Breaking News

 

5, Mar '10 - The Spring weather keeps on keepin' on here in Seattle. It's 60ºF here today, and the fruit trees are exploding in buds and blossoms everywhere. In coffee news, Rwanda Abakundakawa and Brazil Micro-lots are keeping all of our spirits high, and our first arrivals from Central America are right around the corner. Suzy and Chris are heading out soon for the 3rd Annual Las Capucas micro-lot competition in Copan, Honduras, Craig's jetting to London next week for a Q Grader training, and Al's off to Indonesia for the second half of March. Twitterpated!

23, Feb '10 - After a week of amazingly sunny, Spring-like weather, we're back to the drizzly chill of temperate winter here in Seattle. Craig and Chris just got back from the East African Fine Coffee Association conference in Mombasa, Kenya, and Al is down in Chiapas, Mexico spending a few days with our friends at Unión Majomut. We're starting to see some pretty fantastic coffees coming in, most notably our Brazil micro-lots from Santo Antonio Estates, and the coffee that wins awards both for Freshest East African Offering, and Funnest Name To Say: Abakundakawa! Our first offering from Rwanda in several years, this Fair Trade certified (non-organic) gem is bursting with ripe red currant fruit, and refreshing hibiscus and sweet grapefruit acidity. Fresh coffee rules!

22, Jan '10 - Guess what!? Atlas has added a new member to our family! Please welcome Susan Heller, who will more often than not be cheerily greeting you the next time you call our office. Susan is a wonderful addition to our Customer Relations team, and we're thrilled to have her here. We're also hoping to glean from her prowess as a seasoned mountaineer and snow skier at the first annual Atlas Ski Day tomorrow! Stay tuned for hilarious photos and riotous videos.

19, Jan '10 - Oof! It's been a long time since our last update! I'm sure you understand, what with the craziness of the holidays, and folks' travel schedules and all. It's nice to be plumb set into Wintertime, and we're super glad to have some fresh, sweet new arrivals to offer, and to enjoy ourselves. The most recent arrival from Monserrate, Huila Colombia is knocking our socks off, as is our Fair Trade, Organic certified Peru from the COCLA association. We're even starting to see some stellar pre-shipment samples of lots from Las Capucas, Honduras and Beneficio El Manzano in El Salvador, which should be arriving in March and April. Very exciting!

23, Dec '09 - Almost Christmas! Yee haw! The office is abuzz with joy and cheer, and we're all pretty excited to close up shop for a few days. Also exciting is the imminent release of our recent Monserrate arrival! We put this lot in GrainPro™ Supergrainbag™ liners for freshness, so it's sure to be an awesome addition to your winter lineup.

Happy, Happy Holidays!!

9, Dec '09 - Holiday spirit is in the air all around us! Which is a great thing, as Seattle's experiencing a bit of a cold, dry snap at the moment. Nothing that a little Yuletide Cheer can't flush away! If you're looking for a jolly bit of coffee that's gentle on the palate and easy on the pocketbook, be sure to ask about our screamin' deals on Sulawesi Toraja, Tanzania AA and certified organic Honduras in The Green Room warehouse, not to mention free (FREE!) decaf coffees in Continental Terminals' New Jersey warehouse. 2010's comin' like a freight train, and fresh crop coffees are right around the corner!

 

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

 

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

 

 

Cupping Calendar

 

Cup of Excellence® Cuppings

Atlas is happy to host cuppings of the winning coffees from the Cup of Excellence® competitions. If you're planning on bidding on coffees in the Cup of Excellence® auctions, and would like to save yourself the time roasting the samples, setting and cleaning up your own cupping, we would like to invite you to join us in our lab for a cupping and discussion of the competition coffees. Not only are these group cuppings an excellent opporunity to taste the best coffees each producing country as to offer, the experience of cupping with professional peers can be enlightening and educational as well. The dates and times for each of the cuppings are as follows:

CoE Nicaragua Cupping: Friday 4, June - 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Stay and BBQ for Lunch!

CoE Nicaragua Auction: Wednesday 9, June

CoE El Salvador Cupping: Friday 11, June - 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Stay and BBQ for Lunch!

CoE El Salvador Auction: Thursday 17, June

CoE Honduras Cupping: Friday 2, July - 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

CoE Honduras Auction: Thursday 7, July

CoE Guatemala Cupping: Friday 9, July - 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Stay and BBQ for Lunch!

COE Guatemala Auction: Wednesday 14, July

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)

 

 

 

 

Congratulations (and Thanks!)

We are happy to announce that our own Al Liu has been elected to the SCAA Board of Directors for 2008-2010. Click here for the full election results. Thanks to all who lent their support.

 

 

 

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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