So long, and thanks for all the fish…….

".......... this is the 5th (I so wish it was 42nd) in a new "galaxy" of guest coffee blends we are introducing in 2013 ........"

Its time for blend number 5 of our guest blend range, and this month its called “Don’t Panic”

I love Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, not the new rubbish film, but the book and the bbc tv series and radio program that was spawned from the book. I don’t do a good job but I always try top hide my geekisms, but this is one area I struggle.

On May the 25th each year its towel day, celebrating the life and works of Douglas Adams who passed away in 2001 on the 11th of May. So two weeks after this every year since theres a small bunch of die hard fans who celebrate by taking a towel with them. I know this might be tough for you, so with every bag of this blend you will receive an emergency towelet to hydrate and expand and use should an emergency arrive.

So why don’t panic ? We have blended two coffees together that in relaity should install panic and worry. We have used our colombian DECAF and our El Salvador Finca Argentina Fincona 1 CATIMOR Washed, two coffees that if you had not of tasted them would scare the heck out of you. But you know what, rules are there to be broken and this just works as an amazing delicious coffee. The fact that both of them taste lovely on their own, gives a good clue to this is an amazing coffee.

The blend will run for one month or until sold out, so do not hang about. You can buy it here, or read the website description here

 

 

Available Roasted Beans Only

What ever you do please don’t panic……………..

This is the 5th (I so wish it was 42nd) in a new “galaxy” of guest coffee blends we are introducing in 2013. Each month there will be a new blend for which there will be an original label in a different style of bag, and of which there will only be 500 made. Each bag will be marked with a unique limited edition number.

These are the blends most roasters would be scared to share with you, but not us fearless souls at Has Bean Towers with our looking to the stars, going to that extra mile and on to the next solar system and all the other stupid sayings you can think of. In the cup think unbalanced, off-the-wall experiments that are tasty but never normal, and are always a bit unusual and pushing the boundaries. This months is taking that to a new space and time dimension.

We have also decided to name them with equally appropriate stupidness. In honour of the towel day on May the 25th to demonstrate our appreciation for the books and the author Douglas Adams, who wrote ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. The commemoration was first held in 2001, two weeks after Adams’ death on 11 May 2001. But why a towel I hear you cry ? Well…..

The original quotation that explained the importance of towels is found in Chapter 3 of Adams’The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost.” What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

To honour this you will also receive your own easy cary towelet for next time your caught out in Betelgeuse that can be hydrated in any emergency.

In the cup this is the bravest blend yet, but I think it works. Expect big sticky mouthfeel, with a cherry drop note, and with a milk chocolate sweetness that just makes this a sticky fest. These are two coffees you wouldn’t normally blend with a decaf and a catimor but you know what, this is why rules are meant to be broken.

80% Colombia El Meridiano SC Decaf;
20% 20% El Salvador Finca Argentina Fincona 1 Catimor Washed;
42% Don’t Panic.

Has Bean SweepStake Derby the race

"....... the results are in ........."

So the results are in, if you don’t want to know the winner, don’t look down just play this video and see (or just look down).

To claim your prize if you have the winning jockey is a picture of your bag (with you too wee like to see who our customers are) and we will sort your voucher out.

Hope you enjoy

Results_board_V1

……And they’re off

"........Time for a guest blend again, this time inspired by the Grand National........"

And they’re off……………..

Time for a guest blend again, this time inspired by the Grand National. It’s cool that you can win the cost back at odds of 13 to 1 chance!

This is the fourth in a new “stable” of guest coffee blends we are introducing in 2013. Each month there will be a new blend for which there will be an original label in a different style of bag, and of which there will only be 500 made. Each bag will be marked with a unique limited edition number.

These are the blends most roasters would be scared to share with you, but not us fearless souls at Has Bean Towers with our looking outside the (horse) box, red (rum) sky thinking (I know it’s meant to be blue but I think everything should be red) and all the other stupid business sayings you can think of. In the cup think unbalanced, off-the-wall experiments that are tasty but never normal, and are always a bit unusual and pushing the boundaries.

We have also decided to name them with equally appropriate stupidness. In honour of the Horse racing giant of the Grand National this one gets called Sweep stake

This one gives you the chance of winning the price of your coffee back. Each bag will have a member of the Has Bean Team on it. At the end of April on the 30th we will have the race that decides the winner. If your team member wins then you send in a photo of your pack with the limited edition number showing and you win the price of your coffee back in Has Nean vouchers.

In the cup expect big sticky sweetness, with a hoof of a kick in the guys of boozy fruitiness with a dark chocolate overtone and a big (horse)body and galloping aftertaste, which I bet you will love.

50% Costa Rica Finca Bella Vista
30% Brazil Passeio Icatu Natural
20% Ethiopian Wote Natural

Buy it here

Finca La Princecesa double pack

"..... the whole farm is just one hectare so very tiny is the scale of things, but with this interesting difference in cup ......."

The trip in late 2012 to Colombia and Bogota has brought up many treats.

Some of the lots were so small they didn’t make a whole bag, which lead to some interesting places to sell them. Some of the lots were huge and we are still enjoying them. We have been releasing them as we felt they were ready, and this is the very last of those lots, and its something special.

My time in Colombia was spent in the cupping lab, cupping everything they had. Everything was separated into lots, and completely blind (as it should be). This allowed us to cherry pick what we wanted from them but looking for profiles and not being influenced by anything but taste. I must admit the standard was very high. What also struck me was the incredible diversity of this country, even with its 99.9 % washed process styles of coffee the cups were hugely different and interesting.

Selected blind I looked forwards to seeing the results, but was surprised to have selected two lots from the same farm, but with different notes and cupping profiles. And they were tiny. The whole farm is just one hectare so very tiny is the scale of things, but with this interesting difference in cup.

So not sure what to do with such tiny lots I have decided you can only try them if you buy them in a double pack which gives you a chance to try them side by side like I did. You can see they are related with a thread running through them, but side by side you can also see the diversity of them.

You can buy it here

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads…..

".... A tough blend to nail, but when you do you will see the future of coffee. Well maybe not but you will see tasty, delicious and complex espresso ........"

Hey Mcfly !!

Welcome to the third in the guest blends of 2013, and for march it is back to thew future.

why ? well the clocks go forward the end of march, which means we will all be returning to the future (a tenuous link its mainly because it’s one of my childhood favourite films).

This months little twist is that the label and video to go with it are in 3d (see below), and with each bag you will receive some 3d glasses to enjoy them.

The blend is out there. A little crazy, the indian peaberry makes it unusual,the Burundi adds so much complexity, and the ethiopian ties them right together in a nice little bow.

A tough blend to nail, but when you do you will see the future of coffee. Well maybe not but you will see tasty, delicious and complex espresso.

This is the third in a new range of guest coffee blends we will be introducing in 2013.Each month there will be a new blend of which there will be an original label in a different style of bag, of which there will only be 1000 and each bag marked with a unique limited edition number.These are the blends most roasters would be scared to share with you, but not us fearless souls at Has Bean Towers with our looking outside the box, red sky thinking (I know its meant to be blue but I think everything should be red) and all the other stupid business sayings you can think of. In the cup think unbalanced off the wall experiments that are tasty, but never normal and always a bit unusual and pushing the boundaries.

We have also decided to name them with equally appropriate stupidness.

To celebrate the clocks going forwards in march, we introduce to you the new guest blend Back to the future (see what we did there). This is a little bit of an older school coffee and a little bit of what I think could be the future, with an ethiopian, that for coffee is where time began.

This is a 33.33333333% recurring Indian peaberry bold, 33.33333333% recurring Ethiopian Kerbal Konga and 33.33333333% recurring of Burundi Murama, (which we all know adds up to 88mph).

Full on body with fruit and spice, with a crisp and clean acidity and a malty sweetness. There’s a lot going on in the cup, and it has real depth. So deep in fact it comes with its own 3d glasses (you’re going to need those for the video and the label)

you can buy it here for a short time

Valentines Day Massacre Guest Blend number 2

"...............Now of course we don't in any way endorse gang fighting, murder or the mob, but are 100% behind silly names. .............."

Today I am proud to share with you guest coffee 2013 number 2 in Valentines Day Massacre.

Each month throughout the year there will be a new blend with an original label in a different style of bag. For February there will only be 500 (because of the tiny micro lot of Colombian that brings the floral and champagne effervescence) and each bag will be marked with a unique limited edition number.

These are the blends most roasters would be scared to share with you, but not us fearless souls at Has Bean Towers with our thinking outside the box, red sky thinking (I know its meant to be blue but I think everything should be red!) and all the other stupid business sayings you can think of. In the cup think unbalanced off the wall experiments that are tasty but never normal and always a bit unusual.

We have also decided to name them with equally appropriate stupidness!

Valentine’s Day Massacre, a tip of the hat to Al Capone and the famous gang fight on Valentine’s day 1929. Now of course we don’t in any way endorse gang fighting, murder or the mob, but are 100% behind silly names.

Mobster Leighton insists you try this espresso before prohibition kicks in and we have to remove all coffee from the shelves.

Being a coffee geek can be a fairly lonely business, so make sure you get at least one Valentine’s day card this year.

In the espresso, this is a little tamer than last months (well it had to be), it’s a box of chocolates with champagne effervescence and some amazing floral tones. What else do you need apart from a Valentine’s day card to say I love you?

You can buy it here

65% Bolivia Finca Coroico Montano

35% Colombia La Primavera

If your easily offended or don’t like fun, then maybe skipping the video below is for you :)