X

Phil

Gems in Peru

by

FGC’s green coffee buyer, Phil Anacker, recently returned from the Cusco region in Peru, where he discovered what’s possible in the way of fantastic small lot coffees when one of the largest (and not a little corrupt) growers’  cooperatives suddenly dissolves from political infighting. In the small and slightly warm town of Quillabamba, Phil cupped … Read more

Jesse B’s Honduras Visit

by

Honduras Cup of Excellence 2014 by Jesse Bladyka Earlier this month, I traveled to San Pedro Sula to participate in the 11th Cup of Excellence Honduras. Cup of Excellence is a program administered by the non-profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence which aims to identify and promote exemplary coffees within a coffee producing country. These extraordinary … Read more

Good as Gold

by

Flying Goat Coffee Wins Good here Award and Special Gold Seal Distinction

Good Food Awards Gold Seal 2013

We like awards as much as anyone, but being picked as this year’s winner in the Good Food Awards coffee category was a big thrill for us. Not only was our coffee chosen for cup quality out of 200 entries from the best roasters around the country, it was also designated as a Gold Seal winner, a special distinction for winners that go beyond the Good Food Awards sustainability guidelines.

Our aim, from the first day we started roasting coffee in Healdsburg, has been to find the best coffees in the world, grown by
 

 people who care not only for the crop they grow, Ethiopia GFA Pic_edited-1 (683×1024)but also for the people, animals and land around them. T

his commitment needs to be more than just a certification on paper; it needs to be a way of life. That’s why we spend so much time meeting with coffee farmers, walking with them on their farms, and exploring new and better ways to improve coffee quality and environmental h

ealth on and around their farms. To us, coffee quality and sustainability are mutually reinforcing. The Good Food Award, along with the special Golden Seal designation, is pro

of positive that this is a winning approach to creating the world’s best coffee.

Much of the credit for the award goes to the farmers and managers at the Wottuna Boltuma cooperative in Ethiopia. This winning coffee was the result of a special member-organized project that dedicated extra time to sorting ripe cherries and staffing the drying beds in exchange for a healthy per-pound premium if the targeted quality was achieved. FGC green buyer, Phil Anacker, just returned from a trip to Southern and Western Ethiopia and visited with all the farms we work with, including the Wottuna Boltuma co-op. He came away impressed as ever with the work being done there.

Good Food Awards Winner Seal .O.2013A special thank you also goes out to the judges who flew into San Francisco from the far corners of the globe to contribute their renowned cupping skills to the grueling process of blind cupping and scoring nearly 200 coffees. This rigorous and well-

Before this season’s crop is gone, we encourage you to try a bag of our certified organic Wottuna Boltuma and support the great coffee work being done in Ethiopia.managed cupping is why everyone in the Specialty Coffee Industry takes this competition so seriously. It makes the win that much more valuable.

Tintype Prints by Caitlin McCaffery @ the Healdsburg Store

by

The Healdsburg café is currently showing tintype prints created by talented Bay Area photographer Caitlin McCaffrey. The prints are of Greek and Roman statuary and were made using the painstaking collodion process, a printing method popularized in the 1850s. They’re big, beautiful and worth a look, especially in afternoon light. They’ll be showing through the … Read more

Feeling “Good”

by

We’re very happy to announce that Flying Goat Coffee was chosen this week as a national finalist in the second annual Good Food Awards. There were hundreds of entries from across the country, so we consider this a great honor and a testament to exceptional coffee farming, dedicated sourcing and skilled roasting. The winning coffee … Read more

Best of Panama

by

FGC’s green coffee buyer, Phil Anacker, just returned from Boquete, Panama, where he participated with 15 other international jurors in the Best of Panama Competition. As a producing country, Panama’s output is tiny; in terms of quality, however, it’s a giant. The discovery of the now famous Gesha cultivar on the Peterson Family’s Hacienda La … Read more

FGC Again Wins Best Coffee House Vote

by

Recognition in any form for the work we do is always great to receive. It’s particularly rewarding when it comes directly from our customers. Thank you to all the FGC fans that again voted us Best Coffeehouse of the North Bay! Expect even more from us in the coming year.

MEET THE ARTISTS

by

Tonight: March 19 from 8 to 10 PM Come to Healdsburg tonight to meet all three artists whose work is currently on display in the original FGC cafe. B.L.T. is the ongoing Collaborative Painting Project of Bob Stang, Lisa Beerntsen, & Tony Speirs. Their work will be up through May, but tonight will be the … Read more

The Bean, The Whole Beautiful Bean!

by

Grinding whole bean coffee just before brewing is an indispensable step to experiencing its peak flavor and aroma.  Once coffee is ground, and its delicate flavor oils are exposed to air, it is almost immediately affected by staling and oxidation.  Even the best coffee is vulnerable to losing crispness of flavor and aroma just minutes … Read more

What’s a Honey?

by

We’ve received a number of customer questions regarding the term “honey process” used to describe some of the Central American coffees on our offering page. Since we will be bringing in a number of these coffees this year, we thought a detailed explanation was in order. “Coffee processing” refers to the method of removing the … Read more