Heads' up! Thanksgiving is coming... with Christmas and the New Year not far behind. This means the usual logistics nightmares - weather delays and holiday office, warehouse and carrier closures.

For example:
the Zephyr offices will be closed Thursday November 27
The Green Room (in Auburn WA) will be closed November 27 & 28
Paris Brothers (in Kansas City MO) will be closed November 27
Continental Terminals (in Kearny NJ) will be closed November 27 & 28
most freight carriers will not run trucks Nov 27 & 28

Rinse. Repeat.

Please plan ahead, get your orders in with time to spare.
Don't let Just-In-Time turn into Out-Of-Stock!

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September 5, 2008: The Winged Cow. That's what the Wu Tang name generator spits out when you enter in Gustav. Well you have to enter Gustav twice, cause Wu Tang don't like single names. Sorry Cher, Madonna and Yanni, you don't rate a Wu Tang name. A little rain, a little wind made for a nice break in the weather and heck I just love to sleep in the office anyway. Power is switched on and so is the entire New Orleans staff. Call us, we miss you. We have some great new arrivals to share with you. Guji washed Sidamo, Nicaragua San Jose Estate micro-lot bag fermented, and a surprisingly nice Kenya AA FAQ all kept us well during the storm.

August 27, 2008: Can't miss the opportunity for a day off, and so - with the markets closed Monday September 1 for Labor Day - Zephyr's offices will also be closed. Ready and able on Tuesday!

Crazy stuff - Scott bought a bunch of Ecuadorable coffee in cute 25Kg bags, shipping in September (fingers crossed)... we signed a lease on a nice office location in Seattle, right by the Fremont Bridge (the most active drawbridge in the USA - looked that one up!) and will hopefully be moved in by the end of September... we've got a couple of containers of FTO Sumatra Mandheling on the books for the new crop - from a newly FLO-certified shipper who also happens to be one of the best suppliers on the island... and, we are working on an inventory list for our next warehouse location... in... New York! Okay, New Jersey, but that should be good enough for our friends in New England, PA, MD, etc. Even you Virginia types! More details as this comes together!

July 31, 2008 - blah blah blah. Scott & Jordan are on the road, and my Sumatra travelogue is finally posted!

May 9, 2008:

It's that time again - crazy coffee auction madness, starting next week:

May 15: Costa Rica Cup of Excellence
May 20: Best of Panama
May 27: Nicaragua Cup of Excellence
June 5: El Salvador Cup of Excellence
June 12: Guatemala Cup of Excellence
July 8: Honduras Cup of Excellence
October 14: Rwanda Cup of Excellence
October 28: Colombia Cup of Excellence
November 25: Bolivia Cup of Excellence

Interested? Give us a call. Have your stock portfolio handy.

In case you missed it, the SCAA conference might have happened last week (my memory is a little fuzzy). Aside from a much smaller number of Clovers in the exhibition hall than last year, the one thing I do remember vividly is the mini-donut machine 2 aisles over from our booth. Is it a specialty coffee item? Probably not. Do I want one? Well, you know where to send it, and my birthday is coming up. Disturbingly low-rent website (even more so than ours) here: http://www.orbie.com/.

Oh yeah - our rollicking box of awesome Kenya has arrived, including the 2008 Ichamara. This year's model: super-thick and jammy, long finish, sparkly strawberries upon request.

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February 15, 2008: 

First of all, the 'C' is just stupid. Sorry, but it's true.

Next up, Monday February 18 is President's Day. The warehouses are closed, the trucks aren't picking up, and we are closed. Back on Tuesday, though.

Finally, Jordan's travel notes are up - so nice they get their very own page! Not enough churrasco references for my taste, but what can you do?

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February 1, 2008: Hey! Jordan is just back from two weeks in Nicaragua and Katie returns today from the Roasters Guild trip to El Salvador. Stand by for their harrowing escapades.

Prepare yourself... You think you know Brazils? You think you know what they taste like? Our recent arrivals of 100% bourbon from Fazenda Pedra Grande de Monte Santo de Minas (say that ten times fast) and the Alvarado plot from Fazenda Aurea will challenge how you view Brazils.

Also, Sumatras are truly exceptional right now. Take your choice from eerily clean to a walk in a damp, mushroomed, haunted forest.

Finally, find some space within ya to think about Kenya. Haven't prayed in awhile? No big deal. Don't believe in a supreme being? No problem... Pray to someone you don't believe in. Pray for peace in Kenya.

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January 18 - bullet bitten... we cupped a couple of classic Harrar "Boldgrain" lots yesterday, bought 'em both (one for each warehouse), hopefully shipping in February. Bloooooooberrrrrrries.

January 11 - finally! The Seattle office has a real telephone!
Toll-free (US only): 877-783-0797
Local & International, please dial 206-783-0797.

December 3 - The 'C' bumped up a few cents the other day based on - of course - rumors that Brazil's coming crop will be somewhat smaller than the original estimate of 50 million bags. The source of the story - one of the largest exporters, Cooxupe. Doesn't it seem like you hear this every year? It has become a favorite holiday bedtime story in Brazil....

And sometimes the rumors are true: Kenya is likely heading into a very small and expensive crop.... The new crop in Sidamo is likely to be 20-30% smaller than the 2006/2007 crop year, which is why Ethiopia is posting some absurdly high prices for 2008 shipments - would you pay upwards of $3.50 for FTO Harrar, $3 and up for FTO Yirgacheffe? Conventional Harrars would be about a dollar cheaper than the FTO, but still very high. Conventional Sidamos of dubious quality are on the market at around $2.10, as well as pedigreed ones for maybe 20 cents higher. No conventional Yirgs being offered at auction right now - only the expence FTO and Organics.... Of course, Zimbabwe is hardly producing anything these days... Zambia has coffee that cups like a milder Zimbabwe, but there isn't much market for it... what are roasters going to use for brighter cups? Centrals. Good Guats, higher-grown West Valley and Tarrazu Costas, El Salvadors.... Southern Colombian coffees, too - especially Narino and Huila. The trick - don't get hung up on HAVING to use coffee from a particular origin - instead, find the right coffee for the profile you want. Dang!

Shipping this time of year is never fun - holiday closures, rain, snow, sleet, the writers' guild strike - so make sure you get your orders in a few days early - Santa ain't bringing you a pallet of Sumatra!

PNG AA, A/X and Peaberry are clearing and will hopefully be in Seattle by 12/15 and Kansas City by 12/20... Sumatra FTO is back on the list, shipping at the end of December... Scott's Brazil exotica is now on the Kansas City offering list - read about his adventures here.

September 7 - New Kids on the Block!

We are pleased to welcome a new face to the Zephyr office: Jordan Hooper, who joins us as a research assistant. Jordan spent most of 2006 and 2007 in Nicaragua working to develop educational and vocational training programs for impoverished residents of Managua's city dump, is a co-founder of www.nicahope.org (check out their website, make a donation!), and is currently a graduate student in Business & Latin American Studies at Tulane University. Aside from getting to know every coop in Peru, Jordan is learning sample roasting, cupping protocol, and dishwashing.

In other news: despite its impact on certain coastal communities in Nicaragua, Hurricane Felix seems to have had little or no effect on coffee production in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala or El Salvador. Considering it was poised to follow the devastating path of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 (more than 11,000 dead in Central America), this is a tremendous relief for many reasons.

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August 28 - The Green Room requires serious lead time for shipping: we need your orders by 11am PST in order for it to ship the next day, and by 9am PST if you want The Green Room to do local delivery the next day.

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August 3 - Brazil, Babies, Whatever....

David is out of the office this week, welcoming a beautiful baby boy, born July 25 (6 lbs. 8oz. - hell, I have a cat that weighs 20 lbs)... Griffin definitely has his father's nose... next week he gets his 'born to cup' tattoo....

If baby talk doesn't do it for you, how about a trip to Brazil? I am going for a week in late October to visit our Moreninha Formosa and some other sweet fazenda. All you have to do is come up with round-trip airfare to Sao Paulo and maybe cover a night or two in a hotel (hope you like farm stays).

Hey, not only have our Ethiopias finally showed up, but so has our coffee at The Green Room in Seattle (okay, Auburn).

Dig it and dig in - Scott

June 12 - we are enablers. We "won" 2 lots at the Nicaragua COE last week and are devoting thousands of hours working out the logistics, freight cost, etc. FYI, we own lot #5 Santa Isabel Estate, and lot #19 Cooperativa Luis Alberto Vasquez. Right now it looks like we have 6 bags available from lot #5. Please let us know right away if you are interested.

June 1 - the Best of Panama auction shocked more than a few with that $130/lb. high. However - if you ignore the 5 highest-priced coffees, the other 20 went for an average of about $3.15/lb., which is tolerable. Also, note that, in the April Colombia COE, nothing sold for under $5/lb, though. I have no idea what any of this means.... - David

May 18 - our box of Nicaragua Cup of Excellence auction samples just arrived. The auction happens in just under 3 weeks - Wednesday June 6. Please let us know if you want to play. We'll be hosting a cupping - look for time/date soon.
Curious - there are 31 coffees up for auction this time - one more than the Colombia auction last month, yet Colombia production is around 11+ million bags and climbing, while Nicaragua exported maybe a tenth of that?
If you are really auction-crazy, mark your calendar for May 29 - that would be the Best of Panama auction. The samples haven't shown up yet, but we'll let you know....

Wanna see our new ad?

Here are a few arrival notes:

☺ El Salvador San Emilio pulped natural - sparkly, thick body - like poprocks jelly
☺ Guatemala Huehuetenango - bright, surprisingly floral, nice HHT fruit taste
☺ Guatemala Genuine Antigua Pastoral - sweet, chocolate, moderate acidity, nice body
☺ Costa Rica Naranjo (Coopronaranjo) - bright, good body, hint of oranges

The Colombia COE auction got kinda hot - the highest price paid was $19.20, the average price/lb. was just over $6.50, and the "bargains" went for $5.05/lb. Remember that these are FOB prices - freight, etc not included!

March 23: Special Colombia Cup of Excellence Edition

We received our big box of Colombia COE samples a couple of days ago, and it looks mighty impressive sitting on my desk. 30 coffees, each double-bagged, no rips or spills. I know some of you have ordered your own samples, but not everyone. Want to cup your way through the auction, before the auction? We are hosting a cupping of these coffees on Tuesday April 10, at 1pm. Yes, in our office in New Orleans. Please let us know if you are going to attend!

Why you should consider cupping these coffees: we learned this week that there will be only one Colombia Cup of Excellence auction this year, not two as originally scheduled. The story is that FNC (the Colombia Coffee Federation) decided to hold only one competition per year, with the next auction coming in Fall 2008. Even stranger, they seem to have divided the nation's coffee producing regions into two groups, each group to be featured at auction every other year. The upcoming auction includes coffees from Huila, Cauca, Caldas, Tolima, and Santander - so we apparently will not see these regions at auction again until 2009. On a positive note, COE says there will be a Bolivia auction this year, and that dates for the jury and actual auction will be announced - uh - one of these days.

If you do intend to bid at the COE auctions and want us to be your importer, please let us know as soon as possible (like, before the auctions). Also, if you are interested in being part of a buying group (the lots for the Colombia auction range in size from 15 to 23 bags) let us know soon, as we are going to help coordinate such groups. We can also suggest cool names for said groups at no extra charge.

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March 9 - We've been cupping Kenya auction lots like maniacs - 23 yesterday - and are finding some gems. A few high notes that from the lots we've secured: the Gituto AA (has a really nice peach flavor), the Gakutuini Peaberry (sharp citrusy acidity, crisp and clean), and the Ichamara AA (great body, deep black currant flavor). The last one - Ichamara - is extra-special because we were able to bypass the auction system and buy it directly from the Gikaru Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society. Fewer layers in the transaction mean more money going to the producers.

For those who want to play, the next COE internet auction - Colombia - is coming up April 12. Normally there are two Colombia COE auctions each year, but it appears the second one for 2007 has been cancelled (or, as they put it on the COE website, "postponed until 2008"). So this will be it for Colombia this year, and is the only auction for the next couple of months. After that, there is a weekly marathon - 5 auctions taking place between June 6 and July 10 - which is crazy madness in my humble opinion. At any rate, we are happily forming bidding groups and handling importation. If you are already signed up with COE to receive samples, give us a call to talk about what you like. If you aren't getting samples and want to cup - we will be announcing a cupping date soon. Come on down - the weather is lovely this time of year, and the azaleas are blooming.

New-crop Central samples are rolling in, and it looks like a really nice year for Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama. Samples from Nicaragua have also been extremely nice, but (just like a few years ago) producers are reporting a significant drop in harvest yield, so don't be too surprised if this coffee gets scarce.

March 2 - yet another certification - Fair Trade Certified - thanks to TransFair USA - see the growing pile of logos/links at the bottom of More Info.

Oh yeah - we are now a COE-registered bidder and importer.

Our New Best Friend

Meet our new buddy, the Cirqua CM CU 150T reverse osmosis water fixerator device. What a luxury - no more chlorine, no more moldy-tasting water, just the right particulate content, and a nice Soviet-looking design. Color us clean....

Oh yeah - we finally got our OCIA US National Organic Program (NOP) and International (IFOAM-accredited) organic certificates. Hooray! Let us know if you need a copy.

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February 1 - Ten days in Central America was enough for Scott - read his report at Been There, and check out what he added to the Forward section of Offerings.

FREE IS A VERY GOOD PRICE

If you carefully peruse the latest issue of Roast Magazine - and who doesn't - you'll see an interesting announcement on page 50: Zephyr Green Coffee, in conjunction with Roast Magazine, is sponsoring a scholarship to the 2007 Roasters Guild Retreat. The winner will be chosen via an essay-writing contest, and will receive roundtrip airfare (from a continental US airport), Roasters Guild Retreat 2007 registration fees, room & board. There are some restrictions, so for complete details - including the official entry form - please visit www.roastmagazine.com/Zephyr.

BEEFCAKE!
(Weight Gain 4000) 

You may have noticed that we are beefing up our new crop Centrals for next year. Why? Because we aim to please. There are a lot of coffees on our list that you probably have never heard of before. Rest assured, we have been working on getting those for years. If there is something special that you would like to see us bring in, just give us a call.
If you doubt our wisdom at relocating to New Orleans… very good news this week - a team of 5 (one to hold the ladder, one to sit in the truck, two to shout instructions and one to do the actual work) came by and replaced all the missing street signs by our office. We no longer have the excuse of, “I couldn’t find the office.” or “Who knew that was a one-way street.”

1800 Hastings Place, New Orleans, LA 70130, the corner of Magazine, Felicity (like our coffee) and Hastings Place; come on by.

In case you hadn't noticed, we are entering holiday mayhem, notably for freight carriers. Our warehouse in KC is open Tuesday-Friday regular hours for the next couple of weeks (closed Monday Dec 25 and Monday Jan 1). However, most freight carriers are going to be offline for consecutive 4-day weekends, so get your orders in early.

For that matter, our office will be closed Monday Dec 25 and Monday Jan 1. How original.