserve from Finca Las Mercedes, El Salvador. This blend features coffees from three different Micro-Lots on the same farm, Don Roberto Espresso Reserve was a huge hit and didn’t last as long as we originally hoped it might. Boasting of two Honeyed Micro-Lot coffees and one fully washed coffee, Don Roberto introduced an all-new flavor profile to our line-up of espresso blends.

It was a slow year for us on Coffee Review as we only scored four other coffees that received 90+ reviews, unfortunately, as we transition through harvest seasons, some of them are no longer available.  Panama Elida Natural received a 93 and Guatemala Finca El Socorro Maracaturra received a 92, both are still available.  Burundi Mwurire and Colombia Los Naranjos San Agustin received 90+ reviews, but are no longer available.

Last but not least, as we rounded out the year, a unique find, and the only Kona coffee we’ve purchased in a number of years from Hawaii, scored a 94-point review.  Hawaii Isla Kona Mauka was the result of three pickers, including our friend Miguel Meza, who was sent to one of the highest farms in Kona, near 3200 feet, and close to the town of Holualoa.  We paid a premium to the pickers for only the ripest cherries and to process this coffee just for us to provide for you during the holidays. The resulting cup is remarkable and worth the effort. There is still a very small amount of this coffee available, but you’ll want to order soon as it won’t last. Jeff is working to process some more of this coffee, but we don’t have an arrival date yet.

2011 New Year Offerings

With so many exciting things happening in 2010, we are really looking forward to a great 2011.  

Introducing our newest Direct Trade Farm - Guatemala El Socorro Bourbon Espresso. This is our January Single Origin Espresso offering.  Holly believes this is the most balanced Single Origin Espresso she has seen since our offering of Ethiopia Sidama Ardi as an Espresso last spring.  This espresso has notes of Bing Cherry, Clementine Orange, and Bittersweet Cocoa.

We are anticipating the arrival of another new offering from South America very soon.  Brazil - Pocos de Caldas - Yellow Bourbon – Pulped Natural.  This coffee is produced and blended from 3 small farms in the region of Mogiana.  Pocos de Caldas is a volcanic crater, and these farms are located around the rim of the crater.  This coffee almost elevated itself off of the cupping table and insisted we purchase it last week. Keep your eyes open for this one.

The year 2011 is shaping up to be monumental in terms of quality for PT’s, but the high price of coffee is going to be an issue. Demand for Specialty Coffee worldwide is at an all-time high. So the climatic weather conditions that caused the loss of untold amounts of coffee in growing regions of Colombia, Brazil and many other coffee origins couldn’t have come at a worse time.  With demand sky high and supply at all time lows, the price is already at a 15-year high on the New York “C” market. This is the commodity market that sets the base price for coffee.  So we are very sorry to tell you our prices too will be rising in the near future. We’re doing everything we can to hold the line of prices, but this market is out of our control and it’s going to affect everyone. You’ll see prices for coffee going up everywhere, not just for PT’s coffee.  Stick with us and we’ll make it through this market and continue to provide you with the best coffees the world has to offer.

Because as we are often heard to say: “Without the love, it’s just coffee!”

The holidays are coming fast, and if you still haven’t found that special gift for that special someone, we have some ideas that take the pain and work out of last minute shopping.  We have launched two new Coffee Clubs.  Some of you may be familiar with these from the last couple of years.

Our Espresso Club takes the work out of having great espresso delivered to your door every month.  We will automatically ship one pound of La Bella Vita, Flying Monkey, or Gizmo Espresso once or twice a month for three, six, or twelve months.

Our Single Origin tour features one of our Single Origin coffees, selected by Green Coffee Buyer, Jeff Taylor, each month.  The single origin tour will eventually cover all of the coffee growin regions and eventually take you on a journey through the coffee world.

These clubs are wonderful gifts that keep giving throughout the year.  In addition to these two clubs, we have created an ongoing club order system through our webpage that allows you to schedule your coffee orders for automatic shipments.  Using your club order queue, you can automatically adjust exactly what coffee gets sent to you, and you will never have to worry about placing orders again.  Check out the new recurring order system here!.

We know that holiday shopping can be hectic, so in an effort to minimize the stress a little bit, we did some research on different shipping policies during the busy holiday season. Here are some simple guidelines to make sure that you receive your order before December 25th.  Orders placed via UPS should be placed before Friday, December 17th to garuntee their delivery before the holiday.  Orders placed via USPS will need to be placed before midnight on Sunday, December 19th.  UPS transit times depend on your location relative to us.  Please refer to the UPS shipping map above to calculate the exact time in transit to your location.  It is possible to expedite and request UPS 2-Day to ensure your orders arrival on short notice. Hopefully this information will help make sure that your coffees arrive in time for the holiday festivities! And as always, if you have any questions or special requests give us a call, 1-888-678-JAVA, and we will be more than happy to help find the shipping method that will best fit your needs.

Due to fluctuation in the commodities market, pricing has risen to it’s highest point in 12 years, and weather patterns that have caused substantial reduction in crops in Central and South America, PTs Coffee Roasting Co. will have a price adjustment at the wholesale and retail level effective immediately. We regret that this step is necessary.

Regards

Fred Polzin and Jeff Taylor

PTs Coffee Roasting Co.

Our exclusive Passport line of coffees gives you the opportunity to taste the best the world has to offer. All the travel, cupping, and know-how we have is poured into spotting these rare coffee gems and bringing out the best in each.

First
For our Passport offerings, we specifically seek out coffees that are rare, exceptional, or have a limited offering.

Then
We roast them to the peak of perfection, in small batches, and on specific roast dates to ensure freshness and quality.

And Then . . .
We ship directly to you. You’ll be able to taste each mastered step of PT’s Passport coffees from tree to cup.

SOLD OUT!  More expected in coming weeks. What a great day for Hawaiian coffees!  Our Micro-Lot of Rusty’s Hawaiian just arrived and we plan to launch it next week. We are now accepting pre-orders for this exceptional coffee.

Lorie Obra next to a sign that denotes her family farm. The farm is named in honor of her late husband, Rusty.

For years customers have asked why we don’t carry Kona Coffee on our offering sheet, in our store, or on our website. I’ve always had the same answer. “The samples of Kona coffee that I’ve received  just don’t cup well enough to justify the price that is paid for a coffee carrying the Kona Coffee brand.”

I tell customers that “we make every attempt to offer coffees that are worthy of the price, not just the name.” Kona Coffee has had a tremendous reputation for years. But in recent years the samples I have received and tasted on our cupping table just didn’t measure up. So despite the pressure to offer a Kona Coffee or Kona Coffee Blend, we chose to stay the course and only offer coffees of exceptional quality.

Coffee cherry harvested by Lorie at her family farm in Hawaii.

Today, we are very proud, a coffee we’ve now carried for 2 years from the Hawaiian Islands placed 1st place in a Blind Cupping competition. I noted when we first bought this coffee that we had finally found a coffee worthy of the price from the Hawaiian Islands. Rusty’s Hawaiian Coffee is an outstanding coffee that is grown and harvested by Lorie Obra in the District of Ka’u. Lorie takes incredible pride in the coffee she grows and processes and is always willing to go the extra mile to make it exceptional.

So this blog post is for you Lorie: CONGRATULATIONS from your friends at PTs Coffee Roasting Co.!

Lorie strives to make her late husband proud and produce not just a coffee crop, but one that is exceptional. Today her dream was realized in a blind cupping competition. We are proud to work with you Lorie and look forward to working with you for years to come.
For more info see the local stories about the competition.

Our Micro-Lot of Rusty’s Hawaiian just arrived and we plan to launch it next week. We are now accepting pre-orders for this exceptional coffee.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Jeff Taylor

PTs Coffee Roasting Co.

As part of our Direct Trade program at PTs Coffee Roasting Co. we visit the farms we work with on an annual basis to inspect the farms and learn, build relationships and evaluate the coffee prior to harvest, during harvest or after harvest.

This year, I arrived at Finca Cerro Paldo in Costa Rica just as the harvest had concluded. Although I did miss the actual harvest, I was able to spend a quality afternoon with the Monge Family at Finca Cerro Paldo enjoying lunch and a wonderful cup of coffee with Don Juan Rafael and his sons. We toured the farm and looked at areas of the farm they plan to plant with coffee later in the season. The goal is to double production to meet our needs over the next 5 years.

Finca Cerro Paldo won First Place in the 2007 Cup of Excellence and has been one of our prized Direct Trade partners at origin since. This will be our third year to buy the coffee and I can proudly report this is one of their top quality harvests. I’ll post more pictures from the farm soon.

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FACEBOOK PHOTOS CLICK HERE

These are photos from a recent origin visit to Finca Las Mercedes in El Salvador. I visited producer Lucia Ortiz and her family with staff members Holly Bastin and Morgan Smith. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the visit with our friends.

Jeff

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We are proud to announce the latest reviews from Coffee Review!  We had Ken review our Panama Elida Natural and our El Salvador Finca Las Mercedes - El Pepinal 1.  These are two of our favorite Direct Trade coffees, so be sure to taste them before they sell out!  Order Panama Elida Estate Natural here and El Salvador Finca Las Mercedes - El Pepinal 1 here!

Coffee Review Assessment

Panama Elida Estate Natural

Reviewed: November 2009

Aroma 9

Acidity 8

Body 8

Flavor 9

Aftertaste 9

PTs Coffee Roasting Co. and the Gombe Coffee Project, along with travels to Burundi and El Salvador, are featured in the Fall 2009 TKBiz Magazine. Click through the pages and check out the “postcards from coffees origin.”

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You are invited to join PT’s Coffee Roasting Co and Gizmo Pictures to celebrate The Gombe Coffee Project Video release!  Gizmo Picture’s David Kitchner traveled with PT’s Jeff Taylor on a coffee sourcing trip to Tanzania, documenting the lives and work of these hardworking farmers.  That night will be the first viewing of this incredible documentary!  Join us at 6:00 pm on Thursday, October 15th at the Blind Tiger Brewery for great food, coffee and discounted Java Porter!