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Blue Bottle Coffee Review

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I have been subscribing to Tonx Coffee for several years now. Earlier in 2014, it

was announced that Tonx would be joining Blue Bottle Coffee. The fortunate

thing is the coffee subscription service wasn't going to be changing that much,

only the branding.

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The changes that are happening are going to make things even better. Be-

low is more information about the subscription service, and a list of the coffees I

am receiving to give you an idea of the flavours to be expected when signing up.

The original list of coffees delivered by Tonx will remain on my site, as Blue Bottle

Coffee is still continuing on their tradition of delivering coffees from around the

world.

Blue Bottle Coffee Blue Bottle Coffee is an independent operation based out of California. They

have both coffee shops there, but also coffee subscription services that sends

the best coffee or espresso from their roasters to your door for a low price. With

the addition of the Tonx team, Blue Bottle Coffee truly the best damn coffee out

there.

Until I subscribed to Blue Bottle Coffee.

Blue Bottle Coffee gives you that variety if you desire it, or a certain bean

type on a regular basis with consistent flavours.

Here are some links to learn more about the company:

- The Big Blue Bottle Coffee Machine - The Awl

- Blue Bottle Coffee's New Orlenas Iced Coffee - LAist

- The Multimillion Dollar Quest to Brew the Perfect Cup of Coffee - Fast

Company

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Subscription Options With Tonx, you only had two choices: a small bag of coffee, or a larger one. With

Blue Bottle Coffee, you have endless possibilities.

- Origins Subscription: A delicious new single origin offering from Latin

America, East Africa, or the Pacific Islands.

- Blend Subscription: A changing selection of our blends, each one

with its own origin story and profile.

- Espresso Subscription: A melange of our espresso offerings, includ-

ing blends and single origins that we serve in our cafes.

- a choice of 7 other coffee roasts on a regular basis.

With each subscription, you will eventually get to choose the frequency (every

week, every other week, once a month, etc.) And like Tonx, you will get a few size

options as well.

- 6 oz is $13 for Origins Subscription ($12 for others)

- 12 oz is $21 for Origins Subscription ($19 for others)

Once you have the option to have shipments arrive once a month, the 12 oz bag

is going to clearly be the best option.

The Coffees The other options available:

- Hayes Valley Espresso: Cocoa, orange zest, smoky finish.

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- Decaf Noir: Nutty, chocolaty, dense.

- Bella Donovan: Heavy, comforting, deeply fruited.

- Three Africans: Fruity, radiant, creamy.

- Giant Steps: Viscous, fudgy, substantial.

- 17ft Ceiling: Effulgent, caramelly, enveloping, nutty.

- Roman Espresso: Jammy, malted, medium-bodied

Subscription Coffees Received

 

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Buena Vista Details: Roger Esaú Herrera Ortéz and his family of seven are responsible for

some of the most delicious coffee Nicaragua has to offer. Their farm, Buena Vista,

is located on the Cerror de la Explosion in San Fernando de Nueva Segovia. This

selection is pulped, fermented, and washed on the farm before it is transferred

to Beneficio La Estrella, in nearby Ocotal, to be dried and prepared for export.

Deliciousness: Nougat, cocoa, mixed berry, pear

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Costa Rica Tarrqzú Santa Rosa Details: Beneficio Santa Rosa is perched high in the mountains of Santa Rosa de

León Cortés, in central Costa Rica. Owned and managed by the father and son

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team of Efraín and Herberth Naranjo, the farm and mill are modestly sized and

impeccably run. After pulping and mechanically demucilaging the fruit from

each tiny harvest, the Naranjos lay their parchment coffee out to dry on well-

monitored raised beds.

Deliciousness: Nectarine, watermelon, strawberry shortcake, maple.

 

El Salvador Aida Batlle Tanzania Details: Thanks to her scrupulous attention to picking and processing, along with

her savvy across all levels of the coffee supply chain, Aida Batlle has become the

first of a new breed: coffee producer as culinary celebrity. Cherries from Finca

Tanzania are hand-selected for their ultra-ripe "blood red and burgundy" col-

oration, then processed at J. Hill, an unparalleled facility in downtown Santa Ana.

Deliciousness: Caramel, maple, brown sugar, fig

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Ethopia Guji Suke Quto Details: The 68-member Suke Quto producer's association is located in the Odo

Shakiso district, in Ethopia's Guji zone. Founded in 2004, Suke Quto stretches

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across a verdant 291 hectares and includes a diverse array of indigenous plant

and animal species. After being hand-picked at its apex of ripeness, this coffee is

fermented in concrete tanks, washed, and sun-dried on raised beds.

Deliciousness: Strawberry, rose hip, pluot, silk

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Costa Rica Tarrazú Divino Niño Details: With four generations of farming experience behind him, Mauricio Vin-

das is off to a great start at Divino Niño. Since purchasing the 12-hectare farm in

2009 (he worked as a cook to save up the money), he's planted more than 5,000

Caturra and Catuai trees. This year, thanks to some meticulous picking and pro-

cessing. Divino Niño nabbed its first Cup of Excellence award.

Deliciousness: Citron, toffee, cocoa, brisk, clean.

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Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Bedhatu Jibicho Details: In Gedeb, a fertile pocket of southern Ethiopia that's just east of Abaya

Lake. Bedhatu Jibicho is producing some of the country's most exciting coffee.

With help from her son, Tesfaye, who runs day-to-day operations on the farm,

she's getting delicious (and prodigious) yields from her 45 hectares. After careful

picking, this coffee is laid out on raised beds to dry, then taken north to be milled

at a cooperatively-run facility in Addis Ababa.

Deliciousness: Strawberry, dark chocolate, malted milk, cream

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Guatemala Cobán Santa Isabel Details: Finca Santa Isabel, located in a lush corner of Guatemala's San Cristobal

Verapaz municipality, has been owned and operated by the Valdes family since

1875. Today, the 187-hectare farm stands out as a paragon of environmental sus-

tainability, with a full 100 hectares dedicated to reforestation and a plenitude of

animal species making their homes there.

Deliciousness: oak, honey, dark chocolate, peach

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Ethopia Guji Hambela Natural Details: Aman Adinew, formerly the director of quality control for the Ethiopian

Coffee Exchange, has an impressive resume. In addition to establishing the first

speciality-focused cupping lab in Africa, he was responsible for training more

than 60 certified coffee tasters. Hambela, a farm that hosts its own plants and

sources cherry from nearby smallholders, is the brainchild of he and his brother

Michael.

Deliciousness: Black cherry, floral, apricot, blackberry

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Colombia Cauca Caloto Details: This coffee comes to us from a group of four smallholders - Marta Cun-

da, Diego Trujillo, Arturo Lizcano and Jairo Almeguer - all located in Caloto, a

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small municipality just a couple hours south of the Colombian city of Cali. After

picking, coffee cherries from these producers undergo a process of manual de-

pulping, then they're fermented in tiled or concrete tanks for a period of 16-20

hours.

Deliciousness: Tropical fruit, tangerine, date, toffee.

 

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Guatemala La Bolsa el Cabro Details: Purchased in 1958 by Dr. Jorge Vides, Finca La Bolsa is among the most

progressive coffee operations in Guatemala. Before Vides passed away in 1995,

he was a longtime director of the National Hospital in Guatemala City, which now

bears his name. Today, his socially-minded imprint lives on through numerous

farm programs: nutritious menus for pickers’ children, a school, first aid trainings,

and nurse evaluations.

Deliciousness: Plum, juicy, milk, chocolate, clean.

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Details: Hunkute is a coop comprised of nearly 2,000 farmers who deliver their

cherries to two washing stations in the Wonsho District in Sidama, Ethiopia. A

small group of highly-trained coppers evaluate every batch of the country’s

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prized coffee. With such ideal growing conditions and commitment to quality,

Hunkute is a long-standing favourite of our sourcing team.

Deliciousness: Peach, melon, delicate

 

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Details: Run by Erasto Weneza and co-owned by local farmers, the Mwasa wash-

ing station is a glimpse into Rwanda’s bright coffee-growing future. Thanks to ge-

ographic conditions like mineral-rich volcanic soil and winds from nearby Lake

Kivu, this washed coffee is bursting with sweet, deeply fruited flavours.

Deliciousness: Peach, brown sugar, date.

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Costa Rica Santa Rosa 1900 La Plaza Details: Finca La Plaza is one of three coffee farms run by the Naranjo family. It is

situated adjacent to the Santa Rosa 1900 microbial, so named for its elevation (in

meters above sea level). Production is a longer process at this elevation, where

tree growth, cherry ripening and drying take significantly longer than they do at

lower farms. These factors allow the Naranjo family to employ careful and delib-

erate methods, producing a coffee we are thrilled to offer.

Deliciousness: Almond paste, kiwi, honey

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Colombia Cerro Azul Gesha Details: Nestled in the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia, Cerro Azul is known

for its Gesha, especially since it is the only varietal they grow on the farm (30,000

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trees- all Gesha!). Advanced climate tracking technology provides farmers with

detailed information about factors such as rainfall, sun, and wind so that they can

optimize their harvest.

Deliciousness: Sparkling, jasmine, plum

 

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Panama Emporium Estate Natural Details: Panama’s Emporium Estate (formerly Dona Berta), is owned and handily

managed by Graciano Cruz. Having placed in the Top 10 coffees in the annual

Panama’s Best competition in past years, it’s no wonder that Emporium continues

to surprise and delight us. Their signature naturals are meticulously processed

on African-style raised beds.

Deliciousness: Blackberry, plum, tropical

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Peru Puno San Jorge Details: Located in the Sandia Valley of Puno, Peru’s southernmost province, San

Jorge is one of eight cooperatives that make up the Central Agricultural Cooper-

ative of the Sandia Valley (CECOVASA), which oversees a membership of 4,700

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farmers. As most of the farms are on the smaller side, nearly all of the coffee is

picked by the farmers themselves, sometimes with the help of neighbours.

Deliciousness: Balanced, milk chocolate, cherry cola

 

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Rwanda Nyanza Iwacu Details: Iwacu, which means “our place,” is run by a gentleman named Uwizeye,

who formerly managed coffee washing stations for Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense.

During the growing season, he manages nearly 2,000 farmers. Uwizeye and his

team are very committed to sustainability, their machine utilizes pressure instead

of water to de-pulp cherries.

Deliciousness: Red currant, lemon, nectarine.

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Kenya Embu Gikirima Details: In early 2014, our green coffee buyer became the first representative

from any coffee roaster to set foot in Kenya’s Gikirima washing station. The

farmer’s producers apply a meticulous hand to their fermenting, drying, condi-

tioning, and storing operations. Part of the Kibugu Farmers Cooperative, Gikiri-

ma produces some of the most delicious coffee Kenya has to offer.

Deliciousness: Blackberry, mandarin orange, vibrant

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Details: La Boisa, so named for the bag-shaped topography that the farm sits in,

was purchased by Dr. Jorge Vides M.D., in 1958. With great elevation and a small

river running through the property, the land is ideal for growing and processing

coffee. Dr. Vides highly valued the health of his employees, and implemented a

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number of programs to ensure it, before he passed away in 1995. The farm is

now managed by his daughter, Maria Elena Vides.

Deliciousness: Plum, grapefruit, creamy

 

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Brazil Minas Gerais Carmo Select Details: Nestled in Brazil’s Mantiqueira mountains, both Fazenda Ignacio Pereira

and Fazenda do Serrano are overseen by the Sertao Group and the Pereira fami-

ly. This Yellow Bourbon variety is a pulped-natural coffee, meaning that the skin

and some of the sticky mucilate are removed mechanically before beans are laid

out to dry.

Deliciousness: Chocolate mousse, almond, red apple

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Details: Fourth-generation farmer Mauricio Vindas Vargas named his farm Divino

Nino in honour of his son, who recovered from a serious childhood illness. They

say gratitude reaps rewards, but we know hard work does, too. Marco bought

these 12 hectares in Costa Rica’s Tarrazu region with money he earned as a cook.

He planted 5,000 Cattura and Catui trees and dries the beans in the sun. Whatev-

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er the reason, Divino Nino is getting its due. This year, it nabbed its first Cup of

Excellence award.

Deliciousness: Toffee, vanilla, currant

 

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Malawi Misuku Hills Mzuzu Details: The Mzuzu Coffee Farmer’s Cooperative works with 3000 producers

from six villages in northern Malawi. The co-op places an impressive and inspir-

ing emphasis on rural and social development, with a focus on improving food

and housing security, education, and opportunities for women. When the co-op’s

not improving farmers’ lives, it’s helping them produce gorgeous coffees like this

one.

Deliciousness: Cola, tamarind, syrupy

$5 off your Blue Bottle Coffee Subscription

To be updated as subscriptions are received