• Feb 23
    2010
    Guest Spotlight: Lisa Gober & Karen Bowen
      in O'Henry's Guests

    Guest Spotlight: Lisa Gober & Karen Bowen

    O’Henry’s Location: Regions/Harbert building 

     

    At O’Henry’s, all our guests are important, but a few visit us so often that they become like members of the family.  Here at the Harbert location downtown, Lisa & Karen are two such individuals.  They have been coming to O’Henry’s twice a day from AT&T for coffee since opening day in 2000.  They “love our personal attention”.  They still remember when the original manager, Blake, used to bring them their coffee across the street when the weather was bleak.  They “feel like family” now, and have fond memories of seeing the first ultra-sound for (now manager at Brookwood) Jeremy’s son Jake.  Speaking of Brookwood, Lisa and Karen recently had the opportunity to visit our new location, and thoroughly enjoyed the décor and new menu.  Thanks for years of your patronage ladies, and we look forward to many more visits to come!

     

    By Sam George, Manager at O'Henry's Harbert

     

     

    by Sarah Russ 

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  • Feb 15
    2010
    Profiles in Coffee Tasting IV
      in Coffee
     Profiles in Coffee Tasting IV
     
     
    Country Spotlight: Costa Rica
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Costa Rica literally means "rich coast."  Sandwiched between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Costa Rica has lush greenery and beautiful mountains. It is a country known for its coffee plantations and banana plantations. 
     
    The coffee we have at O'Henry's is Costa Rican Tarrazu which simply means it is from the country of Costa Rica and from the growing region of Tarrazu.  The Tarrazu region is located in the interior mountains of the country and produces a somewhat heavy coffee with a more complex aroma.  Other famous growing regions include Tres Rios and Heredia.
     
    Most Costa Rican coffees are dried using the Wet Method. Here is how the wet-process works:
         1. The fruit covering the coffee bean is removed.
         2. The coffee cherries are then sorted and immersed in water.  The unripe and bad coffee cherries will 
         float to the surface while the good ones sink.
         3. The outer skin and some of the pulp is removed by a machine that presses the cherry against a screen
         in the water.
         4. Finally the rest of the pulp is removed.  This can occur in a few ways.  One is by fermenting the beans
         with microbes (typically in their own pulp) and then washing them with large amounts of water. Another  
         way is by using a machine that mechanically scrubs the beans and washes them in water.
     
    We purchase our beans from the Don Roberto Cooperative because we feel their quality is consistent and consistently high.  It is wonderfully bright and crisp with smooth body, excellent aroma and a hint of light chocolate and citrus in the finish.  We also roast a darker version of this coffee; Costa Rican Dark.  It is the same bean from the same cooperative but it is roasted to a deep, dark caramel.  It is richly aromatic in the cup with mild berry and citrus flavors and a touch of smoke and dark chocolate in the finish.
     
    About the Country:
    Population - 4 million
    Capital - San Jose
    Language - Spanish
    Growing Altitude - 3,300-3,900 feet
    Fun Fact - Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America with a 97%.
     
    A few years ago our Production Manager Mike McElwain had the opportunity to visit Costa Rican. Read about his trip here.
     
     
     
     
     
    by Sarah Russ 

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  • Feb 2
    2010
    Profiles in Coffee Tasting III     1 comment
      in Coffee
    Profiles in Coffee Tasting

                       Country Spotlight: Guatemala

     

    Guatemala, a country with a long, rich and often tumultuous history, has become a country that can pride itself on growing great coffee.

    The origin of the country’s name is somewhat fuzzy. Guatemala, some say, means “land of the trees” while others hold to the belief that it means “between the trees”.

     

    Guatemala produces two distinct coffees; Guatemalan Antigua, grown in the region near the former capital, and Guatemalan Guayab, which we will learn more about in this blog.

     

    Guatemalan Guayab is grown in the famous Huehuetenango region by the small Guayab Cooperative. Situated in an extremely remote area of Huehuetenango, the Guayab Cooperative resides in the western highlands of the country. Huehuetenango is one of twenty-two departments of Guatemala; departments are similar to states or provinces. It borders Mexico on two sides.  This department also makes up one of the most ethnically diverse departments in Guatemala.

     

    The coffee from the Guayab Cooperative is impressive. Grown in the Blue River Valley (Cuenca de Rio Azul), it is shade-grown and fair trade. Since O’Henry’s started roasting this bean, we have been truly impressed by the product and the devotion of these farmers.  The coffee is richly aromatic with a delicate taste profile and an aroma of semi-sweet chocolate and papaya. See if you can’t pick up on the mild fruity and floral notes in the finish!


     

    About the Country:

    Population: 13 million

    Capital: Guatemala City

    Language: Spanish plus 22 indigenous languages

    Growing Altitude: Approximately 3,000 m.

     

    Facts: The Huehuetenango region also cultivates honey.

    by Sarah Russ 

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  • Jan 19
    2010
    Profiles in Coffee Tasting II     3 comments
      in Coffee
     
     
    Country Spotlight: Yemen
     
     
     
     
     
     
    If you walk into any O'Henry's you can find, under the World Class section of coffee bins, Yemen Mocca Mattari.  That's a mouthful!  The name in itself is significant because it represents exactly where the coffee originates.  Yemen (the country), Mocca (the port city) and Mattari (the growing region). 
     
    Widely recognized as the second oldest coffee cultivating country in the world, second only to Ethiopia, Yemen coffees are known for their rich, earthy and complex flavors.  There are four different growing regions in Yemen with two being most famous.  The Sanani growing region (which produces a slightly fruitier less earthy cup) and the Mattari growing region (which produces an earthier, heavier bodied cup).  O'Henry's gets its beans from the Mattari region.
     
    Yemen coffee is traditionally grown without the use of chemicals and is dry-processed. Dry-process is also known as the natural method of drying coffee. 
     
    Here is how the process works:
    1. The coffee cherries are harvested, sorted and cleaned.
    2. The good coffee cherries are then spread out evenly in the sun on large concrete slabs or brick patios.
    3. As the coffee cherries dry, they are raked and rotated so they dry evenly.
     
    This process can take up to four weeks so some larger coffee plantations use machines to speed up the process.
     
    About the Country:
    Population:  28 million
    Capital: Sana'a
    Language: Arabic
    Growing Altitude: 1,000-3,000 m.
    Fun Facts: Yemen is credited with the first blended coffee, Mocha Java.  Yemen has one of the world's highest birth rates; Yemeni women bear approximately six children.

     

    by Sarah Russ 

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