Round 2: Latin Love

It's time for Round 2 of the coffee lineup!

Two-week blocks seem to have worked out nicely, so coffee lineups will continue rotating on that same schedule. For those of you who especially liked the coffees we featured for Round 1 of the rotation, we have one last batch of recently roasted whole beans for you to come in and buy so you can continue brewing up your favorite coffee at home! If you don't already know, we sell in 12 oz. portions; and, depending on which coffee you choose, pricing varies slightly. That goes for the Ethiopian Sidamo Amaro Gayo (sweet, syrupy blueberry, orange marmelade, peaches), which we sell for $15.00; and the Kenyan Nyeri Karindundu (another syrupy one, tangy, lemon acidity, sweet sugar on the finish), for $14.25. Can't guarantee the last of these coffees will be here for long, so come in and get some while you can!

And now for Round 2! We've decided to feature strictly Latin American coffees this time. These three coffees are all of the Bourbon varietal of the Arabica coffee species. All of these coffees show an extreme balance in the cup when it comes to their depth, complexity, mouthfeel, acidity, etc. as is typical of quality Latin Americans. This will be an experiment of sorts, as this round of coffees will provide an opportunity for you to experience and taste the varied effects of growing region, otherwise known as terroir, and processing, the various methods of depulping and drying the coffee beans.

We have two El Salvadors, each very different in the cup, and a Guatemalan that tastes simply surreal. You'll notice that the first of the coffees is a repeat from Round 1, but we've chosen to feature it in a different light - as a single-origin espresso. It will also continue to be a french press option, however we were very impressed with the coffee as espresso, and we'd like to give our customers a chance to enjoy it as we have. I've provided a listing of the three coffees below, along with a sneak peak at cupping notes and general information about the coffees and/or their farms.

Round 2
Through September 27

El Salvador Finca Nejapa Santa Marta - smooth, sweet, and truly well-balanced. A perfect representative of the beauty of washed Latin American coffees. The one coffee of Round 2 that is not fully-washed in the depulping process, lending it what I would call a lower-toned acidity and a flavor of darker fruits in general.
(Daily press/Single-origin espresso)

El Salvador Finca San Jose 408 - this is a coffee I have yet to try. However, this is a lot of coffee that Barefoot has purchased in previous harvest years, and I must say it is a personal favorite. You can find Barefoot's cupping notes on this year's harvest on their website here.
(Daily press)

Guatemala El Socorro y Anexos Palo Blanco - green grape, apple, and apricot sparkle up front, backed by smooth creamy notes of butterscoth. This is truly a farm that tops the charts year after year. Upon our opening, we featured a coffee from El Socorro that won the distinction of 4th place in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence competition. Now, we have the pleasure of featuring a much more affordable cup from the same farm, produced with all the same love and attention of a world-class coffee.
(Daily press)

It all starts on Wednesday, as we will be receiving our first fresh roasts of these coffees tomorrow afternoon. Come by and experience truly exceptional coffee!

Coffee weather at last! Changes abound.

The first hint of Fall graced our fine city this evening. A swift sprinkling of rain rolled over The Hub as the sun fell closer and closer toward the horizon. Ahhhh. Sighs of relief and comfort; it was a wonderful change from the relentless Nevada heat, if you ask me. A calming cool fell over the coffee shop on this particularly slow Saturday evening, renewing my spirits and motivating me to take the lull in business as an opportunity to fine-tune the many things in the shop that require an occasional fine-tuning. I couldn't have asked for a more peaceful evening.

With perfect coffee weather just around the corner, we have equally exciting changes constantly taking place in the shop. As many of you may know, the list of goodies being offered at The Hub are growing: new seasonal scones from Dish Café; tasty croissants, muffins, and maple-bacon scones from Walden's Coffeehouse; not to mention the many amazing teas we now have from The Tao of Tea.


On the espresso front, there has been a slight change in the house blend, The Boss, that you all know and love. Rest assured, it is still the same tasty, quality-roasted blend of coffees from Barefoot Coffee Roasters, but the seasonality of coffee calls for slight changes in blends offered by any roaster as they run out of certain harvests throughout the year. New harvest East African coffees have finally made their way into Barefoot hands. And just in time for the new harvest Ethiopian Sidamo Amaro Gayo (which we have been serving up both as french press and single-origin espresso!) to replace the waning harvest of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Dominion that was previously being used in The Boss. Same complex, sweet, tantalizing espresso, with a slight tweak of flavor specifics. Ask us about it, and we'll talk you through the tasting experience upon your next visit!

We've also been playing around with our top-of-the-line La Marzocco GB-5 espresso machine's temperature stability capabilities. A mouth full, I know. Generally, espresso ''should'' be pulled using water at a temperature between 198-202 degrees Fahrenheit. However, as is quite typical of us third-wave coffee pioneers, we're not afraid to break custom, playing around with temperatures as high as 204/205 degrees Fahrenheit when pulling our espressos.

There are various reasons for playing around with brew temperature. One example: certain characteristics of the espresso, notably brightness/sweetness and body/texture, tend to change inversely with temperature differences. A higher temperature, in general, yields a brighter/sweeter, perhaps more complex, espresso. A lower temperature, in general, yields a rich, syrupy body/texture, but a more mellow, perhaps smoother, flavor. To all of our avid espresso drinkers, see if you notice a difference, see if you can pinpoint that difference, the next time you order an espresso from The Hub. And speak up! Baristas are there to talk to you about what you're drinking!

We're super excited to keep improving, constantly stepping up our game, for all the coffee drinkers of Reno. See you at The Hub!

Butter Capps and Baple Macon Scones

Updates two days in a row! (I think this is a new record for me.) Quite necessary though, and here is why...

Yesterday divulged a little secret about our goodies at The Hub. Walden's Coffeehouse is taking good care of the people of Reno, providing freshly-baked pastries from scratch both at The Hub and at Walden's. We raised the bar one notch higher today with some baple macon scones! (Maple bacon, actually... but that's not as fun to say.) And yes, it sounds crazy. Because it is. It is crazy good! I hope everyone has a chance to come in and try a baple macon scone over the coming weeks. By that, I mean I hope everyone has the desire to wake up a little earlier than usual so they can beat everyone else with similar intentions to The Hub to try a baple macon scone!

And it was a beautiful day in espresso land today. The Ethiopian Sidamo Amaro Gayo single-origin espresso (what a mouthful...) was finally gaining the recognition it deserves. Left and right, we were brewing single-origin espresso straight up, for cappuccinos, for lattés, and, best of all... drumroll please... for some tasty Butter Capps! Like butter cup, but it's a cappuccino! Get it?! HA! Anyhow, it really is quite the tasty little cappuccino.

"What is in a Butter Capp?" one might say. Well, let me break it down for you: single-origin Amaro Gayo espresso, shining through all silky and sweet with flavors of orange marmelade, blueberry, and spice; add a pinch of maple pumpkin butter, a beautiful partner for the spice and marmelade of the espresso; and top it off with a cappuccino's worth of delicately-textured organic whole milk. Hubadub. The final product is an extremely well-balanced, smooth, sweet, and creamy cappuccino that tastes like something between pumpkin pie filling and creme brulee, with a hint of sweet blueberry coming through in the finish. Delightful.

If you're not as enthusiastic about it all as I am right now, well... go back and read it all over again because I think you missed something!

Teas and Goodies

Fancy shmancy at The Hub!

Moving right along. Had a wonderful day at The Hub! Fresh new goodies and a fancy new tea selection have made their presence known. Our sister coffeehouse, Walden's Coffeehouse, located at Mayberry and McCarran in Reno, has stepped their game up a notch (stay tuned for more on the Walden's front). Being the good sibling coffee shop that we are, The Hub gets a little kick-down of home-made goodies to tempt our wonderful customers: fresh from scratch, home-made croissants, warm and flaky goodness; not to mention sweet and crunchy yogurt parfaits, made with a Walden's house blend granola.

And teas! We gave in to the many requests from all those beloved fans that may not be as coffee crazy as we are and started brewing up some fancy teas! Fancy teas at two dollars a cup. Or a cute little tea pot's worth for three dollars. Now, we've always had teas to offer our customers, but we've gone soft and we've now made it an obvious choice. Look for the teas beneath our beautifully hand-crafted pastry case just as you step into the garage!

Best of Reno 2009

It's that time! And for those of you who don't know what time it is... it's this time! (Keep reading.)

We are all consumers here in the Biggest Little City. And certainly there are businesses here and there that we all frequent more than others, businesses of which we are particularly fond. The Reno News & Review's Best of Reno is a chance for everyone to voice their opinion. Vote! It doesn't matter what (or for whom or where) you vote. Just vote!

Do it in the name of community; do it as a way of furthering your support for this business or that business, this local event or that local event, this barista (!!!) or that barista; and vote in the name of independent, local business!

It's a quick process. Ten minutes max if you are super thorough. Just click here and it'll take you to the sign-up page at the RN&R website. Like I said, quick. Just create an account and vote away!

Happy (local, independent) voting!

Busyness

¡Whoa! (Yes, that is an official Spanish "whoa") It has been forever since my last update. I've even had some complaints (concerns?) from a couple of our followers (you know who you are). My sincerest apologies.

Anywho, here it is. An update! A great deal of new and exciting things have gone down over the last few weeks at The Hub. Business has continued to grow, and those who have shown interest in the shop all seem to have continued their support! Thank you to everyone.

As mentioned in previous updates, new harvests are constantly arriving at The Hub. What with such a selection available to us from Barefoot, we have decided to instate a bi-weekly trio of coffee offerings starting this coming week. What it means: the staff at The Hub will be choosing three particular coffees to brew up for its customers over a period of two weeks. Over those two weeks we'll be rotating them through for our daily press coffee, and choosing the one coffee of the three that shows the most promise and intrigue as our single-origin espresso.

Round 1
Through September 13

Kenya Nyeri Karindundu - surprisingly sweet, tantalizingly tangy, truly unexpected flavor profile that will make you forget you're drinking coffee! A must try!
(Daily press)

El Salvador Finca Nejapa Santa Marta - smooth, sweet, and truly well-balanced. A perfect representative of the beauty of washed Latin American coffees.
(Daily press)

NEW! Ethiopia Sidamo Amaro Gayo - a sensory experience like no other. Simply luscious. A bombardment of blueberry, dusting of cinnamon, toasted pecan!
(Daily press/Single-origin espresso)

We've had the pleasure of redecorating our beautiful brick walls with the artwork of local artist Nick Blades! We were certainly sad to see our previous pieces go, but with artwork like Nick's taking its place we could not complain. Here are some pictures of the new pieces, but be sure to come in and see them up close and in person to fully appreciate their splendor.



As the title eludes, we are a busy little coffee bar. As such, we're extending our hours for the Fall and Winter seasons. Starting this Monday, you can come enjoy the same delightful cappuccino you had at 6 in the morning at 6 in the evening! Wonderful, isn't it?

Business Hours
As of Monday, August 31

Mon-Fri: 6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday: 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Good stuff, huh? I believe everyone is up to date now.

We love that you love good coffee! Thank you for reading. And remember...

Coffee Cupping

We've been working to institute weekly cuppings at The Hub. For those that don't know what a cupping is, you now have a very good reason to show up!

We started out with Sunday morning cuppings, 10 a.m., free and open to anyone interested in tasting some wonderful coffees. It seems though, that everyone prefered to sleep in on their Sunday morning... We're all constantly caffeinated at The Hub, therefore normal sleeping behavior is a mystery to us. Yes, our fault, but it's now quite obvious that sleeping in on a Sunday morning will win every time.

So, we've made some changes. We will now be testing out our little coffee cupping sessions at 10 a.m. on Friday mornings! Yay! If you can't show up for a free boost to get you through the last day of the work week, well...

I do realize that many people haven't heard of a cupping. And since there are already so many wonderful descriptions and opinions on the matter scattered all over the Web, I'm just going to let them fill you in. The following is an excerpt from an article published at CoffeeGeek.com. Geoff Watts is the owner and primary coffee purchaser for Intelligentsia Coffee, a Chicago-based company that is just one of the choice few that are taking coffee to a level unimaginable in the minds of your average coffee drinker. More on the entire cupping process and the reasoning behind it can be found here (please keep in mind, this is a general reference; basic reasoning is more or less the same, but cupping procedures may vary a bit from place to place).

''I’m a firm believer that understanding is developed through the act of comparison. Learning to talk about the character of a coffee from a particular origin requires that one have some frame of reference, and if the goal is to figure out what makes a coffee from Kenya great it is important to know what makes it different than other coffees. In other words, what does it mean to taste like a “Kenya”? What tastes distinguish a Guatemalan coffee from a Nicaraguan?

''By evaluating coffees in a comparative setting and with an inquisitive, reflective approach one can learn to identify the most essential flavor traits of coffees from different origins. The goal should be to build a reference library of flavors and taste sensations that can become a background against which one can examine new coffees. Over time a cupper will begin to associate particular flavors with geographical regions and different botanical varieties of coffee. Eventually, a phrase like “this tastes like a bourbon from the Santa Ana region in El Salvador” can have some real meaning. It is important to remember, though, that dogma has no place in coffee tasting. Every time I think I’ve got a region figured out, a coffee comes along that shatters my expectations. Keeping an open mind and sense of curiosity is absolutely essential to becoming an accomplished taster.''

Geoff Watts, Intelligentsia Coffee

So hopefully you're as excited as we are to cup some wonderful coffees! And if you've been following the blog, you already know that we'll be phasing in new harvest lots over the next month or so as Barefoot Coffee Roasters recieves their newest shipments from abroad. See you at The Hub!