November Spotlight - La Armonia Hermosa

Welcome to the November 2024 edition of For the Love of Coffee, a blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee Company.

November’s new Spotlight coffee will be La Armonia Hermosa. Grown in the fertile volcanic soil of Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala. La Armonia Hermosa translates to “The Beautiful Harmony”. This could not be a better name for this wonderful coffee for indeed, it is a beautiful harmony between the Guatemalan family who plants, nurtures, and harvests the coffee; the local farm that processes, packs, and ships the coffee; and Deeper Roots/Vienna coffee. It is also a beautiful harmony of flavors featuring notes of ripe cherries, rich chocolate, and sweet cinnamon.

The dormant volcano Agua towers above the city of Sant Maria de Jesus.

Les Stonham talks with Melvin about this years crop.

After the coffee cherries are harvested all by hand they are put through a “de-pulping machine” in order to remove the fruit from the coffee seeds inside.

Large tarps are used for drying the coffee, both washed and natural process can be seen on the farm. Both processes require constant turning in order to assure consistent and even drying.

Les and I have the great privilege to jump in and help with the spreading and turning of the coffee cherries.

The entire lot for the year is purchased by Deeper Roots and Vienna Coffee to ensure a fair price for Julio and his family and for the pure enjoyment of our customers.

We are excited to feature this exclusive coffee from our direct-trade partner to our customer. Be on the lookout for Barista samples coming soon!

Thank you all for all you do to make Vienna Coffee such a special place.

Matt

October Featured Coffee - Highlands Blend

Welcome to the October 2024 edition of For The Love of Coffee. A blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee.

October’s featured coffee will be one of Vienna Coffee’s best offerings, the one and only Highlands Blend! This coffee has long been a customer favorite and one of our top sellers. The combination of beans used in the blend creates a wonderfully satisfying cup of coffee perfect for any season. Let’s take a closer look at what goes into this unique blend.

Highlands Blend is comprised of four excellent coffees, each of which makes an exceptional cup of coffee in its own right, but when blended something truly magical happens! The largest component, which makes up 50% of the blend, is one of our relationship coffees - Finca San Jeronimo. As many of you probably already know, this coffee comes to us through our Deeper Roots family who have been working closely with the Brassani family in Guatemala for many years. Their coffees are meticulously cultivated through every stage of planting, harvesting, production, and shipping and contributes the largest “flavor factor” in the blend providing notes of dark chocolate, black cherry and almond.

Les Stoneham talks with Finca San Jeronimo’s third-generation owner, Georgio Brassani about how they are are combating leaf rust on their coffee farm using natural methods.

The second coffee featured in Highlands Blend which accounts for 25% is the consistently clean and balanced taste of Costa Rica. This coffee comes from a large coffee-growing region called Tarrazu where some of the best coffees in Costa Rica are grown at an altitude of 1,220 Meters, or 4,000 feet above sea level! This high altitude makes for slow development resulting in more density and natural compounds in the bean, resulting in a coffee with wonderful balance, clarity and subtle notes of brown spice and pear.

The third and fourth coffees that complete Highlands Blend each come in at 12.5% of the total. They are Colombia Tolima and Tanzania Mwika. Both of these exceptional coffees come through our Deeper Roots connection and serve to complete the overall complexity and balance in the cup. Colombia Tolima provides rich notes of maple and cocoa nibs, and some amazing caramel and citrusy notes from the Tanzanian resulting in a delicious and lingering finish to the coffee.

A fresh bag of Colombia Tolima sits in the roastery at Vienna Coffee waiting to be blended into the next batch of Highlands Blend.

Above: A sense of pride is common in the people of the Mwika Cooperative in Tanzania.

Below: Some of you may remember the images from a few month’s back, when Tanzania Mwika was our featured coffee, of the new and improved washing tanks that Deeper Roots was instrumental in helping the farm acquire and complete.

Highlands Blend will be rolling out to the coffee bar soon, and each of you will be receiving a 4oz sample to take home and enjoy. We will also be doing some cross-promotion with Maryville College as well as they celebrate their Homecoming October 25th - 27th. Go Highlanders!

Stay Caffeinated,

Matt

It's baa-aack!! Red Roaster Blend is our September featured coffee!

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee! A blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee.

Red Roaster Blend is back! Below you will find information about why we call it Red Roaster Blend and information about the coffee beans that are selected to create this uniquely complex and balanced coffee.

Red Roaster Blend is an homage to John Clark’s original red coffee roaster which he used when he first started roasting coffee on a larger scale. It wouldn’t be long before it was replaced by a larger roaster to keep up with demand. It is the very same roaster currently on display on our cafe stage.

John’s favorite coffee, Kenya makes up the foundation of Red Roaster Blend. Kenya makes up 50% of the blend and provides the deep wine-like quality found in the cup. Kenya is often referred to as “the wine of coffees” and it is easy to see why because of it’s bold, intense full-bodied flavor, bright acidity, and notes of citrus and berries.

This rich foundation of Kenya is perfectly complimented by the addition of Organic Fairtrade Mexico Chiapas to provide a sweet and chocolatey note with some nice floral spice.

Additionally, a new natural-processed coffee has been added which replaced the previous natural in the blend which was Ethiopian Shantawane. Some of you may remember that Shatawene is a very fruit-forward coffee. The new coffee is from Rwanda and has much of the same qualities as the Ethiopian did with it’s own unique notes of dark chocolate, strawberries, and tropical fruit.

Coffee from the village of Kinini in Rwanda is dried using the natural process on raised beds to make it easier to sort by hand and ensure a very consistent quality.

Red Roaster Blend is a coffee with a rich Vienna Coffee heritage, and is one of my personal favorite coffees that we produce. I look forward to having it on our coffee bar soon and sharing it with our community. In the meantime, please brew up the samples you received and talk it up with customers as you have the opportunity. It is an amazing coffee with a wonderful story to tell!

Matt

Colombia Tolima - August Featured Coffee

Welcome to another edition of For The Love of Coffee, a blog exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee Company.

Today I will highlight our August featured coffee: the rich and satisfying Colombia Tolima. This coffee comes to us from our Deeper Roots family through the relationships formed with the coffee farmers and exporters of the Tolima region in the Ibague district. Colombia coffee is already world-renowned for its quality and consistency is often considered THE standard for what coffee should taste like!

In November 2013, Deeper Root’s Director of Coffee, Adam Shaw traveled to the coffee-producing region of Tolima to see first-hand the quality of the coffee farms. While there Adam had the privilege of visiting 5 different farms and was able to cup coffee with the farmers. Fast-forward 10 years and Deeper Roots continues its relationship with this amazing coffee-producing region.

Tolima has approximately 1,800,000 inhabitants and an area of 23,562 square kilometers. It is situated in central-west Colombia. Tolima is a well-known coffee-producing region in Colombia. This coffee is from the growing areas around Ibague where Pergamino Coffee Exporters works with around 50 growers that bring their coffee to a logistics partner of Pergamino where there is a warehouse and cupping lab. The coffee lots are then analyzed one by one for quality and consistency before being added to the lots for export. In addition to growing coffee, the Tolima district is also the number-one rice and sesame producer in the country.

Here at Vienna Coffee we are fortunate to have a direct connection with this amazing coffee through our new partnership with Deeper Roots. We have taken the time to roast and cup this delicious coffee and to dial in on the best profile for producing the best flavors in the cup. The coffee features a light/medium roast and has subtle tasting notes of cocoa, maple, and honeydew. The acidity is bright and lively and the mouthfeel is heavy and full. We think that it will be a delight for our customers and have them asking for more information about this amazing coffee!

Each Barista will be receiving a 4oz sample to take home and prepare using their preferred coffee-brewing method. As always, feedback is encouraged as I always love to hear about your experience and impressions of our featured coffee.

Cheers!

Matt

What is "Washed" Coffee?

On their long journey from crop to cup coffee beans go through several processes. One of these is to determine whether the newly harvested coffee will be processed using the Natural or Washed method. Let’s take a moment to look briefly at each of these unique methods, focusing on the washed method, to see how each affects the coffee's flavor.

After the ripe coffee cherries are harvested from the coffee trees, they are sent to the processing facility where they are washed, sorted, and laid out in the sun to dry on large cement patios or raised beds. If the coffee seeds (beans) are left inside the fruity pulp of the coffee cherry during the drying phase, this is known as the Natural Process. The Natural process is the earliest known method used for processing coffee and typically produces more fruity notes in the cup, a heavier body, and often more sweetness.

By comparison, the Wet or Washed Process uses a “de-pulping” machine to remove the fruity outer skin of the coffee cherry before the beans are sent to the drying beds. Often this pulp is collected, dried, and used to make a tea called “Cascara”. The freshly de-pulped coffee beans are then sent to a large fermentation tank filled with water to soak for around 18 to 24 hours. During fermentation micro-organisms from the coffee beans create enzymes that break down the mucilage, a sticky substance left on the outside of the seeds after the fruit has been removed. The water is then drained and fresh water is introduced to give the coffee a final wash before sending it to the drying patios. The beans will remain on the drying beds until the coffee dries to around 10 - 12% moisture remaining. It is then collected and bagged for shipment around the world. Washed coffee is known for its clean, refined, and balanced taste in the cup.

Now when you see the words “washed” or “natural” on coffee bags you will better understand what that means and how each processing method contributes to the flavors you are experiencing in your cup.

July 2024 Featured Coffee: Tanzanania Mwika

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee! A blog exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee Company.

I hope you all are having a good summer and staying cool. All the recent heat waves have certainly made iced coffee drinks much more appealing lately! Today however we will focus on hot coffee, namely our featured coffee for July, the amazing Tanzanian Mwika! This beautiful coffee is sure to delight and inspire employees and customers alike.

Tanzania is a country located in the south-east region of the African continent. It is further south than Ethiopia, and its northern border touches the world-renowned coffee-growing country of Kenya. Tanzania is most famous for its peaberry coffee; a coffee which we featured here at Vienna exactly one year ago for our July 2023 featured coffee. If you are unfamiliar with Peaberry Coffee check out my previous blog from last year to learn more about this distinctive Tanzanian coffee.

We are lucky to be able to receive this amazing coffee through our partnership with Deeper Roots. Here are some insights about Mwika North from the Deeper Roots team:

“All of us here at DRC have been really looking forward to this year’s fresh crop Mwika North and it does NOT disappoint. It has always been a favorite of the team and we love sharing it with you all. This lot was processed using the Coffee Processing Unit (CPU or washing station) that is now operational after a decade of being unusable! One of our previous Community Giveback Projects helped get the CPU up and running and Mwika has been using it since the 2020 harvest.”

(Above) Coffee Processing Unit (CPU) with the fermentation tanks in front before the installation of new tile lining.

Coffee fermentation tanks as they appear today.

“This year’s lot is a continuation of that work and was entirely processed through the CPU.  We’re still working with issues locally to help Mwika fulfill their goal of running.  ALL their coffee through the on-site wet mill. Farmers will get paid sooner, quality will go up and we were all able to play our small part state-side. Option 3: Win-win-win.”

Mwika North members gather for a meeting on coffee quality and consistency at the updated processing facility.

We have cupped this coffee here at the Vienna Coffee Lab and found it to be an exceptionally complex, yet balanced coffee. It features a bright, fruity acidity, full body, and tasting notes of caramel, dried fruit, and orange blossom. You should have all received 4 oz samples of this amazing coffee to enjoy at home. Please share any thoughts you have with me about the coffee once you have tried it. I would love to hear your feedback!

And finally, a thought to ponder:

“Some say money can’t buy happiness. They lie. Money can buy coffee, and coffee makes me happy” ~Anonymous

Until next time - Peace, Love, & Coffee.

Matt

June Featured Coffee - Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

Welcome to another fact-filled, action-packed edition of For the Love of Coffee! A blog about all things coffee exclusively for employees of Vienna Coffee Company.

Today we focus on our featured coffee for June: the beautifully bold and balanced Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. As some of you may already know from a previous edition of FTLOC, Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. From its humble discovery in the mid-19th century, coffee has become America’s most consumed beverage next to water, and the 3rd most consumed in the world after water and tea. And it all started on a humble hillside in Ethiopia.

The name Yirgacheffe comes from the village near which this coffee is grown. Yirgacheffe is home to the most elusive and complex profiles Ethiopia has to offer. Located in the southern region of Ethiopia, Yiracheffee has ideal coffee-growing conditions such as rich volcanic soil, mountainous terrain, and just the right amount of annual rainfall to grow some of the best coffee plants on earth.

Vienna’s Organic Yirgacheffe coffee comes to us from our long-time organic, fair-trade importing partner, OPTCO via the Kerchanshe Trading Company, Ethiopia’s largest exporter of coffee. The coffee comes primarily from the Debeka Farm which is one of the largest farms owned and operated by Kerchanshe. Coffee is grown under a sprawling one-hectare greenhouse so that they are grown uniformly. After harvesting the coffee cherries are processed using both washed and natural methods. Here at Vienna, we purchase the washed- processed coffee for a distinctively clean and crisp finish in the cup.

Each coffee lot is carefully tended and tracked to assure quality controls.

Washed coffee drying in the sun until it reaches it’s precise moisture content of 10 - 12%.

Once the coffee is received in our roastery, it is expertly roasted by our skilled roast master, Trace. The coffee is allowed to rest for a few days and cupped in our QC lab to ensure it is ready for our discerning customers. Tasting notes for this Organic Fair Trade Yirgacheffe are Cocoa, Brown Sugar, and Black Cherry along with a full body and bright acidity.

Each Barista will soon receive a 4oz sample of this fantastic coffee to take home. Thanks to each one of you for for representing Vienna every single day with such professionalism and enthusiasm! Ya’ll are THE BEST!!!

It’s a great day for coffee!!!

Matt

May Featured Coffee - Natural La Armonia Hermosa

Summer is finally here! To celebrate the warmer temperatures our May featured coffee will be the bright and fruity harmony of Natural La Armonia Hermosa! Here at Vienna, we have become very familiar with this exceptional coffee and this natural-processed version adds a whole other level to the experience! This coffee is roaster Light to bring out all of the delicate fruit notes in the bean. Tasting notes are “strawberry pop tart, green apple, and cane sugar”. Get ready for a real treat!

A colorful and vibrant culture is everywhere in this quaint city where people get most of their goods in open-air markets and shops that occupy the very old buildings along the towns cobblestone streets.

The dormant volcano Agua towers above the city of Sant Maria de Jesus.

Les Stonham talks with Melvin about this years crop.

Large tarps are used for drying the coffee, both washed and natural process can be seen on the farm. Both processes require constant turning in order to assure consistent and even drying.

Les and I have the great privilege to jump in and help with the spreading and turning of the coffee cherries.

The entire lot for the year is purchased by Deeper Roots and Vienna Coffee to ensure a fair price for Julio and his family and for the pure enjoyment of our customers.

We are excited to offer this exclusive, natural-processed coffee from our direct-trade partnership with Julio Cuy Xar and his family in Guatemala. I believe you will find it a delicious and inspiring addition!

Thank you all for all you do to make Vienna Coffee such a special place.

Matt

April Featured Coffee - Organic Papua New Guinea

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee, a blog exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee!

This month’s featured coffee is both organic and a relationship coffee from our Deeper Roots connections. Adam Shaw, Deeper Root’s Director of Coffee has spent years traveling to coffee-growing regions around the globe and developing relationships with local and regional coffee producers. Through his relationship with Vikram Patel at Benchmark Coffee Traders he has developed connections with local coffee producers and farmers in the Highland region of Papua New Guinea.

Ariel view of the Highland Regions of Papua New Guinea.

Located in the Southwest Pacific between Indonesia and Australia, the island nation of Papua New Guinea is an incredibly diverse and beautiful place. It encompasses the eastern half of the island of New Guinea which is the second largest in the world. Known for its pristine coral reefs, beaches, and inland volcanoes, Papua New Guinea is perfect for growing some of the world’s finest coffee!

The island nation of Papua New Guinea. Circled is the Highlands Region where our April featured coffee is from.

Regarding the relationship between Benchmark Coffee and the coffee families of PNG, Vikram says “We have funded the textbooks for five elementary schools for six years now and in 2023, in partnership with Deeper Roots, we completed the construction and opening of a brand new elementary school. 88 Children attend this school which has two teachers and a treasurer and is part of the national Papua New Guinea school system. In addition, positive impact projects are central to our perspective on coffee. We don’t just support positive impact projects by buying coffees at fair prices, but we directly engage and directly fund social projects on an ongoing basis. We favor projects with tangible results in the education and water access realms, and women’s hygiene, which we continue to support.”

Papua New Guinea has a 40% illiteracy rate which is among the highest in the world, so free elementary schools have significant impact and help create healthier communities.

It is believed that when coffee first arrived on the island around the late 19th century, Lutheran missionaries planted beans from Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee trees. There are claims that the Germans were the first to bring coffee, but there are also claims that it was British settlers that brought the bean around the same period. The first official documentation of coffee being grown commercially wasn’t until the 1920s. Fast-forward 100 years and Papua New Guinea is currently the 17th largest coffee-producing nation with almost all coffee being produced on small farms. There are approximately 2.5 million people (around 30% of the population!) employed in the coffee industry, the majority working on the approximately 280,000 small farms. 90% of the coffee production on the island is done in the 5 Highlands Provinces of Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Simbu, Morobe, and East Sepik.

Coffee estates all over the world often organize themselves as integrated villages, providing workers with structure and services as well as housing. Each of the Carpenter Estates – Sigri, Bunum Wo, and Kindeng – takes care of the needs of its workers fully, providing a modest but distinctively modern lifestyle almost totally independent from the outside world.

Our Organic Papua New Guinea Coffee comes from these small farms through a regional Co-op called the Premium Smallholder Crop. The coffee is purchased from smallholders who pulp, wash, and dry their green coffees. Once purchased, dry milling is finished on the Kindeng Estate. Once we receive the green coffee it is roasted and bagged on-site in our roastery. We are proud to offer this outstanding coffee to our customers! Baristas, you will each receive a 4oz sample bag to take home and enjoy.

Customer Info to share

This coffee shines with a creamy body, low acidity, and subtle notes of cocoa, walnut and brown sugar, with a rich, chocolatey finish.

It’s a GREAT day for coffee!

Matt

March Featured Coffee - Organic Nicaragua

Hello and welcome to this month’s For the Love of Coffee, a blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee Company.

Today’s blog will focus on our featured coffee for March 2024 - Organic Fair Trade Nicaragua. The month of March is Women’s History Month, and so we are featuring a coffee that celebrates and promotes women who work in the coffee industry on the production side. This delicious coffee is grown in the Las Segovia Region of Nicaragua. The coffee cooperative which produces this coffee is called Corcosan and they have been a member of the Cafe’ Feminino program since 2017.

Since joining the Café Femenino program, the women farmers of Union Corcasan have increased their income, their ability to organize, and their leadership opportunities. Together they work to strengthen their coffee farms—the economical heart of their community—by combating coffee rust and replanting new coffee trees.

Co-founded in 2003 by Peruvian women farmers alongside Organic Products Trading Co., Café Femenino now spans the globe and continues to grow as more and more women join the Café Femenino movement. We are blessed to work with importers who work with this amazing organization which allows us to offer these coffees to our customers and share the story of Cafe’ Feminino and the work they do.

This delicious coffee features tasting notes of Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Apple. It is roasted to a medium degree and features a bright acidity and a medium body. At a recent cupping, a pleasant orange taste was also noted. All Baristas and Kitchen staff will receive a 4oz sample of this amazing coffee to take home and enjoy using the brewing method of your choice.

Have a fantastic day and thanks to each and every one of you for all you do each and every day to make Vienna Coffee such an amazing place for our customers and your fellow employees. Each one of you are awesome and truly appreciated!

It’s a great day for coffee!

Matt

February Featured Coffee - Ethiopian Shantawene

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of For the Love of Coffee, a blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee.

Our February 2024 featured coffee will be our award-winning single origin from our Foothills series - Ethiopian Shantawene.

Coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia and some of the world’s best coffee is still grown there. Shantawene Village is located in the Bensa District of Sidama, Ethiopia. This natural lot is a collection of coffees from the village, produced at the local mill run by the Dukamo Family. In 2006, brothers Asefa and Mulugeta Dukamo founded Daye Bensa, a coffee grower and exporter in Ethiopia. Daye Bensa exports coffee from its farm, in the Shantawene Village, as well as from “out-growers”(or smallholders) in three villages: Shantawene, Karamo, and Bombe.

Their company, Daya Bensa has quickly become the leader in high-quality coffee collection and curation winning them numerous accolades. The mill at Shantawene Village has been especially successful as you will taste in this coffee! Just a couple of years ago they received 7th place in the inaugural 2020 Cup of Excellence competition for Ethiopia.

This beautiful coffee is processed using the Natural Process where the coffee beans are left in the fruit to dry on raised beds. Each lot is carefully hand-sorted to remove any unripe cherries before going to the de-pulper to remove the outer fruit layer of the coffee. This process results in the wonderful fruit-forward flavor and a heavier, more syrupy body.

Here at Vienna Coffee, we roast this single-origin coffee to a Light roast to bring out all of the natural fruity notes while highlighting the sweet acidity. Recently our Roast Master Trace Johnson tweaked the roast profile to bring out even more fruit-forward notes and a bright and lively acidity. Tasting notes listed on the packaging remain Raspberry, Plumb, and Lavender.

This coffee also won a Bronze Medal for Veinna at the 2022 Golden Bean Awards, a national coffee-roasting competition. The coffee won the award in the “Pour Over Filter” category. We will be sure to have something in the cafe pointing to this fact and encourage customers to try the coffee prepared using the pour over method.

I hope you all take pride in knowing that every single day you are serving our customers only the highest quality coffees, sourced from farms that take great pride in their product and care deeply about their workers and the natural environment. Take the opportunity this month to try this truly outstanding coffee and please share your thoughts, I would love to hear them!

It’s a GREAT day for coffee!

~Matt~

Welcome 2024... And welcome back Finca San Jeronimo!

As I sit here and type these words I can hardly believe another year has come to an end! 2023 was filled with incredible opportunities, a few challenges, and plenty of great coffee! During the past year, we said goodbye to our founder and visionary leader, John Clark as he sailed off into the sunset for a much-deserved retirement; we began to receive new and improved green coffee offerings because of our partnership with Deeper Roots; and we began roasting coffee on our amazing new Loring S70 roaster! It’s been quite a year!

Adam & Trace examine the first roast on the new Loring Roaster.

I look forward to many new opportunities for continued growth in 2024. I believe we are primed for success in unique and unprecedented ways, and we have the team and equipment in place to reach new heights and touch many lives as a company. I am so grateful for every one of you, and for all you do every day, individually, to make Vienna a truly unique and wonderful place!

As we welcome the New Year, we also welcome a new featured coffee, but one that is very familiar to us here at Vienna - Guatemala Finca San Jeronimo!

This exceptional coffee is sourced from a farm located on a literal volcano in the Atitlan region of Guatemala called Volcan De Atitlan. The farm is located between 700 - 2,600 meters above sea level. The tropical climate of this region is perfectly suited to growing coffee and receives abundant rainfall year-round.

Volcano Atitlan in Guatemala - the stunning home of Finca San Jeronimo Mirimar coffee farm.

Owners, Georgio and Gina Brassani treat the environment, their employees, and their community with a deep level of care. The farm has been owned by the same family for over 100 years and produces coffee, exotic tropical fruit, honey, and a variety of dairy products. The natural fresh-water springs feed the farm’s water supply and provide hydroelectric power to all the farm’s processing facilities. A large portion of the farm is a nature preserve that protects several native species, and they have a lab on-site to research natural methods of reducing fungi and pests in coffee production.

Georgio Brassani, 3rd generation owner of Finca San Jeronimo Miramar coffee farm, stands among his prized coffee plants while giving a tour of his farm.

After the fruit of the coffee cherries has been removed, the coffee beans are put through a washing process and then spread out on cement patios to dry before being bagged and shipped to our roasting facility in Maryville.

Guatemalan coffees are known for their full-body, chocolaty notes, and rich toffee-like sweetness. We source this coffee from our partner business Deeper Roots Coffee in Cincinnati. Vienna CEO, Les Stoneham has developed a producer/roaster relationship with the farm and can source the highest quality beans from each year’s lot production.

Georgio and Les discussing the methods the farm is currently using to combat “leaf rust” which will kill the coffee plant if not contained.

We are truly blessed to have such a close connection with this outstanding coffee and the people who produce it. And here at Vienna Coffee we take great care and pride in roasting and serving this wonderful coffee, just as the famers and workers at Finca San Jeronimo do in growing, processing and shipping their coffee for us to enjoy and share with others.

Our own Vienna Coffee custom-designed bags are a great reminder of the beauty of this coffee and the relationship with those who produce it.

Happy New Year to all of you! It’s a GREAT day (and going to be a great year) for coffee!

~Matt~

Tis the Season... for Hearth & Home!

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee! A blog exclusively for the staff of Vienna Coffee Company.

The holidays are officially upon us, and here at Vienna Coffee that means another edition of our much-anticipated annual holiday blend - Hearth & Home! This seasonal blend represents all the wonderful things people love about the season: holiday traditions, the warmth of family and friends, and the hopeful prayer of peace on earth and goodwill toward mankind.

Here at Vienna Coffee, we LOVE the holiday season and all the festive and delicious flavors it brings. In addition to some great seasonal drinks created by our incredibly talented Baristas, this year’s annual holiday blend highlights two exceptional Vienna coffees: Kenya, and Guatemala La Armonia Hermosa. Each coffee is unique in its flavor profile and when blended creates a coffee experience that is at once both familiar and surprising.

The foundation of the blend is considered one of the world’s finest coffees. Kenyan coffee is consistently prized for its sweetness, spice, balance & complexity. Featuring flavor notes that are often floral and fruity, Kenyan coffees have a richness and depth that is reminiscent of a fine red wine. In fact, Kenya is often referred to as “the wine of coffee”.

Approximately 200 members of the Muharate Farmer’s Cooperative contributed to this Kenyan lot. These small-holder coffee farms, averaging just a half-acre each, are located on the slopes of the picturesque Kikpkelion Hill in Kenya. Coffee here is hand-picked and then delivered to the only wet mill in the region. Once at the wet mill, it is sorted, pulped, and fermented using river water. It is then dried on raised beds.

With the strong flavor foundation of Kenya, we then add the distinctive Guatmela La Armonia Hermosa. Featuring tasting notes of cherry, chocolate, and cinnamon this beautiful coffee comes from our partnership with Deeper Roots and their direct relationship with Guatemalan farmers Julio Cuy Xar and family.

The drying fields in Santa Maria De Jesus, Guatemala.

Julio Cuy Xar and his son Melvin produce some of the finest Guatemalan coffee for Deeper Roots and Vienna Coffee.

We are blessed to have access to these beautiful coffees and I am grateful for the relationships we are so fortunate to have cultivated with the farmers and producers. Coffee is truly a global community of people who are passionate about family, community, and traditions - the very same things which make Hearth & Home our featured coffee for December.

Be sure to encourage our customers to try Hearth & Home the next time they order a brewed coffee, and maybe casually suggest that it would make a great gift for any coffee lovers on their list!

I wish every one of you a very happy and blessed Holiday Season!

Matt

It's baa-aack!! Red Roaster Blend is our November featured coffee!

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee! A blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee.

Fall weather is now fully upon us and we are featuring the deep, rich, robust, wonderful creation that is Vienna Coffee’s 20th Anniversary coffee - Red Roaster Blend. This outstanding coffee blend is made with exceptional coffee beans producing a lively and memorable cup. Below you will find information about why we call it Red Roaster Blend and information about each bean that is used to create this uniquely complex and balanced coffee.

Red Roaster Blend is an homage to John Clark’s original red coffee roaster which he used when he firs started roasting coffee on a somewhat larger scale. It wouldn’t be long before it was replaced by a larger roaster to keep up with demand.

Red Roaster will continue to be one of our premier coffee blends for the foreseeable future. I will get sample packs out to all Baristas as soon as possible. In the meantime, please sample this delicious coffee from the coffee bar and talk it up with customers when you have the opportunity. It is an amazing coffee with a wonderful story to tell!

Matt

La Armonia Hermosa - The Beautiful Harmony

October’s featured coffee will be the beautiful harmony of La Armonia Hermosa grown in the fertile volcanic soil of Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala.

The dormant volcano Agua towers above the city of Sant Maria de Jesus.

Les Stonham talks with Melvin about this years crop.

After the coffee cherries are harvested all by hand they are put through a “de-pulping machine” in order to remove the fruit from the coffee seeds inside.

Large tarps are used for drying the coffee, both washed and natural process can be seen on the farm. Both processes require constant turning in order to assure consistent and even drying.

Les and I have the great privilege to jump in and help with the spreading and turning of the coffee cherries.

The entire lot for the year is purchased by Deeper Roots and Vienna Coffee to ensure a fair price for Julio and his family and for the pure enjoyment of our customers.

New labeling will be used going forward. We will no longer have this coffee designated as “Foothills Series” it will look the same as our other Vienna Coffee offerings.

We are excited to offer this exclusive coffee from our direct-trade partner in Guatemala. I believe you will find it to be a delicious and inspiring addition to our offerings.

Thank you all for all you do to make Vienna Coffee such a special place.

Matt

Fun & Interesting Coffee Facts

Hello, and welcome to another edition of For The Love of Coffee! A blog about all things coffee exclusively for the staff of Vienna Coffee.

This week I am sending you some interesting and fun facts about our favorite beverage in the hopes that it will spark conversation and a desire to learn more about America’s most-consumed beverage after water (fun fact #1 right there ;)

1. Coffee “beans” are actually seeds.

That’s right, the green coffee beans we receive and roast here at Vienna are actually the seeds of the Coffea Arabica plant, a shrub-like plant that produces bright red cherries containing two seeds that are harvested, processed, roasted, and brewed to make what we call coffee.

2. The most expensive coffee in the world can cost as much as $600 per pound.

Kopi luwak coffee (ie. cat poop coffee) is made by collecting coffee beans off of the jungle floor from the droppings of an animal called the Asian Palm Civet. The digestive enzymes of the small cat-like animal ferment the beans. After being collected they are washed, processed, and sold for an average of $100 - $600 per pound!

3. Drinking coffee was once punishable by death

In the 17th century Ottoman Empire the ruler of the period believed that coffee had mind-altering effects and banned it as a narcotic. Anyone caught drinking coffee could be imprisoned and possibly face the death penalty.

4. Beethoven was a coffee lover (and a little ADD)!

Beethoven was an avid (and exacting) coffee drinker. He would count out exactly 60 beans for each cup that he brewed.

5. Decaf does not mean “caffeine-free”.

According to the Mayo Clinic, an eight-ounce brewed cup of decaf coffee actually contains 2 to 12 milligrams of caffeine. In comparison, a regular cup of coffee supplies between 95 to 200 milligrams.

6. The name Cappuccino was inspired by the robes of monks.

When the cappuccino drink was first introduced in Italy, it was named after the Capuchin friars because the color of the espresso mixed with frothed milk was similar to the color of the Capuchin robe. The name stuck and we borrowed it into English in the late 1800s.

There are endless interesting facts about coffee and I never grow tired of learning more about this most fascinating subject. I hope you enjoyed this brief, light-hearted edition and that it inspired some new ideas and intrigue about this amazing product we serve and consume every single day!

Viva La Coffee!!!

Matt

Colombia Tolima - September's Featured Coffee

Welcome to another edition of For The Love of Coffee, a blog exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee Company.

In today’s blog, I will highlight our upcoming featured coffee for September, the rich and satistfying Colombia Tolima. This coffee comes to us from our new Deeper Roots family through the relationships that have been formed with the coffee farmers and exporters of the region of Tolima in the district of Ibague. Colombia coffee is already world-renowned for its quality and consistency is often considered THE standard for what coffee should taste like!

In November 2013, Deeper Root’s Director of Coffee, Adam Shaw traveled to the coffee-producing region of Tolima to see first-hand the quality of the coffee farms. While there Adam had the privilege of visiting 5 different farms and was able to cup coffee with the farmers. Fast-forward 10 years and Deeper Roots continues its relationship with this amazing coffee-producing region.

Tolima has approximately 1,800,000 inhabitants and an area of 23,562 square kilometers. It is situated in central-west Colombia. Tolima is a well-known coffee-producing region in Colombia. This coffee is from the growing areas around Ibague where Pergamino Coffee Exporters works with around 50 growers that bring their coffee to a logistics partner of Pergamino where there is a warehouse and cupping lab. The coffee lots are then analyzed one by one for quality and consistency before being added to the lots for export. In addition to growing coffee, the Tolima district is also the number-one rice and sesame producer in the country.

Here at Vienna Coffee we are fortunate to have a direct connection with this amazing coffee through our new partnership with Deeper Roots. We have taken the time to roast and cup this delicious coffee and to dial in on the best profile for producing the best flavors in the cup. The coffee features a light/medium roast and has subtle tasting notes of cocoa, maple, and honeydew. The acidity is bright and lively and the mouthfeel is heavy and full. We think that it will be a delight for our customers and have them asking for more information about this amazing coffee!

Each Barista will be receiving a 4oz sample to take home and prepare using their preferred coffee-brewing method. As always, feedback is encouraged as I always love to hear about your experience and impressions of our featured coffee.

Taking coffee snobbery to new heights, let us all raise a toast to Tolima!

Your humble Head Coffee Snob,

Matt

Introducing our August Featured Coffee - Organic Papua New Guinea

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee, a blog exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee!

The island nation of Papua New Guinea, located in the Southwest Pacific between Indonesia and Australia is an incredibly diverse and beautiful place. It encompasses the eastern half of the island of New Guinea which is the second largest in the world. Historic records indicate that humans first began settling on the island some 50-60,000 years ago. Known for its pristine coral reefs and beaches, and inland volcanoes, Papua New Guinea is certainly a region perfect for growing some of the world’s finest coffee!

Papua New Guinea is home to an estimated 9 million people and has hundreds of diverse cultures. There are more than 800 distinct languages spoken there, more than anywhere else per capita in the world!

Hundreds of distinct cultural traditions can be found on the tropical island paradise of Papua New Guinea

When coffee first arrived on the island beans from Jamaican Blue Mountain were planted. There are claims that the Germans were the first to bring coffee to the island sometime in the late 19th century, but there are also claims that it was British settlers that brought the bean around the same time period. Regardless of who started growing coffee on the island, the first official documentation of coffee being grown there commercially wasn’t until the 1920s. Fast-forward 100 years and Papua New Guinea is currently the 17th largest coffee-producing nation with almost all of the coffee being produced on small farms. Coffee is the second-largest export of the island nation next to Palm Oil. In Papua New Guinea there are approximately 2.5 million people (around 30% of the population!) employed in the coffee industry, the majority working on the approximately 280,000 smaller farms. 90% of the coffee production on the island is done in the 5 Highlands Provinces of Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Simbu, Morobe, and East Sepik.

Our current crop of Organic Papua New Guinea comes from The Timuza Coffee Cooperative which represents over 200 smallholder farmers of the Kamano tribal group. The average farm size is 1.4 hectares (about 3.5 acres) per family, with adjacent gardens for the cultivation of food crops such as sweet potato, taro, and cassava. Farmers have received training and assistance in financial management, gender equality, coffee husbandry, and standards for processing through local partners. The harvest takes place from April through September, with selective harvest of ripe cherry, manual pulping, washing, and full sun-drying. In 2016, Timuza placed 1st in the National Cupping Competition.

(above) The welcoming committee of the Timuza/Namura Coffee Cooperative

Our Organic Papua New Guinea Coffee is roasted to Medium and shines with a creamy body, subtle notes of cocoa, brown sugar, pecans, and a rich, chocolatey finish. We are proud to offer this excellent award-winning organic coffee to our customers and all Baristas will soon be receiving a 4oz sample bag to take home and enjoy.

Thank you to each and every one of you who makes Vienna Coffee such a special place to work, and for our customers to visit. Each one of you personally and actively contributes to the quality, culture, and continued success of our business and brand. You are appreciated and celebrated!

It’s a GREAT day for coffee!

Yours Truly Caffeinated,

Matt

Pebbles and Sand?

Welcome to another edition of For the Love of Coffee, a weekly blog about all things coffee exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee.

In today’s blog, I want to discuss the importance of dialing in espresso to produce the best possible shot. All of the amazing aromas and flavors trapped in the coffee bean are amplified in espresso, as well as any negative notes. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you are doing everything possible to get a perfect extraction, or else you risk amplifying the negative notes in the coffee.

Espresso is not a type of coffee bean. Espresso is a method of brewing and includes everything from grinding to extraction. Here at Vienna Coffee, we have a recipe that has been developed for our specific espresso blend:

• 18 grams of ground espresso in

• 28-30 grams of brewed espresso out

• 25 - 30 seconds extraction time

To get the best possible espresso always start with freshly-roasted beans. Beans that have had a few days to rest after roasting are ideal. Make sure you are weighing your espresso grind to ensure you are within .5 grams of 18 grams before tamping. This is done with a gram scale and will ensure consistency in your extraction.

Next, make sure you are evenly distributing the coffee throughout the portafilter basket. This can be done by using an EDT (Espresso Distribution Tool) to help distribute the grinds. This is important to help prevent channeling which is when the pressurized water finds weak spots in the coffee and forms a small “channel” for the water to gush through resulting in over-extraction in that area, and under-extraction in other areas of the coffee. The last step before extraction is to tamp the coffee. Again you will use the EDT to apply the perfect amount of pressure down onto the top of the coffee resulting in an evenly distributed and pressed “bed” of coffee in the portafilter.

Avoid channeling by ensuring an even distribution and tamp.

Occasionally you will also want to weigh your extracted shots to make sure you are hitting the 30g mark within a gram or two. Here at Vienna Coffee, we do not produce “double shots” by pushing more water through the coffee grinds. We pull two 30g (1 oz) shots if a drink requires a double shot. *Exception: our Eversys machines are programmed to be able to pull a double shot, but the recipe is altered to provide more espresso grind in the shot to produce a consistent taste.

The last thing we need to monitor when pulling the perfect shot is the amount of time it takes for the extraction to complete. Around 28 seconds is ideal, but if you are within a few seconds either way the shot can still be good. If the shot is pulling too fast (less than 25 seconds) you will need to “tighten up” your grind setting by adjusting the grind adjuster to a finer setting. If your shot is taking too long (over 30 seconds), you will need to adjust to a more course setting. A visual I like to use is that of two jars, one containing pebbles and the other containing sand. If you pour water into each jar simultaneously, the water will rush through the pebbles in seconds (too coarse), but the jar with the sand will take a very long time for that water to get through it (too fine).

If you have hit the mark on your settings you should start seeing espresso flowing out of the portafilter in about 3-4 seconds after starting your shot, and should complete your shot in about 28 seconds. A good extraction should start off being a dark reddish brown color with the viscosity of warm honey. It should then move into a striped pattern in even “tails” and stop before it “blondes”. It should never gush or drip slowly through the portafilter.

A good extraction will have a a beautiful head of crema that is thick, and dark golden in color with some visible spotting.

Here at Vienna Coffee our featured espresso blend is our Organic Thunderhead, a beautiful blend of 40% Organic Sumatran and 60% Organic Mexican coffees. The Sumatran coffee is produced by Cafe Feminino, a women-owned and managed coffee cooperative in Indonesia. You can be proud of the coffee you are serving our customers, especially when you hand them that perfect shot of espresso that will delight and keep them coming back for more!

It’s a GREAT day for coffee!!!

Your Cup-A-Joe Shmoe,

Matt

July's Featured Coffee - Tanzania Peaberry!

Welcome to For the Love of Coffee, a weekly blog about all things coffee exclusively for the staff of Vienna Coffee.

In this week’s blog, we will take a few moments to learn about this month’s featured coffee and its unique qualities and flavor profile. Peaberry refers to the shape of this small bean. Peaberry coffee develops when only one coffee bean forms inside the coffee cherry. Because it is not sharing the space with a second bean, it develops a unique "pea" shape. Only around 4-6% of coffee cherries develop only one bean making them rare.

Many coffee enthusiasts believe that this anomaly in the coffee produces a superior quality bean. Hand-picked from the crop for its flavor intensity, this coffee features slightly brighter acidity compared to most African coffees, a medium body, and a pleasant bright sweetness in the cup. In our roastery here at Vienna we roast this coffee to a medium roast degree to bring out the unique tasting notes of dried apricot, dark caramel, and chocolate. Mmmm, so good! :-P

Tanzania Peaberry coffee comes from the tropical nation of Tanzania. Tanzania is situated just south of the equator and has a climate that is well-suited for growing coffee. Tanzania is mountainous in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is situated.

Located in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, Lyamungo is one of four farms that make up the Africa Plantation Kilimanjaro estate. The estate is owned by Alejandro Galante, a coffee farmer from Antioquia, Colombia, with each farm managed individually. 95% of APK’s production is washed, though recent experimentation has led to more honey and natural processing occurring. Drying is done on raised beds, where APK employees carefully monitor the moisture level of each lot to ensure even drying.

Carry will soon be distributing to each barista a sample of this delightful coffee to take home and enjoy. I hope you will take time to try it and let me or Carry know your impressions. You all are extremely valuable and important to our continued success and I am grateful for each and every one of you!

It’s a GREAT day for coffee!!!

Your Caffeinated Cohort,

Matt