The De La Paz Coffee Company

This Saturday (8/16) we will be giving a demo at Birite Market in San Francisco (Mission District). The demo will be from 12pm-4pm. Stop by and try some of our new and exciting coffee offerings. For more info on Birite check out HERE.

Christian from Man Seeking Coffee just wrote a piece on our coffee and roastery. Check it out HERE…

Today we trekked down to Santa Cruz for a training with Asana Teas. They are a new tea and coffee house in downtown SC. They open on thursday (7/31) and they should do a great job right from the start. The tea selection is incredible. Today we trained them on their drip stand and espresso machine. There were at least ten people for the training and everyone had a good time. We were dripping the new Ethiopia Korate. It keeps on getting better every time we roast this incredible coffee.

This week we saw the arrival of another incredible Ethiopian coffee. Is it ever going to stop? Our Ethiopian Korate is from the Sidamo region yet again and is dried on raised beds while the coffee bean is still inside the red cherry. The flavors are incredible. Deep fruit, cherry, and cacao. This coffee is so versatile. The Korate can be used for Single Origin Espresso, French Press, Moka Pot, and drip.

We also are now working with a great cafe called Java Jitters. They are currently pulling our 14th St. Espresso on their wonderful La Marzocco. They are located by City College in the Ingleside hood. 1125 Ocean Ave. to be exact.

Last week we were part of a great article written in the San Francisco Chronicle. The focus was on the Bay Areas favorite small batch coffee roasters. In case you dont live in the Bay and didnt get a chance to read the article, here it is: “Coffee Lovers Spill the Beans…” .

***I am very excited about being part of the article, however I would like to mention that my wife MariPaz, who is a very integral part of the company, was not included. I like to think that she keeps the company running smoothly.

Interest and sales of our Yirgacheffe Misty Valley has been incredible. I really can not believe I didn’t order more of this coffee. I think we will only have the Misty Valley for another 4 weeks at most. This years crop is so yummy. It has spilled over to our espresso too. Our 14th St Espresso has really been going well with a little touch of the Misty Valley.

This weekend took us a few blocks from our shop to the Mission Cultural Center, where MariPaz was performing with the Samba Jam. What a great experience!!

On Friday, the Stable Cafe threw an opening party for their new kitchen, art space, and cafe. The actual opening of the cafe isn’t until two more weeks, but we were there serving up some really good Misty Valley. The Stable will be serving press pot coffee and an array of espresso drinks. They also have a few special drinks lined up, like a signature turkish coffee that is incredible.

One of the highlights of the evening was having Derrick from Blue Bottle helping with the coffee serving. This was my first time meeting him and it was great to geek out about coffee all night. He knows an insane amount about coffee. He even brought along some MV from their roaster and we got to taste and compare. We are very excited to have this cafe open up so close to our roastery and serve our coffee.

This weekend we will be participating in Carnaval SF. It is a two day event that is one of the largest events of the year in San Francisco. We will be located in the Zona Verde-Green Zone area. Healing ceremonies; dance; renewable energy; earth friendly products; bodywork; organic food specialty items; and a celebration of the power of wind, sun, water, and air will be brought together at Carnaval San Francisco’s ZONA VERDE. We are committed to bringing attention to pressing environmental issues in a friendly celebratory manner that reflects the spirit of Carnaval San Francisco.

These past few weeks have been very busy. We are in the process of moving to a new location and also setting up a new roaster. Setting up the new roaster and after burner is taking some time, but we want to make sure it is done right the first time. Hopefully by midweek we will be rocking the new roaster.

We are also receiving lots of new coffee’s that are on a whole other level. The first round of Ethiopian coffee’s are in and they are tasting great. Two different processes from Ethiopia Sidamo. One is a washed process and the other is a special prep (dry process). It is amazing to taste the differences between the two.
Another new coffee is this years new coffee from the Huehuetenango Highland of Guatemala. This years crop seems to be even better than last years.
Stay tuned for more from Ethiopia in the next few weeks. We are going to be really focusing on the different coffee micro lots (small farms) and processes throughout Ethiopia.

This time of year means new coffee from many countries. We just received and cupped an excellent new coffee from Mexico. This coffee comes from Chiapas and the Proish Coop. This wonderful coffee is very smooth and bright. The coffee is well balanced and sharp, and is excellent for French Press or Drip. We hope to have this coffee for a few months, so get it while it’s around.

In the next few months expect new offerings from Ethiopia. Many new and exciting coffees this year. Get ready!!

Things are looking good in San Pancho. A few more new accounts to note. We have a couple really great cafes that are now serving the De La Paz.

China Camp Bikes and Beans is located in San Rafael and is a great place for an espresso. They have a sweet La Marzocco inside.

If you are roaming the streets of Santa Cruz, stop by Cafe Campesino. Their kiosk is located on Pacific Ave (in front of Del Mar Theatre). They have some of the most authentic Mexican food in the city and now they are serving our drip coffee and our new Iced Coffee.

We also received a really nice write up on Ideal Bite. Check out what they have to say…

Finally, we made it over to Berkeley on Saturday to check out a little of the Western Regional Barista Championships (WRBC). It was cool to see the local roasters pulling shots up stairs on the 4th Machine.

We have a few new places for our current and future customers to find our fresh roasted coffee. The first is in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco. Cheese Plus is on the corner of Polk St and Pacific St. Great store with an excellent selection of high quality products. I think our coffee fits really well with this store.

The second place is located in Santa Cruz, Ca. Great Infusions Co. is a high end importer & distributor of espresso cups, espresso machines, and Barista gear for home users and cafe’s & restaurants. They are currently selling our 14th Street Espresso. People can either purchase at the store or order online. It is great seeing our espresso gaining popularity and doing really well. We spend a lot of time cupping and fine tuning our fresh roasted coffee.

Sorry for the lack of blogs. January flew by and was by far our best month to date. There is a lot going on and hopefully a few new ventures in the near future. We are getting ready for all those Central American coffees to start rolling in. We have been out of stock of a few origins for a few months and I am ready to start introducing new crops to all our customers. This year we really want to focus on building strong relationships with all our wholesale customers. Our goal is to pick up a few new restaurants and cafes and work with them to serve incredible coffee.
Winter bike rides have also been happening often.

Here is a view from Mt Tamalpais in the North Bay. Off in the distance you can see San Francisco. You can never get tired of the views from this mountain.

Mexico was great. Tons of family and great weather at the beach. We brought tons of coffee with us and we gave a semi formal tasting to everyone. We left some coffee to one cousin who has a cafe in Guadalajara and they couldn’t wait to use it this week. De La Paz Coffee being used in Mexico!!

We also made it to the state of Colima. We found some excellent handmade mugs/jarros and I also learned that Colima has lots of organic coffee grown there. We want to visit a few farms and taste some of that areas coffee.

Warehouse news… Reuse your bags and save big!! For 2008 we wanted to think of another way to minimize our ecological and carbon footprint. We thought that reusing our thousands of coffee bags we sell a year would be a great place to start. Anyone who is in the bay area and has a few De La Paz coffee bags laying around, stop by our warehouse/roastery and buy some fresh roasted coffee direct.
$1 off w/ 3/4lb bags
$.50 off w/ 1/2lb bags
Where else can you save a $1 on a bag of fresh roasted coffee? Send us an email, give a call, or leave a comment and we will make sure we are at our warehouse for your visit. If you are lucky you might show up for a cupping/tasting and get to try some great coffee while you are there. We would like to see our roasting warehouse become more of a gathering spot for coffee lovers and for you to get a chance to see what is involved in producing great coffee.

Wholesale news… De La Paz Coffee is now being served at Monks Kettle on 16th St. (between Valencia and Guerrero). Stop by and try out the special blend we made for them. They are only serving french press style and they are doing a great job.

This year we are off to Mexico for Xmas to visit La Familia. But before we leave, we need to make sure all our wholesale accounts are taken care of and supplied with plenty of coffee for the 6 days we are gone.

December has been great. Wholesale accounts are coming in and I can truly say there will be a lot of new things happening in the new year. It is great to start working with restaurants and training staff. I dont want to let too much out right now, but we have some good changes happening soon.

Since we will be off to Mexico in a few short days, we will not be shipping anything from the 20th-27th. If you place an order during that time, your order will be shipped soon after our arrival back to SF.

Coffee Fest Seattle has come and gone. This was our first big coffee festival and it was an incredible time. We brought along some fresh Brazil Poco Fundo and the great folks at Clover showed us just how good it can taste. Wow, was it amazing!!

We met lots of great people, drank more espresso than ever imaginable, and even attended a roast profile class. Check out our photos to see what Seattle was all about on our Flickr.

Juicy
Bright
Citrus
Floral
Medium Body

All these words decribe our new Costa Rica Tarrazu SHP EP coffee. This incredible organic coffee comes from Hacienda La Amistad. We only brought in a couple bags, so this coffee will not stay long. It should be up on the shopping page soon. In the meantime just shoot us an email to get a bag delivered to your house.