The Summer Barista Jam on Friday was a gigantic success. Many espressos, coffees, and good times were shared by all who attended. Thank you to all who came and made this a success. Below are some fun pictures from all the events.Ellie Hudson-Matuszak of Coffee Solutions led us through "Easy Steps to Improve Your Espresso" and "Evaluating and Identifying Good Espresso."
Frank McGinty brought definition to our palettes by deconstructing espresso components into french pressed coffees, dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate, and using simple salty, sweet and sour solutions during "Evaluating and Identifying Good Espresso."

Tyler Zimmer wrapped up an overview of his time in Costa Rica with a cupping of coffees from different regions there.
Dale Bassham and Jeff Davis led a hands-on latte art course.
Via Dove shut it down with a sweltering and delirious set.

We are proud to announce we are hosting the Erin Bode Group again this coming Thursday, July 2nd at our Kirkwood café staring at 6:30 p.m. Bring your lawn chairs and come thirsty and hungry and stop by Kaldi’s.

The Erin Bode Group has performed nationwide at venues such as Blues Alley in Washington D.C., Zanzibar Blue in Philadelphia, and at Sweet Rhythm in New York. They have also been in Europe twice, touring in Italy.

They have also opened for legendary Supremes' singer, Mary Wilson; for Michael Buble at St. Louis' newest premiere venue The Pageant; with Macy Gray on the steps of the Gateway Arch; and for Jamie Cullum at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Come help us welcome them to Kirkwood again as they perform on the Plaza for the 3rd year in a row!

We're very proud to report that our Burundi Kinyovu Lot #5 has won CoffeeReview.com's "Alternative Africans" June review - scoring a 95/100.

The coffee was reviewed by Kenneth Davids and Jim Reynolds. Here is what they had to say about the coffee:

Organization: Kaldi's Coffee Roasting, St. Louis, Missouri
Coffee: Burundi Kinyovu
Reviewed: June 2009
Overall Rating: 95 points 
Aroma: 9
Acidity: 9
Body: 8
Flavor: 9
Aftertaste: 9
Roast (Agtron): Medium-Light (53/77)
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Origin: Kayanza Province, Burundi.

Notes: Burundi is a small, landlocked country in Central Africa. Most coffee is grown in the mountains of the north, bordering Rwanda. Benefiting from ideal growing conditions and large plantings of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica, Burundi coffee has an excellent reputation, though it is better known in Europe than in the United States. This particular Burundi was produced from trees of the Bourbon variety and Bourbon derivative varieties Jackson and Mibirizi. Founded in 1994, Kaldi's Coffee is a quality-oriented small-batch roaster with several cafes throughout Missouri. Visit www.kaldiscoffee.com or call 888-892-6333 for more information.

Blind Assessment: Co-cupper Jim Reynolds (95): "This coffee scored well in every category. I especially liked the floral acidity - a nice vanilla and chocolate aspect to the flavor complemented the smooth - very smooth - mouthfeel." Ken's praise (94) was nearly identical, though he added "spicy fruit" and a hint of lemon to his descriptors. Impressive flavor persistence in a long, rich finish. 

Who should drink it: A complete expression of a Central Africa profile: balance, richness, complexly expressed acidity, silky body, pungently floral aromatics.

The coffee will be available online and at our stores throughout the summer. Try some today!

Almost as exciting as amazing coffee, the 2009 World Pork Steak Championship lived up to its hype.

This past Saturday, our friends at Schlafly Bottleworks played host to 25 pork-steak cooking enthusiasts. Teams had six hours to work their magic on the grill before submitting one appetizer followed by the Pork Steak main course. Though we were not victorious in our efforts, first-time Team Kaldi’s had a strong showing.

For the appetizer (manetizer) we chose a light offering: pork belly braised in spices for 24hrs, dunked in Summer Kolsch beer batter, then deep fried to a light golden brown. Very healthy! Pork goodness was served with a pomegranate dipping sauce.

The main course consisted of seared pork steaks slowly roasted/smoked in a home-made BBQ sauce. Pork steak was fork tender when severed.

We will be back next year.

above right, Team Kaldi's - Pork-Steak Edition
below left, deep frying the pork belly

We're excited to announce we will start shipping two micro-lot Costa Rican coffees that our green buyer, Tyler, sourced directly from Costa Rica this March. Here's what he had to say about them:

This spring I spent a week in Cost Rica visiting some of the best farms not only in Costa Rica, but also the world. These farms are consistently producing excellent coffee. A lot of changes have happened over the last eight years or so, which many are calling the “micro-mill revolution.” More and more farmers are beginning to process their own coffee instead of selling it to a large co-op. They now have total control over the process, helping to improve their quality. They are able to separate out lots to bring out the best in their coffees. When I was there, two micro-mills in particular stuck out to me in terms of quality, climate, and experience. Don Mayo and Helsar de Zarcero are two micro-mills who have garnered international attention for their quality. We are pleased to announce that we have secured two very special micro-lots from the two separate micro-mills. Each mill is located in very specific micro-climates that are perfect for growing some of the worldʼs best coffee. Another thing that makes these coffees so unique is that they are single-varietal coffees. There are many different varietals of coffee growing under the Arabica species, but most coffees are a blend of two or three different varietals. Not only will you be able to taste the uniqueness due to micro-climate, but also what each varietal brings to the cup – a truly unique experience.

Here are the stats on the two coffees. Contact us if you'd like to receive a nice 5x7 card with this info for your cafe:

Costa Rica Don Mayo
We are excited to introduce this special micro-lot for 2009. This unique lot is grown at a very high altitude and uniquely separated out by varietal. Not only will you be able to taste this unique coffee due to the special micro-climate it was grown in, but also because of the single variety – 100% bourbon. The Don Mayo micro-mill is located in the San Marcos
micro-region of Tarrazu. Hector Bonilla and his family are committed to producing excellent coffee on their farm and have recently built an on site sample-roasting and cupping lab – not something in which most farmers invest their time and money.

Region: San Marcos, Tarrazu
Altitude: 1650 meters
Varietals: Bourbon
Processing method: Mechanically Washed, Sun Dried
Description: Numerous balanced notes from boysenberry and black cherry-like acidity to cashew and toffee sweetness.

Costa Rica Helsar de Zarcero
With great excitement, we offer this delicious micro-lot for the second year in a row. This micro-mill is managed and owned by Ricardo Perez, Marvin Rodriguez, and Phillip Rodriguez. Ten families now work to produce and mill coffee at Helsar de Zarcero. Sustainable practices are used throughout the farm. Organic fertilizers are fermented on-site by mixing coffee-cherry pulp and molasses along with mined zinc, boron, and other minerals. This micro-lot in particular is a single varietal – Typica Villalobos – a natural mutant of Typica found only in Costa Rica.

Region: Llano Bonito de Naranjo, West Valley
Altitude: 1650-1800 meters
Varietals: Typica Villalobos
Processing method: Mechanically Washed, Sun Dried
Description: A well-rounded coffee with butterscotch-like sweetness and acidity reminiscent of oranges and pomegranate.

top left photo: Hector Bonilla walks in front of a drying patio on his farm, Don Mayo
bottom right photo: the drying patio at Helsar de Zarcero

It's no secret that we take great pride in our ability to roast great espresso. Building upon our upbeat review from Coffee Review, we're furthering our efforts to ensure that every bag of espresso our customer gets has the potential to transform into an outstanding shot of espresso.

Today, our espresso team did our first of many weekly espresso audits on our two main espresso blends - Espresso 700 and Café Malta. The audit takes note of brew temperature, speed, machine model, dose weight and many more specs. After extracting a shot, we evaluate very similarly to competition judges and ensure that espresso is meeting all of the components of its profile. In the weeks to come, we'll add even more coffees to to the audit.

We're always happy to help you learn how to evaluate your espresso, too. In fact, our next barista jam, scheduled for June 26th, will focus on how to evaluate and then improve espresso at your café.

If you haven't heard yet via Twitter, our competition edition of Espresso 700 just received a 92 from Coffee Review. Espresso 700 tied for second place among all of the espressos graded by Coffee Review. It was suggested for "lovers of heavy, lush but cleaned-toned espressos."

We're extremely proud of our dedicated roasters and barista staff for discerning and producing such an excellent coffee. You can read the full review now at Coffee Review and learn more about their services and many other wonderful coffees and espressos.

from Josh...

As of today we officially have a small greenhouse located in the roasting facility education room (aka training room/meeting area) On your next roaster visit be sure to welcome our four new coffee plant friends all of the Caturra varietal. For those of you needing a quick tutorial, here are the Caturra coffee plant basics.

Caturra derives from the Arabica species of coffee plant and was discovered as a coffee Bourbon mutation in Brazil. It is a mutation with high yield production and good quality, but requires extensive care and fertilization. It is short with a thick core and has many secondary branches. It has large leaves with wavy borders similar to Coffee Bourbon. Plants grow 18-20ft in nature, but stunt to 6ft when grown in-door as a house hold plant. Caturra grows best between 1,500-5,500 feet with annual precipitation between 2,500-3,500 mm. At higher altitudes quality increases, but production decreases.

A special thanks to roaster Joe Marrocco for purchasing the coffee plant

The delicious fresh-crop origin coffees continue to roll in. Here's the latest, Organic Guatemala Santa Isabel.

Here are notes from our green-buyer, Tyler Zimmer:

Organic Guatemala Santa Isabel: From an award winning farm, this balanced coffee has a crisp black cherry like acidity with a caramel like sweetness.

In 1899 Federico Keller and his wife, Isabel, founded Finca Santa Isabel in the department of Santa Rosa, 64 kilometres southeast of Guatemala’s capital city. Located at altitudes ranging from 3,500 to 5,000 feet above sea level the plantation produces Strictly Hard Bean and Hard Bean coffees.

In 2004 Santa Isabel experienced a widespread disease on their coffee plants. After extensive research, the Keller Family decided the only way to rejuvenate the Finca was to implement organic agriculture techniques. The 07-08 harvest was their first to produce certified organic coffee. The highest area of the property is a protected nature reserve, where there are many diverse plant and animal species. Biodiversity and sustainability are key components in the production of Santa Isabel coffee and the preservation of their nature reserve. In 2006 this farm was also awarded with the prestigious Cup of Excellence coming in 19th place.

Our lot was specifically selected because it is located on one of the highest points on the farm. It was then hand-picked, hand-sorted, and 100% patio dried.

Altitude: 3885 feet
Variety: Catuai, Bourbon, Caturra
Processing Method: Washed
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean
Species: Arabica
Harvest: November to February
Region: Santa Rosa
Finca: Santa Isabel
Certifications: Organic, Rainforest Alliance

"Anticipation"

We received two delicious packages today.

On the back left, 20 kilos of Beloya Lot #22.
On the right, the 27 Colombia Cup of Excellence Samples.

A good Monday to come.