Winter Retail Coffees

We've got a ton of 12oz. retail bags of coffee on the shelves this month, and we'll be ordering them each week to ensure freshness, so if you've got a coffee lover to shop for, stop by for a bag. We'll even grind it for you (though we may also encourage you to get a home grinder for best flavor). Here's the roster of retail coffees, all of which are USDA certified organic:

Finca Mauritania (El Salvador): An all-Bourbon (heirloom coffee variety, not Kentucky booze) coffee produced by one of the top names in coffee right now, Aida Batlle. This coffee is sweet and full-bodied with enough brightness to make things interesting. I'm drinking a cup of this a day, and it never disappoints.

Decaf Cinco de Junio (Nicaragua): We're just about to finish our run of this excellent decaf coffee in the cafe (look out for Decaf La Frontera from Peru soon!). In a recent blind coffee cupping, none of our employees could pick this out as a decaf. Enough said.

Holiday Blend 2011 (Ethiopia): This is a bit of a misnomer, as Counter Culture's holiday offering is all sourced from the Konga co-op in Ethiopia, making this coffee a single origin, not a blend. While it is customary to roast Ethiopian coffees lightly, this is a medium-dark roast with a rich nutty chocolate flavor.

Espresso Rustico (blend): Our standard cafe espresso when we're not experimenting with one of CC's excellent single origin espressos. This is an all-organic espresso blend (hard to find in the espresso world). In the holiday spirit, I'll say that this one evokes chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I've been drinking this one in Americanos recently.

And, last but not least, we have a few bags left...


Finca Mauritania SOE (El Slavador): This is an espresso from the same farm as the first coffee on this list. While it's not last year's Finca Mauritania Triple Process (the espresso that opened my eyes to truly exceptional coffee), this pulp natural process espresso has an excellent balance of sweet chocolatey "bass notes" and cherry/raspberry "high notes." Only a few bags of this one are left!