I was pleased to see the AJ Coffee banner adorning this fine web site.
Full disclosure...
I've known the owner/founder Jason Haegar ("jasonian", a long time CG/HB member) for several years, having finally met him face to face in Lubbock, TX. I was there on a music production, but spent as many hours getting educated on the all things coffee by Jason.

Prior to starting AJ, Jason had been one of the most respected barista trainers in Texas, and I can testify that he trained them well. One cafe in particular, Sugar Brown's produced some of the most wonderful espresso shots, milk drinks, etc i've ever had. Those baristi studied under Jason.

Several years ago, Jason sent me a few of his roasted coffee's to "sample" and asked my thoughts. Me...an amateur!
I found them all uniformly quite good, with an SO Guatemalan outstanding.
His 2nd iteration of his Torpedo espresso was just terrific.

Until I saw the banner here at HB, I was unaware that Jason has now gone full bore with AJ Coffee.
I post this only to let members know that Jason is a SERIOUS coffee guy, and I'm really happy his dream has come to fruition.

As we have not corresponded in over a year I assure all that this posting is entirely unsolicited.

Note...Dan, if I've done anything improper posting this, please let me know, and I'll fix.

IMAWriter wrote:Until I saw the banner here at HB, I was unaware that Jason has now gone full bore with AJ Coffee. I post this only to let members know that Jason is a SERIOUS coffee guy, and I'm really happy his dream has come to fruition.

Thanks for noticing! Jason (jasonian) hasn't posted much in the last year, but I hope AJ Coffee's recent sponsorship marks his return to the ranks of regular posters. I encourage HB members to give his coffees a try and post comments in this thread.

Dan, I miss this place a LOT, and have tried to be a bit more active.
My 2 "divas" (14 and 16) keep me hopping, and the other stuff you know about.

Last week, I purchased from another HB sponsor (clicking on their banner here).
I encourage all here to at least visit the sponsors, both here and on CG.

Back on topic, I need to put my $$ where my mouth is, and order from AJ.
I'm really into SO with the lever these days, and also manual pour over. It's so sweet with a proper kettle.
As mentioned, the Guatemalan he sent me last year was just excellent.

Okay well I got some in the mail, I would hope that your recommendation and the fact he is here on Home-Barista ensures that I am not going to get an espresso roast more suitable for making hamburgers over than drinking out of a 2 oz cup. I will be sure to let you know what I think once I get it!

Hi Nick,

Unfortunately, it seems that I've forgotten to remove the Culpan from the Roaste list. What we have right now is Finca Santa Clara which is, in my opinion, a much better coffee anyway. Roaste is going to ask if that's alright, but since I saw the correlation, I thought I'd beat them to the punch. Feel free to shoot me a PM.

We just moved to Dallas from Lubbock a week ago, and we're planning on being operational again before the end of this week.

RJ, Thanks for the kind words! Indeed, it has been too long since we've chatted.

I received my coffee today, picked up Black Torpedo and Finca Santa Clara. Have already had a pot of Finca Santa Clara, really nice coffee, dark chocolate and fruit notes to it. So far color me impressed, and am looking forward to seeing how the espresso blend does since it share Santa Clara as part of its components.

Thanks for the compliment, Nick! I'm glad you're enjoying the coffee.

Their Ethiopian Sidama is just fantastic, one of the best I have had. Well worth the try:)

Living in Amarillo and having the opportunity to try AJ's coffees on a regular basis at a local coffee shop, I too can attest to how excellent Jason's offerings are. He did a TON for coffee culture in our area.

Whipped up some A.J. Black Torpedo in a Hario V60 today - very nice cup and should be great as a shot later too.