In this edition: six new coffees and a story about the most remote inhabited island on Earth (and the coffee they drink there).
Not in this edition: the story of the "missing flamingo thought to be living in France."
If you subscribed in the last week and want to see what you've missed — hit the archive.
Win some very good coffee: Know someone who owns too much coffee gear? Someone who buys coffee to bring home when they go on vacation? Someone who's just coffee curious?
That form you filled out when you subscribed to this newsletter now has a Who referred you? question at the end. On December 31, I'll tally who referred the most new subscribers beginning today, and that person will win a bag of coffee from any roaster I've featured in the newsletter. Any bag. From any roaster.
And the person with the second highest number can choose a bag too.
Just don't go insane.
Coffee leftovers
I remembered this weekend that I have a ton of coffee that's been vac-sealed in the freezer in our basement. For four years. Now let's see how long frozen coffee can actually hold up. Here's what I've got for you:
104g of coffee from Finca Reina, roasted by Passenger and frozen in October 2021.
64g of a coffee labeled only as "Colombia #6," roasted by Passenger and frozen in December 2021.
11g of a coffee labeled as "Kamoini AA," roasted by Passenger and frozen on December 29, 2021.
And the oldest of the bunch – 53g of a coffee roasted by Morgon and labeled only as "Colombia." Frozen on June 14, 2021.
I make zero promises about this coffee, other than you may have fun brewing it. May being the operative word. And you drink it at your own risk.
As always, the coffee is free, just reply to this e-mail and pay the actual shipping cost ($5).
Welcome to the 11th edition of the coffee index.
If you were eyeing the Los Nogales decaf from PERC that I wrote about last week, they're knocking 31 percent off everything on their website today only, so your procrastination has paid off.
Over the past seven days, I added 139 coffees to the list. Total coffees manually tracked to date = 3177. Here are six new releases from the past week that caught my attention:
- Gout & Co. has been on my radar for a little while now, though I've yet to personally try their coffee. Given the obvious facts about the population of China and their growing middle class, I think it's only a matter of time before there are many, many more Chinese roasters well known throughout the rest of the world. Tong Zhang roasts in Chengdu, and he listed this parainema for sale last Friday. Grown in Honduras, where all but one of this variety that I track are grown, this offering was produced by Oscar Daniel Ramirez Valerio on his farm, El Laurel. Valerio started growing on a tiny parcel of land he inherited from his father, before buying surrounding land and expanding his operation, which now includes his wife and sons. Tasting notes: Wampi, grapefruit, maple syrup, oolong tea.
- The first Java variety coffee featured since Vol. 3, this coffee comes from producer Yesid Pajoy in Huila and is roasted by CETO, down in Keyport, New Jersey. CETO has been on my radar since around the time I launched the newsletter because they roast about an hour from my house and they offer most of their coffees in very small bags and vials, allowing folks to spend less and try more. Use the code THEINDEX for a huge 30 percent off anything Ryan roasts. He has a number of great looking coffees for sale right now, but celery juice is the top tasting note for this one and I am...intrigued. Tasting notes: Celery juice, white grape, Thai iced tea.
- This is almost certainly the only time I've ever seen a lot of coffee comprised of gesha, sidra and pink bourbon. This coffee from Jose Joaquin Bolaños' farm, Finca Villa Sofia, underwent a double fermentation process – 60 hours in the cherry before washing and another 40 hours before being dried. Juan Pablo Jaramillo, the owner of Subtext (and AeroPress championship competitor), has offered you 15 percent off any of his coffees until the end of the month. Use the code INDEX. Tasting notes: Elderflower, pear nectar, peach.
- The story behind this coffee – no, this variety – is incredible and I could write an entire story about it. It is really worth watching the 5-minute video Proud Mary produced about it back in 2019. It's called Bernardina, named for the farm manager who discovered the grove of five unique trees on what became the Pacas Family's farm back in 2008. Maria Pacas sent some cherries off for genetic testing only to learn that the variety is a cross between gesha (genetically 70 percent) and an extremely rare Ethiopian landrace variety called Agaro, from the town of the same name (30 percent). Really wild stuff. This lot is exclusive to Proud Mary, who purchased the original 18kg lot of the coffee for $25/pound in 2014. It underwent an "anaerobic honey sunset" process, which is not explained in the listing. Proud Mary is running a Black Friday sale now, so you'll get 15 percent off this coffee with no code needed, which essentially wipes out the shipping cost. Tasting notes: Orange blossom, marmalade, black currant.
- The first laurina variety coffee featured in the newsletter, this offering comes from Bangkok-based Factory, which listed it for sale on Sunday. Laurina naturally contains roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the caffeine of a typical arabica coffee variety and traces its genetics to the bourbon lineage. This coffee was grown by Colombian producer Rodrigo Sanchez on his farm, La Loma. After finally tasting a eugenioides coffee and nottttt loving it, maybe I ought to give this low-caf variety a shot. Tasting notes: Raspberry, bubble gum, lychee.
- I've seen quite a number of Indian coffees come up for sale over the past few weeks. This coffee, from father and son Ajoy and Pranoy Thipaiah's Kerehaklu Estate, is a Selection 9, which is related to coffee of the catimor variety (not exactly known for cup excellence). Despite that, Methodical, the roaster, says it's "a sweet complex cup, crafted through innovative fermentation." Speaking of fermentation, much like the typica from MoonGoat I wrote about in Vol. 8, this one underwent what the roaster says is a sourdough-style fermentation, in which the Thipaiahs ferment the cherries with a starter culture that is carried forward to future harvests. Tasting notes: Plum, brown sugar, citrus.
In Vol. 2, I wrote about the guys who made pourovers on Mount Everest. Returning to my sporadic series about coffee in extreme locations, allow me to introduce you to a place where there is a single solitary place to buy coffee – and that place also sells keychains, golf balls and postcards that will take months to reach your loved ones.
That would be Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory and the most remote inhabited island on Earth. Tristan is marooned in the South Atlantic Ocean, 2700 km from South Africa and 3700 km from South America. There’s no airstrip and the only connection to the rest of the world arrives via ship – nine times a year.
"There’s no café as such, there once was but that disappeared some years ago, located by the swimming pool," says Simon Butters, a UK resident who has spent 12 weeks on the island over the course of four visits in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. "There has been talk of reviving this, but of my visits over the years I have yet to see this come to anything."
So the coffee is served in the tourism center.
Butters is a technical specialist in the communications field. When I told him that it sounds like he’s in the CIA, he said "not quite as glamorous as 007, think more cell phone service solutions with global reach."
Which is exactly what someone in the CIA would say.
Right, so the coffee. The cost is £2 a cup, but you can also pay with dollars or euros. Obviously, it’s drip coffee; purchased in South Africa before the ship pushes off for the island. What kind? Right now, it comes from Tribe Coffee Roasters in Cape Town (their "Special Blend").
I started writing this story three months ago before I launched the newsletter and had reached out to all 11 e-mail addresses listed on the official website. Serendipitously, I heard back from Kelly Burns, the head of tourism (such as it is) on Tristan, yesterday.
"We order [coffee] in about two to three times a year for the cafe, all different brands," she said. "We order beans and grind them fresh daily."
It's honestly way better than I'd expected for a place with a population that hovers between two and three hundred.
Speaking of which, my favorite part of the Tristan website is the population report, which was last updated 10 days ago. It shows that there are 222 islanders, but 17 are presently overseas. Forty-nine people are currently visiting the island (tourists or expats, and their families).
"So there are 254 people currently living on Tristan da Cunha or visiting the surrounding islands," the report concludes.
Before Kelly e-mailed me yesterday, I had heard from Peter Millington, the island's webmaster, in early September.
"With only nine ships bringing supplies to Tristan per year, getting any coffee to the island is a challenge," he said. "And there is only one supermarket – not an ideal situation for coffee connoisseurs."
Maybe that’s why Butters, the not-in-the-CIA communications specialist, would bring 3-in-1 Nescafé sachets.
"Sadly, for a decent coffee, I generally take my own," Butters says. "I can’t judge them for it though, after all it is the world’s most remote island."
If you have an idea for a future newsletter, want to talk coffee, or have any feedback whatsoever — you can reply to this e-mail.
Next week: new coffees as always, and the absolute bare minimum you need to make great coffee at home, according to the reigning U.S. Brewers Cup champion.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Jeff