Fratello Coffee Roasters recently visited Erwin Mierisch and his family in Nicaragua to tour their coffee estates in order to choose the next Lot of coffee to bring to Calgary.
As you will see, Finca Los Placeres is a beautifully run estate which ensures every detail is managed to perfection. You can taste this dedication when drinking their coffees.
At the moment, everyone at Fratello Coffee seems excited about brewing coffee on a Chemex. I’m loving the body and cleanliness that the Chemex produces. It seems to extract a syrupy mouth-feel that I always love in coffee.
As you will see, a Chemex is easy to use and is also inexpensive to buy.
We have written and spoke a few times about why Fratello Coffee chooses to purchase Rainforest Alliance (RA) certified coffees over other certifications. We believe strongly that RA is the most complete certification available to us today. A certification that looks at many different levels of life and accountability on the farms we choose to work with.
Not all of our coffee is RA, however, more and more are and we will continue to source coffees that first stand out as exceptional on the cupping table; followed with the hopes that these estates are/could be certified.
Below is a short video provided to us by The Rainforest Alliance that shows a few of their objectives while auditing at the farm level.
On October 14th, Fratello’s Joel May will be competiting again in the National Canadian Barista Competition. Last year Joel finished 3rd overall in Canada, so this year we are all cheering for him to become #1.
This is a very challenging competition that takes a lot of work and constant practice. Joel will be competing with barista’s from around Canada who have each earned the chance to compete for the chance to go to London England next year with hopes of becoming the World’s top barista.
Over the past few months barista’s have been competing across Canada in Regional Competitions and only the top 3 from each region are guaranteed a spot in the Nationals. Shaw TV did a feature on the Prarie Regional’s held at Fratello Coffee early September. Please watch this video which helps explain what the competition is about.
Fratello Coffee was on TV last week as Channel 10 News Shaw Magazine wanted to have a short interview to discuss coffee cupping. More and more people in Calgary (and other cities obviously) are starting to hear about what us roasters do on a daily basis.
It is hard to describe coffee cupping in a 3-4 min video, but I think that Lisa from Shaw Magazine did a great job putting this video together.
If you would like to talk more about coffee cupping, and if you and your friends would like to potentially do a coffee cupping evening please contact Russ by putting a response on this post.
This weekend Fratello is hosting the Canadian Prairie Regional Barista Competition – and we’ll be streaming all the action LIVE on www.ustream.tvHere’s the URL:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/prairie-regional-barista-competitionSo, if your in Calgary – you should come to Fratello and hang out (open to the public)…and if you can’t watch it in person then make sure you check in to see who the next rock stars will be!
Here is a video of a village we @ Fratello have been sponsoring for the last 4 years. This was our first visit, and we hope to visit our friends in Belo again this August ‘08 after we attend the Rewanda Cup Of Excellence. Check it out.
Starting March 1, 2008 you will be able to purchase this incredible Direct Trade coffee from Fratello Coffee Co. We haven’t been this excited about offering our clients a coffee since the first lot of Cup of Excellence we won.
This coffee cupped out at a 89.5, but if you were to include the look of the beans when scoring, this coffee would have been well into the 90’s. These giant beans give this coffee a very unique look. We found that this coffee gave us a spicy orange and fresh pine aroma which was complimented by the thick & syrupy mouth feel. Flavor notes of black-bing cherry, candied cloves and apple pie are brightened with the delicate grapefruit acidity.
Finca El Limoncillo – General farm information
This farm got its name from the unusual growth of lemon trees that were originally found here. This is arguably their most beautiful farm (out of 5).
This weekend Fratello is hosting the Canadian Prairie Regional Barista Competition – and we’ll be streaming all the action LIVE on www.ustream.tvHere’s the URL:
