Featured Blend: The Red Sea
Meet our Red Seas Blend—an exotic blend of Ethiopian and Yemen beans—two countries that sit opposite each other on the Red Sea. This unique coffee taste profile contains blueberry, peach, and agave nectar.
A Quick History Lesson
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. The indigenous trees first grow in ancient Abyssinia, (present-day Ethiopia), in an area called Kaffa, and the trees wore called Kafa, which may be the root word for coffee. Today, coffee in Ethiopia has become the largest export product, with the majority of bean production on small farms with one-quarter of the population involved in the industry. Historically, coffee was first traded throughout the world from the old Yemen port city of Mocha, across the Red Sea.
Roasting Details
To bring out the best flavor notes of this blend, we're roasting the beans a little darker. Not as dark as a French or Espresso roast but holding a handful of these freshly-roasted beans in the sunlight you'll notice they have a slightly glossy shine from the oils sweating out of the beans.
How To Make the Perfect Cup
Start with whole beans whenever possible, because the flavor will still be locked inside. Just after grinding the beans, take time to inhale the wonderful aroma; it's so rich, with a bouquet reminiscent of a fine red wine.
Use filtered water, heated just below boiling (195 degrees is best), and use an unbleached paper filter so that nothing gets in the way of tasting this great coffee.
Once the coffee is brewed, pour a cup and let it stand for just a couple of minutes to cool. It's easier to discern the characteristics of the blend when the liquid isn't too hot.
The brewed coffee will be medium-bodied, slightly earthy, notes of sweet berries, fragrant and with a flowery top note, pleasing to the palate, with a good long finish. It makes a great after-dinner cup!
As we move from the purple tier to the red tier here in Napa, sip on a cup of Red Sea as we (hopefully) cross our own “Red Sea” into better times ahead… Shop this blend, here.