Here is our list for you. Lots of great coffee, some popular and really neat by-the-cup brew methods and tools for the home or professional Barista are all great options! Any questions call or email us and we would love to help.

Chemex and Cup of Excellence Promotion:

From Dec 4th-Dec 31st Fratello has a fantastic coffee brewing package for the coffee lover on your list, or for you!

6 Cup Glass Chemex, package of 100 Chemex filters and an 8oz bag of our Cup of Excellence Brazilian Fazenda Santa Helena coffee for $70.00. Buy it here or call us if you are local to come pick up at Fratello. Separately this is worth $85.00!

Check out this Chemex video for a “how to” on this fantastic brew method!

Give the gift of great coffee:

Sure a bottle of wine is the customary host gift during the holiday season, but why not give a bag of coffee this season! Amazing Espresso blends,  top tier single origin coffee and Cup of Excellence selections are all in store for you! Come in and see us or place your order online with us.

Tools for the home or professional Barista: 10% off from Dec 4th-Dec 31st

Fratello has a great selection of espresso tampers, milk steaming pitchers, cleaning solutions and knock boxes for the home espresso enthusiest or the professional Barista alike! If you are looking for that particular product give us a call or come in to see us! We don’t have these items online, but would be happy to help you choose.

By-the-cup brewers: Coffee enthusisits are really turing to by-the-cup brewers to bring out the full flavor potential of amazing coffee. Fratello has a great selection of the home brewers your coffee enthusist is asking for! Don’t forget to pick up some coffee as well with the brewer. We would love to brew you a cup of coffee with the Aeropress, Chemex or Hario V60. If you are in Calgary come see us at Fratello and ask for a coffee!

Happy Holidays from Fratello! Enjoy your coffee and enjoy your time with family and friends this season. We look forward to helping find that perfect gift!

We are going to take our award winning Costa Rican Rio Jorco Direct Trade coffee and show you how to prepare it 4 different ways. This class is all about discovering some simple, easy but really great alternative ways of brewing coffee in your café or restaurant or at home. There will be a chance to taste the coffee, try the brew methods yourself and a contest thrown in as well to win an Aeropress brewer!

Using a French Press, doing a Hario V60 pour-over, making a Chemex and preparing an Aeropress of your favorite Fratello coffee are all great ways to showcase the unique flavors of coffee. Each brewing method produces a different characteristic in the cup. We will demo each and taste the results. There will be lots of coffee to go around and a chance to pick up some of the brewers you will learn about and the coffee you will taste!

So don’t just set your automatic coffee maker! Let us show you the quality difference you can get by exploring these 4 brewing methods for yourself

We would love to know how many people will join us so please call the office and let us know you are coming!

Fratello main line: 403 265 2112

or email Kevin at kevin.mcconnell(at)fratellocoffee.com

See you there!

Slayer makes it easy to pull perfect shots of espresso.  See more pictures

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

Place your Mellita filter in the Mellita cone pour over brewer. Wet the filter with hot water to get rid of any residual paper taste.

Using a gram scale measure out 20 grams of whole bean coffee. Remember to tare out the vessel the coffee is going into so you have an accurate measurement. This is the correct amount of coffee in our tests to yield the best extraction into a 12 oz cup.

Grind the coffee. For our method here, we used a grind setting of 6.5 on the Ditting.

Put the grinds into your brew basket and place it on top of your 12 oz cup. The cup with the brew basket should be on your scale. Remember at this stage to tare your scale as well. We are going to be weighing the poured water in grams so we want an accurate idea of mass.

Begin pouring your fresh filtered hot water over the grounds in an even fashion. We are using a water temperature of between 198.5. When you are boiling water at home let it sit for a minute off boil to bring it to this temperature. Go slow and make sure you are evenly wetting the grounds. Stop when you have reached about 40 grams of weight on the scale. At this point you should have a bloom that has formed. We are going to wait now till this bloom collapses before we continue. The result of the bloom collapsing should be the grinds rimming the paper filter in a cone shape.

Continue pouring now very slowly. Keep watching your cup so that you know you are not pouring too fast. You will have a dome of coffee when you are pouring into the centre. Pour very slowly into this dome. We are looking for an end weight of 330 grams on our scale. The results are well worth the wait!

This special training academy for barista (espresso machine operators) and those interested in learning more about coffee and espresso presents its 2008 Educational Program. The hands-on training workshops are lead by Canadian and international expert trainers and professional baristas. They are for those new to the industry or those who want to perfect their coffee skills and include: Basic Training, Advanced Training and Expert Barisa workshops.

Please refer to the schedule below for details and click here to register.

Location: Fratello Coffee

4021 9th St. SE Calgary, Alberta

403-265-2112

Monday, May 26, 2008

9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Barista Level I: Beginner Barista Workshop

2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Barista level II: Advanced Barista Workshop

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Level III: Expert Barista & Latte Art Workshop

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Opening a Successful Coffee Business Seminar

2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Coffee Cupping Workshop

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/15126591@N02/sets/72157603439934924/ 

 My brothers and I spent a day last week touring 14 of some of the best cafes in Seattle! We had a lot of great coffee and gained new insights as to where coffee culture is going.

Our hope is to influence the coffee scene in our home town of Calgary with some of what we are learning. We are committed to doing our part to raise the bar in Alberta.