mtbizzle wrote:Any rec's, especially for excellent value greens, from Happy Mug, Burman, Bodhi?
Have loved a lot of greens from happy mug lately. The la minita tarrazu ... their natural guat... They recently had a natural zambia mafinga hills, WOW what a unique coffee, I had never had anything like it, it was unmistakably boozy and funky, one of those situations where it's $4/# and you wish you got 10 for $40 rather than 1. I fell in love with sweet maria's colombia urrao palomos but that's OOS.

What's been your experience with Happy Mug? Their prices look really appealing, but I'm not very familiar with them as a company. I've tended to use SM, Bodhi, and Roastmasters.

Their mission (I like it):

We buy and sell only organically grown coffee, bought at fair prices to the farmers who grow it. We do not support farms that mistreat their workers or mistreat the earth. We support our local community, use American made equipment, and strive to operate as "green" as possible. Helping others is the key to happiness, and that's the bottom line in every aspect of our company.

wingnutsglory wrote:What's been your experience with Happy Mug? Their prices look really appealing, but I'm not very familiar with them as a company. I've tended to use SM, Bodhi, and Roastmasters.

I've always gotten my beans from: Sweet marias, happy mug, and crop to cup. (one 5# order from another less well known place, I won't mention as I did not like the beans).

I agree that the prices seem on point at HM. Things are a tiny bit less 'clean' than sweet marias - I will find occasional bag fabric in the beans, more defects than e.g. sweet marias. My opinion, you take that in context, it doesn't matter. The number of defects has always been small for me - sometimes none at all in the right coffee e.g. the la minita (I love that one, always roasts perfectly uniformly too). I don't LOVE all of the coffees I get from them, but many of the "biggest surprises" have been from happy mug. The zambia natural was very unique to me (may not be so to someone who has drank specialty coffee for 15 years). The la minita was a bean that you could tell was handled and processed thoughtfully from the minute you looked at the greens. I have had more success with their natural guat than any other natural.

Happy mug is definitely a place I go to for beans

I have never ordered from Bodhi or roast masters. Have you by chance tried the any of Bodhi's recent offerings that were comparatively pretty cheap? I think some are gone now, but they have had a few recently that were not expensive.

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to add them to the list, and perhaps start with the items you've recommended.

As for Bodhi, it's been a bit since I've ordered from them. But I liked what I got for sure. The Guat. Chichen in particular was pretty enjoyable.

wingnutsglory wrote:The Guat. Chichen in particular was pretty enjoyable.

Could you say a bit more? The page for that one is pretty sparse on details re. taste, aroma, roast, etc.

I'm not the best on note-taking and it was about 8 coffees ago for me, but I recall it was consistently the sweetest cup I've ever had. I don't recall that it was one-dimensional either, it's just that sweetness was the stand-out attribute and was nearly shocking in a good way.

Well, I thought I'd scored some of the Zambia from Happy Mug but it turns out to have only been listed there due to a website error. Wah wah. I did find it on Burman for several dollars more per pound. Between that and the additional shipping, it's a bit more still. So, the hard question: worth it? I'm really into fruity Ethiopian naturals, but this one sounds like it could be a bit more unique. True?

Thanks!

wingnutsglory wrote:Well, I thought I'd scored some of the Zambia from Happy Mug but it turns out to have only been listed there due to a website error. Wah wah.

Yeah, sorry if I did not mention that...!! I think they are out of stock at happy mug. If they weren't I would have got 5#. I shared in part because I have seen several coffees from Zambia Mafinga hills. Unfortunately I don't know if the one from happy mug is the same or similar to the burman one. you could e-mail them perhaps. The HM zambia mafinga hills natural was a good bit cheaper.

JohnB. wrote:What about the Royal Crown Jewel Yemen don't you like? I've found it to be a very nice traditional Yemen & I've been pulling very tasty fig jam like shots with it. I have been going for a longer development time then you seem to be using; 2:30-3:00 finishing in the lower Full City roast range. It's not a fruit bomb but it does have some nice fruit flavors.

Day 5, prepped on a vacpot. Figs and figs alone. Pretty one dimensional (2:20, full city with a low heat app based on your notes, no second crack).

I've only pulled shots with it & I usually give it 7 days rest. Shortest stretch I've used is 2:50. Not one dimensional in my cup. I took it 26*F BT past the start of a rolling 1st crack in one roast & 36*F BT past in another. I think the shots were a little tastier in the 36* roast.

I have found the first decaf I have ever liked, and it's delicious: Royal Coffee's Decaf Colombia Sierra Nevada Crown Jewel

My first batch I roasted just barely to the end of 1C, and I went very easy on the heat the whole roast. In a french press it's a nice, chewy, malt chocolate and in espresso it's dominated by granny apple acidity and sweetness with a chocolate finish. Super easy to pull and brew. Just had an after dinner cortado and Iife doesn't seem all that bad right now.