I just received my email a few minutes ago... about an hour after I ordered it.
Hehe, I really wanted to get a bag, but I'm out of town all next week.
I don't suppose anyone knows a few places in San Juan, PR with superb coffee?
Got a tip for us?
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Espresso Enthusiasts
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Hehe, I really wanted to get a bag, but I'm out of town all next week.
I don't suppose anyone knows a few places in San Juan, PR with superb coffee?
Yes, I just received an email about that and came to disseminate the information.
Leave it to you to beat me to it.
You gotta get up very early...
Actually it was total dumb luck. Folks were talking about it, I went to the site...and the rest is history!
And order placed!
Yes, I just received an email about that and came to disseminate the information.
Leave it to you to beat me to it.
Very well, then. As a heretic by temperament, (indeed, as my godmother - the lovely lady who presented me with my ancient battered and much cherished Bialetti moka pot - once informed me happily: "you're a pagan - just like your mother before you"), occasionally, very, very occasionally, I am overcome by a desire - usually rapidly suppressed - to demonstrate my faith.
In this situation, the faith to be demonstrated is that of the devout coffee aficionado. So, gentlemen all. I have succumbed. I have registered an account with Sweet Maria's. And ordered 1 (one) pound (by weight) of this legendary coffee, the Liquid Amber, which they will kindly roast and then dispatch to me.
Most irrationally, their system refused to take an order of more than one pound in weight. Even more irrationally, though I am known to be wonderfully, ludicrously profligate sometimes where money is concerned, even I heaved a deep breath when the computer informed me of the cost of transporting said nectar. (Do not ask).
But yes, gentlemen. My grateful thanks for 1) so kindly informing me of the brief availability of this nectar. and 2) for allowing me to demonstrate the depth of my adherence to the credo of our caffeine faith. (Though, yes, sometime between occasionally and often, I lapse. I'm like that. One who lapses serially .)
Oh my, the shipping quote could not have been a pleasant sight....
Well, I do hope you enjoy the much ballyhooed Liquid Amber!
I don't even want to imagine what the shipping cost was!
However, I am pleasantly delighted that you were, in fact, able to order some. I really am interested in hearing your taste, or cupping, test results after you receive it.
We've hyped it up a lot, so I hope it lives up to it all!
I hope you enjoy the coffee!
The reason that they will only sell you one pound is that when SM does a roast, it is a very small roast, and often sells out within hours. I guess they decided that they want to have as many folks try it as possible, so they will come back.
Just a note (which I'm sure that you already know)...it is whole bean, so you'll need to get someone to grind it for you, or borrow someone's grinder.
I don't want to think about the shipping costs, as you are just a bit out of town. I will say, as one who orders from SM regularly, that they don't jack up the shipping costs to make money. It is my sense that the couple who own the store are good people. They are very concerned about the welfare of the farmers, who are their source. They visit the farms, most small farms or co-operatives, and treat them with respect and good will, the best I can tell.
Anyway...I hope you enjoy the espresso produced by this bean as much as I do.
I don't even want to imagine what the shipping cost was!
However, I am pleasantly delighted that you were, in fact, able to order some. I really am interested in hearing your taste, or cupping, test results after you receive it.
We've hyped it up a lot, so I hope it lives up to it all!
Thank you, one and all. And yes, my wallet and credit card have survived far worse (and more mindless) assaults on their integrity, believe me. I am very, very good at spending my own money.
If I informed you that when returning from leave to my current work environment, a little over a month ago, in Istanbul airport en route to the place we call Paradise, I bought two (granted, rather small) bottles of Hennessy XO cognac; and yesterday I blush to admit that a colleague dropped by my office (the one where I sit in the coffee shop) handing over a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label which he had bought for me and for which I have yet to pay him as he has yet to find and fish out the receipt from where he scrunched it, well, then you will arrive at some understanding of (some of my) perspectives on life. Sweet Maria's Liquid Amber is nothing on that (shipping costs notwithstanding).
In other words, my credo is that life is too short to put up with the second rate; we have one life not nine, (as some cats and some religions believe), and I am rather partial to The Good Things In Life. Thus, if the very best of coffee (as stated by the denizens of this very thread) costs a small fortune to arrive where it can meet me, well, so be it……..Plastic exists so that it can emerge, smoking and shuddering, from my wallet…..
I hope you enjoy the coffee!
The reason that they will only sell you one pound is that when SM does a roast, it is a very small roast, and often sells out within hours. I guess they decided that they want to have as many folks try it as possible, so they will come back.
Just a note (which I'm sure that you already know)...it is whole bean, so you'll need to get someone to grind it for you, or borrow someone's grinder.
I don't want to think about the shipping costs, as you are just a bit out of town. I will say, as one who orders from SM regularly, that they don't jack up the shipping costs to make money. It is my sense that the couple who own the store are good people. They are very concerned about the welfare of the farmers, who are their source. They visit the farms, most small farms or co-operatives, and treat them with respect and good will, thew best I can tell.
Anyway...I hope you enjoy the espresso produced by this bean as much as I do.
Firstly, thanks for your kind concern. Seriously, don't worry. I was sharing my impulsive moment of sheer insanity to an audience which I knew would sympathise and empathise, with clucks of horror, and drools of delight.
Anyway, I fully appreciate the situation of the producers, and assumed that it was something along those lines, that they roast small batches at a time.
Re grinding, well, as you have all repeated endlessly here, as the grinder is considered to be far more important than the coffee maker (you see, I listened, read and remembered) and therefore, this will probably afford me an opportunity to purchase an outrageously expensive grinder………burr, or course…..when I return home…
On the topic of when one is more settled in a sane[r] world, I note that the Sweet Maria's site offers a random (chosen by them) selection of roasted coffees - I think - monthly - and that this is a recurring order, (monthly, I think) with only the precise varieties of the coffees changing. Would you recommend that I sign up for that regular delivery (if unknown selection) when I am finally back in a more……..settled……...environment?
Note that their subscription service is 2 lbs bi-weekly, which would be quite a lot to consume alone (although I highly recommend sharing
).
Since I don't order pre-roasted coffee, I'm probably not the best person for any suggestions in this area.
What I can say with confidence is that although you may not like every coffee you receive from them, they will be the highest quality beans, perfectly roasted.
Note that their subscription service is 2 lbs bi-weekly, which would be quite a lot to consume alone (although I highly recommend sharing
Ah, that is good to know. And, sharing is good in that case, I'll forego embarking on that course until my current job comes to an end as I doubt I'll be at home often enough for long enough to enjoy it.
Fair enough.
I hear you, and (now that I actually have set up an account with them) will return to this matter presently ..
Thanks for responding, both of you .I imagine it would be a good way of trying out coffees that one normally wouldn't come across, or choose to sample .
I'm sorely tempted to do it myself, but it is far too much for me. Not to mention that I'd have no room for roasting...
The bi-weekly subscription is for pre-roasted coffee, not green beans.
I understand that you said it is too pricey, but just wanted to be clear that the coffee in the subscription service does not require roasting.
The bi-weekly subscription is for pre-roasted coffee, not green beans.
I understand that you said it is too pricey, but just wanted to be clear that the coffee in the subscription service does not require roasting.
Which would be one of the main reasons - if not the main reason - I will consider taking out this subscription in the future. That, and encountering new coffees which would - undoubtedly - be of a satisfyingly high standard ..(and a small, ethical producer - what is there not to like?)
The bi-weekly subscription is for pre-roasted coffee, not green beans.
I understand that you said it is too pricey, but just wanted to be clear that the coffee in the subscription service does not require roasting.
Yes, I mean if I took the pre-roasted subscription then I would have so much coffee that I wouldn't have the need to roast anymore. Since I rather enjoy that process, I'll pass.
Now if they offered 1lb/month, I'd jump on that pretty fast.
On the topic of coffee varieties that some of us have really liked, I took a look at the Intelligentsia coffee site, which I was directed to last year by the denizens who dwell here on this thread. Intelligentsia also offer the "Black Cat" espresso range, and obviously, single estate coffees, and seasonal varietals.
In any case, I just noticed this evening that one of my own personal favourites, which I bought last year when it was last available, has just re-appeared. It is from El Salvador, and it is called "Los Inmortales". My recollection is that it was one f the nicest coffees I had ever come across, and I shall certainly order more of it now that it is in season again.
In any case, I just noticed this evening that one of my own personal favourites, which I bought last year when it was last available, has just re-appeared. It is from El Salvador, and it is called "Los Inmortales". My recollection is that it was one f the nicest coffees I had ever come across, and I shall certainly order more of it now that it is in season again.
No problem.
Just submit three forms of identification and a criminal background check.
Is that just a tiny bit paranoid!?
No problem.
Just submit three forms of identification and a criminal background check.
Is that just a tiny bit paranoid!?
What, no character references?
I didn't want to appear inhospitable or suspicious...
An immediately lost cause once you open the door.
Thank you for your very generous offer; it is most kind of you. Meanwhile, I hope that you feel a lot better soon, and we can chat in due course.
No problem.
Just submit three forms of identification and a criminal background check.
Is that just a tiny bit paranoid!?
Prudent, Shrink; it is simply being prudent .
Ah. A person after my very own heart ..well spotted and well remarked, my friend.
Maybe it's just my crappy old heat exchange machine, but these days I strongly prefer non espresso cups to my espresso.
Whether it's hario brew or French press, the flavor I get from a fresh cup of drip is much more interesting than the haphazard first espresso I pull in the morning without adjustments.
Whether it's hario brew or French press, the flavor I get from a fresh cup of drip is much more interesting than the haphazard first espresso I pull in the morning without adjustments.
I can understand your first-in-the-morning espresso possibly not being the best of the day. Mine is pretty much automatic pilot produced...although I seldom need to make much in the way of adjustments from the day before (aside, possibly, for minor dosing adjustment rendered necessary by different environmental condition effecting grinder retention.)
I'm still an unreconstructed espresso drinker...but I do understand the appeal of press or pour over.