We are kicking off the holidays with our 2018 Holiday Featured Coffee!
This year’s Holiday blend features two of our Direct Relationship coffees that when carefully combined, remind us of seasonal flavors and the warmth of baked, spiced fruit desserts. These coffees come to us from El Salvador and Honduras.
COE National Award Winner Finca San Isidro brings the ripe, baked fruits and baking spice to this combo; the special lot of Finca San Jose: La Perla –courtesy of our long running Direct Relationship farmer, Arnold Paz– adds the lush, round, brown sugar-sweet body to this unique pairing.
It is perfect for waking up with on cool mornings or paired with seasonal desserts!
We were saddened to learn that we recently lost a member of our coffee family when long term Direct Relationship farmer Tomas Sosa Calderon passed away in Honduras.
To memorialize Tomas, Carrboro Coffee will donate a percentage of sales of his Finca El Aguacate coffee to his family, to continue his legacy of producing world-class coffee on their farm in Comayaugua. Funds will go to build new drying beds for next years harvest, with an eye towards future programs in their community.
Finca El Aguacate is a past Good Food Award and Cup of Excellence winner and features an orange, floral aroma and subtle apricot acidity. The coffee is available at Open Eye Café, Caffe Driade and Weaver Street Market, at select cafes and restaurants who carry Carrboro Coffee and online at www.shopcarrborocoffee.com. A percentage of sales of this coffee will continue until this, his final crop, has been roasted and packaged.
Join us at Townsend Bertram & Co. in Carr Mill Mall on Wednesday, September 26, for a FREE party celebrating 30 years as a Carrboro local, family owned and operated ADVENTURE OUTFITTER! You will be able to try our signature TB&C 30th Anniversary Roast and dance to music from Ella Bertram and Katharine Whalen from the Squirrel Nut Zippers performing a special JAZZ set curated for the TB&C event! Enjoy FREE custom TB&C beer from Steel String and custom TB&C kombucha from Boro Beverage. Bring the whole family as this is a kid friendly event:)
TB&C will also be launching limited edition 30th anniversary apparel and accessories designed by the The Landmark Project in addition to the release of the SCOTT BERTRAM T-SHIRT LINE! A portion of the Scott B T line will go directly to the Scott B Scholarship Fund with Learning Outside.
Sharing is caring! Pass this event along to as many people as you can and let’s join together for a fabulous celebration of community, adventure and passion for the outdoors!
Join us on July 25th at Carrboro Coffee Roasters for an informative, fun, and ultimately inspiring screening of Gender in Coffee – A Documentary to learn how gender inequalities impact farming families and communities and to participate in a lively discussion to get to the heart of the issues and solutions.
Coffee farming families around the world face enormous daily challenges that put them, and your delicious cup of coffee, at risk. The Partnership for Gender Equity works to ensure farming is viable for all members of the family – women, men, and youth; on whom the entire industry depends.
Seating is limited so be sure to reserve your seat here. All funds raised will go to support the Equal Origins initiative of The Partnership for Gender Equity.
To find out more about the event and documentary, click here.
Carrboro Coffee Roasters recently lost a member of our family. Tomas Sosa Calderon, one of our original Direct Relationship farmers, passed away in Honduras. We invite you to help us memorialize Tomas and support his family and local community. When you purchase our Tomas Sosa Calderon – Finca El Aquacate coffee, Carrboro Coffee will donate a percentage of these sales to his family to continue his legacy of producing world-class coffee on their farm in Comayaugua. Funds will go to build new drying beds for next years harvest with an eye towards future programs in their community.
We’re excited to announce our continued involvement in Nicaragua’s Cup of Excellence program! We recently put in our auction bids amongst the 2018 winners, and we’re thrilled to soon offer these incredible coffees both by the bag and the cup.
Every year, the organization holds two main events: The National Barista Championship and the grueling Cup of Excellence.
This year’s Cup of Excellence competition started with 213 farms in pre-selection. A group of world class cuppers had one week to select 107 farms to move on to the next level. (You’ll recognize CCR President Scott Conary in the front row!)
Up next, the farms faced the National Jury. Each farm was audited to certify their mills and processes. Scott Conary was the head judge of this cupping round, choosing 40 farms to move on to the International Jury.
Finally, the farms moved on to the International Jury – an elite group of 17 cuppers and 3 observers from all over the world lead by, you guessed it, Scott Conary!
The jury chose 5 winners of Presidential awards:
La Bendición – 91.80
Las Promesas de San Blas – 90.42
Jesus Mountain – 90.83
El Cambalache – 90.23
Un Regalo De Dios- 90.22
Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you again to the Specialty Coffee Association of Nicaragua for allowing us to be a part of such a wonderful event. We’re looking forward to the auction on June 19th and passing on these exceptional coffees to all of you!
**Update!** Political turmoil & protests in Nicaragua means the coffees are not able to leave the country. We send out thoughts and hopes for Peace to our friends there. Meanwhile, We will be evaluating the El Salvador COE Top 10 instead!
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This year CCR President Scott Conary was the Head Judge for the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence program. For 3+ weeks he guided the process that took 214 initial entries from farmers all over the Country, to narrow it down to only the best 40, of the highest quality and unique character the harvest had to offer this season.
To celebrate the efforts attained by these hard working and innovative coffee producers; and to give a glimpse into what to expect when the coffees are on the live auction on June 19th; CCR is hosting a cupping of the Top 10 coffees from the auction, including a few other select coffees Scott wants to highlight from his experience guiding the National & International panels.
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Cup of Excellence is the most prestigious competition and award for high quality coffees. The level of scrutiny that Cup of Excellence coffees undergo is unmatched anywhere in the specialty coffee industry. The Cup of Excellence competition has pioneered integrity and transparency in the coffee industry, ensuring the value of winning coffees. A competition with 300 entries yields an average of 9,000 analyzed cups, with each “Top 10” coffee being cupped at least 120 times.
We’re excited to announce that Scott at CCR recently completed the CQI Coffee Processing Generalist Certification taught by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI)!
We’ve been working closely with CQI for various industry quality programs around the world, and take every opportunity to continue to learn and evolve our knowledge base to better help our farmer partners and the industry at large, with the goal of improving quality through the entire supply chain. You can read more about it here.
Dar Williams recently published a book detailing her experience touring through small-town America, and we’re excited to see the coffee scene in our very own Carrboro, NC featured! Be sure to grab a copy to read up on her experience.
