Outstanding Drip Coffe Without A Wait
Last month we made some upgrades to our drip coffee program. Each morning, and all day on weekends, our new house drip coffee, George Howell’s Matalapa - a Cup of Excellence winning El Salvadorian - is available in 2 sizes, without a wait! Our old friend Sal, now head of training at George Howell, delivered our new FETCO batch brewer and helped us dial in the grind and brew parameters. We chose Matalapa for its remarkable balance and medium body, with notes of peach that sparkle when you drink it black, and maple syrup body that marries well with dairy. Always fresh, we brew a new pot every 30 minutes.
Raising The Bar On Our Pourover Coffees
"The best La Minita since the early 1990’s”. Who else but George Howell is qualified to make such a claim? People think of specialty coffee as something started by hipsters in Seattle or Brooklyn (or Somerville) just recently but George Howell has been procuring and serving world class coffees to Greater Boston since the 1980s, including a cafe right here in Lexington Center (now Starbucks) that opened back in 1986! With the introduction of our house drip coffee, we’re now able to try some unique and exclusive beans on pourover and are excited to start with La Minita. In George’s words:
'This is a grand cru estate coffee. We've found La Minita to be one of the most consistent, perfectly crafted estate coffees in the world, year after year. Consumers first became acquainted with La Minita in 1988 when George introduced it in The Coffee Connection. It became one of The Coffee Connection’s most in-demand coffees despite being, at that time, one of its most expensive.
La Minita is the applied to the green coffee sorting process. While many farm’s “first” (best quality) constitute 60% or more of their production after milling, La Minita selects slightly over 20%, eliminating all – or as close as you can get to all - defects which might blemish your cup.'
Our second new pourover is from Ethiopia. While George Howell's outstanding Borboya - long the best selling bean at the Studio - is from Ethiopia’s relatively famous Yirgacheffe region, Yukro is form lesser known Agaro. While Yirgacheffes are known for lemony, floral flavors and tea-like bodies, this Agaro has stone fruit notes (e.g. peach) and a fuller body (though still delicate) anchored in maraschino cherry. A great example of the diversity of great coffees found in Ethiopia, the birthplace of Coffee Arabica.
We're excited to share these coffees with everyone and looking forward to many more loving cups!