Category: Coffee

Typically new crop coffees arrive over many months and it is not uncommon to see the Central American coffees arriving together, or,  East African coffees during a separate time period.  But this year there a ton of them that are clustered together and from different world growing regions.

In other words, a lot of coffees are showing up about the same time.  We have just listed the long awaited Amaro Gayo Natural from Ethiopia and know of other naturals arriving in the US from the same region.  A half dozen choice, boutique lots of coffee that we sourced from Costa Rica have now arrived and several have already made their way onto our list;  the others, including a yellow honey and two high altitude (and awesome) fully washed ones will be posted soon.

From Panama we will shortly list two more coffees including  Elida Estate Reserve fully washed, and, their terrific natural.  Both are in short supply.  We just listed Carmen Estate from their highest altitude parcels, grown by another longtime friend.  In addition, several lots of Panama’s famous Hacienda Esmeralda are due to arrive.  Some of these may be offered off-list due their very limited availability but the Esmeralda Select, geishas that did not make their way into the private auction, represent a real value for this expensive coffee.

Also expected at our warehouse next week are two auction lots purchased directly from top sources in Kenya.  We will have at least one and possibly two auction lots arriving soon that we purchased in the El Injerto auction.  A favorite from El Salvador will arrive soon too.

We are not sure why the timetable is so skewed this year, be it weather or the coordination of shipping, but a cornucopia of great coffees is coming through the door.  Keep an eye on our New Arrivals section for the latest, as each is listed on our site.

We offer a selection of the best home coffee roasters and we receive occasional orders for them from customers outside of Canada. All of our home roasters are powered by electricity and electric supply varies by country. The electric supply is 120 volts, 60 hertz.

In other words, roasters made for the Canada and US market should work in this group of countries without modification.

Please understand that home coffee roasters, particularly those with timed roasting cycles like Behmor and Hottop, have a defined maximum period during which roasting must complete.  This feature is designed for your safety.  If the voltage supply is not sufficient then you will run out of time before roasting completes; if there is too much voltage than internal parts may burn up, destroying your roaster.  Roasters purchased from us have guarantees for the US only so any purchase for use out of a country is not covered.

Roasters heading anywhere else in the world will either not work or may, in some cases, work with voltage regulation and plug adapters.  The very best thing that you can do is purchase a roaster that was built for your electric supply rather than buying one made for another country and attempting to convert it.  This latter approach usually leads to dissatisfaction.

It is critical to delivering the correct voltage and frequency (hertz) to your roaster.  Even if it’s made for the North American market there are many locations and situations when the voltage is inadequate.  During summer heat waves electric companies reduce the output of the electric grid and voltage will drop to save electricity.  Also, for voltage sensitive equipment you should not use an extension cord which will reduce the delivered voltage; plug the appliance directly into a wall socket.  You can use a voltage regulator to even out and to some extent boost voltage moderately.  For example, if your voltage supply is 117 volts (a simple volt meter or Kill-a-Watt device will inform you) you can set use a voltage regulator, like the Variac that we sell, to increase the voltage to 120 and the device will keep the supply steady.  The frequency of electricity expressed in Hertz must be matched to the electric supply.  Otherwise timing of motors and clock/timers, where applicable, will not function properly.