The Tala Blog

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Espresso at Home - from Budget to Bougie

“Making coffee at home is incredible fun. It can be relaxing, ritualistic, convenient, and comforting. Or, like myself, you are simply fascinated and enamored with the brewing process. Whatever the case, I’m here to guide you down the road of buying a new espresso set up.”

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Tesfaye Bekele: Guji, Ethiopia

We love this coffee for its flavors that take us back to those 2nd-grade lunchbox fruit cups, especially the peach ones in light syrup, paired with rich, complex Demerara sugar and ripe melon that lingers in the finish. This is undeniably delicious!

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Finca Cruz Loma: Pichincha, Ecuador

A new and exciting single origin is joining the roster for Tala Coffee Club members: Finca Cruz Loma. This lively, honey-processed coffee dances on your palate with flavors of sangria, apricot, and nougat, offering a unique and delightful tasting experience.

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Improving Coffee At Home

We hear it all the time: why does it always taste better when you make it? To some extent, coffee professionals who have all of the training and equipment might always have an edge on your at-home brewing experience, but you can step up your game at home to enjoy things even more, and this is the perfect time of year to do it!

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Kamwangi AA: Kirinyaga, Kenya

Coffees from Burundi have long been a favorite of the Tala Team for the unique flavors that seldom are seen in coffees from any other African region. Where a lot of other African regions tend to be full of brighter citrus fruits, we love Burundi’s for their deeper, richer fruited tones closest to dried and cooked fruits. This one is exactly that and tasting like sweet dried golden raisin, dried apricot, date, fig, goji berry, that are all wrapped up in a lavender essenced gift basket. Trust us, this is a gift basket you’re going to want to keep receiving.

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Nduwayezu Washing Station: Ngozi, Burundi

Coffees from Burundi have long been a favorite of the Tala Team for the unique flavors that seldom are seen in coffees from any other African region. Where a lot of other African regions tend to be full of brighter citrus fruits, we love Burundi’s for their deeper, richer fruited tones closest to dried and cooked fruits. This one is exactly that and tasting like sweet dried golden raisin, dried apricot, date, fig, goji berry, that are all wrapped up in a lavender essenced gift basket. Trust us, this is a gift basket you’re going to want to keep receiving.

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Los Ancestros: Huehuetenango, Guatemala

This coffee simply put, tastes like everything we love about the fall season. It’s loaded with brown sugar, caramel, and candied pecan sweetness, soft and ripe pear and apple, as well as warm and cozy cocoa. It pairs perfectly with a hayrides, pumpkin carving, apple picking, and bonfires.

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San Diego Mills: Tarrazu, Costa Rica

We love this coffee because it really embodies the transition of the last of the summer turning into fall. Fresh and ripe fruit flavors of raspberry, cherry, passion fruit, and guava on the front end of each sip transition and finish with warm and comforting flavors of praline and milk chocolate. This uniquely sweet coffee is perfect for cool mornings as well as warm afternoons.

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Altos De Marfil: Loja, Ecuador

This is the coffee you wait to wake up to in the morning. Altos De marfil is a fantastic balanced and approachable coffee that both a common coffee drinker and a coffee connoisseur will enjoy. This is our first offering from Ecuador and our first offering for Caravella Importers. Expect pleasant notes of fudge with a well-rounded body and a golden raisin tang acidity.

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Hambela: Guji, Ethiopia

This coffee from Hambela highlights all the unique complexity of flavor that we love about washed Guji coffees. This one is full of exciting, fresh fruit and floral tones like melon, tangerine, lemon, honeysuckle, and chamomile that truly sparkle in the cup. Some weird and interesting times are upon us, but brew up a cup of this fun coffee because its sure to lighten the mood and put a smile on your face.

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Birambu Micro Washing Station: Kalungu, DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has emerged on the specialty coffee scene somewhat recently but always seem to lag behind in quality and flavor compared to more established coffee growing areas. Until now, we hadn’t had the privilege of ever drinking any delicious coffees from here, but upon sample roasting, this one looked very promising. And during a recent blind cupping, it clearly stood apart from 19 other coffees because of its big, sugary sweetness. Its coffees like this that show that more big things are to come from the DR Congo. Clear notes of sweetened rooibos tea, juicy melon and honeydew, and caramelized sugar make this one especially sweet, beautiful coffee.

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Kiriga Estate AB: Kiambu, Kenya

We’re excited to offer yet another amazing offering from Kenya. This one coming from the Kiriga Estate is the pinnacle of savory and sweet flavors harmoniously signing together. Deep, rich maple and stewed fruit flavors of grapefruit and guava round out this wonderful coffee. We love it and know you will too.

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Guji: Shakiso, Ethiopia - Washed Process

At the beginning of the Summer we got a natural processed Guji Shakiso coffee on the shelves that has been a big hit. Recently, we got a hold of the same coffee, from the exact same farm, with the only traceable difference being process. This Guji Shakiso is a washed coffee—our team’s favorite process—and has many similarities to the natural Shakiso, but the difference in processes makes for a unique contrast of the two crops. This Guji is praised for its light chamomile flavor with deep lemon curd and clover honey sweetness. If you tried our other Guji, make sure to try this one to compare and contrast the processes.

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Lainequel Zamora Microlot: La Escuadra, Costa Rica

This coffee comes from the La Escuadra region in Costa Rica. It is a red honey process, which means the mucilage is left on the bean while it dries, usually resulting in a more fruit-forward flavor. This particular coffee tastes like tangerine and blackberries with a nice creamy texture. We think its the perfect way to end the summer.

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Guji: Shakiso, Ethiopia - Natural Process

This is our second offering from our of our favorite subregions of Ethiopia: the Guji zone. This coffee is special to us because it is our very first naturally processed coffee that we’ve had as an offering. We taste honey and concord grape-like sweetness with a subtle blueberry aroma. This coffee is everything we love about deeper, rich Ethiopian coffees. This coffee was also chosen with help from our customers at our first public cupping.

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Utuezi Jimbo: Kirinyaga, Kenya

Uteuzi Jimbo (oo-tay-oo-zee), meaning ‘country select’, brings the best crops from the Kirinyaga region together for a beautiful cup with notes of candied grapefruit, orange marmalade, and caramel.

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Timana: Huila, Colombia

While cupping through many samples, this coffee stood out to us for its clarity and simplicity of flavors. Memorable notes of chocolates, sweet peanut butter, and red apple make this one tasty and approachable coffee that will shine no matter how you brew it. If this coffee were a type of dog, it would be a Golden Retriever because of its reliability and easy to love nature. Timana: man’s best friend.

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Filter Theory

Have you ever heard the term “filter coffee?” We say it in the cafe sometimes, and maybe you’ve heard it elsewhere. Coffee brewing essentially breaks down into two categories: espresso and filter. To understand filter coffee you have to understand basic filter theory. We’re going to go over just a few basic principles to launch you into the world of filter.

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Common Misconceptions in Coffee

Coffee has been around a long time, and with anything that's been around awhile, there are quite a few rumors and ideas bouncing around about it. So for coffee's sake, we want to set the record straight about a few things.

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Changing Variables

Brew methods ultimately determine all other variables. It is important to maintain time above all else, as determined by your brew method of choice. Dose and yield are codependent variables that can be manipulated as determined by how much coffee you want to drink. Your grind setting will change based on your dose and brew method in order to keep your brew time accurate to your brew method.

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What is Cascara?

Coffee beans are actually the seed of a fruit. This cherry-like fruit has a skin that must be removed during normal coffee production to get to the bean, and is usually a by-product used as compost for the new crop. However, these skins can also be dried in the sun and steeped to make a delicious hot or cold drink called Cascara.

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