Green coffee is packaged at origin in 132-152 lb jute (burlap) sacks.  The smell and taste of this jute can be transfered to the green coffee, resulting in a cup referred to as “baggy” with an unpleasant musty or straw-like flavor.   As coffee sits in warehouses it becomes old and stale within as little as 6 months.  These conditions are worsened in humid conditions.

We invest in quality green coffee and protect it in the following ways:

1. We’re lucky that Calgary is as dry as a desert (literally).

2. We receive shipments from origin constantly and our goal is to not have green coffee in our warehouse longer than 3 months.

3. Within weeks of receiving the green coffee, we remove it from the jute sacks and transfer the coffee into independent silos.

4. With our finest and most exotic coffees, we immediately vacuum package all of the green coffee in 15-20 lb bags with the objective of preserving the original sweetness and fruit-like flavors

5. Our Cup of Excellence coffee will never touch jute bags again!  We pay the farmers and additional premium to have the coffee packaged at origin in 10 lb vacuum packaged foil bags.

Although it is rare for coffee to become baggy when you are not “warehousing” coffee, Fratello is taking these extra steps to ensure our clients only receive the best.

Fratello Coffee won its 3rd auction with the Cup of Excellence program on November 15th. This was a fast paced auction with many different roasting and retail companies bidding on the 26 award winning lots. As far as we could see, this auction will result in the highest average prices over all. I congratulate the Cup of Excellence program for their marketing efforts, and for successfully organizing another amazing event.

Fratello Coffee was awarded the 13th placing winning coffee.  I remember this product well and found the characteristics in this coffee to show tastes of a Smokey Earth, a sparkling citrus and lingering acidity, with a clean body showing hints of Raisin.  I scored this with an 87.5, however the average score at the competition gave this a 86.21.  Overall this coffee is very balanced. 

For more information on this coffee and the farm it was produced on, please read (Read the rest of this post)

Gallery Series, refers to those one-of-a-kind coffees with extremely special or exciting flavor qualities, that when we cup them, we recognize as extraordinary. Like other organic food products, the flavor qualities of Gallery Series coffee reflect not just a particular geography, altitude, farm or varietal–they also reflect less fixed factors like weather and terroir–which is never exactly the same anywhere in the world from year to year. Because of this, Gallery Series coffees are limited edition coffees, so make sure to enjoy them when they are available…

Well it was the final day of the 2007 Bolivian Cup of Excellence competition. There was no better way to end off my journey than by seeing all of the hard working farmers and their families cheering each other on in hopes of being one of the 26 finalists.

It was incredible to see their faces filled with joy when their names were called one by one and recognized in front of all the media and their peers for the efforts to improve quality and consistency on their farms. It sure makes it easy for me to want to continue supporting the COE Competition when you get to hear stories of how this motivates them to improve what they do, and hear them tell us how their lives change through the exportation of their coffee to our roasting facilities.  

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Well I am very happy to say that Fratello Coffee’s new Gallery Series is here, and here to stay. Our launch of this exclusive line is starting with, but won’t be limited to, the following three varieties:  El Salvador: La Divina Providencia - Cup of Excellence Cup Of Excellence Jury Cupping Score: 86.33Cup Of Excellence Rank: 11LIMITED QUANTITY AVAILABLE: 3000 (8 oz.) bagsLa Divina Providencia, a farm acquired four years ago by Roberto Ulloa, produces coffee that is ranked among the top ‘Cup of Excellence’ lots. The farm is ideally located in the golden coffee belt, well above 5,000 feet, blessed with rich volcanic soils as well as Bourbon and Kenya trees that reach an average of 40 years old. La Divina Providencia has been managed under conventional practices, but also uses organic inputs as fertilizers. Roberto is a fourth generation coffee grower that is involved in his community; donating pedagogic packages for children at two nearby schools.CUP OF EXCELLENCE: JURY DESCRIPTIONS This is a very unique coffee and delivers a sweet, clean flavor. Nice sweet coffee (12) black cherry (12), full body (8), chocolate (12), coconut (1), caramel, clean (9), good fruit, juicy (2), blackberry, dry fruit (3), tobacco (3). (Read the rest of this post)

This is an exciting event for myself. I have been invited to join the international cupping jury for the 2007 Cup of Excellence competition in Bolivia.

“You are formally invited to be a member of the international jury for the Bolivia Cup of Excellence® competition that will be held in Coroico, Bolivia, from October 8th- 12th, 2007. The Bolivia Cup of Excellence competition is coordinated by a group effort made up of industry organizations in Bolivia and is owned and managed by The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE). We are thrilled to have you as a member of the international jury for this event and know that this competition will prove to be exciting and unforgettable for both the jury and the winning farmers.”

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Fratello Coffee Co wins again!!!!

We participated in another Cup of Excellence (COE) auction and won our second FULL lot. This one is very small, only 12 bags.   I assume this is going to arrive late August.  This is a very exciting time.   Fratello Coffee Co has always been about quality and we have always wanted to push the limits on quality, and finally, our market is starting to desire the same quality that our family has been raised on.   To be able to source and supply our clients with the best coffees on the planet makes my job as a cupper/importer a lot more enjoyable.     We can’t wait for you to taste this coffee.

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Its auction time again, however this time it isn’t Nicaraguan’s, itsGuatemalan’s. This Thursday we will be joining in on the Cup ofExcellence auction to try our best in getting another lot of theseexciting coffees.We just finished sampling all 19 of the farmers who qualified this year,and all of them were fantastic. The number 1 lot had an impressive fullround body and clean finish. Its wasn’t as spicy as I like Guatemalancoffees to be, but the extremely large beans gave a visual impressionsimilar to the Maragogippe bean popular in the 90’s. They were muchlarger then a screen 18, which is the largest screen, and could havebeen a screen 20-22 (if it existed).So wish me luck on Thursday as I hope to get us one of these 19 lots.

PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICSFarm: Los MilagrosFarmer: Julio César RealRank: 15City: JinotegaRegion: JinotegaCountry: NicaraguaFarm Size: 3.50 HectaresCoffee growing area: 3.50 HectaresAltitude: 1050 maslCertification: None COFFEE CHARACTERISTICSVariety: CaturraProcessing System: Washed and sun driedLot Size: 21 bagsInternational Jury Score: 86.63Cupping Number: 1148Jury Descriptions: refined acidity (7), smooth (13), well balanced (7), lingering chocolate finish (10), cocoa, syrupy, caramel, rich, creamy, smooth, fruity aromaPlease Note: If a number appears in brackets next to a description it indicates the number of jurors that agreed with that particular decription.

This was a long 5:30 hours today, but the auction is finally over. The top coffee sold for an astounding $47.06 / lb which is a record for Nicaraguans.Fratello Coffee has purchased its first lot of COE’s and are going to look forward to receiving this to product to offer to our clients. We assume that this will be ready to purchase with in 2 months time.The farmers in Nicaragua were astounded at the responses they received. It goes to show that the 3rd Wave of coffee drinkers will pay farmers for the hard work they put into their crops.Fratello Coffee Co chose from “Los Milagros” Estate, Jinotega.Please read more about this fantastic coffee below:

“Los Milagros” Estate, JinotegaDon Julio César Real, a peasant with deep roots, invites us to go down the narrow pass of the mountain where a colorful coffee mill and pulp processor rises.  (Read the rest of this post)