Origin of the Month
Our monthly coffee selections!
Learn about our monthly coffee selections! Every 30 days we bring in a new exotic origin and a new premium origin every quarter.
Origin of the Month
El Salvador Santa Ana Washed HG/EP
This coffee was grown in what has become the premier coffee-producing region of El Salvador. Santa Anna is consistently producing the best El Salvadoran coffee. Rich, fertile soil, high elevations, and climate all come together to provide the perfect high-quality specialty coffee-growing conditions.
When I had my first cup of this origin, I caught myself looking down at the cup and saying “Wow, this is really good coffee.” I got to thinking about it and of all the coffees we have brought you over the year I have said the same thing about 6 or 7 of them.
The reason we have an Origin of the Month is because we are chasing the perfect cup of coffee. I have to say that this coffee is up there among the tops on the list. This coffee was grown at elevations between 3600 and 5250 feet above sea level, making it a High Grown (HG) coffee. One of the reasons high-grown coffees can be so good is that at those elevations, the coffee cherries and the beans inside them, develop more slowly. This makes them more nutrient-dense and flavorful. Another reason HG coffee is so good has to do with the challenges associated with
farming at such high elevations; getting equipment up to those elevations is tricky and so is getting trucks to take the harvest to a washing and processing station.
Farmers whose coffee farms are at these high elevations really streamline harvest processes and logistics. High-grown coffees also result in a
lower yield for the farmers. By streamlining harvest processes and logistics, and the lower yields, farmers must take great care of the trees so that the harvest is of a much higher quality. Many farmers contributed to this lot, all of them having very small farms. These coffee farms dot the slopes of Santa Ana. The farmers here grow Bourbon and Pacas varietals. This coffee is medium-bodied with a smooth, well-balanced flavor profile. If you pay attention while drinking it, you may detect notes of cocoa powder, dried fruit, nuts, and raisins.
Origin of the Quarter
Dominican Republic Ramirez Red Honey
This coffee certainly deserves the Premium moniker. We first made this coffee available as the POOQ for the first quarter of 2022. It was so popular back then that when we saw it was available again, we couldn’t pass it up. It is an organic, honey-processed coffee that received a score of 92 (very good to outstanding) from Coffee Review.
Part of its quality can be attributed to its proximity to Haiti (same island) and Jamaica (you know, Blue Mountain). Like the coffees from Haiti and Jamaica, Ramirez Red Honey is a low-acid, slightly sweet coffee, with a creamy body that is super smooth. It was grown on the Ramirez Estate in the central region of the Dominican Republic.
The Ramirez Estate is worth talking about in more detail. It is a third-generation estate run by the Ramirez family. The Ramirez family employs about 400 people and it pays them wages that are 300 percent higher than the fair-trade standard. Before the Ramirez family purchased the land in the early 1990s, it was barren, natural water springs had dried up, and the previous owners had it used it to raise cattle.
What’s more, the parts of the coffee cherry that most farmers throw out are converted into natural gas through fermentation––in turn, this natural gas powers the Ramirez Estate. The water they use is recycled, filtered, and returned to water systems in the vicinity. Lastly, the cherry pulps and skins are added to compost piles where they are used as fertilizer for the Ramirez Estate and other nearby farms.
It’s not just the premium coffee they produce and the environmentally conscious efforts they employ. The Ramirez Estate also has built schools in rural areas, so local children no longer have to walk nearly twenty miles a day. They donate books to these schools, too.
All told, Ramirez Red Honey is an outstanding coffee. A while ago, I posted my top 5 of the 60 or so coffees we have brought you. This coffee was number 2. For me, it has smooth notes of milky vanilla with a nutty aftertaste. It is smooth and has a balanced sweetness. All told, this might be the best coffee you have ever tried.