Coffee lovers spill the beans on their favorite small-batch roasters
Posted by TheShot on 11 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Beans, Local Brew, Roasting
Due to a number of reader comments, today’s SF Chronicle published a brief follow-up to a lengthy piece they published last month: Coffee lovers spill the beans on their favorite small-batch roasters.
The article mentions SF’s De La Paz Coffee and the East Bay’s Catahoula Coffee Company & Roastery. Once again the emphasis is on the more recent consumer interest in lighter roasts and “new generation” roasters. So we don’t ask why the excellent Barefoot Roasters, who have been around since the 1990s, is on this list…
6 Comments »
went to de la paz yesterday and picked up 1/2 pound of their dry processed misty valley ethopia yirgacheffe from jason. thought the coffee was great except a tad on the dark side. i think the point here is not whether light or dark roast, but whether the roast hit the “sweet spot”
We’re all for that “sweet spot”. Roasting some Sulawesi on the light side is kind of ridiculous. Just as roasting some Panama Esmeralda Geisha dark is a bad idea.
We’ve seen De La Paz available for retail sale at Canyon Market, for example. But we haven’t considered just walking up to the roasting plant yet. Did you have to call Jason in advance?
We completely agree with his revelation that organic + Fair Trade does not necessarily mean good quality.
Never heard of De La Paz until Tara emailed me about Jason. Had to call him first. Since I am a home roaster myself, I am interested in finding out machines used and profiling and therefore went to the source.
True, 1 + 1 does not necessarily equates to 2 or greater.
I’ve been reading your reviews for a while now. I have been in the wholesale coffee business since 1981, and an owner operating my own since 1982. Now with two grown sons, we plan to open our first cafe. I’m the owner and creator of http://www.cupatatime.com. I sell my stands to those who like fresh drip coffee. Reluctant to enter into the espresso arena for a variety of reasons, I broke down and thought of buying a La Marzocco Mistral after reading another countless article praising it. Guess what? How can I purchase a Mistral to use in San Francisco when it’s not UL or NSF? I’m asking what’s that all about? A company with a long history that makes a great machine and then not getting it certified? Damn! How can the others here in California use them without certification? Please inform me. Thanks.
Dear Greg,
Tried to email you directly…but I couldn’t find the link.
At anyrate….Nice blog…I have enjoyed reading your blog.(I especially appreciate what it takes to develope and mantain a blog such as this one) It’s rather amazing how many hidden cafe’s that are in SF. Pretty impressive.
If you get a chance to venture over to do a “Bridge and Tunnel” set…..Let me know…Love to pull ya a shot.
take care, timber (catahoula coffee company)
Sorry about any unintended “security through obscurity.”
But for future reference, you can find it here:
http://www.coffeeratings.com/html/reviewer.shtml
But it sounds like a Contra Costa trip is certainly in the future cards. Thanks for the post and offer. I hope to take you up on it soon.