Coffee of the month! (with a crazy tangent into a pricing discussion)

Starting in March, I will begin to off a new variety of coffee every month (a coffee of the month!). Basically, each month, I'll be bringing in something new for all-ya-all to try from various spots around the globe (those who are or aspire to be our CaffeiNation subscribers, you may or may not receive the coffee of the month, depending on what else I have up my sleeve that month!).

Well, I've got March's coffee and as a special to our readers, I'm going to spill the beans now... It's an Ethiopian Harrar. It's got a lot of character to it, and its more of a spicy and winey Ethiopian than the Yirg that I stock (which has strong floral and citric flavors to it). It's a limited supply, as the weather last year did not cooperate with the Harrars... The very wet season meant that drying the beans was next to impossible for many farms and lots of beans were left to rot, rather than dry. This has driven the prices up for the Harrars, so I didn't end up investing a lot into it, so get 'em while you can!

Speaking of prices, there's been lots of news recently about coffee prices climbing. I've been largely shielded from this because I bought big enough quantities of my standard coffee's to have lower cost beans in stock. When I price my new coffee of the month, I find that I get asked often why its so expensive (even my stock prices have climbed as I'm starting cycle through what I have). I don't have a nice, neat, and clean answer for you on this, but here's my attempt:

1) The weak dollar compared to other world currencies is adding to the cost I pay for coffee, as my importers are having to pay more to get the same amount. Doesn't seem like it should make that much difference, but trust me, it does.

2) The weather in 2006 and 2007 in many regions (note the Harrar limited availability described above) has substantially impacted the supply of good coffee - I can probably still get crap coffee in abundance, but why?!?

3) Hurricane Katrina actually had a pretty substantial impact on coffee prices in the Eastern US in 2007 as ports went closed and sources were re-routed. While it seems like we shouldn't be feeling the affects of Katrina in the coffee market now, it is my opinion (not really many facts to go with it in this case, just an opinion) that once prices climb, they never return to the previous level - as evidence, consider how much are you paying for gas now versus a year ago.

I'm doing my best to keep prices steady, but as I rotate in new coffees every month, I'm afraid they won't be my lowest priced varieties.

Well, there you go, a hodge-podge of new coffee and pricing thoughts for you.

Drink on, my friends!
Big Dave!