Fratello Coffee Roasters and Analog Cafe invite you to come taste our launching line-up of Idle Tea: Single Origin, Unblended, Fresh Crop tea sourced direct from gardens.

We welcome the public to Fratello Coffee Roasters Thursday Feb 24th at 1:00 to experience our seven carefully selected Idle Teas.

Sencha Shin Ryoku,  Premium Green Tea

Houicha Gold, Green Tea

Earl Grey Cream, Organic Black Tea

Cream of Assam, Organic Black Tea

Organic Rooibus Tea, Herbal Tea

Peppermint Tea, Herbal Tea

Organic Indian Chai

Using BrewT tea brewers we will lead an informal but educational tasting through our Black, Green, Herbal and Chai selections. Idle Tea is available at Analog Cafe and through Fratello directly. Analog staff will be on hand as well.

See you Feb 24th 1:00-2:30 at Fratello Coffee Roasters.

Questions?  Please call 403 265 2112 or email kevin.mcconnell<at>fratellocoffee.com

Fratello Coffee Roasters is looking for fanatical coffee professionals! Fratello is excited and proud to be joining the Calgary Farmers Market in its move to a new location off of Blackfoot and Heritage opening early February. We are actively looking for the right people to join our team. This will be a high volume location that will be laser focused on the quality of product and customer service excellence.

We are seeking individuals who are motivated to prepare coffee using many different brew methods and communicate their passion for coffee to customers. Work with dual Slayer Espresso machines to prepare espresso based drinks, engage with customers on our analogue handmade drip stations for by the cup brewing and work as a team to drive sales of killer locally roasted coffee!

The farmers market is on the weekends, so we are looking for a minimum Friday-Sunday commitment as well as potential hours on Thursday. Join us at the roasting plant to cup coffees and choose offering for the weekend. We are excited about this café and would love to meet you to share more details. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to meeting you soon!

Email Drew at: analog@fratellocoffee.com

fax your resume to 403-263-3255

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!

This is an interesting question, and one that does not have a quick answer.  I often compare coffee to wine as there are many comparables.  All bottles of red wine from Italy do not taste the same.  It is dependent on the vineyard, the grape (Merlot, etc..), the harvest, soil conditions, altitude, weather conditions of that particular harvest in that particular year, in that particular region.  All of this is also true with coffee.

Nicaragua, for example typically has farms with lots of gain in elevation.  You can have a single farm which grows coffee from 800 meters all the way up to 1800 meters!

Elevation plays a significant part in the quality of coffee.  Soil conditions & make up, the varietal of coffee cherry (Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, etc…), weather conditions, region with in the country (or the country itself) are some variables that make up the flavors found in a coffee.  As important, is the way the coffee cherries are harvested. Selectively picking only the ripest red cherries develops a sweeter and more balanced acidity in the cup.

However, what I wanted to talk about was what happens AFTER the coffee cherries are picked.  Once a coffee cherry has been picked, it must be processed, dried, rested and then exported.  EVERY step along the life cycle of coffee affects the end result in your cup of coffee.  Today, I wanted to explain a little bit about processing of coffee cherries at the Wet Mill.

Each country seems to have their specialty when processing coffee and each process requires something a little different, which results in different cup profiles.  Typically the best mills/farms have the ability to customize the processing methods to meet our flavor standards, but they are few and far between.  It’s our job to find them and discover a unique process which brings out the best profiles for our clients.  A few of the most popular processing techniques are:

Natural, or Dry Processed

This is one of the hardest processing techniques to do properly and is the original way coffee was processed in Ethiopia.  Ethiopian coffee is still traditionally done this way as are many African varietals.  Brazil and Indonesia also practice this technique.  Naturals do not require water; therefore it is the chosen method in “dryer” countries.

Naturally processed coffee requires the Mill to leave all the fruit of the cherry on the coffee bean while drying in the sun.  The challenge with this process is not fermenting your coffee.  This can cause mold, fungus and very unpleasant flavor in the cup.

Naturals typically give a heavier bodied coffee.  Flavors of fruit (red berries, tropical fruit, etc..) or “earthy” characteristics are often noted.

Fully Washed

This is the most sought after processing method as it achieves the cleanest and most balanced cup profile and the “average” coffee drinkers prefers these coffees.  Central America is the largest producer of fully washed coffees as it requires a LOT of water through out the entire process.  Central American countries have access to natural water springs almost every where, so this isn’t an issue.  The larger issue comes into how the mills recycle and re-use this water in order to protect the environment.

Fully Washed coffees require you to remove the cherry pulp using a de-puling machine.  The coffee bean is then moved into a fermentation tank where coffee will be submerged in water for approximately 36 hours.  This fermenting process will loosen up the mucilage left on the bean after the cherry pulp is removed.  Once ready, the mucilage on the bean will be removed from the green bean, re-washed in fresh water for another 24 hours and then dried.

This process requires a lot of specialized equipment but enables someone to process a large amount of coffee at one time (if desired).  This process also removes the heavier flavors found in Naturals, and produces cleaner cup profiles.  Typically fully washed coffees have nice balanced/bright acidities, but sometimes lack a full body.

Honey Prep, or Pulped Naturals

Honey Prep is a relatively new process being practiced at higher end coffee farms/mills. It is challenging to do, require extra time & work and has the same risk as Naturals because coffee can ferment.  The drying process takes extra time as the beans stick together and do not easily rake.  This is currently being perfected in Costa Rica; however this process has been exported from Brazil for many years, and currently being experimented with more often in Nicaragua and Colombia.

This process requires you to de-pulp your coffee cherry and then immediately go to the drying patios.  It is vital that this process happens quickly as the fermenting process happens very soon as the mucilage is filled with sugar.  This is called Honey Prep as the tackiness of the mucilage left on the beans is similar to that of honey.  The left over water from Fully Washed coffee is also called “Honey Water” due to the aroma it gives off.

Colombian wet mills use Mechanical Mucilage removers that require 1/40^th the amount of water when comparing Fully Washed coffee.  This same equipment is now used all over Costa Rica.  These mechanical removers allow you to control the amount of sugar left on the bean.  Some mills in Costa Rica now produce “Red Honey” coffee which leaves all the sugars from the mucilage on the beans.

I’m a huge fan of Honey Prep coffees because the profiles are similar to a Fully Washed coffee with the ability to be sweeter and have a fuller body.

Wet Hulled / Wet Milled

This is the newest process being talked about in coffee.  This is being practiced almost exclusively in Indonesia (Sumatra, Sulawesi, Flores, etc..).  Indonesian coffees have been a bit of a mystery to many coffee professionals as it has been one of the least explored regions to date.  This is quickly changing.

Wet Hulled coffee is the removal of the coffee cherry as well as the mucilage directly after picking.  This does not use a fermenting process for this removal, but instead uses a modified husking station.  Husking stations are typically only used to remove the dried parchment from coffee beans after they are totally dry (Parchment is under the mucilage…like the skin of a peanut).

Indonesian coffees have an extremely unique cup characteristic and are typically described with flavors of: Earth, wood, dirty, heavy bodied, tobacco, leather and typically roasted darker to offset some of the more un-desirable flavors.  Some professionals believe these flavors are due to the fact that the protective layers have all been removed from the coffee bean exposing it to environment during the drying process.

As more coffee roasters work directly with growers and mills in Indonesia, their drying processes are becoming more advanced/accurate, producing a cleaner cup profile.  What’s great is that these coffees still taste “Indonesian” but instead of un-desirable flavors we are picking up: Brown sugar, molasses, chocolate, tropical fruit, licorice, sweet and floral characteristics.  I do not think it will be long before more regions explore Wet Hulled processed coffees.

Obviously from here the variables continue to add up on what changes the flavor of coffee.   Things like the proper amount of time coffee must rest before exporting, density checking, screening of dried coffee, proper bagging and prompt shipping all before reaching the coffee roasters around the globe.  Coffee is one of the most delicate products in the world which requires absolute care and attention to detail from start to finish.  It’s our duty to respect the efforts, hard work and attention of the work done before us, so that those whose who use our products get to enjoy the fruits of every ones effort.

As you will see, a Chemex is easy to use and is also inexpensive to buy.

Both of these devices brew coffee extremely well.  At the moment I’m really enjoying the Chemex.

I find that the extraction of this method brings out a syrup body and sweetness in the cup that is hard to match with other brewing methods.

This Aeropress is also very interesting. 

This will certainly be my brew method of choice for when I’m traveling & camping.  It is fast, easy to use and requires very little clean up.  I get a very clean cup with this method of brewing and find it great with coffee that has a pronounced acidity. I love the fact that you can use different brewing methods to extract different characteristics out of the same coffee.    A French Press is also great, but I can sometimes find the body to over power the delicate nuances found in coffees.  Acidity, sweetness is sometimes over powered by the heavy body.

If you currently use a “regular brewer” at home you honestly do not know what you are missing.   These are very easy to use (watch for the training videos coming soon) and extract coffee much nicer than traditional home brewers…..In fact, MANY Cafes are now introducing these brew methods as the normal practice, replacing expensive commercial coffee brewers.

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 will be doing an exploration of 6-10 different Indonesian and Sumatran selections first week of December.  Stay tuned for the actual date/time which we will announce next week.

Here are a couple photos from the event.

 The Cup of Excellence competition is the most thorough and competitive screening process a coffee farm will put their coffee through.  The goal of COE is to bring out the best coffee a current region has to offer in the current crop year.  After the competition is over, the COE award is given to the top farmers who represent the best coffees that this region has to offer.  These coffees are then put in front of the world on an on-line auction which rewards these farmers for their focused attention to improving quality coffee, and puts a spot light on this region show-casing their excellence.

Stage one Involves the submission from the farmers current crop of coffee.  Of the 512,000 families growing coffee in Colombia, only 374 submissions were sent in this year, which was relatively low do to the fact that Colombia’s crop forecast is 30-40% lower than the year before. 

All of these coffees are cupped and analyzed in Colombia by local cuppers.  All coffee scoring an 84 or higher (out of 100) move on to the second National Cupping jury.  The National Cupping Jury is chosen from the pool of local cuppers.  They are chosen for their cupping skills in the first stage. 

The second cupping stage was left with 124 lots of coffee.  The same scoring methodology is used, only passing coffee’s scoring an 84 or higher.  During each stage of the cupping, every coffee will be tested by every cupper a minimum of 4 times.  If a taste defect is found at any time, the coffee is automatically disqualified.  To illustrate how stringent this process is, 2 out of the final 10 lots were disqualified on the last day!

The 3^rd and final stage involves 24-26 international cuppers who have been selected from around the world for their discriminating pallets.  This is the panel I have the honor of being a member of.  We were all brought to Colombia for a 4 day in-depth analysis of each coffee which was passed by the National Jury.  This event left us 56 coffees from around Colombia, most of them this year from the Huila district, and primarily in the Pitalito area.

On day 1 of the 3^rd stage, 28 coffees are cupped and graded over 3 different sessions.  Each coffee was cupped a minimum of 4 times and each sip requires thought on cup characteristics such as aroma (as dry grounds, the crust and at the break), clarity, sweetness, acidity, mouth feel, flavor, after taste, balance and overall impression.  The intensity and flavor description of each is also documented and discussed after each round.

Day 2 also featured 28 coffees over 3 sessions.  Day 3 we cupped 30 different coffees which were the coffees scoring 84 points or higher by International Jury on days 1 and 2.  

Day 4 the top 10 are finally re-cupped and unfortunately 2 of these had defects forcing them to be disqualified.  This was incredibly disappointing for us and the farmers, putting a damper on a typically rewarding day.  This left a total of 26 lots of coffee were awarded the coveted Cup of Excellence seal and will be auctioned in April.

I walk away with new friends and a much more refined pallet.  I have discovered a range of Colombian coffees that I did not know before and have clarity around potential direct trade partnerships moving forward.  More importantly I have a renewed appreciation for the work these farmers/families put into growing excellent coffee and realize again how delicate this product is.  

Coffee excellence starts with the farm.  Perfect growing conditions (climate, soil and elevation), followed by handing picking the ripest red cherries and flawless processing on the farm and dry mills are step one.  Fast and accurate shipping is required followed by a controlled warehouse environment in Calgary to ensure the green coffee conditions are stable.   Proper roasting techniques and strict quality control methods are used daily.  Roasting and delivering in small batches ensures freshness for our clients and is crucial to the quality of coffee you serve your customers.  Proper training for you and your barista’s is our final step in helping you strive to be the best and is the final stage for us, where we hand off the responsibility to you.  To not brew or extract these and all coffees with the same attention to detail and care, is nothing less than heart-breaking.

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