The beginning

I just got home from Seattle sporting a pound of Black Cat and 8oz. of Streamline. I drank some of both today, as well as a new blend by Victrola (Triborough, apparently mostly Sidamo based). While I was there, I got to sneak into this morning's cupping at Victrola to get a few slurps of the Panama Esmeralda Especial - the one that auctioned for $130 a pound, green. Soon, this will be a coffee possibly available at retail for $250/lb. Four pounds of this roasted coffee, for an event like Stumptown's coffee pairings, will be worth $1000 at retail.

$1000 for four pounds of coffee. Or $15, possibly $20/cup.

Let me first say that "effervescent" is too gaudy a term for this coffee. This coffee is somewhere between a firework and a rose; it just pops on the palate, but its brightness isn't the usual bell-like clarion call that heralds a really good Central - it's got this beautiful softness to it, like a disco ball viewed through frosted glass. The flavors start sweet and a little prickly, with sweetness akin to fruit or candy; and then they turn a little tannic, reminiscent of the flavor of a whole coffee cherry - accompanied with a brothy, juicy mouthfeel. It's definitely got the delicate refinement I've experienced from excellent Panamanian coffees. I really look forward to seeing if I can get my hands on some of John Sanders's coffee from the Carmen Estate (#5 this year), seeing as it's consistently amazing as well.

In other words, it continues to be a coffee that really speaks for all coffees, just undeniably superior, like the Fazenda Santa Ines last year. I'm still not sure whether it's so priceless as to warrant the same price as the next what, fifteen or so lots on the list - but it is definitely a treasure to the world of coffee.

Speaking of the Cup of Excellence, props to my friend Edwin Martinez for taking his coffee to #8 in this year's Guatemala CoE. Superior methods indeed! Here's to topping the charts next year!

Anyway, hey everyone - Richard Hartnell here, a ronin barista from Bellingham, WA (on the I-5 corridor right between Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC). This was intended to be an introductory post, but I got caught up talking about coffee - which is basically very close to the way many of my conversations end, since my friends usually avoid talking about coffee around me for fear of a tangent. Fortunately, most of my close friends think it's at least interesting, at least for a while.

I've been thinking about starting this thing for a while, but I quit my old coffee job right after I started getting really serious about coffee, and I only just recently got back into the biz. Bellingham's an interesting place, especially considering a few factors:

1) We have more coffee shops per capita than anywhere except three other U.S. cities

2) We're right between Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC, two meccas of specialty coffee

3) We have a liberal population especially interested in agriculture, trade, and sustainability

So there have been some issues I've been considering lately, which led me to finally decide to start up this blog. I think my next post will be a little bit about the setting of Bellingham specialty coffee so as to provide some context for my current and future adventures in search of the perfect coffee.