Fratello Coffee Roasters is proud and excited to be joining the Calgary Farmers Market come February in its new location.

This Cafe will be a showcase for our passion for coffee, and we are looking for an individual who shares this passion to take on the role of Cafe Manager.   We are about absolute excellence in this Cafe and are looking for an individual who would be motivated and enthusiastic in leading a team of coffee professionals.

We are looking for someone who loves specialty coffee and is working in or has worked in top notch cafe locations.  Someone who has been looking for a platform to not just have a job, but really help showcase a brand. We need your obsession with coffee to shine through.   If you have had experience leading a team of people or feel that you are a natural leader and motivator. You are a unique individual who is driven by success and knows how to problem solve in a calm and professional manner.

This is going to be a busy place, and we are looking for someone who is motivated by a fast pace, while not sacrificing quality and customer service. We will offer the best equipment, a great training program that builds on the skills you already have, and a chance to be a part of an exciting new venture.  This will be a well staffed cafe with everyone playing an important part of the success.  The customer is key for us here.

You will lead a team that takes the customer through the discover of some amazing coffee and tea while keeping yourself ahead of the curve, while sharing your knowledge with the staff and customers.

We would love to talk to you and get into the specifics of the job. Get in touch with us so we can start seeing the potential that we can bring together.   Call us at 403-265-2112 (800-465-7227) for questions, or fax your resume to 403-263-3255.

Thank you for your interest and hope to talk to you soon!

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!

100% Caturra, Honey Prep.  Aromas of caramelized cherries, a delicate butter body, flavors of milk chocolate & pecans with a clean lingering grape acidity. Cupping Score 90.00

Los Placeres Estate is from a different area on the farm, however from the same farmer as Finca Limoncillo.  We have been working with Erwin Mierisch and his family for 3 years now.  They are still dedicated more than ever to quality, evidenced by winning another Cup of Excellence award. This is their 4^th year in a row receiving this prestigious award and currently hold the record for the most money received per pound at auction.

• 2010 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #5
• 2009 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #7
• 2008 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #2
• 2007 – Cup of Excellence Winner – Lot #27

Here is a link from our farm visit with them in January when we visited Nicaragua in order to source this coffee.

New Fratello t-shirts are hot off the press.   Black, slim fitting, cotton shirts are silk screened with the name Fratello Coffee Roasters over a paint splattered checker-board design.   There is nothing printed on the back.

We were asked by many people to introduce a new region from Africa….so we did.  Tanzania Songea Peaberry is a fully washed auction lot that has creamy black tea aromas, which compliment sweet flavors of peaches and mangos.  A creamy body and vibrant grape acidity.   Read full review by Kenneth Davids, CoffeeReview.com, May 2010.

Fratello Continues to explore new Direct Trade relationships and were happy to establish one in Costa Rica from the Tarrazu region.  This year we began working with Luis Zeledon and his family at the Rio Jorco Micro Mill.  This single estate, 100% Caturra has fresh brown sugar and praline aromas.  Sweet flavors of red apple and black currants, finishing wiht a long silky mouth feel.  Read full review by Kenneth Davids, CoffeeReview.com, May 2010.

Last but not least, we won another Cup of Excellence selection.   This one is from Bolivian Cafe Central and is the #6 ranking coffee Bolivia produced in their lastest harvest.   Like all CoE award winning coffees, look for soemthing that is intensly clean & sweet.   This also gives aromas and flavors of jasmine and orange spice, with a complex acidity of red wine and a long plush aftertaste.

Watch for our newest Direct Trade, Single Estate Nicaraguan and yet another CoE coffee selection arriving in the next month.

The Rio Jorco Micro-Mill employees between 4-6 people & has 65 pickers during harvest season.   Rio Jorco is situated at an altitude of 4600 feet, and like many farms in Tarrazu faces the Pacific Coast.  The strong winds from the Pacific are important as they create a defined dry season.  This dryness causes a stress on trees creating extra sweetness in Tarrazu coffees, and especially in the 100% Caturra lots we chose from Rio Jorco.

Rio Jorco which was once known as Hacienda Jorco, is rich in history and has played a key role in the development of excellent coffee within the Tarrazu region. The Rio Jorco Micro-Mill processes all of the coffee from their own estate. unlike in their early historyof 1910, when the coffee had to be taken from Jorco to San Jose using Oxen or on horseback. Though the distance was only 15 miles it was a long trip up winding muddy roads. This required oxen to be changed 2 or three times and a one day trip was considered fast.

Their proud tradition of quality estate coffee runs in the blood of these third generation coffee farmers, brothers Luis and Jim Alfaro.  Both of them believe in continuing the proud cultural love affair with coffee which was started so long ago by their grandfather. They describe their attention to detail as “Quality with passion, in our processes, our beneficio (processing plant/mill) and our care and selection of our coffee.”

“This year, we are reinforcing our attention to quality by increasing the number of siphons (receiving tanks) so we can better select our coffee into separate micro lots based on location and time of harvest.  We have doubled also the size our sun drying yards. Our goal is to be the Best Coffee in Costa Rica.“ says brother Luis Zeledon.

Luis continues “Along with careful hand picking, our coffee is processed and Sun dried with passion and care to produce the best coffee possible. Our Processing Plant is a highly ecological unit.  Our processor uses the latest technology to process our coffee without damaging the beans while at the same time conserving our natural resources. The pulp that is removed from the coffee beans is used as a natural fertilizer, some of the water is recycled, and the residual water is treated and returned to the ground. “

“The fuel for the indirect ovens (mechanical dryers) comes from recycling fallen trees and using the peel (parchment) from the coffee to heat the ovens. Nothing is wasted!  The grounds all around the processing plant are carefully planted in native flowering trees and flowers and tropical plants complete the setting.”

Fratello is thrilled to be working with the Zeledon brothers and the Rio Jorco Micro-Mill and to be including them in our line up of Direct Trade coffee partners.

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.

I guess I’m a slow learner because it took me 4 days of visiting16 micro mills (and 1 mega mill), cupping 48 individual lots of coffee and traveling through the Tarrazu, West Valley and Central Valley regions with Jason to fully understand & appreciate the phenomenon in Costa Rica.

This phenomenon is being called “The Micro-mill Revolution” by Francisco Mena of Exclusive Coffees.   He has personally visited all 150 micro-mills that now operate through out Costa Rica and works with many of them to increase quality through proper growing, harvesting and processing techniques.

A micro-mill is small coffee farm (typically producing 1000 bags or less, or 152,000 lbs of coffee) that also has its own wet mill and processing on its farm. What this allows a farm to do is process their own cherries to ensure the absolute best quality and taste.  This also allows the farmer to separate varietals (Typica from Caturra, etc…) for micro-lots as well as introduce unique processing methods for individual coffee roasters needs (washed, honey, red-honey, naturals).  What this really means is complete traceability and a totally individual identity for each lot of coffee we bring in.

More importantly to the farmer is the ability to have a direct relationship with someone as well as make WAY more money for the coffee they produce. Of course not all roasters want to source this style of coffee and aren’t willing to pay for this type of quality.  Fratello travels Central & South America looking for this exact type of coffee partner.

To better appreciate what is happening in Costa Rica a brief look at their history is needed:

• 1790’s – Typica coffee plant was transferred from the Caribbean islands to Costa Rica.
• 1808 – First registered production.
• 1821 – Firest registered export.
• 1821-1940 – Costa Rica relied on a coffee oligarchy.  Society, culture, values, democracy were all about coffee.  This was Costa Rican’s main export.
• 1950’s – Co-op Revolution.  Large Co-op’s were buying from small farms but shorting them on cherry counts.  Exploiting their efforts.  50 large Co-ops were formed.  The Swiss and German private exporters were purchased out by the large national (and multi-national) exporters.
• 1950-60’s – Caturra & Catuai cultivars replaced Typica & Bourbon’s for the main purpose of higher yields.
• 1960’s – Massive production cycle with huge mega-mills using large producing cultivars going towards mass production.  Mult-nationals were doing the milling and the exporting.  Largest production was over 400,000,000 lbs of green coffee.
• 1997-2000 – The New York Commodity crisis as well as the new environmental movement forced clean milling practices on all farms.  This caused huge down size in production.  Production drops to 200,000,000 lbs of green coffee.
• 2000-2010 – The start of the Micro-mill Revolution.

Basically the mega-mills have been controlling the entire movement of coffee in Costa Rica for many years.  Exploiting coffee farmers of their hard work and blending extremely good quality and unique varietals with generic and potentially improperly harvested/processed coffees.  Until now there wasn’t motivation for farmers to excel in what they do as they were paid for quantity, not quality.

Finally these quality driven farmers are taking matters into their own hands.  Through working with people like Franciso, they are able to establish direct relationships with roasters who will pay them for the quality and hard work that they do.  For most, it is far beyond what any certification could/would pay them, often resulting in the farmer making twice as much for exceptional green coffee compared to average coffee cherries  being  sold to the mega mills

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

Brazil Sete Cachoeiras, Single Estate, Rainforest Alliance, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 87.00
• Varietal: Blend of Mundo Novo, Acaia & Catuai
• Processing: Passa / Natural

Sumatra Tabu Jamu

• Cupping Score: 88.00
• Processing: Full Natural – Double Pick
• Harvest Season: Late December – End of March

• Cupping Score: 87.00
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried
• Harvest Season: Early February – Late May

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Idido Misty Valley, Organic

• Cupping Score: 91.00
• Varietal: Heirloom and Longberry
• Processing: Full Natural, double picked and polished

Kenya Wamuguma, Ritho Coop

• Cupping Score 91.0
• Varietal: SL28 / SL 34
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

We look forward to seeing you here on Feb 10th at 1:30. If you have any questions please give Kevin a call at Fratello 403 287 4586

For more information on any of these coffees please visit:

http://www.fratellocoffee.com/products-page/