As a huge coffee lover, I was too thrilled to try some new coffee! I am one who enjoys trying a variety of coffee and doesn't like drinking the same flavor every day.
I recently discovered a company called
Carta Coffee Merchants who offers quite a variety of coffee to choose from!
About Carta Coffee Merchants
If the bean isn’t exceptional, then the coffee won’t be either. But, exceptional beans don’t just grow on their own -- they need attention and care. At Carta Coffee, we believe that care begins first with the nurturing of the soil, then the plants and cherries and then the beans. We draw on our passion for farming to craft a supremely delicious cup of 100% Kona coffee. From our farm to your cup. Our unique background in farming and viticulture allows us to create coffee that fully embraces your senses, from each layer of flavor to the overall aroma, mouthfeel and experience. After all, we’re crafting for you the same caliber and quality of coffee we want to enjoy! We source beans from our own Nolyssa Farm, a mixed elevation, sloping 6-acre piece of land in the Kealakekua district of Kona, as well as from select small, sustainably-minded farms throughout Kona. Each small batch of hand-harvested coffee reflects the flavors and culture of Kona, Hawaii, giving you a taste of the superlative coffee farming craft and tradition on the island.
Our goal with
Carta Coffee Merchants is to offer customers directly the most interesting, beautiful and delicious expressions of 100% Kona coffee, using the best farming practices possible. Founded by Scott Burr, California winemaker and industry veteran, Carta prides itself on presenting some very unique approaches to coffee production, including offering side-by-side tastings of different processing styles, from drying and roasting techniques to showcasing harvest selections from specific growth plots. Some of these ideas are very labor intensive, but if done correctly, will make for very flavorful and truly remarkable cups of coffee. We look forward to sharing our coffees with you!
The
Kuppa Kona is processed in the “wet” method, which is the mechanical extraction of the bean from the cherry and washing without fermentation, leaving some natural sugar on the drying bean. A believer in conserving both water and flavor, Scott is using a process that uses the minimum amount of water needed to remove and cleanse the beans, without stripping desired flavors.
This was the first coffee I tried. I have a hand coffee grinder that I added some of the coffee beans to make the coffee grinds. I then added it to a reusable K-cup and was able to enjoy my coffee from my Keurig machine! I did this same process when I gave the Captain's Roast a try.
Carta’s Captain’s Roast is founder Scott Burr’s first signature roast, created using a deeper roasting technique to produce the rich, dark, slightly smoky cup of joe that Scott personally loves to kickstart his day! A blend of small batches and unique lots from Nolyssa Farm and partner Kona farms, using both natural and traditional drying processes. As a mash-up of processes and sources, the Captain’s Roast is a complete and delicious surprise: a balance of smooth sweetness of the natural process and clean citrus highlights from the traditional approach, presented in a deep, rich roast.
Both coffees were AMAZING, but I found I enjoyed the Captain's Roast the best out of the two I tried. While I found both had very similar fragrances to the beans and the grinds, their flavors were definitely noticeably different. I found the Kuppa Kona to be a bit stronger in the bean flavor than the Captain's Roast, but I found the Captain's Roast has a bit more "wow factor" with its flavor. It's a bit hard to describe. Just the way the flavor notes hit really sat well with my taste buds! Both coffees, however, had a smooth, yet bold, flavor.
The beans had no issues grinding and while it is a bit more work to grind the coffee beans to gain fresh coffee, I found the flavor had this indescribable freshness to it, compared to pre-ground coffee I would typically purchase in the store or even k-cups.
Besides absolutely amazing coffee, I found that my coffee was shipped out and received rather quickly from Carta Coffee Merchants. This was my first time hearing and trying Carta Coffee Merchants, however, I definitely plan on being back. It was an all-around delicious experience! I highly recommend them for any coffee lover to try!