Its time for another free public cupping event which will be help this Friday March 12th at 1:30.

We are going to be tasting 13 different varieties of African’s from 5 different countries:

• 4 x Ethiopians
• 4 x Tanazanias
• 3 x Burundis
• 1 x Rwanda
• 1 x Kenya

I hope that many of you can make it as we are sure to discover some amazing flavors.  Our office is located at:

4021 – 9th Street SE in Calgary.

Fratello coffee is going to be holding a casual public cupping of 10 fantastic coffees that we offer. We invite the public to come to Fratello on Feb 10th at 1:30 to taste a wide variety of offerings.

If you have not come out to one of our last cupping sessions this is a great way to learn about the distinctions amoung different coffee regions. You don’t have to be an expert to join us, just an interest in learning about some great coffee!

Here are the coffees we will be cupping on Feb 10th at 1:30

Guatemalan Montecristo, Single Estate, Rainforest Alliance, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 88.5
• Varietal: 100% Bourbon
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo, Single Estate, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 88.00
• Varietal: 25% Bourbon, 20% Caturra, 15% Java
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Panama Hacienda la Esmeralda – Diamond Mountain, Single Estate, RFA

• Cupping Score: 89.50
• Varietal: A blend of Typica, Bourbon and Catuai
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Colombian Tolima Tierra, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 89.0
• Varietal: 70% Caturra & 30 % Colombia
• Processing: European Prep – Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Bolivian Caranavi Villa Oriente, Organic Fair Trade

• Cupping Score: 86.00
• Varieties: Typica (80%), Catuai (both red and yellow) and 20 % Caturra
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

(Read the rest of this post)

Here is a new video we just shot while touring our Direct Trade Partners in Guatemala

Guatemala Montecristo Estate – Micro Lot from Russ Prefontaine on Vimeo.

Fratello Coffee is going to be holding a public cupping of the top 10 Cup of Excellence coffees from the Brazilian 2009 competition.  If you are interested in tasting these coffees, please come to Fratello Coffee on January 12^th @ 1:30. 

The auction for these coffees will be on January 19^th.   26 lots of coffee were awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence award this year; however, Fratello Coffee will only be focusing on the top 10 coffees. 

What we’ll be cupping is:

Lot #1  Fazenda Ouro Verde

• Pupled Natural Catua
• Region: Chapada Diamantina
• Cupping Score: 91.08

Lot #2  Fazenda Sant’Ana

• Pulped Natural Yellow Bourbon/Acaia
• Region: Sul de Minas
• Cupping Score: 90.83

Lot #3  Fazenda Recreio

• Pulped Natural Yellow Bourbon
• Region: Mogiana – Vale da Grama
• Cupping Score: 89.42

Lot #4  Fazenda Monte Verde

• Pulped Natural Yellow Bourbon
• Region: Sul de Minas
• Cupping Score: 89.15 (Read the rest of this post)

Good day all you coffee lovers.   I’d like to invite you to come to Fratello Coffee this Thursday at 2:30 for another free public cupping.  This week we will be sampling 16 different Sumatran & Indonesian coffee.  Each of these are from different cooperatives, each processed differently and each to deliver a different profile in the cup.

Sumatrans are typically known for their Earthy flavor profiles and often described as woody, dirty and inconsistent in their roasting profile.  Our goal is to bring you a coffee which still offers these classic cup characteristics, at the same time as bringing something much cleaner, sweeter and syrupy to the table. 

What we’ll be tasting is:

• Sumatra Permata – Organic Fair Trade
• Sumatra Sidikalang Tabu Jamu – Natural, double pick
• 5 x Sumatra Mandheling Grade 1
• Indonesian Flores Grade 1 Organic “Green Dragon”
• Indonesian Flores Bajawa Ngura Organic
• Indonesian Java Sagulins
• Sumatra Sidikalang Estate – Fully Washed
• Sumatra Aceh Tengah Organic
• Sumatra Takengon, Aceh – Pulped Natural
• Bali Kintimani Organic – Natural
• Sulawesi Toraja Sapan Minanga

We hope that you can make it to this event.  This will be a fun and casual atmosphere to taste some of the nicest coffees available from these regions.

We want to invite anyone who loves specialty coffee, especially Ethiopian Coffees to come by Fratello Coffee tomorrow at 11:30 am. 

We are going to be hosting a free cupping for the public, of 7 very rare and special Ethiopian coffees.  What we will be cupping is:

1. Ethiopian Beloya Micro Lot#12, Full Natural
2. Ethiopian Beloya Micro Lot#10, Full Natural
3. Ethiopian Aricha Micro Lot#26, Full Natural
4. Ethiopian Aricha Micro Lot#14, Full Natural
5. Ethiopian Idido Misty Valley, Organic, Full Natural
6. Ethiopian Sidamo, Organic Fairtrade, Fully Washed
7. Ethiopian Amaro Gayo, Organic, Full Natural

This is going to be very casual.  We want to share with you some of the most sought after Ethiopians every processed, all on one table for you to enjoy. 

We are located at:

4021 – 9th Street SE

Tel – 403-265-2112.

Brewing with Mellita

On our front bar at Fratello we have recently become enamored with the simple Mellita drip coffee maker. This most simple of coffee brewing methods can yield some stellar results. French press for most of us has held the torch as the non espresso method of choice, but we really wanted to play with the old pour over technique. The equipment you need is even less expensive than a French press and the results can really make your coffee sing.

Our coffee of choice for this mornings Mellita drip is the beautiful Panama Diamond Mountain, from Hacienda La Esmeralda. This is a rainforest alliance, single estate coffee that earned a very noble 89.5 cupping score. The Peterson family who own this famed farm in Panama are famous for their Esmeralda Special coffee that commands some of the highest prices paid at auction for green coffee. Diamond Mountain is in itself a jewel, at a more affordable price.

When Russ Prefontaine cupped this coffee here is how he described it: “aromas of nectarines and milk chocolate with a bright meyor lemon acidity, the sweetness of a red apple, and a clean delicate body.”

Lets take a look at the Mellita process

(Read the rest of this post)

The top baristas in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon will gather in Calgary on Saturday, September 12, 2009 to compete in the the 2009 Prairies Regional Barista Championships.

The second annual event, held this year at Fratello Coffee Roasters in Calgary, will feature 11 competitors from the prairies region. Each competitor has 15 minutes to prepare and serve 12 coffee beverages—four espresso, four cappuccino, and four signature drinks. Four sensory judges, two technical judges and one head judge evaluate each performance, including the taste of beverages served, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill and overall presentation of the competitors.

The top three scoring competitors earn the right to compete at the Canadian National Barista Championship, October 14 & 15 in Vancouver, as well as travel bursaries and a prize package. The public is invited to attend the event free of charge and enjoy beverages prepared by competitors at the complimentary espresso bar. The event will be broadcast live on Ustream. A link and further details can be found on the event website at http://2009prbc.com/

Also – this Friday September 11 is a Barista Jam – Open to all Professional Barista’s and coffee enthusiasts. We’ll be hanging out, pulling shots and warming up for the competition. There will also be a Latte Art Throwdown, $5 buy-in winner take all. P.S. beer will be served ;-)

See you guys this Friday & Saturday !

Here is a Schedule of Events for all compeditors

Ok, here we go again…..We keep finding new coffees that keep blowing me away.  Fratello has a new Brazilian coffee, exclusive to us in Canada that you need to try.  Daterra is an extraordinary producer who’s plantations are located in the Cerrado region (State of Minas Gerais) and in the Mogiana region (State of São Paulo).  They were also the first to introduce Rainforest Alliance in Brazil.

Daterra’s Sweet Blue gave us sweet chocolate and syrupy orange aromas compliment a thick mouth feel and clean finish.  Balanced flavors of dark chocolate fudge and mild almonds.  Cupping Score: 90.

Daterra is a coffee grower and exporter best known for its innovative research, its respect for the environment, social responsibility and its high quality coffee.  Daterra is by no means a small coffee producer; however, they are very well known for the quality of coffee they produce.  This is evident when looking at a few of their awards:

1. Cup of Excellence finalist in 2001;
2. Best coffee from Brazil on the cupping for Quality by Rainforest Alliance in 2005 and 2008;
3. Espresso Blend used by World Barista Champion Troels Poulsen in 2005;
4. Espresso Blend used by World Barista Champion Klaus Thomsen in 2006;
5. Sustainable farm model by Illy Cafè in 2008
6. Four out of the six WBC finalists used Daterra coffee in their blends in 2008.
7. Daterra has a “Penta Pack®” packaging system (vacuum packaging) patented internationally.  This was used to ship Brazil’s Cup of Excellence winner lots in 2006 and 2008.

The Sweet Blue is a Micro Lot from Daterra which produces only 5300 – 7950 lbs of coffee per year.  Sweet Blue is the Mundo Novo varietal.  Their processing methods on this coffee is a pulped natural at the wet mill, 100% sun dried and followed with their Penta System for both packaging and quality control (See bottom of this post for more information on that).

Daterra’s plantations are located at an average altitude of 3,800 ft (1,150 m) under a stable temperature of around 25ºC, which constitutes the perfect environment for Arabica Coffee production.  The plantations are divided into 215 mini- farms and further subdivided into 2.816 blocks called “quadras”, each of which is planted with a specific coffee variety.   (Read the rest of this post)

Fratello Coffee is introducing an exciting new coffee to our portfolio at the end of May.  We have found an Organic fresh crop Ethiopian that we just had to buy which is replacing the Kembata currently available.

Flavor description: Intense tropical fruits, blueberry and strawberry in both the aromas and long lingering flavors.  Thick syrupy body and full of character, yet notably clean and bright through out. 

Grade: 1

Region: Idido, Gedeo Zone Yirgacheffe

Processing: Natural / Dry-Processed

Crop: February 2009

Varietal: Heirloom and Longberry

Cupping Score: 91

Ethiopia, the birth place of coffee has 5 growing regions, each producing very distinct characteristics from the other.  In the south of Ethiopia is a district called Yirgacheffe which is just north of the Kenyan border.  Yirgacheffe is currently producing the most exotic flavor profiles in this country and possible the world.  

(Read the rest of this post)