Take Courage

Coffee With A Mission!

Coffee with a mission! That’s the slogan of  Hemisphere Coffee Roasters (www.hemispherecoffeeroasters.com). This week’s coffee is light/medium roast called Café Diego. It is grown by Diego Chavarria in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. People from Rosedale Mennonite Missions met Diego in the 1970’s while doing work in the area. They became friends and started working together. In 2006 HCR purchased a full container of Café Diego, paying twice what they were currently receiving. With the profit the men are empowered to pay their workers better, sustain the farm, and hire pastors for their workers and their families. Six churches are now supported from ongoing coffee purchases.

The Café Diego is described as having a good acidity and chocolaty undertones. It is grown at high altitudes in old shade canopy. The bean is hard and has wonderful characteristics. One of the things we enjoy about doing the coffee reviews is sharing coffee with friends who don’t normally drink coffee made from fresh ground beans. We get to try new coffees and help friends find out just how easy it is to grind whole beans and then use a different brewer. It is about the relationships with people. It seems to be that way with HCR too.

This light/medium roasted Café Diego has an earthy and fruity aroma. When brewed in the French Press it has a medium body, not too heavy or too light. The taste seems to hit the middle of the tongue and there is a bittersweet chocolate flavor. It has a natural sweetness. We enjoyed the flavor of this coffee.

Next up was the AeroPress brewer and it seemed to intensify the flavors. The AeroPress is unique in that you can brew and drink the coffee like an espresso or add water to the cup and drink it like American coffee. We brewed it and tasted it espresso style and it wasn’t overpowering. Neither Kim nor I really like espresso, so we added some water and it still had a surprisingly good deep flavor.

We also used the auto-drip and filled a thermos for a short trip to some used bookstores and antique stores. The coffee had a good roast flavor and hints of dark chocolate. The acidity is low and there is a pleasant aftertaste.

We liked this coffee from any of the brewers we used and would give it two thumbs up. We are not experts about coffee but we are willing to break out of old routines and brew coffee in different ways. We like tasting the differences that each brewing method presents to us. If you haven’t tried a whole bean coffee, give it a try, you can do it and you will be glad you did.

If you want to try some good coffee and help missionaries and missions work at the same time we suggest you try this Café Diego or any of the coffees from Hemisphere Coffee Roasters. You’ll be glad you did. We received this coffee for free and offer objective feedback. Until next time enjoy the coffee and conversation.

Much GRACE and peace to you,

Bill and Kim

Romans 15:13; Psalm 34:1-10