Amaya Roasting Company has been pushing seasonal coffees since its inception, so it is no surprise to see new- and old-crop coffees appear and disappear from its lineup. This Brazilian coffee from the Sul de Minas Gerais region is a single varietal - 100 percent Yellow Bourbon, which means its flavor and mouthfeel are persistent and dominant. If you pull some beans out of the bag, you'll notice that they are all similar in shape and size -- another example of what a single varietal means.
We love this coffee because it takes well to most brewing methods. We made a pour-over at a slightly finer grind, which produced a rich body with bittersweet chocolate and musky red fruit tones. While delicious in a pour-over, the Monte Alegre also works fine with your drip coffee machine at a slightly courser grind. Easily one of our favorite breakfast coffees -- in these we prefer body and substance over acidity and liveliness - this makes the morning better.
We suggest heading to Catalina Coffee on Washington and giving Monte Alegre a try using various brewing methods to see which style you would prefer at home. While it's only available at Catalina right now, Max Gonzalez, Amaya's owner and head roaster, has been working on building an online retail store that will be up at www.catalinacoffeeshop.com soon. Until then, we suggest picking up a 12-ounce bag of this Brazilian before it is gone for another season.