There are some truly amazing coffees available from small-hold farming groups in Bali, most of which belong to cooperative mills that have established effective and ecologically sound cultivation and hulling methods. These groups are known as "Subak Abian" in Indonesia; it's a combination of farming cooperatives & Hindu practitioners, governed democratically by a set of communally-established rules.

This is a distinctly traditional Panamanian coffee from a small family farm in Chiriqui, Panama. Finca la Florentina is dedicated to the preservation of traditional, organic growing methods which yield distinct, high quality coffee beans with complex flavors and enchanting aromas. Operating under the auspices of Casa Ruiz, Finca la Florentina has contributed greatly to the local community with socially progressive, economically sustainable, and ecologically friendly farming methods. Three generations have dedicated their lives to natural-system growing methods, producing the finest Central American coffee beans on the market.

What was once a single farm in Boquete is now a family owned & operated coffee crafting enterprise. Over three-hundred small-scale family farms partner with Casa Ruiz to process, roast, and market their coffee. The headquarters, located in the Boquete Valley at the skirts of the Baru Volcano, occupies Western Panama. The Ruiz Family is dedicated to cultivating the most consistently flavorful coffee possible, to maintaining a healthy natural environment, and to the sustainability of the farms and region.past.

Located between Australia and Indonesia, East Timor was invaded in 1975 by Indonesia and occupied for 25 horrific years. Buying Timor coffee supports the fragile economy of these newly independent people. The sale of this coffee directly supports Cooperativa Cafe Timor the organic growing association and its farmers. They have recently invested in new coffee drying facilities and wet-processing equipment, resulting in vastly improved coffee quality.

Received 10/26/2009

Fazenda Aurea is located in a region called Serra do Salitre, a high plain in Cerrado Miniero, in the state of Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais is in the west of the southeastern subdivision of Brazil, the second most populous of the 26 states of Brazil, and fourth largest by area in the federation. This is no Micro Lot, it's a big farm that produces a lot of this coffee.

Received 01/26/2012

New Guinea is Earth's second-largest island. It lies just north of Australia and is divided down the center between the country of Papua New Guinea (on the east) and Indonesia's Irian Jaya province (on the west. Richly endowed with natural resources, Papua New Guinea has one of the most rugged and spectacular topographies on earth; Mountain peaks close to 4,000 meters (12,000 ft), active volcanoes, frequent earthquakes and annual rainfall exceeding six feet. Coffee cultivation in Papua New Guinea began in 1937 using imported seeds from Jamaica's famous Blue Mountain region, resulting in noticeable similarities to old-style Jamaica Blue Mountain as a result of this heritage.

Papua New Guinea's coffee industry is based upon tens of thousands of small, village coffee gardens. Nearly half of all the village households grow coffee. Back in the early 1950s an active policy of encouraging the establishment of village coffee gardens was initiated, particularly in the highlands where the environment is ideal for the growing of Arabica coffee. These family-owned coffee gardens produce over 70% of the countries' annual exportable crop. It is estimated that nearly 2,000,000 people, or almost half of the nation's population, derive a benefit from the coffee industry. The typical village-based grower in PNG uses no artificial fertiliser, no chemical sprays, and owns his farm lock, stock and barrel. His input consists mainly of his own and his family's labour, plus a few simple tools.

Pest and disease control to the grower in the valleys of PNG's highlands means daily watchfulness and the use of fingers and a sharp pair of secateurs, rather than the massive overkill of a chemical regime. Prunings from his coffee and leaf-fall from the trees which shade it, together with the skin and pulp of his freshly-processed crop provide a natural, nutrient-rich mulch. The PNG small grower is very much his own man, very independent in an increasingly complex world.

This varietal is teeming with possibilities. It's a classic washed-mild, modern-processed, estate-grown Colombian - so sweet with lovely flavors, the aroma displays a pleasant, subtle spiciness. Inconspicuous undertones of ambrosial caramel, a balanced body, and a clean finish. The slightly sweet, caramel notes and light fruitiness combine perfectly with the lively 'new crop' acidity - exactly what we've come to expect from an exceptional Colombian.

Light- to medium-bodied, this is a considerably smoother cup than it's other Latin American brothers. With sweet flavor notes touching on walnut and milk chocolate, the cup is delightfully crisp, surprisingly clean, and extraordinarily well-defined.

Sumatran coffees are processed in a unique way. For most washed coffees produced around the world, the coffee is picked and the cherry skin pulped off; fermentation is complete when the mucilage or fruit surrounding the parchment (or pergamino) has dissolved and the fruit-free parchment rinsed off.

The bean within the parchment has very high moisture content. Therefore, in almost all washed coffee origins throughout the world, before the parchment is hulled, it is dried, either in the sun or in machine dryers, until the moisture content is down to around 15-13%. At this point the coffee is ready to ship, store and roast.

Herein lies the difference: in most places, the bean is dried in the parchment and the parchment is milled off the beans when they are dry… not in Sumatra.

Fazenda Aurea is located in a region called Serra do Salitre, a high plain in Cerrado Miniero, in the state of Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais is in the west of the southeastern subdivision of Brazil, the second most populous of the 26 states of Brazil, and fourth largest by area in the federation. This is no Micro Lot, it's a big farm that produces a lot of this coffee.

The Costa Rican Monte Crisol coffee from CoopePalmares is a natural style, sun-dried coffee. The term "50% Honey" refers to the process of sun drying the coffee in 50% of the fruit pulp, as opposed to washing the fruit away before sun drying on raised African drying beds. For the past two or three years, Sun-Drying Costa Rican coffee on raised African drying beds has become the way small micro-lot producers are distinguishing themselves from larger producers. By utilizing this labor intensive and more primitive method, the end result is small quantities of amazingly flavorful coffee. This rivals in every way the larger crops of more predictable and available kiln-dried coffee from Costa Rica.

Costa Rican coffee is clean and light in character, embodying the best of what can be accomplished when truly co-operative, modern farm communities develop clean and ecologically sound, forward thinking processing practices. This is an incredibly clean coffee, clear with the flavor of chocolate malt and deep sweet cherry. When hot, the coffee seems deceptively sweet, as it cools the flavor develops a more round and robust character. A strong, sharp, distinct taste of ripe coffee cherry pervades the entire cup. The aroma is particularly fresh; imagine sniffing a freshly opened cherry cola while sipping a sweet hot chocolate with a touch of malt, and you have an idea of what I'm talking about! Cupping this coffee brings back vivid memories of the Co-Op milling facilities and the pungent smell of mountains of composting coffee fruit.

This is a natural coffee, another way of saying dry-process. This means whole ripe coffee cherries are picked from the tree and laid out to dry on raised screens (sometimes called African Bed drying). This prolonged contact between the ripe fruit and the seed imparts a fruitier, more complex and wine-like coffee flavor. Then the whole husk and parchment is removed in one step, and all defective coffee seeds are removed by visual sorting. With Ethiopian coffees, where there is no wet-mill equipment to sort coffee, it is all done with the hand and eye.