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New Arrivals
Jan 23rd, 2012 by Mark
Coffee news: An exotic offering from the island of Java in the south pacific. Organic Java Taman Dadar is a wet hulled coffee distinguished by characteristics of full body and creamy mouthfeel. Tasting notes are redolent of dark chocolate and nutmeg. Rainforest Alliance.
Happy New Year
Jan 3rd, 2012 by Mark
Coffee news:
Our Seasonal Signature Blend is under renovation and soon to be released. It aims to warm the winter blues by invigorating with a bold profile anchored by bold, earthy body, smooth, rich choclatey tones and a long lasting finish. It will be called the Snowville Blend. Artwork original by Natasha.
Happy Holidays
Dec 8th, 2011 by Mark
Our Retail Hours for the balance of the month of December are:
Friday Dec 23rd - 12PM to 6PM
Saturday Dec 24th - 9AM to 2PM
Saturday Jan 31st - 9AM to 2PM
As always we accept orders for pickup during the week - please e-mail Mark Hayward.
The Nutcracker marks the first of our Seasonal Signature Blends. It has a nutty and slightly spicy after taste, very mild and smooth, and is proving to be a crowd pleaser this month. Limited availability - only available until Jan 1st!
We have some single origin coffee releases this week:
Ethiopia Natural Tuktant - super stoked to have this highly touted coffee from the folks at 90 plus who are working hard on the ground in Ethiopia to improve the quality and support highly valued coffee - which in turn helps the farmers in sustainable ways.
El Salvador Natural Santa Rita - fully natural processing, dried in the sun. A fruit bomb of a coffee!
Gift Baskets:
These hand made gift baskets are the perfect gift for the coffee lover at work or home. Two pounds of The Nutcracker our seasonal signature blend with a Clever Coffee Dripper or a Bodum grinder makes an attractive and affordable entry. We can also make a basket with a selection of delectable cookies and shortbreads. Call or write to order. We can have these ready in a few days.
New Coffees
Nov 16th, 2011 by Mark Coffee news:
We have some New Crop coffee arriving this week:
Colombia Ocamonte Cooperative Organic - classic, balanced, clean cup, woody body and sweet, mild citrus acidity.
Peru Cajamarca 'Coicafe' FT Organic - mild, rounded flavour, subtle spice accents.
Gift Baskets and Sampler Packs:
As we did last year, we will have some nicely wrapped sampler packs of four coffees, in a small basket, perfect for hostess or Christmas party gifts.
Gift baskets can be ordered in advance, with about a weeks' notice, a nice combination is two pounds of single origin coffee together with a clever coffee dripper. Also 2 pounds with some shortbread cookies is delicious, yum!
Christmas Blend:
Our Christmas Blend will be called 'The Nutcracker' and will feature three coffees carefully blended to warm the cockles of your heart. Nuts and spice. Even better when shared with family, loved ones and friends! Inquire at the store (Saturday 9-4) by e-mail (mark@velvetsunrise.ca) or phone (905-642-9676).
GRINDING AND BREWING - TOP GEAR
Sept 23, 2011 by Mark
 We have a assembled a collection of brewers and grinders over the last while that we feel make great coffee and deliver terrific value for the home. Fell free to drop us a line or stop in at the roaster to ask questions, or even take one for a 'test drive'. In stock today.
ABID Clever Coffee Dripper 15.95
http://www.sweetmarias.com/clevercoffeedripperpictorial.php
Try with 25g of medium grind, 450g of 200 deg F water
add enough water to the soak the grinds,
let the bloom subside, then add the remaining water quickly to mix and agitate
steep for 3 minutes then place on the cup
total time 4 minutes from first water addition
makes a large/16oz cup.
AEROBIE Aeropress 37.95
http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm
Very versatile, can make Americano style coffee for 4 cups, or single cup brew style.
Smooth, balanced cup.
ESPRO French Press 72.95
http://www.espro.ca/espro-press/
Single cup French press
Double walled (insulating) polished stainless steel
Awesome quality and feel
Designed and assembled in CANADA
Super Clean cup, ultra-fine 2 stage filter screen
Use a medium-fine grind, 15g coffee, 250g water
steep for 2 to 3 minutes then plunge
makes an 8 oz cuppa
BUNN BT-B 169.95
Brews at the correct temperature for proper extraction and great tasting coffee
Vacuum thermal carafe keeps coffee hot without cooking it
3 minute brew time!
Use Medium grind and Bunn filters
BARATZA Maestro Plus Grinder 149.95
http://www.baratza.com/details.php?id=17
Conical Burr Grinder
Ideal grind quality for all manual and auto drip coffee methods
Speed reduction to reduce noise, heat and static
Timer and pulse operation
BARATZA Virtuoso Preciso 325.00
http://www.coffeegeek.com/proreviews/quickshot/baratzavirtuosopreciso/details
http://www.baratza.com/details.php?id=43
Same features as the Maestro plus, PLUS
Higher quality burrs produce less fines
Micro adjustment for espresso fine grinding
Heavier, quieter and Faster grinding speed
Portafilter holder included for espresso
August 19th, 2011 by Mark If you have not had a chance to sample the amazing local produce available this year, make some time to do so. The Downtown Stouffville Farmers Market , Reesor Farm Market , Whittamore's , Brooks Farms or go to Google Maps to find local places to party with veggies. Corn is super sweet this year, must be the heat! And tomatoes are starting to rock.
More new coffee arrivals this month:
  Costa Rica Alturas De Barranca, translated means 'Canyon Heights', 10 bag micro-lot coffee from Coopro Naranjo R.L., Costa Rica, has balanced body, tasting notes of juicy meyer lemon, brown sugar and marzipan.
Three natural coffees, El Salvador Santa Rita natural, Ethiopia Sidamo FT Org from Oromia Co-op, Brazil Cerrado natural and Brazil 'Royal Select' water process decaf, arriving in the next week, promising fruity complexity, low acidity, and full body.
New News
July 11th, 2011 by Mark There are a couple of developments going on. We are in coffee buying mode, this time of year sees new crop coffee arriving from around the world. We have a couple of Micro-lots recently arrived: Rwanda Fair Trade Dukunde Kawa Musasa, and Kenya AA Kangocho. These are exceptional clean, crisp, complex, coffee from Africa.
From El Salvador we have a Rainforest Alliance coffee, Cerro Las Ranas, which is a pulp natural processed coffee like the Costa Rican we have earlier in the year, with sweet honey and praline taste, super sweet aroma, rich and mouth filling.
From the farm across the 'street' El Salvador Santa Rita is a clean Bourbon variety, a crisp, refreshing morning coffee if ever there was one.
And the most exotic and fruity coffee of this lot, from the Harar area of Ethiopia we call this 'Queen City Harar' a most funky, exotic taste, like a bowl of dark berry fruit salad. This is total natural picked and processed, a charming coffee for the adventurer.
Secondly, we have a privilege in setting up the brand new espresso and coffee bar in the cafe at The Village Grocer's new location in Unionville. I know some of our customers have been asking, when will it open, well the answer is this Friday July 15th. I am sure there will be plenty of sampling and prizes going around, so I would head down to 16h and Kennedy for a peek if I were you.
SCAA 2011 Event Rundown
May 1st, 2011 by Mark The lights are dimming on the George Brown Convenion Center in Houston, home of the 2011 Specialty Coffee Association Event. Here with a recap of the highlights:
I was happy to meet and talk with the kind folks a ESPRO, from Vancouver, who are providing some long needed innovations in coffee making equipment and accessories. New at the show is their french press, which promises and deliveres on hotter, cleaner tasting cups of coffee with shorter brew times from this classic brew method. A vacuum insulated body, two stage screening of the grinds, and finer screens mean you can grind finer and brew for 2 to 3 minutes rather than the more traditional 4 minutes, and get less grid/mud in the cup.
La Marzocco had he spotlight firmly squared on their newest flagship espresso machjine, the La Strada EP. his sleek, beautifully designed Slayer slayer features programmable, repeatable pressure ramping throughout the espresso extraction to get the most out of your espresso grinds. This makes it possible to use a wider range of coffees that perhaps would have been difficult to brew successfully in the past, plus the ability to get even more flavour of of your favourite trad espresso blend.
The Hario V60 dripper was the almost unanimous choice for baristi brewing by the cup this year. This is a visual treat for the consumer, allowing further opportunity to connect and engage with the person preparing the coffee. Let us hope we see further uptake of this in the cafe in coming months.
Easter Egg Rules
April 18th, 2011 by Mark Since we have a new bunny in the family, Smoky, who is a baby floppy eared bunny, we are expecting a bounty of Easter eggs at the house this year. We are not sure what flavour (or flavours) of eggs she will produce, but there are sure to be some chocolate ones. Please come by the roastery, we will bring the excess eggs to share with our deserving customers! Saturday April 23rd. Happy Easter everyone!
Stouffville Igoma Partnership
April 7th, 2011 by Mark
The Stouffville illuminati were out in full force on Monday evening at Sleepy Hollow Golf and Country Club, to show their support for a worthwhile endeavour - raising money to support the Stouffville Igoma Partnership (SIP). We did our part in serving up coffee to accompany the many wonderful foods and sweets provided by the local restaurant and food service community. You can help out in a continuing way by supporting SIP though the innovative 'One SIP at a Time' program. Why not have 2 lbs of freshly roasted coffee arrive in your mail box once a month? You can make your morning cup of coffee the best part of your day safe in the knowledge that you are lending a helping hand in a needier part of the world - Tanzania. Signing up is as easy as sending an e-mail to mark@velvetsunrise.ca. $2.00 of every lb of coffee purchased will be contribute to SIP. Sign up right now and do your part!
You can read more about it here New programs brewing to aid African families
Decidedly Uplooking
April 1st, 2011 by Mark There's going to be some new offerings in the roastery shortly. We will be cupping the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Sulawesi tomorrow afternoon, Sat April 2nd between 2 and 4 pm. The perfect afternoon pick me up. Who needs naps anyway!
In the News,
Mar 12, 2011 by Mark
On Valentine's Day, a team of 10 people representing the Stouffville Igoma Partnership (SIP) returned from a two-and-a-half week working visit to Igoma, Tanzania. It was the first trip to the community for eight members of the group, including Dale Jackson, who was impressed and amazed at what a difference SIP volunteers and donors have made in the impoverished community.
"I support the program here, but I didn't realize the impact that our support has, and what a worthwhile cause it is," she said. "I had no idea how much difference your $30 a month makes."
read the full story Stouffville Igoma Partnership a work in progress
Brewing Guides
January 22nd, 2011 by Mark
This weeks feature.
Guatemala APECAFORM San Marcos grown in the southwest highlands San Marcos Guatemala on the volcanic soil of the highest volcano Tujamulco. Certified by Mayacert-Oko Garantie. APECAFORM Coop of 400 farmer members in 17 communities.
Tasting A sweet (carmelized sugar), clean, mild citric (Seville orange) coffee. Huge, dense body. The mouth feel is reminiscent of cocoa butter. Tastes of bittersweet chocolate, marmalade and molasses coming to the foreground as the coffee cools.
Brewing Details
Brew Water Start Temp 93°C/200°F
Brew Time 4 mins
Method Pour Over - Clever Coffee Dripper
Roast Style: Full City Plus (Medium Dark)
Grind: Medium-Fine
Techy Stuff
Extraction Yield 18.26 %
TDS 1.28 %
Dose Weight 25.0 g
Brew Water Weight 402 g
Brewing Guides
January 15th, 2011 by Mark
This weeks feature.
Ethiopia Jimma. Niguise Lemma is a coffee producer group northwest of Jimma, and the lot is purchased through the Ethiopia Direct Specialty Trade (DST) Auction. It is a dry processed (natural) coffee. The preparation is excellent as is the cup.
Tasting The wet aroma has chocolate and raspberry with a creamsicle sweetness. The first taste is sweet berries, predominantly blueberry, combining with toasty notes to give a blueberry waffle effect. Blueberry waffle with chocolate syrup. Mouthfeel is fruit syrup. The aftertaste lingers pleasantly.
Coffee Details
Brew Water Start Temp 93C/200F
Brew Time 5 mins
Method Pour Over
Roast Style Full City (Medium)
Farm/Farmer Niguise Lemma
Grind Setting Medium
Techy Stuff
Dose Weight 25.0 g
Brew Water Weight 412 g
TDS 1.25 %
Extraction Yield 18.33 %
Clever Coffee Dripper for sale - the best home Coffee Brewer
November 14th, 2010 by Mark
We just received a new shipment of the Abid Clever Coffee Dripper, the best home coffee brewer in our opinion. This new version has a lid to keep the coffee hot while it is brewing.
Makes a wonderful companion to a modest grinder and fresh roasted coffee beans. Price : $15.95
SAECO SUPER AUTOMATIC ESPRESSO MACHINE
 The Saeco ODEA family won the 2008 IF product design award. It's no wonder, with advanced functional features and a beautiful design previously unavailable in an affordable home espresso machine. Quiet, precise Ceramic burr grinder, bean hopper sealed for retaining freshness and aroma, rapid steam function and easy frothing paranello wand for frothy cappucino and latte, removeable brewing unit (the same unit as found in Saeco's top of the line home espresso unit), adjustable height cup holder/drip tray will accomodate short and tall cups. The complete unit is mounted on a swivel base for easy access to the side removable water and grounds reservoirs.
GRINDING AND BREWING May 2010
Velvet Sunrise is proud to announce the availability of Grinding and Brewing equipment. As authorized resellers of Baratza, Ditting, Mahlkonig and Dalla Corte, we are able to offer expeditious and concise advice on equipment from the industry's leading manufacturers, as well as offering equipment with very competitive pricing.
Equipment
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We are located at 100 Ringwood Drive, Unit #8, in Stouffville | 
