Breaking News

The Powers have declared that Tuesday August 31st be an official Atlas No-Ship Day!

This is because we need to conduct our annual warehouse physical inventory, and we can't have bags going out mid-count. Please plan your ordering accordingly, and tell your friends!

25, Aug '10 - We're enjoying a few days of glorious summer sunshine here in Seattle, but our favorite morning DJ said that summer ends this week! Rain to come, which is good for our veggie gardens, but not so hot for our spirits. Karen, Suzy and Drew spent the weekend down in Skamania at the Roaster's Guild Retreat and have many fun tales to tell. Craig and Chris even zoomed down on their motos for a quick howdy-do. We're thrilled to have Al back in the office after his marathon three week tour of South America, and Craig's gearing up for a jaunt to Uganda this coming week. Always action packed here at Atlas!

11 Aug '10 - Check out Coava Coffee Roaster's recent rave reviews of Kenya Kieni and El Salvador Santa Sofia on the Coffee Review. Nice work, fellas!

4 Aug '10 - So much has happened in the past few weeks, it's tough to know where to begin! Back on July 17 - 18, Craig, Susan, Chris and myriad various Atlas friends and family (including Craig's 70 year old father!) rode their bicycles from Seattle to Portland with 10,000 other loonies. Check back soon for photos. Our Ethiopia coffees are finally starting to roll in, so ask for samples if you've been anxiously waiting. Jen and Al took off today for Brazil to spend a week or so with a few roasters visiting our friends at Santo Antonio Estates, as well as a few other groups. And Seattle's actually feeling a little summery!

13, July '10 - We're in danger of being buried by a javalanche of rockin' new arrivals from Central America these days. Poor Drew has been shackled to the sample roaster for weeks trying to keep up with all of the roasting, especially since we've been hosting cuppings of the Cup of Excellence competition samples in addition to our normal cupping load. If you're shopping for brilliantly fresh new coffees, be sure to check out our San Pedro la Laguna and Aldea Batzchocola from Guatemala, and Fincas la Providencia and Las Neblinas from El Salvador.

2, July '10 - Good gracious! July already!? You wouldn't know it if you live in Seattle, but summer is upon us, and that means ever more fresh arrivals! Among our new faves are our gourmet prep El Salvadors from Fincas Santa Sofia, San Joaquin and la Providencia, and AA, AB and PB selections from Fairview Estate in Kenya. Check 'em out!

26, May '10 - Bring on the fresh coffees! This week we're thrilled to have received our anxiously awaited first delivery of El Toreador profile from El Salvador, all sweet, syrupy light and bright. And! Atlas is happy to introduce a new Swiss Water® processed decaffeinated blend: Golden Gamelan; a house blend of a variety of Indonesia coffees that serve up so much bottom end that it's a little PG-13. Check out our tasting notes page for more details. Also, if you're a regular viewer of our offer lists, please note that the "Blends" section has migrated from the bottom to the top of the list. It's 'cause they're so good!

18, May '10 - One more awesome arrival has landed at Atlas: a fantastic Guatemala from San Pedro la Laguna around Lake Atitlan. Dark dried fruit flavors (think raisin & prune) and a mature, sweet acidity characterize this SHB coffee, with an unmistakable zip of mulling spices in the finish. Atlas rarely offers Atitlan coffees, and we're especially proud of this arrival. Legend has it that Lake Atitlan is a vortex of healing energy. No doubt a bit of that energy made it into the trees that produced this wonderful coffee!

12, May '10 - Spring sunshine has been flirting with Seattle these past few weeks. I think we even hit the high 70's last Sunday! Still more rainy days than not, but the nice weather is definitely raising everyone's spirits. New crop arrivals are also raising spirits! We're happy to have our first Costa Rica Tarrazu delivery from Santa Elena Estate. Both the washed and pulped natural miel coffees came in this container, awesome contrasts in flavors and aromas between these two lots from the same farm. Lots of honey, light citrus and sweet toasted bran from the washed, and light berry and very syrupy mouthfeel from the miel. The miel is especially nice as an espresso component, featuring spicy molasses and dark stewed fruit flavors. Be sure to ask your friendly Atlas sales person for a sample the next time you call to order!

3, May '10 - May already!?! Dang!! Atlas' own Al Liu is spending the entire month of May on the East Coast, so if you're an East Coaster and would like a visit from a real live Atlasian (pun intended,) drop him an email. You just may catch him on his tour! Drew's back from a week in Nicaragua on the Cup of Excellence jury, with exciting stories about all the wonderful coffees he was fortunate to cup. More Presidential Award winners (90 points and above) than any previous competition, he said! Karen's been out on vacay, soking up the rays on a sunny beach somewheres, and the rest of us are here in the office ready to hear from you. Our offer list is looking scarily scant these days, but we're on the cusp of the arrival of some very exciting coffees from Central America and Kenya. Check back for updates soon!

21, Apr '10 - Back from SCAA, it's a joy to have all of us in the office at the same time once again. We're playing the "hurry up and wait" game until our awesome Centrals and Kenyas start arriving. In the meantime, we're really digging a few exotic Colombias that are standing the test of time impressively well. The 2008 Coffee of the Year from Planadas, Tolima is still rocking our world (hurray for vacuum packaging!) with its tropical fruit and rooibos tea character, and the 2009 Carmen de Atrato from Choco has tons of fresh citrus peel, spicy mango, and sweet, complex herbal qualities. Both are wonderfully complex, especially around this time of year, so if you haven't tried them yet, now's the time!

19, Apr '10 - Atlas' own Craig Holt is running the Boston Marathon at this very moment! Cheer him on, and check out his progress here. Go Craig, go!

6, Apr '10 - Once again, the stars, moons and planets have aligned, and the entire Atlas staff is fully assembled here in the office! First time in weeks, what with Craig being off in London training Q Graders, Al off in Indonesia, Suzy & Chris off in Central America, etc. For those of you attending the SCAA Expo in Anaheim, CA next week, be sure to email Al to receive an Evite to the infamous annual Tote Fest extravaganza on Friday night April 16!

25, Mar '10 - Check out photos from Suzy & Chris' recent trip to El Salvador and Honduras. And congratulations to Luis Medrano, winner of the 3rd Annual Specialty Coffee Competition in Las Capucas, Honduras! This year's competition demonstrated a level of quality higher than any we've seen before from COCAFCAL, and introduced to us a few new communities that we're excited to work with in the future: Lempira and Corquin. Stay tuned for more info about the coffees coming available from this event!

 

24, Mar '10 - Atlas is proud to announce that we're partnering with Santo Antonio Estates Brazilian Coffees to sponsor the Barista Guild of America Cafe, during the United States Barista Championship at the SCAA Expo in Anaheim, April 14 - 18. If you're at the Expo, be sure to stop by the BGA Cafe to taste a few of the fantastic single-varietal, single-estate micro-lots that Atlas has brought in from Santo Antonio Estates this year.

 

Tasting Notes Online!

At long last, we now have tasting notes online for all of our wonderful coffees! Click here to take a look, or you can navigate there from the "Products" button on the side bar to the left, OR you can find a link to the tasting notes at the top of our Seattle and New Jersey offer lists.

 

 

Market Update

 

Click here for charts on FutureSource.com

 

Workshop Calendar

 

For the fourth year running, Atlas Coffee Importers and Diedrich Manufacturing are proud to present A Three Day Intensive Workshop:

Fundamentals of Green Coffee, Roasting and Cupping

Tuesday - Thursday, Oct. 26th - 28th, 2010

 

Come and join the fine folks from Atlas and Diedrich for three days of in-depth study and practicum, Tuesday October 26th through Thursday October 28th. This is the fourth year that Diedrich and Atlas have been offering this intensive course together, covering the essentials of green coffee cultivation and processing, roasting, cupping and blending. If you're just getting into the world of coffee roasting and want to start off on the right foot, or if you're a seasoned pro looking for some advanced training to further your knowledge of coffee, this class is guaranteed to leave your head filled to the brim with new info and experiences.

If you're already planning on coming to Seattle for the Coffee Fest tradeshow Oct. 29th - 31st, this is the perfect opportunity to spend a little extra time beforehand sharpening your roasting and cupping skills. Registration for this workshop is $1,000 per person for the three days, which includes pastries with our morning coffee, as well as lunch each day. You can view a handy list of hotels local to Atlas here.

Registration for these workshops is limited, so please call or email to reserve your space. We're looking forward to seeing you soon!

 

 

Cupping Calendar

 

We're in the process of scheduling more cuppings. Check back soon!

 

If you'd like to join us for any or all of these cuppings, please RSVP and we'll put you on the list. Our lab can accommodate up to 15 cuppers, so please get in touch soon to reserve your space. We would like to encourage all those interested in cupping these coffees to sign up as quickly as possible. Baristas and roasters who would like to expand their familiarity with these origins are especially welcome. We're looking forward to seeing you in the lab soon!

 

Trip Reports

 

February 2009 - Ethiopia, Dire Dawa & Addis Ababa

Craig and Chris spent a week and a half teaching a Q Grader workshop in Dire Dawa, taking in the sites around Harrar and meeting with exporter partners in Addis Ababa. Be sure to check out photos and videos from the trip, if you haven't already. Chris' trip report goes more in depth on what he and Craig were up to in Ethiopia, as well as providing a brief summary of the new commodity exchange system and the effect that it is having on availability of specialty coffee in Ethiopia.

September 2008 - Malawi, Mzuzu & Blantyre

Chris spent a few weeks in Malawi working with coffee producers in Mzuzu, and coffee cuppers in Blantyre. Take a look at photos and videos, and see Chris in the Blantyre newspaper!

July 2008 - Colombia, Huila, Monserrate

Check out photos and videos from Atlas' recent visit to Monserrate, Huila, Colombia.

Trip Archives

Click here to check out Atlas adventures from years past.

 

News Archive

 

Pacamara Roasting Guide Now Available!

The El Salvador Coffee Council was kind enough to send along an absolutely brilliant document they've put together on the genetic history of the Bourbon and Pacamara coffee varietals, which includes their recommended roast profiles for both sample roasting and production roasting Pacamara coffees. Check it out! Most of the Pacamara-specific info is from page 6, onward. Also be sure to take a look at the results of our cupping of the Pacamara and Maracaturra varietals from the El Salvador and Guatemala Cup of Excellence competitions below.

 

 

 

Atlas Barista Workshop Wins!

Atlas' first ever Advanced Barista Workshop took place in our lab this past Spring with wild success. The goal of this workshop is to give baristas an opportunity to learn in depth about green coffee cultivation and processing, cupping and the physics and chemistry of espresso brewing, as well as the practical skills of espresso preparation, milk steaming and latte art. Champion Latte Artist Reid Hickman joined us as a guest instructor for the afternoon, and wowed the barista students with his pouring prowess. Check out youtube.com for a video of Reid & the class, and read the glowing testimonials from our students below:

• "Very Knowledgable and helpful!"
• "Would/will send other employees. Eight hours well spent."
• "It's nice to see common theories and practices shared across the industry. Thank you for a fun and informative day."
• "The course seemed to cover all aspects of necessary knowledge for a barista."
• "Awesome!"
• "Chris rules!"(actual quote)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lab

Those of you who have visited Atlas HQ pre-2007 know that half of our building, until very recently, was practically useless to us. Six months of noise, dust, demolition and renovation have given rise to a state-of-the-art roasting, cupping and brewing lab. Like a Phoenix from the ashes, our new lab is one of a kind, and prepared to handle any challenge.

Contact us for information about upcoming training courses or to schedule a private or group training on the topic(s) of your choice, from green coffee to barista skills.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

We appreaciate you taking the time to browse around our website. Come back and visit again soon!

 

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