November Coffee of the Month: Celebes Mamasa

[sell'-uh-bees muh-mAh'-suh]

Oh, great, Blanchard's is throwing another Indonesian coffee your way.

You've had the Bali, the Sulawesi, and the Mandheling. What more could another Indonesian possibly offer?

Try rhubarb. Try sweet tobacco. Try fresh cherry and water chestnut with the texture of marshmallow fluff.

The Celebes Mamasa just beat out the Sulawesi (and runs a close second to the Bali). It's got a creamy, buttery texture you'll want to roll around in your mouth, trying to grab every note before it disappears.

Truly a French pastry masking as coffee, this one's the perfect complement to your Thanksgiving dessert.

If you're a Coffee of the Month subscriber, know that we'll be shipping this out on Thursday. Dena will be doing her deliveries on Monday for you special folk still on The List. If you're not one, you really ought to sign up.

We'll also have this one available in our online retail store starting Monday, November 1, where you can have it shipped or biked out to you, or you can pick it up from us at no charge in our Roastery Mon.-Fri., or at the South of the James Farmer's Market on Saturdays.

Plenty of options here, and all of them worth a try in order to get your hands on this spectacular coffee.

Holiday Blend may not roll out until next month, but this is a great primer.

-tom

sic luceat lux

October Coffee of the Month: Yirg Two Ways

They say you can't reinvent the wheel. You can, however, try out new treads to see what works best according to the weather.

The way we roast the Yirgacheffe is, quite plainly, a warm weather coffee. It's light-bodied, floral, and full of fruit. This month we wanted to try something a little different, however, and decided to have some fun with our tried and true favorite.

We've done a darker roasted Yirgacheffe and blended it with our light-roasted classic, and the result is pleasing.

It's got all the fruit and flowers you know and love, but with the addition of some toasted coconut and toffee. It's a nice transition coffee, so far as the weather is concerned. As the tail end of summer lingers on into...well, probably January, so do the lighter notes of the Yirg Two Ways, but with a touch of winter warmth that brings you back to your flannel pajamas.

Drink up, and keep brewing!

-tom

sic luceat lux

September Coffee of the Month: The Aluminum Blend

We've experimented with some pretty fantastic single origin coffees this summer, and we hope you've enjoyed them as much as we have.

Fall is here, however. The kids are off to school (or back for school), the weather has already started to get a bit crisper (but this is Richmond, so who knows what the coming weeks will hold?), and this yanks away from our Summer Fun mentality and into a more personal space.

So it's time to get a bit personal:

A year ago I gave myself a minor, but really annoying stress fracture from a hungover run after weeks of remaining sedentary aside from work. I promised myself that when it healed, I'd not let myself ever get so out of shape again that a four mile run would incur such wrath from my own bones. So I bought a  new pair of running shoes and started going at it, tracking every run and posting it publicly in order to keep myself with it.

November came around and I bought a bike and an alumni membership to the VCU gyms so I could swim as well. Someone told me they smelled a triathlon, and...well, the rest is history. I've since become a huge advocate for fitness and healthy living, and believe, after this year-long journey that aside from my life with coffee, this was a secondary niche in which I was meant to partake.

If you're a regular in the coffee shop, you've probably seen the Iron Blend up there, the proceeds of which help sponsor my training and fees for the Half Ironman in San Juan I'm currently training for, but it's a dark roast, and not everyone loves dark roasts.

We're now proud to present the Aluminum Blend, a lighter counterpart to the Iron Blend's metal slug of a cup. The Aluminum Blend is full of lemony pop and orangey pizazz, with a smooth, malty finish. Like a chocolate malt after a creamsicle, which is exactly what I'm craving right now.

The Aluminum Blend will be available for sale in the shop and online starting on Wednesday, September 1, and those of you who are coffee of the month subscribers can expect it on your doorstep that day, either via post or via Dena.

If you live in Richmond and order either the Aluminum or Iron blends online, you can also opt for a bike delivery (look for a link to the map of my radius on the online storefront), which will be delivered by yours truly on my next mid-week bike ride (of which there are two per week), which helps me rack up the miles - something I can't really get enough of right now.

So thanks to all those who've doled out the advice over the past year. I hope you enjoy the coffee.

Truly.

-tom

Coffee of the Month is Indian Monsoon Malabar

India Monsoon Malabar from David Blanchard on Vimeo.