Moko Coffee

Zirikana

Have you ever had Rwandan coffee?

We've got it. Rwanda is the up-and coming star of the East African coffee world, featuring bright, juicy, citric flavor profiles, and a wonderful mouth feel. Moko Coffee is happily brewing Intelligentsia's newest Rwandan offering- Zirikana.

The word "Zirikana" means "show your commitment", and the name reflects Intelligentsia's commitment to helping develop the coffee industry in Rwanda. It's a big coffee, with no bitterness, tons of fruit flavors and a finish like brown sugar. We'll be brewing it in our drip rotation, and it's available in a French press, as well as to take home in a pound or half-pound.

You can read Intelligentsia's coffee buyer Geoff Watts notes about this wonderful coffee here.

Direct Trade Coffee article in the NY Times

Interesting story in the NY Times this week about Intelligentsia Coffee's Direct Trade business model. Times reporter Peter Meehan writes on how the "big three" micro-roasters in the USA - Intelligentsia, Stumptown and Counter Culture - travel the world developing and fostering relationships with coffee farmers. The hope in developing this "relationship coffee" is that we can have great coffees from micro terroirs just like in the wine trade and develop sustainable practices so that we can continue to have great coffees.

Quality in the cup is a lot easier to define than sustainability, then you start getting into Fair Trade, Rainforest, Shade-Grown and organic and all that which might be better left for another day over a good cup. Here is a link to Ethical Coffee where they give a quick overview of some of these programs. You can also go to the Direct Trade page at Intelli where they have bullet-pointed and codified the Direct Trade model. If you are more visual and have 9 min. go on and jump over to You Tube where there is a video by Geoff Watts about the Direct Trade Flor Azul Project in Nicaragua.

Thanks to IrishGirl at the Food & Wine Forum for the heads up and link to the Times story.

Men's Health Agrees: Our Coffee is Best

Best Coffee- Intelligentsia's Berkeley's Blend.

  The 125 Best Food For Men

Men's Health names the top foods for men in eight categories including "Best Cheese," "Best Chocolate," "Best Beef," and "Best Coffee." With the help of more than 50 chefs, nutritionists and researchers (and the appetites of our editors), we created a no-fail food strategy that fuses the best foods with top culinary expertise.

We choose Intelligentsia for our coffee roaster because it tastes good and it's good for you. Looks like Men's Health magazine agrees with us. Next time you're in Moko ask what we're brewing today. No matter what we're brewing that day you can always have Berkeley's Blend, or any of our other great Intelligentsia coffees, in a press pot or buy the beans to take home and make for yourself.

Go to June issue of Men's Health