NANOROAST OF THE NORTH ARRIVES!
This is our temporary Canadian page. All amounts are in commonly-used Canadian measures, e.g., $Cdn, Interac and ounces (yes, they use ounces and grams.)
What is NanoRoast, and How does it work?
NanoRoast is about customizing your coffee to find the origins and roast levels that you like without regard to what other people think. To do that, I seek the best selections and highest quality while staying solvent, determine the optimal roast range within which the bean performance shines, and I match your roasted beans to what you like best in the cup.
It’s often hard to describe exactly what that perfect cup tastes like, so I give you a chance to head me in the right direction, and then we collaborate on how you want to adjust my idea to become your idea of great coffee. I often add random samples and upgrades to your order so you can try something new, and I can hone my understanding of what you like. Most NanoRoast customers have worked with me for upwards of ten years now, staying with NanoRoast even now we’ve moved to Canada. I’d love to add some Canadian customers to enjoy these tasty coffees with me. We also have pages on the website devoted to everything I’ve learned about coffee, making coffee, choosing a roast, etc. Start here: Main page
Want More? I invite you to enjoy the samples, ask any questions ([email protected]) and for the time being, email or text me your orders (604-203-8581.) ITo keep it simple, all selections listed sell for $20 Cdn for 12 oz. I prefer those cool Canadian Interac transactions. Send to: [email protected]. Answer to your security question if any must be “NanoRoast”, please. I’m just now figuring out all the various taxes, so for now, the price includes tax. Thank you for your patience while I get the Canada portion set up!
Warmly,
Susan Sloan, Head Bean Wrangler
(604) 203-8581 phone or text
To Order:
-Email [email protected] OR text 604-203-8581 with your origin or blend selection(s) and roast level desired. I also need your address or place of pickup.
-All coffee selections are $20 Cdn for 12 oz., tax included. Please pay either by cash or email Interac transfer to 604-203-8581. If you have to use a security question, make sure the answer is NanoRoast.
-Orders are usually ready in 4-5 days, but sometimes we do emergency batches so you can drink the good stuff.
NanoRoast Coffee Menu 22 Nov 2023
Coffees Recommended by Relative Roast Level
These groupings are offered as general suggestions, but you are encouraged to try non-traditional roast levels as you like. Example: a medium-roast Sumatra or a lighter roast Brazil. It’s about what you like—origin flavour or roast flavour.
Lighter Roasts: Ethiopia (both), Kenya, Burundi, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Heart of Africa
Medium to Barely Dark Roasts: Pretty much all of them will be delicious somewhere in this range.
Dark Roasts: Bali, Sumatra, India Monsooned, India Mysore Arabica, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Mocha Java
The List, Described in Detail
Bali Kintamani Natural Process, FTO
Bali’s coffee shares much in common with Sumatran coffee. Both use Typica hybrids as a legacy of the days when the Dutch brought coffee to Java from Reunion Island. Add the overwhelming local heat and humidity, and you have a coffee that dries very slowly, preserving fruitiness and adds some earthy rustic funk for interest (in a good way.) Bali’s a bit less earthy and herbal than our Sumatra and plenty fruity at the Medium+ roast, going chocolaty and a bit less fruity at a Dark roast. Many have remarked on the hint of “barrel aged” whiskey on the nose, though it just tastes fruity to me. It’s one that I will roast Dark-Dark for its intoxicating aroma and tasty deep tones. Brew in a french press or make a memorable espresso shot.
Brazil Sertao Estate Natural Process
This is a tasty specialty-quality Brazil natural with a classic Brazilian profile: nutty (more hazelnuts than walnut), buttery heavy body, with an underlying dark chocolate base that emerges as the roast goes darker. There’s not a lot of fruit, but the big nutty chocolate flavors are quite smooth and play with milk nicely. Medium roasts emphasize the nutty aspects; dark roasts are all about the bittering chocolate. Makes wonderfully classic chocolaty, nutty espresso shots.
Burundi Kayanza Coop Bourbon Varietal
High-Grown Washed Process Burundi lies just south of Rwanda and shares the same terroir and capability to produce world class, high-grown coffee. It also shares a sad history of the same ethnic violence as Rwanda without the worldwide attention. Nevertheless, important improvements in the coffee industry recently have yielded some hope for lifting its people from poverty and providing us with some excellent coffee. Burundi’s coffee today can stand proud next to the best Rwandans and Kenyans. I estimate the SCAA cupping score on this lot at 90 points with a profile like our Rwanda offering coming up in early 2024: brown sugar, raisin, baking spices and mild citrus with a touch of black tea-like astringency. I recommend a lighter-medium roast to get the best range of flavors, but you can emphasize brightness at a lighter roast or mute it by going darker. It’s delicious as espresso, drip, or press. Beautiful coffee!
Classic Latin American Blend
We blended the best washed and natural process coffees from the Western Hemisphere to create a blend most closely approximating what Americans think coffee SHOULD taste like but rarely find. We were going for a pure, excellent cup you can brew any way and that is deeply satisfying at any roast level. Lighter roasts are smooth and sweet, with chocolate, nuts and brown sugar notes and a clean finish. Darker roasts tend toward bittersweet chocolate with a nutty note. Recommended for espresso.
Colombia Tolima/Inzá Region
Just because you see Colombian coffee everywhere, it doesn’t mean it is GOOD Colombian. Our high-grown Tolima/Inzá is less trendy than Huila, but it hits the mark for capturing the best of the classic big bodied smooth-tasting Colombian profile. Far from boring, the Tolima has a sweet, intense aroma; big, buttery mouth feel; a touch of brightness, drying walnut mouth feel with lots of brown sugar-toffee notes. While this coffee is versatile at a full range of roasts, emphasis changes by level: brown sugar, graham cracker, drying walnut at the lighter and medium roasts. Medium roast, of course, is a bit less bright than the light roast, but it retains all the butter toffee sweetness. Darker tones of chocolate and caramelizing sugar emerge at the darker roasts, perfect for a clean, sweet espresso. This one works well for drip, pour-over, french press and espresso. Available in a mélange (a mix of roasts) that is especially nice, too.
Costa Rica Tarrazu’ SHB – Miel Blanco Process
Somewhat delicate sweet and fruity flavors at the lighter end pair with heavier body due to a form of natural processing. Stone fruit (peaches/plums) and sweet berry flavors reminiscent of a dry-process Ethiopian predominate the light roasts, while classic CR semi-sweet chocolate and toasted hazelnuts emerge at the medium-darker roast levels and fruit recedes. The natural miel processing method used (called literally, “honey” due to the syrupy body it imparts, not the taste) adds more body, complexity and fruitiness than we would normally see in a classic washed process Costa Rican coffee, but the overall effect is still very refined and not at all rustic. It shines using drip and pour-over at light roasts, and it makes a standout espresso shot, too. Delicious!
Ethiopia has two coffees (or more)
The birthplace of coffee produces selections very much in a class by themselves. No matter how you process the coffee, the distinctive Ethiopian origin flavors shine through, although in different ways. The Ethiopians keep the exact varietals secret—we only know they are “heirloom” and different than other varietals grown around the world today. These unique coffees are more differentiated by their processing (the emphasis on fruit vs floral) and local traditions. We offer two broad types:
Ethiopia Washed Process (the more citrusy/floral one) This classic washed Ethiopian has jasmine-floral-citrus and stone fruit up front, with a semi-sweet chocolate note in the background depending on roast level. Unlike dry process Ethiopians we have enjoyed from Yirgacheffe, this one’s fruit is more restrained and the body is lighter due to washed processing. Light roast is clean fruity-citrusy/floral with a hint of chocolate and restrained lemonade brightness; medium to dark roast becomes slightly less fruity and more chocolaty. A mélange provides both fruity and roasty semi-sweet chocolate. A versatile brewer, it works nicely with pour-over, drip, french press (or SO espresso for the darker roast). If you are afraid of a little tang, I’d order this roasted a bit on the Medium to Medium-Dark side. This is elegant coffee that cupped at 91.4 points on the SCAA scale.
Ethiopia Natural Process (the fruitier one) Natural processing yields elegant, extremely fruity, slightly herbal flavors with more body. Natural methods producing the best-known fruit bombs usually come from Yirgacheffe, Guji and Sidama in southern Ethiopia. (Harar in Eastern Ethiopia has more in common with wild Yemeni coffee.) It has bigger body than the washed, but the texture is silky, creamy and smooth. This is a versatile and distinctive cup, a stellar performer from pour over to french press to cold brew. The consensus of our customers is that it is best at lightest possible roasts where the berry/fruity flavors are most evident, but we also like it in a mélange where a range of roast levels allow for balancing the berries with a bit more roasty chocolaty flavors to complement and add depth. At the medium roast level, the aroma can be blueberry-peach cobbler. Yum. For dark roast, please choose the Ethiopia Washed. Note: The lightest possible roast is a City Roast level in coffee roaster lingo. Medium Roast is about Full City, and Medium Dark is Full City +.
Haitian Jamaica Blue Mountain
Haiti shares the Island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic and is near Jamaica and Cuba, sharing the same climate. In recent years, some great nonprofits have come alongside Haitian farmers to replant sustainable farms in that poverty-stricken, deforested country. Our Haitian JBM shows how improved the new Haitian coffee industry has become–and it is reversing the worst effects of the last 70 years of chaos. Win/win indeed! The coffee is fairly delicate and floral, and it roasts best at medium to dark roasts. Considered one of the mildest coffees, our JBM is in the same flavor profile category as other Island coffees, such as Kona and Jamaican JBM. This is one dark roast that can do a pour over or french press with grace. It’s a bit more expensive because I paid a premium toward reforesting, meaning you can claim at least one tree planted for every pound purchased.
Heart of Africa Blend
This is a proprietary blend of top-rated East African Coffees designed to delight those who avoid dark-roast coffee and who really love all those sweet, jazzy notes emblematic of the coffees of East Africa. Hands down, this is the coffee I want in my cup in the morning. Sweet muscovado sugar, slight raisin/fig and baking spice notes, with a black tea-like astringency that is lively but not obnoxious. In short, it’s the best of the African profile. I recommend it at a lighter-medium roast for optimal liveliness, sweetness and interest. We also do a mélange roast of medium and darker elements for those who want roasty notes in addition to the unique origin flavors. Makes a lively but delicious espresso.
India Aged Monsooned Malabar
Everyone knows how India swelters in dry heat every year until the monsoon comes–then the heat is moderated slightly from a LOT of humidity. Normally, this might pose a problem for storing a dry seed (coffee bean), but Indian coffee producers have used this annual phenomenon to make a coffee that is really different: Monsooned Malabar. Basically, the dried coffee is laid out on cement floors in covered warehouses and allowed to swell up with monsoon moisture. The “zombie bean” that results incorporates all the funky* wild flavors and aromas of the locale (such as wet loamy earth, very ripe fruit and pungent spice notes) in a coffee that has thick, creamy body and very low acid. It’s one order of magnitude more exotic than Yemeni coffee, I think. Full Disclosure: It’s probably not your daily drinker, but it could be a special treat. Drink this one made by french press or as espresso. Are you adventurous and want to try some? PLEASE NOTE: you can have a free sample with the purchase of any NanoRoast coffee. (*Other guesses: gym socks, wet dog, camel…)
India Mysore Region
There is a story of how a Muslim saint smuggled coffee seeds into India about 350 years ago. Thus began India’s relationship with coffee. Few know that tea only rose to dominance after the coffee rust epidemic wiped out plantations on Ceylon and SW India in the 1800s. Anyway, they use the same Typica-based hybrids as are used in Sumatra, but the processing is different. The result is a much smoother, less rustic coffee with many of the same origin flavors as Indonesians and Papua New Guineas–a bit herbal, exotic fruit, leather, and bittersweet chocolate. Roasted along the darker end of the roast range, this coffee provides a very satisfying dark espresso or cappuccino. I would avoid pour overs, but french press and drip are also nice. Plays well with milk drinks.
Kenya Washed Bourbon AA
With Ethiopia, Kenya produces some of the highest-rated coffees in the world (this one scored 92.0 on the SCAA scale), but they are in general quite different from Central American or Indos. They are known for their clean, bright acidity (jazzy tang on the palate, not sourness), silky body, and lingering pleasant aftertaste. While most Kenyas are best (IMHO) at a lighter-to-medium roast, this coffee can take the heat to produce an elegant medium-dark roast as well. At the lighter end of the roast range, this classic Kenya has figs, brown sugar, baking spice and just a touch of citrus brightness that gives it almost a winey note. At the darker levels, acidity and citrusy notes are more restrained while dark and semisweet chocolate notes arise in harmony with the remaining fruit notes. This coffee is competition level goodness at all roast levels. For those wanting elements of both light and dark, or if you want all the nice Kenyan flavors with much lower acidity, try a mélange roast. While it shines as a pour over, it makes a jazzy espresso, too. I think french press too easily goes to uncomfortable acidity if allowed to steep for more than 3-4 minutes, so be forewarned.
Mexico High-Grown Organic Chiapas/Oaxaca
Our Mexican co-op selection this year is a high-grown (1600 MASL) organic coffee from Chiapas, in southern Mexico near Guatemala. While many farmers have torn out high-quality standard varieties due to roya disease and lower yields, this lot is solely from the varieties that have the best cup quality; hence the premium to the farmer. It’s a beautifully-processed specialty grade chocolate bomb at Medium+ to Dark roasts, delicious as espresso, french press or drip. I’d stick to medium roasts if you want a pour-over, and it will have notes of stone fruit with hints of browned sugars, malt, and toffee instead of chocolate. A washed coffee, it will have light to medium body that is quite delicious.
Mocha Java–the Authentic Blend
One of our crowd-pleasers at a medium-dark to dark-dark roast, this authentic Mocha Java has little to do with what coffee bars sell as “mocha” (hot chocolate and coffee). Mocha (or Mokka) was a port on the Red Sea until it silted up a couple hundred years ago. Because of its location on a main trade route, it was possible to blend coffee from Java with those from the Horn of Africa and Yemen for a savory chocolate and rustic, wildish fruit profile. Our Mocha Java combines a rustic fruitiness with the Oreo cookie chocolate base, big body and a silky finish that is memorable and delicious. Excellent for espresso shots or french press! Pairs wonderfully with milk, too.
Panama Boquete Region Washed Caturra
The Boquete region is in the west of the country, and the farm is one of the primo fincas that perch high up Volcan Barú. This a beautiful blend of high-quality Typica and Caturra, prepped with care, resulting in a gorgeous cup, especially at lighter medium and medium roasts. It’s one of my original favorites—tasty, no sharp edges, enough zip to keep it far away from flat. We don’t take this one dark to preserve the brown sugar sweetness, medium body and well-integrated floral aspects that make this a crowd-pleaser.
Sumatra Lake Toba TP Rainforest Alliance
Wet-Hulled, Organic, Fair Trade, Smallholder Co-op
Most people think Sumatra only comes in dark, dark, dark, but ours doesn’t. Our Triple Pick, the highest grade produced in Sumatra, is a good example of the classic Sumatran profile at darker roasts (bold, brooding, rich and intense, with pronounced flavors of dark chocolate, rustic cedar wood smoke, herbs and peaty leather with heavy, smooth body and a long finish,) but we include it because it can be a very different take on coffee flavors. At the medium roast points, complex wild rustic and sweeter, exotic fruity flavors dominate, and chocolate notes are way less pronounced. Going darker, the complexity diminishes, turning to smoky, peppery bittersweet/savory chocolate flavors–a more bold, rustic cup. We recommend the mélange, a blend of roast levels, to capture the dark roast flavors and the origin flavors together. The darker roast levels are perfect for espresso or french press. The Medium to Medium-Dark roasts can provide a sweet and complex pour-over or drip as well. Note: Wet-hull processing leaves the gnarliest looking beans you can imagine. Anything short of super dark is going to look nasty but taste great.
Don’t see an origin you want to try? Email me: [email protected]