Hello, and welcome to the Grumpy Mule Coffee Blog.

Here the daily - and when things get a little bit chaotic, weekly – thoughts, feelings and general rants of Ian and Damian will be displayed in their raw state. We’ll do our very best to keep all of our entries coffee related, though it’s possible that we’ll go off on sideways tangents occasionally; that’s stream of conscious thought for you.

• Kenya Makwa Estate

  Fri 16 April, 2010

  At Grumpy Mule a new coffee is like a new toy that you just can't leave alone. With that in mind, we're still drinking the Kenya Makwa today and it definitely has an addictive quality - deliciously fruity in flavour, very clean and balanced with a citrusy bright finish. May have to take some home for further testing...
  
  Damian

• Best of Panama Coffee Competition 2010

  Fri 16 April, 2010
  Best of Panama 2010

  The Speciality Coffee Association of Panama have very kindly invited me to judge in this year's Best of Panama competition. The big difference here is that I get to cup Panama's finest in windy Holmfirth, rather than the tropical wonder of the country itself.
  
  Panama has some great farms, great producers and a variety of high quality Arabica varietals so it's a great honour to be participating in such a prestigious event. It's also a first to be decentralizing the international judging in this way.
  
  The top coffees - already carefully selected by a national jury in Panama - should be arriving at the Roastery anytime now so next week is going to be intense. More updates next week (or at least after I've sent my official scores back...) Competition winners are due to be announced in Panama on 1st May.
  
  Damian

• Cupping 15th April: Bolivian, Kenyan, Indian and Zambian Coffees

  Thu 15 April, 2010
  Cupping April 15th 2010

  The Grumpy Mule Team whipped out the cupping bowls, spoons and some fine coffees from India, Brazil, Bolivia, Kenya and Zambia for an intense tasting session on 15th April 2010.
  
  We're going to try and give more blog updates on our cupping sessions, as it is one of the most critical activities for any specialty coffee roaster - not only checking the quality of delivered coffees and finished products, but also new and exciting samples from far and wide.
  
  It seems increasingly rare for us all to be in the cupping room at the same time, but myself, Ian, Louise and Rob were treated to a varied selection of coffees all nicely roasted and set up by Louise. Here's what we cupped, and some of the thoughts on each:
  
  Kenya Makwa Estate
  An auction lot discovered by our friends at Mercanta, one of several fine Kenyan coffees they've unearthed from this season's harvest. Juicy, fruity and bright, think everyone enjoyed this cup. Louise has been finding open bags of the roasted coffee ever since, as it proving very popular for our daytime drinks from the Clover.
  
  Brazil Sitio Monte Verde (Cup of Excellence)
  Ian bought a proportion of this coffee - Lot 21 - from the 2009 Brazil Cup of Excellence competition and the vacuum packed boxes have just recently arrived. We should have this coffee available very soon from the shop. Tasting the coffee blind we wouldn't have...

• Ritazza UK Barista Champion 2010

  Wed 14 April, 2010

  It’s not every day that Grumpy Mule get's the chance to support a potential Barista champion but when Mathew Roberts called to ask about our coffees I was pleased to help. Matt works for Café Ritazza on Huddersfield Railway station and was entering the annual Barista competition for his company. Having visited the Roastery during a training visit, Matt wanted some interesting coffee for his title attempt. 

  We discussed some alternative espresso blends and chose the Grumpy Mule's Espresso Fino. A 100% Rainforest Alliance-certified blend of some great coffees; this is our most popular Grumpy Mule food service blend for coffee shops and cafes.  Matt was very interested in sourcing, processing and the reasons why the coffees combine so well and we were able to give him lots of information to back up his championship bid.

  You can imagine our delight when I received a call from Matt's boss to confirm he had indeed won the UK Barista final and will soon be on his way to Italy for the Ritazza world final! Congratulations to Matt and thank you for using our coffee.
  
  Ian

• Is Fairtrade coffee yesterday's product?

  Tue 23 March, 2010

  During some research this week we visited a number of coffee and sandwich shops most of which seem to think they are ‘doing their bit’ by offering Fairtrade coffee. Some tasted great but many of them served something that was an insult to good coffee and the Fairtrade movement. Do the people specifying coffee understand the difference between good and bad or do they buy it on price alone?

  One criticism levelled at Fairtrade coffee is it’s poor quality, we know that this need not be the case – there are some great Fairtrade coffees around – try our Fairtrade Organic Sumatra for example.

  If the coffee trade does not raise its game, all the hardwork done by the Fairtrade Foundation will be lost. Fairtrade is not yesterday’s product but we must work hard to ensure that quality continues to improve.

  Ian