Colombia

Jason and I are going to Colombia.  We fly out of here on December 1.  We'll arrive in Medellin that evening and meet up the next day with Drew from Hacienda La Minita.  He'll take us to Jardin, where La Minita has built a new mill to process coffee.  It's the grand opening of the new mill and they've invited us down to see it.  We'll stay in Jardin until Friday, when we'll return to Medellin and meet up with a girl named Cristina Garces.  I found Cristina a while back when looking for people who could help me source and buy coffee more directly.  Her family owns an estate called Montes y Colinas near the town of La Concordia- not far from Medellin.  Cristina's boyfriend owns a farm close to Jardin, so we'll see his farm too.  We'll be there until the 10th, and hopefully we'll get a chance to taste a lot of great coffees.  And then bring them back to you.

We plan to have some adventures down there and to take a lot of pictures.  And I want to share our experiences with you guys.  So I'm going to schedule a time to get together and see pictures and hear stories of this latest coffee foray.  

Thursday, December 18 at 7p.  

Put it on your calendar.  I know it's a week before Christmas, but take a couple hours to come drink coffee and relax.

Huehuetenango Guatemala

I've been talking to a guy named Edwin who owns a farm in Guatemala (Finca Vista Hermosa) for a bit and he said he's brought a few groups down to do a coffee tour.  I think it would be cool to get a group together to go down there, but I'm not sure how much interest there is in it.  So I thought I'd drop a line out there to you guys and see.

Here are the details as told to me by Edwin:

It would happen sometime between February and April.  The trip would last 8 days.  Tour of Antigua and Huehuetenango, some culture and history, all focused on coffee.  We would visit drymills and a few coffee farms.  Will hike through the coffee to the ridges to see over the mountain range into Mexico.  And will get our hands dirty picking, depulping, fermenting, washing, drying, and bagging the coffee. The trip would cost about $1100 per person plus airfare and any incidentals (souvenirs, etc.).  Everything else would be covered.

He says it's pretty safe.  It's safer being in a group and these guys know areas to stay away from.  So it should be fine, but it is a tough country so anything is possible.

It would be a beautiful trip and very educational.  Getting to participate in so much of the coffee processing and experiencing the feel of it all, the unique smells, and sights would be a pretty amazing trip, even for me.

I just wanted to throw that out there and see if anyone is interested at all.  We'd need 12-15 people to go in order to make it worthwhile.  Let me know what you think.  And feel free to email me or post here with any questions.

Isaiah's Signature Drink

Most of you insiders probably know that Isaiah and I went to Austin for the weekend so he could compete in the South Central Regional Barista Competition (SCRBC).  I blogged about what the competition entails in a DoubleShot blogpost.  The only thing I didn't disclose was the makeup of his signature beverage.  

Well, he made it from a pool of 20 competitors to the final round of 6.  And then he placed fourth overall.

It was his first competition and we're just learning how to play the game, so I think we're probably going to Portland in March for the US Barista Competition, where he'll be more polished and compromising more of our standards for theirs.  I know that sounds weird, but it's the only way to do well.

Several people have asked me (and Isaiah) what his signature drink is.  He'll be using the same one at the USBC, so we don't want to spill the beans here on the internet for everyone to read.  But since you guys are our core group of coffee-lovers, we want to offer a special opportunity for you to see and taste it first-hand.

Next Thursday, November 13, at 7p Isaiah will be making his signature drink for you.  He'll talk a little about the competition, how it works and how it went, and unveil the mysteries of The Longfellow.  It doesn't take long to make the drink, but time obviously will stack up with more people.  He asks that you bring your own drinking vessel, if possible.  It should be ceramic and hold 3-4 fluid ounces.  

Please let me know if you are coming to this event so we can plan to have the right amount of ingredients.  The sooner you can let me know, the better.  There is no cost, but as usual with Coffee Illuminati events, donations will be accepted.  

Remember that's Thursday November 13 at 7p here at the DoubleShot.