Sea level. We hear about it a lot when we talk about coffee. We’re launching a new Barismo coffee tomorrow at our Midnight Coffee and Donuts event. [If you want to join us there are a few hours left to get advance tickets!] Pete, the roaster will be joining us to talk about the coffee but here’s a sneak peek.

This coffee was grown 4500 feet above sea level. That’s 21 times the height of Boston’s highest point. But it’s still very very low compared to most great coffees. Elevation has something to do with coffee quality, but not everything.

Jardin de Aromas is a mill located on a farm in Costa Rice that lies beneath 2 volcanoes. It’s run by a Swiss woman named Carole Zbinden. She is obsessed with clean flavors and she’s obsessed with not wasting anything. She uses the post-fermentation water to irrigate the grasses on the farm. She prunes her trees obsessively which results in the entire farm being replanted every 5 years. Because of these measures she’s able to produce beautiful coffees at relatively low elevation.

2015 is the fourth year that Barismo has bought directly from this farm. It’s by far the most sustainable farm they’ve ever bought from. Pete was telling me that most roasters would have ignored this farm because of elevation. We’re so glad they did not.