Congo “Kivu”

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A Rediscovered Name

In May of this year rebels ousted Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, after nearly 32 years of increasingly corupt and despotic rule. Mobutu, who died in September in exile, is said to have amassed a personal fortune of up to $8 billion. In 1971 he changed the name of his country to Zaire, as part of a program of cultural nationalism. One of the rebels’ first acts was to ditch the name Zaire, and restore the name Mobutu had discarded: Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read more

Kona Estate “Holualoa”

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In Fall 1982 Coffee Works fired up its fluidized-bed roaster and poured out the first batch of our fresh-roasted specialty coffee to what was then a decidedly-sleepier Sacramento. To celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of this company and civic awakening we are offering a special selection of (appropriately) original, authentic, and unique estate coffee from the big island of Hawaii. Read more

Brazil Sao Laurenzo

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Brazil is the largest tropical country on earth, containing one third of the world’s rain forests. It is also the monarch of the coffee world, with export production between two to three times that of Colombia, the world’s second largest exporter. So, why have we featured Brazilian as the Coffee Works’ Coffee of the Month only once before, and why do we not offer any on a regular basis? Read more

Panama Boquete “La Berlina Estate”

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With the media buzzing like summer bees over price gyrations on New York’s Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, it is useful to remember that your intrepid independent roaster does not trade in commodity coffees. Indeed, for the many reasons we have expounded before, so many non-quantifiable factors ride the long train of supply from tropical farm to your morning cup that green bean price gymnastics, however spellbinding, will never drive that train for us. Read more

India Mysore “Nuggets”

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Cauvery Peak Estate

Owing to their northern tropical latitude and the tempering influence of the Arabian Ocean, the Western slopes of Southern India’s Western Ghat Mountains supply near-ideal coffee-growing conditions to the region centered in Karnakata (formerly Mysore) state. These conditions are mineral-rich volcanic soils, mountain altitudes, adequate moisture throughout the growing season, and a temperate climate. Read more

Zimbabwe “Pinnacle”

The Coffee ScoutCoffee growers of Southern Africa have overcome many obstacles in the hundred years since the members of the Moodie Trek first brought this new crop to the Eastern Border region of what was then known as Southern Rhodesia. Although blessed with favorable climate and topography, coffee growing was virtually abandoned when disease destroyed most of the small plantations in the 1920’s. It was revived by farmers from India and Kenya in the late 1950’s, who brought with them modern methods of production. Read more