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Weekly Newsletter: 5th May, 2017

Tanzanian Peaberry

Our local weather went from rainy and cool to dry and sunny almost overnight. It was quite a change. It was so warm last weekend that I couldn’t resist getting some plants in the ground, so we’ve got cherry tomatoes started in our garden. Generally we wait for Mother’s Day to plant, but these hot days are quickly warming the soil. I think that next week is supposed to be cooler, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the good weather this week.

This cutie keeps us entertained in the office every day.

The sunshine was especially nice because I have been swamped for the last two weeks. Between finding a new dairy distributor, sick kids, and getting sick myself, the days have flown by. Last week I never even got a newsletter written, so I wanted to make sure that I told you about our special this week. For those of you wondering, we featured our Organic Blue Krishna Balinese, and I left it on sale this week if you would like to try it. It’s always a favorite of our staff.

Today we have another coffee for you, our Tanzanian Peaberry. This coffee comes from small family farms in the Mbinga district of southern Tanzania. The beans are grown at high elevation and fully washed. A peaberry bean occurs when there is only one seed in a coffee cherry, instead of the usual two. Perhaps because of that, they tend to be higher in caffeine.

Many people select this coffee for its caffeine content–it will get you going–but it is also a beautiful tasting cup. When you brew this you get a lovely citrus flavor, and it finishes with floral notes reminiscent of a Meyer lemon. It has a medium body and a bright acidity. It is a fine African bean.

Tomorrow is the downtown Grass Valley Car Show, from 10 am – 3 pm. The cars will be lining up early, so bring the whole family to enjoy. I know that my kids have always loved the event. As usual, there are all kinds of wonderful events around town: check out the Outside Inn blog post about the summer camp fair here. And the first annual Blue Marble Jubilee is happening at the fairgrounds from 2 pm – 7 pm, so you can stay busy all day.

If you do make it downtown, come try this Tanzanian on us with the code garden sun*. Find us on social media and let us know if you’ve started your garden with the tag @CarolinesCoffee. We’d love to hear. Enjoy your week!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Tanzanian Peaberry. Code expires on 5.11.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value

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Weekly Newsletter: 21st April, 2017

Costa Rica White Honey Tarrazú

Sunday starts the final week of April, and thus the final week to join in our anniversary giveaway. You can enter by leaving a comment on our blog, here–and be sure to read the post to find out additional ways to win. We’re giving away coffee, mugs, t-shirts, gift cards and more: 35 years is worth celebrating. We celebrated last week with a family vacation. The kids were on their spring break, and we had a relaxing family trip to the beach. It was a good space for all of us to recharge.

Happy kids in the aquarium wave room

I think that the coolest thing we saw at the ocean was baby harbor seals nursing. I’m not sure that I’ve seen such small seal pups before, and they were darling. On the same hike, at Point Lobos, we also saw a raft of sea otters, twenty plus, floating and playing together. And everywhere we went on our trip the wildflowers were amazing. In honor of all this natural beauty, we have an Earth Day special tomorrow (4/22/17) of $1.00 off any drink if you bring in your own mug.

Our coffee for you this week is a white honey bean from the San Marcos Tarrazu region of Costa Rica. I wrote about honey coffees a few weeks ago here. I know the term “honey” can be confusing, and adding a color to it is just as misleading. To clarify, the honey process has become so refined that producers are using colors to describe how much of the mucilage has been left on the bean. In order from most to least, the terms black, red, yellow, and white are used. So a black honey will be the most like a natural process, and a white honey will be most like a washed process.

This coffee is a micro-lot from Finca El Llano, a farm owned by Oscar Solís and his sons Horacio and Alejandro. It’s located in San Marcos de Tarrazú, at around 6000 feet elevation. The Solís family have their own mill, so they are able to control the process of their coffee from seed to export. This leads to a high quality, high grown coffee, with a lot of care put into the final product. You taste this is your cup: it’s roasted light, and has a sweet melon or stone fruit flavor, with a lingering caramel finish.

You can try a cup on us this week with the code sweet honey*. And while northern California did pass into the history books this week with the wettest year on record (check out the Northern Sierra 8-station precipitation index here), we are supposed to have a sunny weekend. Enjoy!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Costa Rica White Honey Tarrazú. Code expires on 4.27.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value

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Weekly Newsletter: 7th April, 2017

Guatemala Finca El Pilar

Today we’re back to our atmospheric river, or pineapple express: meaning that the rain is pouring down again. Apparently winter is not done with us yet. Earlier in the week we enjoyed sunshine and trees blossoming, and at our house the tulips have been greeting us with shining faces. We enjoyed watching Jack’s team play baseball on Tuesday night, and we have another game tonight, if it’s not rained out. Springtime baseball requires flexibility.

With the advent of April we are celebrating our 35th anniversary in business. We’d like to say thanks to all of you for keeping us in business. Over on our blog we have a giveaway going on, here, and we’d like to invite you to leave a comment for a chance to win. There are many great reasons for owning a small business, but not the least of them is the joy we have in being a place to connect with our community. We appreciate all of you. Do enter the giveaway–we’d love to be able to thank you with one of our prizes.

Tulips from our garden

This week we have a Guatemalan coffee for you. This bean comes from Finca El Pilar (The Pillar Farm) near Antigua. It is owned by Juan Carlos Chen, and was given to him by his father-in-law. Sr. Chen is committed to increasing the quality and quantity of the coffee they produce, and has been renovating and improving the estate for the last five years.

He also has a focus on conservation. Finca El Pilar has 225 acres of coffee, and 470 acres of preserved forest: a private nature reserve. They have opened part of the property for ecological hikes and bird watching–especially hummingbirds. You can see some pictures of the birds here. In addition, they have kept some coffee trees on the plantation which are over sixty years old. You can find a video of these tall old trees on their Facebook page here.

There is a great write up about Finca El Pilar and Juan Carlos Chen by a British and an Australian coffee company, here and here, respectively. It’s pretty amazing in this day of internet connectivity to be able to read multiple articles about the estate and owner of the beans used in your daily brew.

In the cup this is a beautiful washed bean, with sweet flavors of cream and vanilla, and a lingering caramel finish. The care taken in production shows in the final product. You can try a cup of this on us with the code tulips* this week. Stay safe in all of this wind and rain, and drink good coffee. I know that I will be drinking this Guatemalan this week. Enjoy!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Guatemala Finca El Pilar. Code expires on 4.13.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value

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A Giveaway of Gratitude for 35 Years

Another Anniversary?  Indeed.

We can’t believe that it’s been thirty-five years since this lovely lady had a dream of running her own shop.  Here we are, all these years later, still going strong. 

We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all of you wonderful people who support us.  I am certain that we have the best customers.  We appreciate each of you who come in here, whether once in a while or daily.  We appreciate those of you who order coffee from afar.  And we appreciate our many wholesale customers, who continue to believe in us and brew our coffee for your customers.

In gratitude for all that you do to keep us in business, we have a giveaway for you.  Leave a comment on this post telling us about your favorite Carolines Coffee memory, and at the end of the month we’ll draw winners from the comments.  Yes, plural.  Thirty-five years deserves more than one winner, don’t you think?

We’re giving away the following items: a Carolines mug, a Carolines sweatshirt, a Carolines t-shirt, Carolines coffee (multiple pounds), a Carolines gift package, and Carolines giftcards.  We want to share the love with all of you.  For an additional chance to win, like our Carolines Coffee Facebook page and share this giveaway with your friends, (via whatever social media platform you want: InstagramFacebookTwitterPinterest,), tag us, and then post a second comment on here telling us that you’ve shared.*

*No purchase necessary to enter or to win. Giveaway is limited to residents of the United States. Entrants must be 18 years old or older. Winners will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail on May 1, 2017. Prize must be collected by May 15th, 2017 for Nevada County residents, or a shipping address must be provided by that date if winner is out of county.

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Weekly Newsletter: 31st March, 2017

Papua New Guinea Kimel Estate Peaberry

Yesterday I got to do something that I have always wanted to do. I went with my daughter’s class on a hike through the Sutter Buttes with Middle Mountain Interpretative Hikes. As a Nevada County native, I am familiar with the Sutter Buttes, and I have observed them from a distance for many years. I have heard stories about them, and driven around them. It was truly fun to have the opportunity to hike through them.

A time of reflection looking out over the Central Valley

The Sutter Buttes are an anomaly: a volcanic mountain range right in the middle of the Central Valley. To the native Maidu they were a spiritual place, and today they are mostly private land, with cattle and sheep grazing throughout. It could not have been more idyllic and pastoral, on a sunny spring day, with newborn calves lowing for their mothers as we hiked. We saw pastures full of wildflowers: blowing purple and yellow in the wind. And oh my, the wind. It was incredibly strong yesterday, so that even I stumbled in a gust, and you can imagine that the kids were enjoying being blown around.

t was a lovely day spent outside, learning about California geology, geography, and history. Today it’s back to work, but I’m glad to see that it’s still sunny outside. It lifts my spirits to see that bright disk warming the newly open blossoms.

Today we have a new coffee from Papua New Guinea for you. If you remember the Organic Papua New Guinea Timuza that we featured a month ago, here, it was from the Eastern Highlands Province. This week we have a peaberry bean from the Kimel Estate, located in the Western Highlands Province. The plantation is 100% owned by indigenous people, and you can read a good article about it here.

The estate provides schooling for the children, and medical care for everyone. Their water comes fresh from the Kimel River, off the slopes of Mt. Hagen. They use it for the coffee processing, and recycle it back through the farm. They also recycle the coffee pulp by using it as fertilizer. The coffee is surrounded by shade trees: albizias and gravilleas.

We’ve roasted this light and in the cup it tastes of citrus trees, with light floral tones like a meyer lemon. It’s sweet and has a full finish of bittersweet chocolate. You can try a cup on us with the code dolphin* (my ten-year-old chose the code this week). April starts tomorrow, and with it our 35th anniversary month–and all kinds of local events. Be on the lookout for giveaways to celebrate our anniversary this month. Enjoy!

–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Papua New Guinea Kimel Estate Peaberry. Code expires on 4.06.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value

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Weekly Newsletter: 24th March, 2017

Sumatra Lake Toba Samosir Honey Process

We had all kinds of fun events going on this week in our household. Jack’s first little league game got rained out Monday, but he got to kick off the season Thursday night. Thursday also brought the Noodles for Knowledge spaghetti feed to raise money for sixth grade science camp. The kids worked hard all night, and they were awfully cute singing “That’s Amore” every half hour. I still find it hard to believe that I have a child in middle school.

All set for our tea tasting.  Photo :: Elyse Hargrove

On Wednesday night we had a tea meeting here at the store. Our lovely Salima led the instruction, telling us about the history of tea, the different processes and grading, the historical and current brewing methods, and then we tasted different teas. We tried a white tea, a green tea, an oolong, two black teas, and a pu-erh. She also demonstrated a typical matcha method (made in a ceramic bowl with a bamboo whisk), and we got to watch a blooming tea unfurl. I think all of us had a lot of fun learning more about “the other beverage.”

Our employees now can answer all of your tea questions . . . well, maybe not all of them. I know that you’re a creative bunch, and I’m sure that you can stump us, but we all have more knowledge now. We’re always glad to talk about our tea, as well as our coffee.

This week we have a unique coffee for you, from Sumatra, in Indonesia. This comes from the Samosir regency, around Lake Toba, in north Sumatra. Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world–and the mountains around the lake have the sort of volcanic soil that coffee loves. We’ve featured many other Sumatran beans over the years, but this Sumatra Samosir Honey is special because of the processing.

This is a honey process, a misleading term which originated in Costa Rica–no honey is used in the process. This is actually similar to a pulped natural (which I described here), but more of the pulp is removed. In a honey process, the mucilage is left surrounding the bean, and as it dries, the sugars in the mucilage are concentrated, leading to a sweeter and smoother taste in the cup. The dried mucilage is sticky, like honey–thus the term. You can read a detailed article about it here.

This is a new process for Indonesia, which typically produces wet-hulled or washed coffees. In the cup this light roast bean is full-bodied and tastes of sweet stone fruit and citrus–reminiscent of the exotic produce that is also found in the area. You can try a cup of this special coffee on us this week with the code honey process*. It looks like we have more rain in the forecast, so if you need a coffee to warm your hands on a dreary day, this is your bean. Enjoy!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Sumatra Lake Toba Samosir Honey. Code expires on 3.31.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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Weekly Newsletter: 17th March, 2017

Congo Kivu Hutwe

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you! I only know a few Irish Americans that celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but it sure is important if you have school age children. Wear green or get pinched was the deal when I was a child, and it seems to still hold today–although the pinching is certainly discouraged. We’ve had years as a family when we’ve forgotten altogether, but today we all managed to wear green. And I’m sure that corned beef and cabbage will be on the menu tonight, in some form. One year we grilled the cabbage, which was simply delicious.

Lunch with a view while skiing

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter turning ten with a weekend in Lake Tahoe. Winter is her favorite season, and she loves snow, so the colossal amount of precipitation we’ve had this year was right up her alley. We spent both days skiing, for only the second time in her life, and she said it was the best birthday ever.

Yesterday I got to take my son and his classmates rock climbing in the Auburn Quarry. I’d never been there before, but boy was it beautiful. It was almost otherworldly with the new spring grass growing in the crevices of the rock, and the walls rising moist and gray around us. Cliff swallows and crows circled overhead, and some intrepid Canada geese have made nests on the rocks–and kept talking to us loudly.

The Auburn Quarry was beautiful too

From snowy Tahoe to sunny Auburn, our local vistas are beautiful. This week’s coffee comes from a completely different area: the mountains of east Congo. This is our Congo Kivu Hutwe, and it’s a delicious fruity bean. It’s grown in the area north of Lake Kivu, a large lake on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Lake Kivu is formed on a rift valley, in a seismically active area. Nyamuragira is Africa’s most active volcano, which is just north of Lake Kivu. Coffee loves this volcanic soil.

This coffee comes from small farmers who come together to process their coffee at the Hutwe washing station, in Virunga. This is a local cultivar of arabica, fully washed, with a great fruity taste in the cup. It is reminiscent of stone fruit and melon–sweeter than many other African beans. If you have liked our Rwandan offerings over the years, you will love this Congo bean.

You can try a cup of this coffee on us this week with the code local beauty*. I know that the first day of spring is Monday, and while ‘m sure that spring is beautiful everywhere, we are certainly privileged to experience it in this area. A whole week of sunshine was sure appreciated, and I can only hope that next week is just as nice. Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day, and drink good coffee. Cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Congo Kivu Hutwe. Code expires on 3.24.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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Weekly Newsletter: 3rd March, 2017

Java Mountain Women’s Cooperative

I got to spend Tuesday with my daughter’s class at the UC Davis Raptor Center.  They heard an informative talk about the three different categories of raptors, and then they got to tour the facilities and meet the resident birds.  The focus at the raptor center is on rehabilitation and release of injured birds, but there are over thirty birds who aren’t able to leave (can no longer fly etc.).  We got to see golden eagles, barn owls, screech owls, hawks, falcons, and even a turkey vulture. 

The unusual muslin bag this coffee arrived in

It was a fascinating trip. I can remember going to the same place when I was a child, although my strongest memory is of dissecting owl pellets. I loved overhearing the kids discussing whether or not it was good to save these birds, since they now live in a cage. They decided it was good that the birds were there to educate children, but that it must be hard to live caged. I was proud of their critical thinking skills.

For the rest of the week I came down with a cold, and I’ve been moving slowly. My project list got moved to the back burner, but I got the daily things done. Today I’m playing catch-up–mostly making piles of things that can wait until next week. One thing that needs to happen today is this newsletter: we have a new coffee for you.

The full name of this coffee is Java Mountain Women’s Cooperative Pangalengan Ciwidey Grade 1 Fully Washed Grainpro. We’ve shortened it, but let me break down the name for you. The first part is the name of the cooperative of women who are growing this coffee: “Java Mountain.” Then the regions in West Java where the coffee is grown “Pangalengan” and “Ciwidey.” “Grade 1” is the highest grade of Javanese coffee. Then “Fully Washed” is the processing. Finally, “Grainpro” refers to the type of sealed bag the green coffee is packed in. Not the muslin outer bag that you see in the picture above, but the high-quality inner bag that seals the beans.

All of this information gives you an idea about the crop, but what we’re most excited to feature is the two lines you can read on the bag: “empowering rural women” and “handpicked by indigenous women.” We love to feature coffee that is produced by women in the developing world, because when you help women, you help those around them too. Studies by the World Bank show that women invest 90% of their earnings in their families. So supporting women in coffee also supports the communities around them.

This is the first time that we have featured this coffee, and it is the first time that it has been imported into the United States. You can read about the work that our broker did to import it here and here. This cooperative of 50 women was formed recently, in 2016, and now they are using the money earned from their coffee to “equip women producers with farm management and quality control training; certification assistance; and a nursery program where women will have access to seedlings of coffee, citrus, bananas, timber and rubber trees necessary for diversified farm renovation.” The proceeds of this coffee extend beyond the beans to the entire livelihood of these women.

In the cup, this is a beautiful coffee, of high quality. Instead of the earthy flavors that you get from so many Indonesian coffees, this Java Mountain has strong fruit flavors. It tastes of melon and honey with a lingering sweet finish. You can try a cup on us this week with the code women power*. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, it’s the annual downtown Foothills Celebration, which is a food and wine tasting in the shops around town. It’s from 1 -4 tomorrow, March 4th. Whatever you decide to do this weekend, drink good coffee. Cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Java Mountain Women’s Cooperative. Code expires on 3.9.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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Weekly Newsletter: 24th February, 2017

Organic Papua New Guinea Timuza

The sun came out today! After another week of stormy weather, even snow, the sun is peeking through again. I’ve heard there’s a chance of more snow this weekend, but it’s a weak system and more sunshine is predicted for next week. It sounds like a good break from all this rain we’ve been having–we are over seventy inches since October 1st. Despite the storms, spring is coming. I heard Sandhill Cranes flying overhead today (listen to them here), and the robins are greeting the dawn outside my window each morning.

Can you believe this happy fellow is seven months old? He loves to play in the office while mom works.

This week we have a coffee from Papua New Guinea. I have never been there, but my mother teaches in an international school there, so I have learned a lot about the country. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an independent country that shares the island of New Guinea with Indonesia. It’s the worlds second largest island, after Greenland, and the geographic and cultural diversity is astounding. There are over 800 different languages in PNG, and the topography ranges from sea level to above 14,000 feet.

Our coffee comes from the Eastern Highlands Province, the same province where my mother lives. This is coffee grown at elevation, with most farms above 6000 feet elevation. As I’ve written before, in general, higher grown coffees are also higher quality, with denser beans and lower yields. This coffee comes from a cooperative mill, Timuza, whose members all grow their coffee organically. You can read about them on the PNG Coffee Corporation page here.

The members of the co-op are part of the Kamano tribal group, and according to our broker:

“Farmers have received training and assistance in financial management, gender equality, coffee husbandry and standards for processing through local partners. The harvest takes place from April through September, with selective harvest of ripe cherry, manually pulping, fermentation in traditional bilum bags, washing, and full sun-drying. In 2016, Timuza placed 1st in the National Cupping Competition.”

This is a stellar coffee, which has beautiful fruit flavors in the cup. Come see for yourself why it placed first in the national competition–you can even try it on us with the code high grown* this week. I’m going to drink it this week in honor of my mother. I know that Mother’s Day isn’t until May, but it’s always a good time to say thank you to those that raised us. So here’s to you mom, across the ocean. Cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Organic Papua New Guinea Timuza. Code expires on 3.2.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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Weekly Newsletter: 17th February, 2017

Fair Trade Organic Mexican Chiapas GRAPOS

Did you have a chance to be outside last weekend? We walked our property looking for storm damage and noticed coral colored blossoms on the flowering quince, purple crocus almost ready to open, and daffodils with yellow tips saying hello to the sun. Most of our daffodils aren’t out yet, but it was so nice to see the few early ones promising that spring will come soon. Today we’re back to rain, and according to my weather app, there’s more coming. Sigh. But it is nice not to worry about drought.

Waiting for the ballet to begin.

Last weekend my daughter and I got to see the Russian National Ballet at The Center for the Arts, along with two of our employees. We got to see condensed versions of Romeo and Juliet and Carmen, and they were both amazing. I was especially impressed with the choreography of Carmen, and of course the dancers blew us all away. There were amazing feats of physicality: wow.

This week we have a special coffee from the far south of Mexico, in Chiapas. This is fair trade and organic certified, and it is grown by GRAPOS (Grupo de Asesores de Producción Orgánica y Sustentables). This is a group of farmers who have organized to provide diversification and farm improvements for all. According to our broker, here, they have

“invested in nurseries to support farm renovation, and diversification initiatives including a women’s knitting program and mushroom cultivation project aimed at creating other sources of income.”

We’re glad to share this Fair Trade Organic Mexican Chiapas with you. It’s sweet in the cup, with flavors of chocolate and roasted hazelnut. It has a medium body, and it’s sure easy to drink on a rainy day. You can try a cup on us with the code bright outlook* this week.

I know that sometimes I have to remember to look on the bright side when I’m feeling cooped up, so maybe “bright outlook” will be a good reminder this week. No matter what, there is a lot for which to be thankful. I saw an example of that this week as our community came together to support those evacuated by the Oroville Dam. I’m glad they’re home again safe, so with good spirits I say: cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Fair Trade Organic Mexican Chiapas. Code expires on 2.23.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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Weekly Newsletter: 10th February, 2017

Celebes Kalossi (Sulawesi Toraja)

Do you see the header picture at the top of this newsletter?  I made it extra tall so that you could see the patches of blue sky above downtown Grass Valley.  If you live in northern California, you know why that’s significant: we’ve been walloped by rain this winter.  The last few days felt like a giant pitcher of water was being dumped on our heads–and we were already swimming in a lake.  The storm damage includes flooding, mudslides, trees down, roads slipping, sinkholes–and the spillway at Lake Oroville is damaged.

Need a Valentine gift for a coffee lover? We’ve got you covered.

Needless to say, I was delighted to walk down the street to pick up my kids today. I do hear that it’s supposed to be a sunny weekend (sun? what is that?), so we’ll be sure to get outside. At least to clean up the storm damage. We are among the lucky ones who did not have significant problems: our thoughts are with those of you who do.

This was a busy week around here, despite the rain. In honor of the sky clearing, I’m going to declare this an especially short email, and give you a quick synopsis of our Celebes Kalossi (Sulawesi Toraja).  Two names for the same coffee.

This comes from Sapan, in the Tana Toraja region of South Sulawesi. Coffees from Sapan are grown at 1600 meters plus, and the high elevation results in a beautiful dense bean. This particular Toraja comes from cooperative of farmers, who are working together to process their coffee and improve their farms at the same time.

You can try a cup of this island bean on us with the code glowing orb* (as in what is that thing?) this week. We love this Celebes around here. It tastes of sweet caramel, a light fruit taste, and then finishes with warm spice tones. I recommend coming in to try some while the sun is shining. Enjoy your weekend, and drink good coffee. Cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Celebes Kalossi (Sulawesi Toraja). Code expires on 2.16.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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Weekly Newsletter: 3rd February, 2017

Micro-Lot Guatemala Finca San José Ocaña

Last weekend we ran up to Tahoe for a night, since it was the first sunny weekend in January (I may be exaggerating a bit . . .but not much). My kids love snow, and there was a lot of it up there. We are lucky to live so close to a world-class destination: epic beauty and skiing only an hour away. On this trip we didn’t even ski (the resorts were packed), but the kids had a great time sledding and throwing snowballs at each other. The heated pool was a lot of fun too–and I enjoyed staying inside with a book while they swam.

This is serious business

We also had another coffee cupping this week, for the rest of our employees. We have such a great staff: it’s fun to do events like this with them. Again, everyone had different adjectives to describe the same beans, and we tasted the same three distinctive coffees. This time our Organic Gayo Mountain Sumatra was a clear favorite, which was interesting since in the past many people have preferred an African bean. But last Wednesday the deep sweet tones of the Sumatra were the most popular.

This week we have a micro-lot Guatemalan for you, from the Finca San José Ocaña. This farm has been in the Sanchez family since 1905, over a hundred years. They are constantly improving their operation, and a large part of the farm is dedicated to a natural forest. The property also has its own coffee mill, for quality assurance. This coffee is a bourbon variety of arabica, grown at about 6000 feet elevation.

Growing coffee at this height means the beans are more dense, and that there are lower yields per bush, leading to higher quality in the cup. This is an excellent coffee: ten years ago they won the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence, the most prestigious prize in coffee. In the cup it tastes of Meyer lemon and honey, with a lingering finish of cocoa nibs. It’s delicious.

You can try a cup of this Guatemala Finca San José Ocaña on us with the code Tahoe snow*. There’s more snow coming today, I do believe. If you are a skier, it’s an epic year around here. Enjoy your weekend, and drink good coffee. Cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Guatemala Finca San José Ocaña. Code expires on 2.9.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

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530 273-6424 | 800 600-6424

 map-marker Carolines Coffee Roasters
128 S. Auburn St.
Grass Valley, CA 95945
clock Monday-Friday: 6am-5:30pm,
Saturday-Sunday: 7am-5:30pm 

Fridays for
Cornish Christmas: 6am-9pm