I saw a New Yorker magazine cartoon this week that showed a pie chart of all of the months of the year, with December pretty much invisible, and January taking up at least a third of the circle. That's how January often feels to me. After the hectic pace of December, it seems like January lasts forever. Tomorrow we turn the page into February, and while winter continues, there are signs of spring peeking out.

Yesterday I was walking and heard the distinct sound of sandhill cranes bugling overhead. It took me a moment to spot them, even with the calls to guide me. They were flying high, in an ever changing V formation. I know that they winter in the Central Valley, and head north to Alaska, so it seemed like another sign that spring is coming. I'm still waiting on the first robin, but it's sure to happen soon.

Last night we had a staff meeting, and at one point I was talking about the seven steps that coffee takes from seed to cup. You could certainly divide this into more parts, but we listed these seven:

The last three we all know intimately--we roast in store, and get to see the green beans turn into brewed coffee daily. But so much more goes into your cup of coffee, and this week we have a unique one for you.

We are featuring our Burundi Mbirizi Gatara Kayanza Province this week. Burundi is a landlocked African country, surrounded by Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This coffee is the result of a partnership that Royal Coffee has set up with the Coffee Processing Company in Burundi, owned by Salum Ramadhan. Mr. Ramadhan was born and raised in Kayanza Province, and operates four washing stations there. He is committed to his community, and pays well above the government minimum. This coffee comes from family farms at high elevation, and each lot is carefully processed for maximum traceability. This lot is from the Mbirizi Gatara washing station, where it undergoes a "three-part fermentation process, 16 hours of dry fermentation, then another 14 hours of fermentation with water, and then washed and soaked in fresh water for 10 hours. The parchment is gently dried on raised beds until the moisture reaches 11 percent, after which the coffee is stored until it is time to prepare for export (source: Royal Coffee)."

Learning about this Burundi is a good way to remember ALL the steps that go into a cup of coffee. It's an elaborate and meticulous process, that starts with farmers across the world planting a seed, and caring for it as it grows. The green coffee that we receive is the end result of a lot of time and care. In the case of this Burundi, all of this shows in the final cup. This is a sweet drink, with notes of melon and caramel. It's delicious and easy to drink. Enjoy a cup on us with the code below. I'll be drinking to all of those who worked hard for this coffee. Cheers!

--Holly Fike