Last week I ran into one of our loyal customers. He periodically orders 1-2 bags at a time and has done so over the past year. In the course of our conversation he paused and said, "My favorite cup of Loam Coffee ever was the Boondocker I had last May." Last May? I thought. What was different about the Boondocker back then versus the Boondocker now? Everything.
Coffee is seasonal. Not only that but there are a variety of places where we buy our green beans. Sometimes we have access to a seemingly endless supply of a particular bean, but at other times we may only get 50-100 pounds before it is gone. Since last May we've gone through numerous iterations of our Boondocker. Our Boondocker has been what we call all of our Colombian coffees. Looking back we've had the Monte Bonito, Robinson Rivera, Manantiales del Frontino, Pedregoza, and so on. All of them are coffees from Colombia, but from different regions, farms, elevations, etc. They all have unique tasting notes which is the fun part of coffee. Coffee isn't simply coffee ... there are tasting notes ranging from citrus to milk chocolate to caramel to red grape and so many more! That's why it is important to read the info on our website and the labels on the back of our bags.
Huila region, Colombia
Over this past week we've made two more changes. These changes not only impact our Boondocker and Mystery DH, but each of our blends as well. Welcome to the adventure!
Our Boondocker now features the Colombia Huila Regional Select. Regional Select is a new project created to highlight the unique profiles inherent to specific microregions within Colombia. Coffee production represents the majority of income for residents in the department of Huila. Huila's production represents 16.30% of Colombia’s total coffee production. In last few years the production of specialty coffee has increased in Huila.
Some statistics about Huila:
- Coffee represents the 7.3% Gross Domestic Product
- 301,000 people depend on coffee activities
- 103,200 direct jobs and 198,000 indirect jobs in the coffee sector
- 96% of the producers are smallholders with an average size farm of 1.5 hectares. The smallholders produce the 82% of the coffee production.
Here are more details: Country: Colombia. Region: Huila. Farm: Multiple farmers. Varietals: Caturra, Variedad Colombia. Notes: Chocolate, vanilla, lime, tomato, lemongrass and tropical fruits. Elevation: 1500-1700m. Processing: fully washed.
There are even bigger changes for our Mystery DH. From the beginning that was our Guatemalan coffee. But for the near future it is our new Costa Rica Cafe Vida coffee. Here's the scoop: Country: Costa Rica. Region: Tarrazu Valley. Farm: Cafe Vida. Varietals: Caturra, Catuai. Notes: Clean and sweet, with the honey roasted nut, toffee, milk chocolate and mild citrus flavors that are to be expected from the renowned Tarrazu Valley. Elevation: 1200-1800m. Processing: washed, sun dried.
So there you have it. Just a little sneak peek behind the curtains at Loam Coffee. Cheers!
Boondocker: Colombia Huila Regional Select
Mystery DH: Costa Rica Cafe Vida