Asbury Park Roastery Organic Sumatra

I was excited but not surprised to find a New Jersey coffee roaster on the list of the Café Femenino coffee program.

I discovered Asbury Park Roasters roaster while perusing the Baratza website. I had purchased some replacement parts for my Baratza Encore coffee bean grinder and read a few of the blogs posts, one of which was about the Café Femenino coffee program which Baratza supports.

The Café Femenino coffee program is a one-of-a-kind ethical sourcing model committed to ending the cycle of poverty afflicting women coffee farmers across the world. Café Femenino provides direct compensation to women farmers, along with the opportunity and resources to enact positive change in their communities and on their own terms.

I was excited but not surprised to find a New Jersey coffee roaster on the list of the Café Femenino coffee program. I’ve made many trips to Asbury Park with my camera and family.

I ordered a bag of beans of the Sumatra on November 23rd which arrived three days later. I brewed this coffee in using my Chemex with a paper filter. I enjoyed the coffee and would order again.

ROAST: LIGHT
CATEGORY: ORGANIC
REGION: INDONESIAN
NUANCE: SMOOTH, SWEET, EARTH, SUBTLE FRUIT
Weight: 1lb
Cost: $14.30
Shipping: $7.85

Rockaffe Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Coffee Name: Rockaffe [Ethiopia Yirgacheffe](https://www.rockaffe.com/product/ethiopian-yirgacheffe/
Country: Ethiopia
Roaster: Rockaffe
Roast Date: Aug 5, 2019
Brew Date: Aug 6, 2019

Vitaliy Shakirov, the family-owned and operated a coffee shop owner, Buy the Cup, in Rocky Hill, has expanded his business operations by launching an online coffee store that offers his speciality roasts to the wholesale and retail coffee marketplace. My family and his family have known each other since he opened his shop doors over ten years ago. Buy the Cup is my favourite place for fresh-brewed African coffee and roasted beans, and a pork roll sandwich. It's a place to sit outside on a Saturday morning and politely chat about local politics with the regulars. The store is unassuming, but I'll sometimes see Lexus' and Mercedes-Benzs parked on the street along with Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys, while customers get their fresh roasted beans and pork roll.

Our story begins ten years ago when we opened our family-owned and operated coffee shop Buy the Cup in the quaint town of Rocky Hill, New Jersey. During our humble beginnings, we offered a small variety of beans and served a mere fifty cups per day. A very loyal following developed from our neighbours in Rocky Hill and the surrounding towns, and we quickly expanded to serve many more coffee varieties and different flavour options. Seven years later we grew into a full service “grab and go” cafe serving coffee from many countries around the world, a multitude of different flavours, light and dark blends, and a full espresso line. Over the years, we have crafted numerous blends and roasting profiles, which have become very popular with our loyal customer base. We continue to fine-tune our roasting skills to further our product development, all the while keeping our standards for our products and service very high.

I am excited for Vitaliy, and I expect he'll do well.

On Monday, Vitaliy contacted me about a new Ethiopia Yirgacheffe light roast for pour-overs that he had created. He wanted my feedback on the coffee using my brewing methods. I brew pour-overs every day using a Chemex with either an able Kone filter, Chemex paper filters, or Ebb cloth filter. For this batch of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, the day after Vitality roasted the coffee, I brewed freshly ground beans in my Chemex with all three types of filters. I think the Ebb filter produced the best pour-over cup with this coffee.

With Ethiopian coffees, pronounced floral notes are expected, notes that most Americans will bury under a blanket of creamer and sugar. I drink my coffee black. This Ethiopia Yirgacheffe coffee had a fresh aromatic wood note suggesting fresh-cut grass with an earthy nut-toned chocolaty taste which I enjoyed. My taste buds kept yelling, “cocoa.” I enjoyed this coffee, and I hope to drink this regularly.

ReAnimator Speciality Instant Coffee Ethiopia Siko

Ethiopia Siko (ReAnimator Coffee)

Tasting Notes: Floral, Melon, Sugary. Processed in collaboration with our friends at Swift Cup Coffee, with careful brewing practices and attention to detail paid throughout the freeze-drying.

After reading about ReAnimator Speciality Instant Coffee on Sprudge, I decided to try the Ethiopia Tadese Gemeda. This morning I made a cup after finishing my cup of coffee brewed in my Chemex from three-day-old beans I purchased earlier in the week from my local roaster.

I expected ReAnimator Speciality Instant Coffee to taste better than the instant coffee that my parent drank when I was a kid. It did not.

Reanimator Speciality Instant Coffee —FujiFilm X-T2 + Fujifilm XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (42.7 mm, f/2.8, ISO400), © Khürt L. Williams
Reanimator Speciality Instant Coffee —FujiFilm X-T2 + Fujifilm XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (37.6 mm, f/2.8, ISO320), © Khürt L. Williams