Invalsa News

  • The Review by Chocolate Alchemy about our Bolivian Organic Walikeewa cocoa beans

    On July 2022, John Nanci, the Founding Alchemist at Chocolate Alchemy, penned the following unsolicited review (copied on its entirety)."Origin: BoliviaRegion: Alto BeniType: Criollo/TrinatarioCertifications: Certified OrganicYear: 2018/19Flavor Notes: Oh my goodness, where did the TWO chocolate bars on my desk go?  Who are you looking at?  I didn't eat them....I mean... I didn't mean to eat them...ok, I ate them and they made me happy!! ATTENTION chocolate lovers, This is the chocolate you are looking for. It starts off....hang on, before I get into the chocolate, I want to talk about the elephant in the room and that is the...

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  • Just returned from our sourcing trip to Bolivia. Post COVID!

    Happy to report the coffees are awesome and will be shipped in January.  Nelson brought a new supply of Bolivian Chocolates Para Ti. Order them here.  We have plenty of Bolivian micro lots and FTOs as posted in our previous blog. Best of all. We have not increased our prices (yet!) Stock up for the holidays! -Nelson

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  • New Crop Microlot coffees from Bolivia are finally here. They are available at our warehouses in NJ, CA & MA

    Clemente Mamani from Kantutani. Order here: We have three microlots at the Annex in Alameda, CA from two new farmers and an accomplished one. We have two new farmers at Continental in NJ and the old favorites: Celso Mayta -Cafe Golondrina. Organic Peaberry, Carolina Villalobos and Porfirio Mamani.  We also have FTO's AA and AAA, and organic Cascara! Bernardino Aliaga from Taipiplaya. Order here:  Juan Jose (Juanjo) Machicado from Kantutani. Order here:  Ruben Caceres from San Ignacio. Order here:   Humberto Mamani & Amalia From San Ignacio. Order here: Organic Peaberry Microlot; Order here.Organic Cascara. Order here.Celso Mayta Microlot. Order...

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  • The Coffee Review scored 92 points for this microlot!

    We are proud to report that on The Coffee Review, this coffee earned the third-highest rating in a cupping of African Great Lakes coffees for Coffee Review’s June 2021 report.  Moreover it earned the distinct motion for a successful dark toast: "Most coffees we test over the course of a year are light-medium to medium in roast, reflecting each individual roaster’s personally calibrated goal of fully developing the character of the bean while leaving behind neither a distracting scorchy edge nor the grassy, nutty hints of an underdeveloped roast. This month, however, we review one successful darker roast, the Valverde...

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  • The second shipment of our favorite Burundian microlot just arrived!

    We just received a shipment of  this superb, tasty and memorable Burundian, all-women microlot from the Matongo Community, Kinyovu Washing Station. Cupping Score: 87 points (up from 86.5 last crop). Read the cupping notes. You can order it here. Due to Covid 19, our new crop Bolivians are coming-in but late. Microlots arriving at the Annex in Oakland first half of May and Microlots (including our famed organic peaberry) and Fair Trade Organics (FTOs) arriving at Continental in NY in late May.  Enjoy! Farm Manager, Juanjo Machicado at our farm in Kantutani

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  • Costa Rica COE National Winner. 86.6 points from International Jury!

    We purchased this award-winning microlot at a COE-run International Auction. The coffee beans were packed at origin in 50-kilo (110 lbs.) GrainPro® bags. These coffee beans won second place as National Winners (the preliminary round before final Cup of Excellence winners) in Costa Rica's 2020 Cup of Excellence competition, with an average cupping score from the international judges of 86.55. The farm is called Flor de Café which means coffee flower. This name was chosen by Carlos' daughters Karla and Cristel because on one occasion when they walked through the farm, it was in full bloom. With much admiration to...

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  • We just received New Crop coffees from Bolivia. They are available at our warehouses in NJ, CA & MA

    Just for variety a nice shot of Bolivian Alpaca and baby Cria. Nice shot, Nelson! Celso Mayta our 50/50 equity partner as Cafe Golondrina was the proud first-place winner of the 2019 Presidential Coffee competition (Bolivian successor to the COE), judged by an international Jury with 92 points and bought by Saza Coffee from Japan at $33/lb., at auction.  The varietal is Geisha seeds that we imported from Finca La Esmeralda in Panama Our chief green coffee buyer and Coffee Lab Manager proudly showing our new Geisha cherries Juanjo Machicado our happy farm manager at Kantutani, where we are harvesting...

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  • WE ARE OPEN & SHIPPING NORMALLY. New Bolivian coffees are in and ready for immediate shipment!

    We just received a whole container with the perennial favorites, Fair Trade Organic (FTO), Invalsa AAA, AA, Peaberry, and Cascara, as well as our own microlot from our farm in Copacabana, the Celso Mayta -Cafe Golondrina. Also microlots from Siete Estrellas and San Ignacio. Bolivian coffee production remains down. But there is hope as more and more farmers follow our example and renovate their farms with disease-resistant varietals. You can find them all here.

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  • 2018 Organic Bolivian ABC cacao is in. Two varietals!

    We just unloaded a full container with two varietals. Our Heirloom (silvestre) Beniano and our  Walikeewa (hybrid, Amelonado).  You can order them here:

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  • New Colombian coffees are in!

    We just received a full container with our perennial favorite, the  Santa Barbara Estate Excelso AA+, plus two microlots, one from Nariño, the other from Huila.  Just in time for Christmas and the year-end celebrations.  You can order them here:

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