Colombian coffee can be great - Two great local coffees from Vienna Coffee Company

Great gourmet coffee from Columbia?  Roasted in Maryville, TN? And it's organic, fair trade, and shade grown featuring a specialty cultivar from a premium coffee estate?  Yes!  Yes, yes, yes, and yes!

Perhaps because of Juan Valdez, many folks associate coffee and Colombia in a strong way, and if they had the coffee he was advertising, the relationship isn't likely to be a good one.  In fact, many folks with quite a refined taste in coffee have simply given up on Colombian coffees entirely, partly because of this association and partly because of the plethora of mediocre-at-best "Colombian Supremos" available on the market.  Vienna Coffee Company (located local to Knoxville in Maryville, TN), however, roasts and sells two fantastic Colombian coffees (which I, admittedly, wanted to write off without even a taste until given a strong, repeated recommendation), and one of those carries the whole list of great-coffee tagwords: organic, fair trade, shade grown.  It also is a reserva blend from a premium estate known to produce some very fine gourmet coffees featuring beans that are 100% of the Bourbon cultivar of the arabica species.

First, now that your attention is grabbed on the premium stuff, Vienna's Colombian Supremo is spectacular. By roasting the usual "supremo" beans to a medium-dark "Viennese" roast, the normal palate-jarring acidity of Sr. Valdez is subdued into a mellow, well-balanced cup with high drinkability -- morning, afternoon, and evening -- and an excellent profile to stand up to both milk and sugar.  Getting this coffee just to convince yourself that Colombian Supremo can indeed be quite good is well worth your money, just $8.25 for 12 oz.

Second, Vienna's Organic, Colombian Don Telmo Reserva, made from 100% Bourbon arabica beans sports a similar roast and an unbelievable flavor, one you'd never assume on first taste that it has even the slightest connection with Juan Valdez and his donkey, though a long history of carefully developed and practiced growing and harvesting methods for it have been in place for over a century.  It's fabulous.  The roast is dark and "Viennese," as with the Supremo, but for just an additional $1.25 for 12 oz., there's no doubt that you're trying a truly great coffee.  These beans carry the added benefits of being shade grown and fair trade certified, so you can enjoy it feeling fine about how it made its way to your mug.  This fantastic coffee is a must try for its price range.

If you like coffee from Vienna, then be sure to try it at Thunderhead Perk, which frequently serves the Don Telmo Reserva!  Th' Perk, as they call it, is located in Townsend, TN, just a couple of miles from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is a great stop to fuel up or recharge on your way into and out of the park.  Click on the name of the place in blue (just above) for a link to a review that includes directions and business hours.

Buy it locally! Vienna Coffee Company in Maryville, TN, is a great roaster whose coffees and beans are turning up in more and more local stores.  For a complete list of where you can get some VCC coffees and beans, click this link!  Alternatively, visit their Maryville roastery and have a look around and meet some cool coffee roasters in your area.

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