El Salvador – Mauricio Salaverria, Finca VillaGalicia – Direct Trade
by russ on May 10, 2013. Filled under Coffee, Direct Trade, HomepageSlider, Rain Forest Alliance, Uncategorized
In February of 2012 we were first introduced with Mauricio Salaverria of Divisadero Café Farms when touring El Salvador. We were impressed with what we saw at his farms Finca VilllaGalicia and Finca Himalaya, both in the Concepcion de Ataco which is in the Ahuachapán region in Western El Salvador. What impressed us the most was the care we saw in all steps of production. From his nursery, to his drying practices, the health of his farm and care of their harvesting. Its wasn’t until this past visit in February 2013 though that we made the important decision to work with Mauricio and bring his coffee into Calgary, Canada. We are thrilled to also say that this year, Mauricio won 2nd place in the El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition! It is no wonder he was a top winning coffee when you look at how they harvest only the perfectly ripened cherries.
COUNTRY: El Salvador
REGION: Concepcion de Ataco, Ahuachapán region of Western El Salvador
FARM: Finca V... Read more
Colombia – Elias Roa – Acevedo, Huila – Direct Trade
Elias Roa and his family have been producing coffee for 25 years. Elias has 2 farms, this one in the Acevedo region called Finca El Recuerdo and the other is in El Pital called Finca Tamana, giving him the ability to harvest coffee all year long. Elias will be able to send his 3 children to University through producing high quality coffees. Elias is the president of the coffee growers association called Primavenal in Acevedo and is leading the other members to produce higher quality coffees through his examples. There are 8 people who are employed on his farm all year long, and 25 people during the harvest season.
COUNTRY: Colombia
REGION: Acevedo, Southern Huila
FARM: Finca El Recuerdo
PRODUCER: Elias Roa
VARIETALS: 80% Caturra, 20% Castillo
ELEVATION: 4700 feet
PROCESSING METHOD: Double washed, soaked, slow dried on African beds in a parabolic solar dryer for 20 days.
LOT SIZE: 20 bags (3040 lbs)
Acevedo is on the southern side of Colombia in t... Read more
The Vanguard Review – Analog Coffee 17th Ave
by russ on April 23, 2013. Filled under Coffee, Uncategorized
Calgary has become an amazing coffee city. It’s quite rare for a city to have one great coffee roaster, let alone three. Fortunately the city has been quick to embrace this coffee movement. I’m confident to say Calgary coffee roasters rival that of Blue Bottle/San Francisco, Stumptown/Portland, or Intelligentsia/Chicago.
Analog is the café arm of what seems is becoming the Fratello Coffee Roasters ‘empire’. Owned by three brothers, Fratello sources, roasts, and now brews its coffee. Analog struck gold with its location on the corner of 17th avenue and 7th street SW. Quite fortunately this is also less a mere block from my house.
In the few months the café has been open it has developed a bit of a reputation as a hipster hangout. Needless to say the crowd tends to be young, hip, and gorgeous. In my mind this is never a bad thing.
While I consider myself a latte guy, to me the quintessential coffee at Analog is the single cup pour over. I’m consistently blown away... Read more
Guatemalan – Montecristo, Geisha – Direct Trade
by russ on April 17, 2013. Filled under Coffee, Direct Trade, HomepageSlider, Rain Forest Alliance, Uncategorized
Easily one of the top coffees we've ever had the opportunity to taste has been our new Guatemalan Don Gustavo Geisha, a stunning cup, bright citrus and tropical fruit notes with an incredibly smooth body and a candy like finish. It is grown at 1600 Meters above sea level alongside Bourbons and Caturra coffee plants and macadamia nut trees which provide shade for this coffee. We have been working with Johann Nottebohm (seen beelow) now for 5 years.
COUNTRY: Guatemala
REGION: San Marcos
FARM: Montecristo
FARM PLOT NAME: Fratello
FARM OWNER: Johann Dieter Nottebohm
PRODUCER: Don Gustavo
VARIETALS: Geisha
ELEVATION: 45280 feet
PROCESSING METHOD: Double washed, soaked, sun dried on patio.
LOT SIZE: This tiny 5 bag nano-lot is 100% exclusive to Fratello Coffee Roasters.
The Montecristo Estate is a Rainforest Alliance certified farm. It has schools, housing and many other facilities for its many permanent workers as well as for any workers that come ju... Read more
Fast Forward Weekly – Calgary’s Booming Coffee Scene
Cream of the coffee shops - Calgarians hungry for more than a cup of joe
Published April 11, 2013 by James Wilt in Bar & Restaurant Guide
It’s mid-week, mid-morning. A dozen or so customers are drinking espressos and lattes in Fratello’s Analog Cafe on 17th Avenue S.W. It’s decently busy, at least by the standards of many local third-wave coffee shops — a movement to promote high-quality, artisanal coffee, of which Fratello’s is an adherent. The mixture of conversation and coffee grinding is nearly constant.
But Russ Prefontaine, an owner and green-bean buyer for Fratello, is a tad perturbed. He can’t figure out why the shop is so “dead” at the moment. Standing-room only is the norm on weekends, and often during the late-morning rush, he explains. Overall sales have been increasing week by week. Needless to say, this sort of customer excitement around coffee isn’t typical for this city.
“It just goes to show how hungry Calgary is for somethin... Read more
Colombia – Arnulfo Leguizamo, San Agustin, Huila – Direct Trade
We are extremely excited and proud to be introducing you to not only one of, or THE BEST Colombian coffee in the world, but also one of the best coffees we have tasted in a very long time. Arnulfo Leguizamo, a coffee producer in San Agustin, a micro region of the Huila district broke records when he finished 1st place in the 2011 Colombian Cup of Excellence competion. He not only was one of the highest ranked Colombian Coffee in history scoring a 94.05 (2nd highest) but he also recieved the highest price paid at any Colombian auction in history when bids reached $45.10 / lb green, FOB Colombia (with the average amount paid at that time being around $2.75 / lb). We purchased this coffee in November of 2012 on our last trip to Colombia.
Fratello Coffee has a very small amount of this coffee availalbe, only 300 lbs, but we are the only roasters in Canada to have access to it. There was only 900 lbs of this #1 Lot available world wide so we are happy to offer what we got.
F... Read more
The Effects of Coffee Drying Speeds at Origin
by russ on February 21, 2013. Filled under Coffee, Uncategorized
Nothing is more rewarding then seeing a fresh crop of micro-lots being unloaded off the back of a truck into our roastery. This pleases me so much as I know the amount of work our producers and exporters have put into this coffee to get it this far. I also personally know how much work we have put into sourcing and choosing these precious beans to offer our clients.
Nothing is more disappointing then when you begin to sample roast and begin profiling these new arrivals and the flavor profiles we tasted at origin are no longer being tasted. “What is going on!?!? How can a coffee taste so different at origin compared to what we are tasting now?” This isn’t unique to Fratello, and is something we have heard many roasters around the world talk/complain about. It has been a topic of many conversations over the past year with the coffee producers we work with and exporters who are working on the ground at origin every day.
My first major experience with this cof... Read more
Modern Socialite – The Prefontaine’s and Analog Coffee
by russ on February 19, 2013. Filled under aboutfeatured, Uncategorized
By Jeannette Vega B.
Russ and Chris Prefontaine are the visionary brothers behind the hit wonder, Analog Coffee on 17th Ave, nestled in the heart of Mount Royal and the Red Mile business district, a better location could not have been chosen.
The sleek and stylish cafe has quickly attracted a discerning and loyal clientele who recognizes the artistry and passion being put forth in this initiative. The brother’s desire to bring a higher level of quality and service to Calgary has not gone unnoticed with the buzz about Analog being wide spread.
I sat down with Chris and Russ to find out more about their journey into Analog, I wanted to know what motivated them and drove their passion throughout the years. The quiet yet charismatic brothers had a lot to say, their extensive knowledge, dedicated heart and deep desire to bring us the very best was immediately apparent.
Q.1 When and how did your passion for coffee start?
1 - Its difficult to say when my passion for coffe... Read more
Devastation Throughout Central America – Roya Leaf Rust
by russ on February 1, 2013. Filled under Coffee, Uncategorized
What a terrible time to be a coffee producer in Central America. An aggressive, widespread attack of the coffee-eating roya fungus is causing more damage and devastation throughout Central America's coffee plantations than was expected and is inflicting high costs on producers at a time when international coffee prices have fallen sharply.
Just when you think it looks like coffee producers were beginning to be more profitable in their business’s through getting better prices for their coffee, the NY Commodity Market decides to decline sharply. Typically when you see the NYC Market go higher, you have a softening on the differential market. The opposite is then true when you see a down turn in the NYC Market. This is a stressful and risky way for coffee producers to sell coffee.
The differential market varies completely from origin to origin and often reflects quality levels as well as supply and demand with in an origin. The NYC market is a global benc... Read more
Avenue Magazine’s Review on Analog Coffee 17th Ave.
by russ on January 8, 2013. Filled under Analog Cafe
17th Avenue welcomes a new café where people can get their Fratello coffee fix and other sweet and savoury treats.
Lattes at Analog are made with locally roasted Fratello beans.
Longtime local coffee roaster, Fratello, first expanded from roasting beans to serving them at its Analog Coffee stand in the Calgary Farmers’ Market in 2011. Now, the Fratello brothers, Russ and Chris, have added a second location to their roster on the corner of 17th Avenue S.W. and 7th Street S.W.
Analog Coffee sits on the corner of 17th Avenue and 7th Street S.W.
If you can’t quite place the location, perhaps you’ll remember what it was before: A Buy Rite store. After decades of being a convenience store, the space has undergone an extensive facelift. The interior, which seats approximately 30 people, is bright and clean. White walls reflect any the sun shining in through the cafe’s front floor-to-ceiling windows, making the baristas’ work station the focal point of the room. Although l... Read more