Slayer Espresso & Fratello Coffee on Bizarre Foods
by russ on February 9, 2012. Filled under Uncategorized, Video
Check out the latest episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. He looks at the Seattle coffee scene and interviews my brother Jason and myself at Slayer's studio as well as tastes a bunch of Fratello Coffees. It was a great time teaching him what Slayer is all about.
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Growing, Harvesting & Wet-Milling coffee – Training Video #1
If you frequent high end cafes, you will most likely come across or hear the term "Micro-Mill" used more and more often. A micro-mill is a washing station called a "Beneficio" which is located on a farm. Farms which have their own beneficio's are able to have complete control over their quality. They are able to grow and harvest their coffee properly, wash & de-pulp their coffee, followed by drying their coffee before bringing it to the dry-mill which we discussed in our last blog post.
Through working with a properly run wet-mill a roaster is able to be more selective in the coffee we choose. Choosing a single varietal coffee, a specific lot/area of the farm and if we prefer to have our coffee processed a certain way in order to give it a unique flavor is all possible through the micro-mill.
But, there are years worth of work before coffee is ever harvested. Watch this new training video which walks you through the steps, and years of work required before coffe... Read more
After the Wet-mill: Drying & Dry-milling coffee – Training video #2
Coffee is one of the most complicated products in the world when it comes to consistently harvesting, processing, roasting and especially brewing.
More and more you will hear about how important it is to properly harvest coffee. A Micro-mill is a fairly new term, which is a description for a small mill, located on the farm, which de-pulps the coffee cherries and were coffee is typically dried in the sun.
Not very often do you hear about the steps that happen after this. These steps are briefly outlined in this video prepared by us. It was made to help you understand that all coffee doesn't stop its journey at the farm....in fact, it still has a lot of processing to go through before reaching the roastery.
[vimeo 32285213]
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Panama Mama Cata Geisha at Analog Cafe!
by kevinAmcconnell on August 31, 2011. Filled under Cafe
This weekend at Analog Cafe at the Calgary Farmers Market we will be preparing Panama Mama Cata Geisha on our pour over bar. Fratello has been privileged to be able to purchase this amazing coffee from the Boquete region of Panama. The Panama Mama Cata Geisha is a rare coffee and we will be offering this January 19-22nd for $4.00 for a 12oz, $4.75 for a 16oz and $26.25 for a 6oz bag to take home!
Read more about the Panama Mama Cata Geisha HERE and on our online STORE
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Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo tasting at Analog Cafe!
by kevinAmcconnell on August 23, 2011. Filled under Cafe
Join us Thursday August 25th between 4pm-6pm as we kick off our Thursday coffee tastings at Analog Cafe at the Calgary Farmers Market!
This weekend we are tasting our fresh crop arrival Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo Java coffee brewed three different ways: Single Origin Espresso, Cold Brew and on our Hario V60 Pour Over bar! Each method lends its own character to the coffee and brings forward a variety of flavors in the cup.
This will be a casual tasting and we will prepare samples of each method as people come to Analog. Please don't be shy and ask questions! We look forward to starting to offer regular tasting and classes at Analog Cafe each Thursday. Look forward to seeing you there!
Read more about Russ Prefontaine's trip to Nicaragua and the farm we are working with directly to bring this coffee to you.
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YUM Bakery at Analog Cafe!
by kevinAmcconnell on July 19, 2011. Filled under Analog Cafe, Cafe
Fratello Analog Cafe is thrilled to announce we are now featuring YUM Bakery goods Thursday-Sunday! YUM Bakery is a neighbor in the Calgary Farmers Market, and we fell in love with their quality and attention to detail. We are very pleased to be able to sell you their creations! David Catling and his family make fantastic baked goods daily.
Our current selection from YUM includes: Plain Croissant, Chocolate Croissant, Almond Croissant, Apple Croissant, Orange and Ginger Scone and a Chocolate Sourdough bread!
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2011 Prairie Regional Barista Competition
Well it is that time of year again, and we could be more excited. I love competition time. It forces roasters and baristas to step up their skills in anticipation of competing against the best this industry has to offer. Fratello along with, Transcend Coffee and Phil & Sebastian have formed a new alliance called "The Prairie Coffee Project".
The Prairie Coffee Project is a movement, a hope, and a passion to create a better understanding and appreciation of truly fine coffee. It is a group of specialty coffee roasters and cafés across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who put aside differences and competition in order to promote the art and craft of roasting and serving exceptional coffee. It is an ongoing discussion and collaboration of the techniques, tools and processes for making remarkable coffee. It is a place for coffee enthusiasts to learn more about all aspects of coffee, and to be inspired by and connect with the professional coffee community. It is one mor... Read more
Panama Boquete – The Geisha
…….After cupping these coffees, I was blown away at the cupping profile. Flavors of Juicy Fruit candy, creamy strawberry, tangerine acidity, intensely sweet and a balanced lingering acidity. I brewed a Chemex of this in Calgary and found myself gulping it back like I was in a beer drinking competition back in College. I quickly realized that I had NO CHOICE but to buy some. Our 200 lb lot of Panama Mama Cata Full Natural Geisha will be available July 2011……Now let me start at the beginning…..
For many years the most expensive prices paid for coffee has been a rare coffee found in Panama. The record for this Panamanian coffee was set in 2007 when an auction fetched over $150 USD / lb (Green) for coffee grown at Esmeralda Estate using the Geisha Varietal. Since this time, it is not rare for people to pay 10-20 times the regular asking price for this rare coffee. In a café setting it is no different. To get a taste of this coffee, you should expect to p... Read more
Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony June 3rd!
Analog Cafe and Fratello Coffee are honored to be hosting a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony this Friday June 3rd at Analog Cafe at the Calgary Farmers Market!
Please join us at 11am on Friday June 3rd at Analog Cafe at the Calgary Farmers Market to take part in this ceremony. We are very pleased to have Fikerte Neguisse and Maron Abera from Amharic Immersion Calgary lead us in this ancient Ethiopian tradition. They are excited to share this tradition with you. They will be roasting and uniquely preparing our Fratello Ethiopian Sidamo Ardi right at Analog Cafe.
Fratello Coffee Roasters and Analog Cafe are honored that we can help bring this part of coffee tradition to you in Calgary and hope that you are able to join us June 3rd at 11am!
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Costa Rican buying trip – 2011
by russ on May 13, 2011. Filled under Coffee, Direct Trade
At the end of February 2011 we visited our friend Francisco of Exclusive Coffee in San Jose Costa Rica. Our goal this trip was to re-visit our relationship not only with Exclusive Coffees, but also our current coffee producer Luis who owns the Rio Jorco Micro-mill. Below is our observation of the Costa Rican coffee growing market, as well as introduction to two great new Micro-Mills coming to Fratello.
To my amazement and delight, our trip started visiting the new offices of Exclusive Coffees. They moved into a much larger facility with a state of the art cupping lab. As always the coffees being cupped at Exclusive are roasted to perfection (which is extremely rare when visiting farms/labs at origin) and the selection of coffees for the most part where shining stars on the table. Costa Rica has many great growing regions, and now has many first class micro-mills in each of these regions. To keep our palates focused, we only cupped coffees from Tarrazu and the West Valley... Read more