HOLIDAY CHOICES

Ethiopia "Yirgacheffe"

"Yirgacheffe" is a strange sounding name for a coffee. Pronounced yer-ga-chef, it is the name of a tiny town in a larger coffee growing region called "Sidamo". Not much coffee is grown near the town, but what is picked can be spectacular! Last week, we purchased a lot of 6,600 pounds from one farmer. The coffee has floral notes in the cup. It is light and delicate... soft, not bitter. We roasted the coffee on the light side—just enough to bring out the lemon/citrus flavors. You will be excited to bring this coffee to your holiday celebrations. It'sa personal favorite for breakfast!

Sumatra "Super Bold ", Mandheling

Most Sumatra coffees this year have been less than spectacular, especially when compared to years past. Typically, most "Mandheling" varieties were earthy, heavy, sometimes with an almost syrupy taste. So far the 2001 and 2002 crops have not demonstrated these characteristics. Until now—we recently found one small lot of Sumatra coffee-which we named "super bold". We roasted this coffee dark to highlight the heavy, earthy flavors so typical of the past Mandhelings. It has a special heavy body. This coffee can be a special after-dinner treat. When the dinner is finished, the "super bold" Sumatra coffee will linger-especially with
pumpkin pie or even a sweet apple pie.

Costa Rica "La Minita"

Every year since 1993 I have been the guest of Bill Mc Alpin, the owner of the La Minita estate in Costa Rica. This year will mark my eleventh consecutive year! Why go back every year? Well, because the estate produces perhaps the finest coffee in the world. There are only 1100 acres as part of the farm—and of the coffee that is grown, only a small portion is milled and then hand-sorted into the "La Minita mark". In fact, four hand-sorters work eight hours each to
produce one 154 lb. bag of green coffee. Wow! The coffee is balanced and clean. It has crisp acidity as well as a distinctive body. And the aroma...well, I enjoy this coffee often on the weekends when I have time to sip and read the newspaper.

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR PASSION?
ASK DON YOUNG, OUR ROAST MASTER!

We are pleased to introduce Don Young, our Roast Master, to you. Don is an experienced craftsman—proud of his art! A Roast Master of fine coffee is a title earned over time, mostly by studying from other, more seasoned veterans. There are no formulas, time or temperature charts. Rather coffee roasting for a "micro-roaster" is a special hand trade—like glass blowing. Don Young more than fits this definition!

Here is your chance to ask an expert!

Ever wonder how so many flavors—like citrus, tobacco, cedar, and blackberry—reach your cup? Or maybe you would like some pointers on how to buy, grind, or brew this wonderful beverage for maximum enjoyment? Well, here is your chance! Simply E-mail your questions
to Don Young's administrative assistant, Lola, and Don will personally respond to you! Click here to email your questions in.

CAPPUCCINO HAZELNUT SWIRL COOKIES

With the holidays just around the corner, we want to share a special recipe with you. It comes to us from Margery Bucher, the General Manager of Food Service at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, NJ. This recipe makes the most delicious cookies I've ever tasted.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs espresso powder
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup shopped hazelnuts
2 cups chocolate chips
1 tbs vanilla
3 tbs strong brewed hazelnut coffee

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, sift cocoa, cinnamon, and espresso power and also set aside.
Blend butter, shortening and both sugars with vanilla and hazelnut coffee until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add flour mixture, one cup at a time, blending until smooth. Add hazelnuts and chocolate chips. Add cocoa mixture and hand mix with spoon lightly until swirl effect is achieved.

Refrigerate 1–3 hours. Use a small scoop and place
onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9–11 minutes.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen medium cookies.

We've put together this newsletter to help you enjoy the holiday season. From the coffee selections to the recipes...we hope you
enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it.

Wishing you a happy holiday season,
Rodger Owen