The Lineup
( every variety in the water, not just ours )
14 cards · we never rate a variety · we do tell you what it’s for
The old line, and everything that came off it.
Ojai, the pink moment, orchard rows going gold
Bourbon
Bourbon Island (Réunion) · 1700s · via French missionaries
“Ojai at golden hour, and it knows it.”
Pasadena, a Craftsman porch, half past seven
Typica
Ethiopia → Yemen → Java → the Americas · 1700s
“A Craftsman porch in Pasadena, and about as productive.”
An Orange County cul-de-sac, 7am, every driveway identical
Caturra
Brazil · c. 1915 · a natural mutation of Bourbon
“An Orange County cul-de-sac at seven in the morning.”
The Grapevine, northbound, the long climb out of the basin
Catuaí
Brazil · 1949 · Instituto Agronômico de Campinas
“The 5 over the Grapevine. Built for weather.”
Where the plant is actually from.
Ethiopian Landraces
Ethiopia · thousands of years · nobody selected them
“A Malibu canyon after rain — unmapped, and different every hundred yards.”
The Japanese garden at the Huntington, before the crowds
Gesha
Gesha, Ethiopia · collected 1936 · famous in Panama, 2004
“The Japanese garden at the Huntington. Everybody photographs it.”
Selected at Scott Laboratories, Nairobi.
Enormous, theatrical, hard to grow.
Bred to survive. Quietly running the industry.
Pioneer Boulevard, Artesia — Little India, before the shops open
S795
India · 1940s · Balehonnur Coffee Research Station
“Pioneer Boulevard, Artesia. Everyday, and better than you expect.”
The Port of Long Beach, gantry cranes against the morning
Catimor
Portugal · 1959 · Timor hybrid × Caturra
“The Port of Long Beach. Unromantic, and holding the whole thing up.”
The 210 through Glendora, first light, the San Gabriels behind
Castillo
Colombia · 2005 · Cenicafé
“The 210 through Glendora at first light. Dependable, and unfairly maligned.”
Recent, strange, and worth your attention.
Ombligón
Colombia (Huila) · the last decade · a natural mutation
“A snow cone melting on the Huntington boardwalk in August.”
Abbot Kinney, Venice, mid-morning
Pink Bourbon
Colombia (Huila) · recent · and probably not a Bourbon at all
“Abbot Kinney. Lovely, fashionable, costs more than it should.”
Robusta
West and Central Africa · described 1897
“The Salton Sea. Thrives where nothing refined will.”
We have no commercial relationship with any roaster named here. We bought the coffee.