This year’s new crop of Finca Nueva Armenia, from Guatemala, is now at Blue Horse. And, even better, it’s our Current Staff Pick!

This perennial favorite is back, and better than ever. From the Huehuetenango region (say “hway-hway-ten-ango”) high in the mountains just southeast of the border with Mexico, sits the Recinos family’s coffee farm, Finca Nueva Armenia. The Recinos family has won numerous international coffee-tasting awards, and they’re well-known and well-respected for their conscientious stewardship of their mountainside farm – they were one of the first coffee farms in Latin America to obtain organic certification.

This coffee has a medium body, with superbly balanced sweet and acidic notes, you’ll pick up flavors of apple, citrus, almond, and enjoy the slightly floral aromas. A great breakfast coffee, Finca Nueva Armenia is Certified Organic, Shade Grown and Counter Culture Direct Trade Certified. And remember, as the Staff Pick, it’s $2 off the pound price!

Tairora Cherry Project is a new offering from the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea, and is the brainchild of the coffee-growing Colbran family, the good people who bring us Baroida. (You can read more about this Project on the Coffee page, under Indonesia/Pacific).

The Tairora Cherry Project coffee is a deliciously interesting twist of our “regular” Baroida coffee, offering a slightly more intense taste profile, a little more prominent hit of savory spice and vanilla/molasses sweetness. A great new example of sustainable relationship coffee, you can get this Staff Pick for $2 off of the regular pound price.

We’ll be closed all day this coming Sunday, 4/8. We’ll be open our regular hours today, Saturday, and Monday onward. Until the next holiday, Mother’s Day.

Have a wonderful celebration this weekend, everyone!

To celebrate the arrival of spring, and even better, the arrival of spring weather and flowers, TODAY, 3/18, from Noon to 4 PM, you can get a free sample-sized gelato with each drink purchase you make this afternoon.

We’ve got Vanilla, Death by Chocolate, Cherry Bordeaux, Caramel Latte, Peanut Butter Cup, Stracciatella, Dark Chocolate Stracciatella, Mint Chunk, Parkside Ripple, and, Mango Sorbetto.

So get to Blue Horse this afternoon, get yourself a drink, and get some free Mercurio’s Mulberry Street gelato. It’s a nice day out there, so come treat yourself!

It’s been a couple of seasons since we had any coffee from Rwanda, and let’s just say that, for sure, it’s been worth the wait!

Epiphanie Mukashyaka, whose husband was among the millions killed in the genocide of the 1990′s, has worked unceasingly for the past several years to revive her husband’s coffee company as well as the Rwandan coffee industry. Counter Culture Coffee has been working with her for some time now, due in no small part to Epiphanie’s vision of raising the quality of Rwandan coffee beyond “grocery store” quality to the elite levels of truly superb coffees. Bufcafe is the name of the co-op that Epiphanie helped to found, and so, it is on the label of this delicious lot.

This coffee is a slightly sweet combination of medium-dark chocolate and orange, and with a silky smooth mouthfeel and lingering delicious aftertaste, you will love this coffee as much as we do.

Even better, as the Staff Pick, you get beans at $2 off the pound price!

Thanks to introductions from the farmers comprising the La Golondrina (Colombia) project, our roaster discovered a farmers’ co-op high in the Andes Mountains in the Loja province of Ecuador, just south of its border with Colombia. These farmers are dedicated to naturally shaded and organic growth, as well as careful processing, and the result is our brand-new coffee from Ecuador.

El Gavilan combines the stone-fruit brightness of La Golondrina with the slightly chocolately smoothness of La Frontera, from Peru (Ecuador’s southern neighbor). This is a delicious coffee (of course!), and we are so pleased to offer you our inaugural crop from these quality-focused farmers from Ecuador.

El Gavilan is now our STAFF PICK, too, which means you can try this wonderful new coffee for $2 off the pound price. Yay, Staff Pick Coffee!

Well, every local forecaster has serious worry lines across his forehead, so that can only mean sleet and icy roads and … yep, a late opening for Blue Horse Coffee.

So, tomorrow morning, Saturday January 21st, we will OPEN at 9 a.m. If somehow the weather is even worse than they’re forecasting, we’ll adjust and let you know.

So sleep in, let the bad weather get out of here, then come to Blue Horse for your Saturday relaxation!

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Annette’s mother, Helen Schneider. Helen fought off cancer three times over the past 14 years, but she succumbed to the fourth attack of this horrible disease.

At Helen’s request, a memorial service will be held at her church, The Bible Chapel. The service will be this Saturday, January 14^th at 11 a.m. You are welcome to come. The family asks that no flowers be sent, and that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Bible Chapel Mercy Fund.

The Bible Chapel is located in McMurray, at 300 Gallery Drive. This is behind the shopping center that contains the Sunny Bridge Natural Foods store, the Sharp Edge restaurant, the Loafers bakery, etc. Lunch will be served at the Bible Chapel following the service.

We all know that the Steelers are tough to beat, especially in the playoffs. That holds true whether you’re the opposing team, or a business owner. The Steelers first (note, we said “first”) playoff game is this Sunday, January 8 at 4:30 p.m. So …

Blue Horse Coffee will CLOSE EARLY, AT 4 P.M., this Sunday.

Be on the lookout for other early closings as the Steelers march to the Super Bowl.

Let’s go Steelers!

Wow, 2011 is almost over, what a year it’s been! We still have to get through this last week, though, and to make sure that you get through with enough Blue Horse coffee, here are our holiday hours:

Christmas Eve – 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Christmas Day – Closed

Monday, December 26th – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

New Year’s Eve – 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (no change)

New Year’s Day – Closed

Monday January 2nd – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Only a few shopping days left, come in and pick up a beautiful, ready-to-go Blue Horse gift baskets, available in 3 different sizes, from $12.95 – $23.95. We also have a very special El Salvador coffee/cascara gift set (cascara is the dried coffee fruit, that you steep in hot water like tea – it’s a truly unique drink) in a burlap coffee bag for $30, and an African coffee sampler (12-ounce vacuum-sealed bags, Haru from Ethiopia, sun-dried Idido from Ethiopia, and Karatu from Kenya, plus 4 free coffee/tea coupons, for $45). We’ll also custom-make gift baskets for you, and of course, Blue Horse Coffee gift certificates are available. Blue Horse travel mugs, baseball caps, Mexican spiced cocoa cans and single packs, and a very nice wooden tea box with 50 tea bags, all still here for that someone who’s been very nice this year.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and all the best for you in 2012!