Do you have a cause for which you’d like Red Barn to help raise revenue?

Red Barn’s Coffee Sales Fund Raising for Causes is a program we offer to non-profits and community groups. We have several in progress right now, including Alternatives Inc., a disability services agency in nearby Whitinsville and the Ashland LaCrosse Club.

If you have suggestions for who we might contact, leave us a comment. And feel free to share this with agencies or groups who might be Your Causes!

 

Focus on Roasting–Red Barn Organic Blend

This Week’s

Focus on Roasting

It’s Red Barn Organic Blend to start off our regular Blog thread Focus on Roasting,  .

That gives us two coffees to talk about, because this is a blend of the two same coffee ‘origins’ in Red Barn’s most popular, hence best selling, coffee, Red Barn Blend…

…But here the emphasis is on the “O” for Organic, since one of the main  reasons for creating an Organic version of this most popular blend is to attract more ‘Organic Only’ fans.

What’s ORGANIC coffee mean?

A little bit for now, more later: no synthetic fertilizers to force the crop, which allows the fruit to ripen naturally. No dangerous insecticides, including some that have been banned in the U.S. but still may be used in other countries, such as DDT.

All of which can make organics a bit more pricey, in part because the crop yield may be lower than coffees hopped up on synthetics.

And that’s part of a decision Red Barn made some years ago to promote Organic because Organic Is Good AND so it’s also Good Business!

The blends are Guatemala and Colombia respectively, Central and South America.

(In fact both coffees are also Fair Trade, making them Fair Trade Organic–in coffee trade lingo, “FTO”.

And  it’s a fact that all of Red Barn’s Organics are also Fair Trade.

(More on Fair Trade and Organics in  Blogs coming soon to a computer near you!)

Also, the Guatemala is from the Chajul region, and the Colombia’s from the Sierra Nevada region.

By Identifying not only the country of ‘Origin’ but also the regions within those countries we’re getting in step with one of the many newer trends in Coffee,especially Specialty Coffee.

That’s helping us share with our customers that there are many kinds of coffees, even within the coffee growing  countries around the world.

We’re  excited that harvests from the new crop year in Guatemala will be arriving soon, given how excellent ‘Guat’s’ can be…

…One big reason why Organic Guatemala Chajul is also the Coffee of the Month at Red Barn’s cafes.

…Where readers of this Blog can get a 1 cup taste before most likely Going For It by grabbing a whole 12 oz bag for brewing at home!

For more info and some pics about the Chajul coop that produces this great stuff, go to (redbarncoffee.com/shop/guatemalachajul link).

As for the ‘taste profile’, you may find it smooth, full bodied, rich, and fruity with a hint of earthy chocolate toward the ‘finish’.

Sent from my iPad

 

Special Brew: Moka Harrar

Each Monday, we’ll be featuring a different coffee, be it a region or an estate, aimed at opening a wide world of tastes and flavors to your palate. The tastes and aromas of coffee change from region to region and even farm to farm much like wine or tobacco. With so many flavors to choose from, we know you will find something new to discover. Today’s coffee is Ethiopia Moka Harrar.

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and a land stepped in history and cultural diversity. East of Addis Ababa lies the Ethiopian province of Harrar. A trade hub for centuries, the city of Harrar Jugol is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site for its cultural heritage and numerous mosques dating back to the 11th Century. Adding to its repertoire is its unusually delicious dry-processed coffee. In a world where dry-coffee is often shunned, these beans stand out.

A visitor to a coffee farm in Harrar will find many small farms dotted across the hills. Like many coffee producing countries, smaller farmers produce the cherry gathered by co-ops or larger institutions to be processed and sold around the world. Upon closer inspection, the Arabica plants may still be bearing their fruit, though it may appear quite dry. Dry-processing is the norm here and farmers may elect to let the cherry dry on the trees in the warm Ethiopian sun. The best cherries are picked and laid out in the sun, whole, unlike many other coffee producing regions which will extract the bean and prepare it for drying. It was not until the early 1970s that the first wet processing plants arrived and yet dry-processing remains the norm.

Due to this unique method, the Moka Harrar coffees exhibit a “wild” touch with floral aromas, mocha taste, and even a hint of fermentation that has led some to describe it was wine-like. It