Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Dec/Jan Strategic buying:
The market is up. For how long? Will it go higher? Or collapse? What crops are running out? What about new crops? How are they looking? All these questions are on the mind of buyers at this transitional time of the year.
Past Crop Deals: Everything must go…No reasonable offer declined. These can be had CHEAP!!!
Sulawesi…we have two lots of past crop Sulawesi that when roasted light taste like forgotten tupperware leftovers from Thanksgiving. However when roasted dark they are loaded with sweet character. Very useful in the right application.
As for new crop Sulawesi, there will not be an abundance of these in 07, now is the time to line them up.
El Salvador... Santa Rita. These are getting long in the tooth but they still can be blended effectively. The Cerro Las Ranas have held up real well and still have a very mellow flavor. This pulped natural might be better now for espresso than when it arrived last August.
Panama...We still have some of the premium Panamaria and Maunier from ’06. These have held up well. For the next two months I think I would rather drink these than thinner new crop centrals.
Smart Buys: Not so cheap but good property to own.
Ethiopia—in a week or two we will begin to see the first new crop pre-shipment samples. The pattern for the last few years has been that the first Harrar shipments have had the most blueberry chacrater. So we suggest buying from the early shipments.
The washed, on the other hand, usually improve as the crop enters the mid point. This year there has been a lot of rain during the early harvest, and we’ve been told there will be quality issues which may delay finding early shipments which we can approve. That being a real possibility should make some of our excellent spot washed lots very attrractive (ref 12636!!!) Since these spot lots cup about as good as they get, and with a fair amount of uncertainty surrounding the new crop, if you want to cover until March there is no compromise of quality at all with our spot Yirgacheffe or Sidamo.
Colombia—ref 14574 Narino Especial…Occasionally a coffee is so good it enters a special category reserved for the best in it’s class. This Colombian is that good. Sweet caramel balanced with a soft buttery finish. This is your “single varietal” Colombian.
From a quality standpoint, this is the best time to buy Sumatra. If we see a dip in the market, it would be a great time to fill the cupboard. Let us know if you want to be on the alert list.
Yemen---a much tighter supply situation than in past years. If this is an important coffee, book it now.
R. Fulmer
# posted by royal.coffee @ 10:28 AM
Monday, December 11, 2006
If we want things to stay the same, we better make some changes.
Our ROYAL NEWS can now be found on our website. To view, first click "business intelligence", then the "newsletters" tag.
A fund-driven speculative spike in the NY C market has sent prices 20 cents higher then they were a month ago…Since we are in between Central American and African crops, many staple coffees are running out.
This is as it should be because with the arrival of California winter rains, last year’s coffees will start getting tired soon.
Not surprisingly, we are seeing more hand-to-mouth ‘just in time” buying and substitutions… It is hard to argue with this strategy after reviewing the USDA crop figures (Bottom line: there is more coffee this coming year than last year)
The USDA is about total worldwide production; coffees you are not buying all that much of. But of course if Brazil or Vietnam catches a cold, we get pneumonia. From the face of the report, both countries’ production is up substantially. But that does not help much when the C market is higher and supplies of many specialty coffees are at seasonal lows.
Given the circumstances at this time of the year, sometimes more creativity is a good thing. We are firm believers in buying the best coffees available regardless of origin. A cup profile can often be kept the same only by making changes.
Here is a suggested list of some our best (according to our entire cupping team) tasting spot coffees. Some of these may not be what you normally buy or blend, but be assured, your customers will love any or all of them.
13634 Brazil Fazenda Aurea
14221 Colombia Huila Valencia
11947 Panama Maunier
12774 Peru Organic Norte
13664 Peru Norte SHB Royal Especial
12255 El Salvador Santa Rita
14035 Flores Bajawa Arabica
14139 Timor FT Organic Maubesse
14261 Mex Royal Select Water Decaf
14176 African Royal Select Water Decaf
12636 Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
13975 Sumatra Mandheling
Thanks for visiting the Royal Coffee Blog…your guide to the best coffees on our offering list.
A fund-driven speculative spike in the NY C market has sent prices 20 cents higher then they were a month ago…Since we are in between Central American and African crops, many staple coffees are running out.
This is as it should be because with the arrival of California winter rains, last year’s coffees will start getting tired soon.
Not surprisingly, we are seeing more hand-to-mouth ‘just in time” buying and substitutions… It is hard to argue with this strategy after reviewing the USDA crop figures (Bottom line: there is more coffee this coming year than last year)
The USDA is about total worldwide production; coffees you are not buying all that much of. But of course if Brazil or Vietnam catches a cold, we get pneumonia. From the face of the report, both countries’ production is up substantially. But that does not help much when the C market is higher and supplies of many specialty coffees are at seasonal lows.
Given the circumstances at this time of the year, sometimes more creativity is a good thing. We are firm believers in buying the best coffees available regardless of origin. A cup profile can often be kept the same only by making changes.
Here is a suggested list of some our best (according to our entire cupping team) tasting spot coffees. Some of these may not be what you normally buy or blend, but be assured, your customers will love any or all of them.
13634 Brazil Fazenda Aurea
14221 Colombia Huila Valencia
11947 Panama Maunier
12774 Peru Organic Norte
13664 Peru Norte SHB Royal Especial
12255 El Salvador Santa Rita
14035 Flores Bajawa Arabica
14139 Timor FT Organic Maubesse
14261 Mex Royal Select Water Decaf
14176 African Royal Select Water Decaf
12636 Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
13975 Sumatra Mandheling
Thanks for visiting the Royal Coffee Blog…your guide to the best coffees on our offering list.
# posted by royal.coffee @ 4:55 PM
