Rwanda Bufcafé

Posted on February 5, 2012 by heartroasters

We have just received and roasted our first few batches of Rwanda Bufcafé. This coffee is delicious and delicate, with a very clean African profile. It’s the kind of coffee that we love to drink: soft on the palate, with clean, sweet citrus, and floral notes. We also taste notes of black tea, clove, cranberry, and caramel. Not only is the coffee delicious, but it has a great story. This coffee is from Bufcafé washing station in the Gikongoro region of Rwanda. It is a pure bourbon cultivar, and grown at 1650-2100 meters above sea level. The coffee is grown by about 400 families on small shares, where it is picked ripe, and then transported to the Bufcafé mill to be processed. Mukashyaka Epiphanie is the owner of the mill and is a genocide widow. Her mission is to rebuild the specialty coffee industry in Rwanda and the community where she lives. All coffee is hand milled and hand sorted, wet processed, and sun dried, which helps to create a coffee that is very sweet with bright, bold acidity. This is our first Rwandan coffee at Heart, and we are very impressed to see the coffee from that region continually improve year by year. This is a testament to what can happen when people work together in the face of adversity with the common goal of improving coffee quality, and improving the lives of those who work to make it happen.

-Jeremy Williamson

Heart and Coffee Common

Posted on January 18, 2012 by heartroasters

We are very excited to have our coffee be a part of the NYC Coffee Common event happening in Chelsea on January 19-22, at The Start-Up Store!

Coffee Common is a unique collaboration between top-notch baristas and roasters bringing the highest quality coffee to people during these special and innovative events. The idea is simple—if more people drink great coffee, prepared by passionate coffee professionals, we all win. We couldn’t be happier to be a part of this process. Coffee Common has made huge progress as ambassadors for great coffee during their first two TED events, with conferences held in California and London last year. They are taking it to the the next level this time around by going straight to the heart of New York City–Chelsea’s innovative “Start-Up Store.” The focus of the event will be hand brewed, by the cup coffee, prepared by some of the nation’s best baristas–on a variety of different brewing apparatus–all aimed at helping you create a better cup at home.

The cost is a bargain at five dollars, which covers entry, coffee tasting, and priceless knowledge on how to brew great coffee at home. We will be sending our Guatemala Puerta Verde to be brewed at the event, a coffee we feel privileged to bring to you again for the second year in a row. This year, the Puerta Verde is fantastic! Hard-candy sweetness with delicate stone fruit flavors and a finish that lingers on the palate.

We are also really excited about this coffee, because Hearts’ own Sarah Mykkanen happens to be in Guatemala at the farm this very moment checking out the plants, the mill, and breathing the air. We are very jealous, but can’t wait to hear back from her about the trip.

So, to all of our friends in NYC: go down to a great event and taste some delicious coffees! Tickets can be purchased in advance on the web site, and this is advisable, as they will be going fast.

http://coffeecommon.com/

-Jeremy Williamson

Guatemala Santa Clara Bourboncillo

Posted on August 2, 2011 by heartroasters

Last season was the first time we offered coffee from the incredible Finca Santa Clara, and it was quite lovely. This season we’re very excited to be bringing back a very unique micro-lot from this same farm, the “Bourboncillo.” This coffee is produced using the fruit from the “Bourboncito” or dwarf bourbon plants, which is a low yielding, high quality mutation of the Bourbon varietal of arabica. This mutation produces a cup with a beautifully clean citrus, and intense sweetness. Finca Santa Clara is a pristine farm on the slopes of Volcan de Agua in the Antigua region of Guatemala. The Zelaya family have been growing coffee at Santa Clara for four generations, and are extremely committed to both quality and sustainability, and we’re excited to be able to showcase this unique and beautiful lot. It would be very easy to make this a very long blog post describing how much we love this coffee and all of it’s unique flavor notes, but we’ll refrain, and simply say that if you like cherry and milk chocolate, you’ll love this coffee. Stop by the shop for a bag or a chemex, or visit the online store because this one won’t last

-Jeremy Williamson

New Kenya Gichatha-ini is here!

Posted on June 28, 2011 by heartroasters

Early summer brings good things to Portland: an end to the monsoon season and a chance to get some color, lots of bicycles, parades, festivals, delicious fresh produce, and fresh crop Kenyan coffees. While we love all of the coffees that we serve at Heart, there’s just a special place in our Hearts for a good Kenya, and this year, we are especially happy with the coffee we have received from Gichathaini Cooperative in Nyeri. The coffee is a combination of the SL-28, and SL-34 varietals, and the ripe cherries are picked, washed, and then fermented for 72 hours, quite long in processing terms. The fermented coffee is then placed on raised beds to dry in the sun. The meticulous processing leads to a clean and vibrant cup with a bright acidity and notes of apple, fresh berries, rhubarb, lemon tea, and cane sugar. The profile of the cup is so fruity and sweet that many have compared it to more of a fruit juice, or fruit infused herbal tea than coffee, and that’s alright with us. Come experience this unique and beautiful coffee while you can, buy it in a 12 ounce bag for home, or try a Chemex on the brew bar. -Jeremy Williamson

The Factory manager

Pulp tower at Gichatha-ini factory.

SUSTAINABLE FARMING

In line with sustainable and responsible farming principles the factory has adopted certification and

advocates for good agricultural practices among its farmers. The factory is Fairtrade certified

and is currently pursuing Utz Kapeh certification.

In order to conserve electricity clean water for pulping is sourced from river Ragati using channels.

Additionally coffee is sun dried on the numerous drying tables available.

For conservation water is re-circulated during processing and disposed responsibly in numerous

soak pits away from water sources. Pulp from the factory is collected by farmers for use as mulch

on their farms to improve the soil structure and organic matter content.

Daterra is here

Posted on April 11, 2011 by heartroasters

Daterra Sweet Yellow is finally at Heart. We have been waiting for this coffee for a while and we are excited about its’ arrival. This coffee will be available as single origin espresso and also it will be the main component for Stereo blend. Yes, Stereo is changing and it will be 73% Daterra and 27% Leka Wato Wollega.

Daterra Sweet Yellow is from a farm in Brazil, located in the Cerrado region (State of Minas Gerais) and in the Mogiana region (State of São Paulo). Daterra’s plantations are located at an average altitude of 3,800 ft (1,150 m) under a stable temperature of around 70ºF (25ºC), which constitutes the perfect environment for Arabica Coffee production. Furthermore, the dry season during the harvest makes this region unique for the best Arabica coffees.

Location: Barazil, Cerrado

Farm: Daterra

Altitude: 1150 m

Varietals: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Mondo Novo, Red/Yellow Icatu

Processing: Pulped Natural

Cupping notes: Sweet, creamy, nougat, green apple, and fresh butter

Daterra ships all their coffee in Vacuum sealed bags that are then packaged in boxes. This ensures that coffee will keep longer and transportation is much easier. A typical day in Portland in April, thank you Daterra for such great packaging!

Luis Alfredo Rojas

Posted on March 21, 2011 by heartroasters

This coffee we have been anticipating for is finally here. Thanks to Alejandro Renjifo from Fairfiel Trading, we have this coffee at heart. Earlier in November 2010, we cupped 16 pre-shipment samples and Alfredos coffee was one of them. From the 16 different samples, this coffee stood out the most. Flavors of pomegranate fruit, hard candy sweetness, and winey, with a clean green apple like acidity. Alfredo only produced 11x 150 lb bags and we got 10 of them. The one left in Colombia got blended in with some other lots so, we now can say that we are the only ones with this coffee. We are very proud and lucky at the same time. Come in and get this coffee on Siphon, Karslbad coffee machine, Chemex, Aeropress or Espresso. We will be roasting this coffee for espresso occasionally and it will be rotating with the other single origin espressos.

Farmer: Luis Alfredo Rojas

Location: Colombia, Municipality of Garzon, Huila

Altitude: 1450 m

Varietal: Colombia and Caturra

Harvesting: October 2010-January 2011

Processing: Wet process with traditional fermentation

Heart blog is back

Posted on March 16, 2011 by heartroasters

Hi Everyone!

The blog has been neglected, but now that will all be changing.

You can come to the blog and see what we are up to, what coffees we have, or what new coffees we are getting in. There will be coffee information, brew guides, reviews, and anything else coffee or heart related.

We just got in two new delicious coffees, Bolivia (Familia Miranda) and a Colombia (Alfredo Rojas) this coffee is heart exclusive. More about these coffees soon, stay tuned.

By leaps…

Posted on November 13, 2010 by heartroasters

We are growing by leaps and…Breakfast! So, I hear that Juniors on SE 12th has AMAZING french toast…I hear they make an unbeatable vegan breakfast too…I also heard that they just started serving HEART coffee!! I think its time to pay this little Southeast gem a visit again! (plus…they are just so darn sweet)