Nicaragua Maragogype AAA

This was quite a week. We were closed on Monday while they dug up the sidewalk outside the building to replace some ancient plumbing. We love the character and history of our space–it’s been a retail location since the 1940’s–but some things are not better older. On the bright side, the project was finished on time, in one day, and that section at least should be good for another seventy-five years.

Watching a dump truck on the day we were closed.

I have been enjoying the fall colors outside, in the moments when I get to leave my desk. We do live and work in a beautiful area. For me the epitome of autumn will occur next week, with the Thanksgiving holiday. All the harvest food and decorations will be on the table, with family and friends gathered around. We will start our day at the Michael Bratton II Turkey Trot–come join us!

After that, to the great delight of my daughter (who has been singing Christmas carols for a month), our focus will change from fall to Christmas. We are in retail, so it can be a crazy season, but it is also a time of great joy. In our family we pull out our collection of Christmas stories and read one together every night. It’s a tradition that the kids love. They also have the fun of an advent calendar that counts down the days.

This year we have some special coffees for you. As I mentioned last week, we got our Jamaican Blue Mountain in again. We also have Kona Fancy and several other new beans that we will be featuring soon (like Organic Congo! We’ve never had coffee from the Congo before). Next week our 2015 Christmas Coffee will debut. In the meantime, we have a coffee that we are looking forward to letting you taste. It is our Nicaragua Maragogype AAA.

Maragogype is also known as the elephant bean. Unlike the way a peaberry is hand sorted out of the regular crop, the large maragogype beans are a genetic mutation of the Typica plant, first discovered in Brazil. The entire plant is larger, leaves and berries included, and generally produces fewer cherries than a regular plant. These Maragogype beans come from a new mill in the northwest of Nicaragua, Beneficio La Estrella.

The larger beans of the Maragogype roast at a different speed than a typical Nicaraguan coffee. It’s truly unique. If you have a chance to come try it this week, ask to see the bulk coffee–it’s double the size of most beans. This is a light roast, and has a nice brightness in the cup, with notes of fruit and chocolate and a medium body.

You can try a cup of this Nicaragua Maragogype AAA on us this week with the code elephant bean*. I hope that you each have a lovely Thanksgiving, however you celebrate. Safe travels to those of you on the move. Oh, and next Friday is the first Cornish Christmas, so we’ll be open until 9 pm. Come grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the crafts and entertainment up the street. We have a chance of snow in the next few days, so it looks to be perfect coffee weather. Cheers!
–Holly Fike