Blue Bottle's New Small Lot Coffee Series
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Clay McLachlan/Claypix.com
The other day the kind folks at Blue Bottle sent over a little tin of special small-lot Ethiopian Nekisse coffee that retails for $15 for a third of a pound. We were initially struck by the high price tag, but once we tried a cup we realized that this was such a different breed of coffee that to compare it to our usual morning blend was like comparing a rare wine to something you pick up on sale at Safeway. Ethiopian Nekisse was more delicate, fruiter, and nuttier than your average coffee, with a flavor profile I hadn't encountered in a cup before. At the price, it's hard to justify buying it for everyday use. But with its impressive taste and hip packaging, it would make a great hostess gift or treat for the holidays.
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So why is it so expensive? Basically, these are rare, heirloom beans that undergo careful processing (Blue Bottle teams up with Ninety Plus Coffee to source them). They also have a stellar reputation among coffee cognoscenti and excellent cupping scores, so there's a high demand for them -- the beans made headlines a few years ago when Cafe Grumpy in New York served Ethiopian Nekisse for $12 a cup.
And as it is, the $15 price tag for these beans at Blue Bottle evens out to about $2.50 per cup, which isn't any worse than a latte habit. The Small Lot series also includes Guatemala Finca El Injerto Capadocia Peaberry beans for $12 and Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha beans for $25/tin. But think about it: You wouldn't bat an eye for laying out extra cash for wine around the holidays, so why should coffee be any different?
Or as Tom and Donna say on Parks & Rec, Treat yo self.
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Blue Bottle Coffee Company
5002 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA
Category: Restaurant
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