Caturra varietal

Catuai varietal

Caturra & Catuai varietals, grown in Costa Rica and roasted by Stumptown Coffee to produce our featured coffee, Montes de Oro Direct Trade.

A favorite from last year has returned: Costa Rica Montes de Oro Direct Trade! The folks at Stumptown write: “The Gamboa Chacon family has produced coffee in the Tarrazu region since the 1800s. In 1977, Tuto Gamboa began managing his family’s farms and acquiring new land for coffee cultivation. With premiums paid for exquisite quality for the past three years, Tuto and his son Emilio purchased their fourth farm: Finca Teresita. Emilio ensures strictly ripe cherry and fully washes it with INGESEC technology. The coffee is gently dried on African beds to increase mouth feel. The taste and texture of honey completely envelops ripe cherry and fresh peach in this sweet bright cup that finishes with juicy tangerine.”

From the Coffee Farms of El Salvador’s Aida Batlle, coffee cherry tea is a fruity “infusion” similar to hibiscus, prepared by steeping dried, ripe coffee cherry fruit. The tea  is delicious served hot, or iced, and is caffeinated. These coffee cherries were dried at their peak ripeness on the small coffee farms owned and operated by renowned El Salvador coffee producer, Aida Batlle.

Coffee Cherry Tea is a traditional drink of Latin America, Yemen, Ethiopia and the Middle East. To learn more about Aida Batlle, her award winning coffees and innovative coffee growing practices, please revisit our Dec. 2008 thumpology article: http://thumpology.com/2008/12/coffee-producer-from-el-salvador-aida-batlle-stumptown-owner-duane-sorenson/

Coffee Cherry Tea is a traditional drink of Latin America, Yemen, Ethiopia and the Middle East. To learn more about Aida Batlle, her award winning coffees and innovative coffee growing practices, please revisit our Dec. 2008 thumoplogy article.

Over the last two years, Stumptown has worked with farmers in the Loja province of Ecuador to improve the quality of their coffee.

A first from Ecuador! Here’s another coffee where several years of work with Stumptown’s green coffee buyers preceded its arrival at thump! Stumptown describes the Ecuador Quilanga Reserva: “Over the last two years, Stumptown has worked with farmers in the Loja province of Ecuador to improve the quality of their coffee. Valle el Ingenio (Valley of the Genius) sits at the heart of the Andes in Southern Ecuador. In traditional South American fashion our Quilanga Reserva coffee is processed manually with hand-crank depulpers, fermented in small tanks, then washed and laid to dry on either patios or raised beds. This is our first single origin offering of our Ecuadorian coffee. Our Quilanga begins with the scent of hibiscus, maple and lemonheads which lead to flavors of Rainier cherry and hibiscus with a long, sweet and lemony finish.” read more

Stumptown Coffee Roasters has worked for several years with Burundi coffee growers to bring their coffee to us, and we’re excited and grateful to share in the fruits of their labor! Here’s how Stumptown describes the Burundi Bwayi Direct Trade: “Violet and raisin aromatics open the flavor gates to perfectly clean notes of plum, black cherry and orange zest that are complimented by a syrupy body.”

Stumptown writes that “Bwayi is one of the pearls in our East African Direct Trade program. We’ve been working closely with this group of farmers over the past three years. In addition to improved cherry selection and a return to double fermentation, a la the Kenyan style, we’ve now installed a pre-drying stage to the Bwayi process. This addition has given the coffee’s mouth feel pronounced depth. Our quality control team cupped through each day of the harvest to construct this lot of coffee.”

If you ever wondered what goes into bringing you exceptional coffees through Direct Trade relationships between Stumptown and coffee growers around the world, check out Aleco Chigounis’s source trip notes. To read specifically about coffees from Burundi, scroll down to Burundi March 15, 2008, when Aleco was establishing Direct Trade relationships and sharing observations about life in Burundi.

Stumptown writes, “The Gatomboya Factory faces the Gaturiri Factory directly across the valley. Both washing stations are part of the Barichu Cooperative union. 700 small holder coffee farmers make up the membership of the Gatomboya Factory. Each farmer grows only SL28 and SL34 on their high altitude farms. Coffee cherries are selected for optimum ripeness then graded meticulously at the washing station before being accepted and processed with the utmost care in true Kenyan fashion.”

Read more about Kenya Gatomboya here.

CUPPING: Sunday, 1/24, 1:30-2:30pm
Discover the process pro coffee buyers use to grade and select coffees during our fun, free coffee cupping sessions. Come break a crust, whiff the aromas and slurp up the subtle nuances of different beans and roasts.

Trad Cap Happy Hour – Every Friday from 2:30pm – Close
Join us every Friday for a celebration of the classic Italian espresso drink, the Traditional Cappuccino. During TradCap Happy Hour – or Cappy Hour, if you will – enjoy half-priced traditional espresso drinks, dopios, macchiatos, and traditional cappuccinos. Many people have never ventured to try these delightful little drinks. No syrup, no chocolate, just espresso and perhaps a small embrace of milk steamed to sweet, velvety perfection!

Featured Cup: Kenya Gaturiri Direct Trade
We love this special coffee so much we think it deserves featuring for another month, and we’re glad it’s still available. If you haven’t already tried the Gaturiri, tell us what you think! Check out the thumpology.com article that describes our visit to Portland to hear the producer of Gaturiri — as well as coffee producers from around the world — talk about their challenges and innovations.

Seasonal Bites & Sips

Baked Treats
• Pecan Pie Bars
• Ginger Almond Crisps
• Apple Spice Bread
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
• Blackberry Bars
• Frankly Naturals Gluten Free Bars

Seasonal Drinks
• Peppermint Mocha
• Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Organic /Fair Trade Loose Leaf Teas
• Hot Lips Fruit Juice Sodas

ART: “Push” Division Street Skatepark Project Skateboard Deck Art, Plus Lloyd McMullen’s 2D/3D Mixed Media

Throughout January, thump hosts an exclusive sneak preview of “Push” skateboard decks customized by dozens of local, regional and national artists, including Adam Haynes, Mark Rada, Aaron Draplin, and T-Fly. The skateboard artworks will be auctioned in mid-February to benefit the Division Street Skatepark Project. Complimenting the Push showing are mixed media works in two- and three-dimensions by Bend artist and educator, Lloyd McMullen. Read More

We’re in love with this coffee! Really lovely dry aromatics and a wonderful cup! Stumptown tells more: “Only a handful of coffees can match Gaturiri’s completeness and complexity. Kenya’s process is the most intricate in the coffee world with double fermentation, intermittent washing and extended soaking. Wet coffee is taken from the soaking tanks to pre-drying beds which wick away most of the moisture on the beans before they are piled on another bed to gently finish the process. Grand Cru Kenyans have unmatched mouthfeel, dark fruit flavor and enlightening aromatics.”