CBC - 5th Place Espresso

As used by Phil Robertson of Phil & Sebastian Coffee Co. in Calgary for the 2008 Canadian Barista Championship, we offer his blend for you to experience. Comprised of 70% Nicaragua Matagalpa and 30% Ethiopia Sidamo Leila, this blend received much praise for its clean profile, “sophisticated earthiness,” and silky crema.

The scores of the finalists for the 2008 Canadian Barista Championship:

1st: Sammy Piccolo from Caffe Artigiano in Vancouver, 569.5 points
2nd: Spencer Veighweger from JJ Bean in Vancouver, 562 points
3rd: Joel May from Fratello Coffee in Calgary, 555 points
4th: Chad Moss from Transcend Coffee in Edmonton, 551.5 points
5th: Phil Robertson from Phil and Sebastian in Calgary, 527.5 points
6th: Anthony Benda from Myriade in Montreal, 517 points

Monkey Parchment Coffee

We're winding down on this offering, so I wanted to post the coffee's information before it was sold out and give anyone interested a chance at having some before it's too late.

This is a light-roasted, heavy-bodied, herbal and nutty coffee.

Monkey Parchment is the world's rarest, and currently most expensive, exotic coffee available. The Monkey Parchment coffee takes everyone by surprise, raising eyebrows just by its name, but the truly unprecedented uniqueness of the coffee's flavors and aromatics is the real eye-opener.

This coffee's story begins in Chikmagular, India and involves, as the name would suggest, monkeys, Rhesus Monkeys to be exact. Occupying the forests of India, Rhesus Monkeys leisurely dine on the ripest, sweetest coffee cherries they can find. After chewing on the fruit for several minutes, they spit the coffee parchment covered seed out onto the forest floor. Trained workers (those with an eagle eye) then meticulously search the ground for these preciously left-over seeds, which are then thoroughly rinsed, washed, processed, and dried.

Phil Robertson gets 5th at Nationals.

Using a blend of the Nicaragua Matagalpa and a "secret" (meaning not for retail sale) Sidamo, Phil captured 5th at the Canadian National Barista Championship.

Look for this espresso blend to be available in our Paradise Labs section soon.

Live 2008 Canadian National Barista Championship

Follow the action live:

Live video chat by Ustream

Phil Robertson has made the 2008 CNBC Finals

Free Webcam Chat at Ustream

Watch Phil's first-round performance above.

Well done, and best of luck in the finals of the Canadian Barista Championship tomorrow!

Pre-Order Holiday Coffee Gifts

We recently placed a banner on ParadiseRoasters.com announcing holiday pre-order opportunities.

We know. It's the middle of October. Most people are thinking about Halloween (then Thanksgiving). The holidays aren't quite on the top of your list, but we don't want to miss an opportunity to get you thinking.

Place a pre-order before Nov. 27 and get 5% off your pre-order.

All pre-orders will be roasted and shipped on Dec. 12 to ensure adequate delivery times.

2008 National Canada Barista Championship

We are honored to have Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb of Phil & Sebastian Coffee Company choose us to roast and provide Phil's espresso for the 2008 National Canada Barista Championship.

It's been a pleasure working with them both, and we're very excited for Phil.

Don't be surprised if you see a special offering of this competition blend in the future too.

The championship is being held Oct. 21-22 in Montreal. Good Luck Phil!

The State of "Restaurant Coffee"

We found an interesting blog post on "restaurant coffee" and wanted to share.

Here's an excerpt concerning what the writer would like from a restaurant and its coffee offerings:

"Tell me about your coffee selections, and include the single origins. Mix it up, and tempt me with a few surprises. I think I would actually fall out of my chair if I saw a menu selection of single origin offerings from Paradise Roasters..."

Needless to say, we like this post.