Verve Coffee Roasters walked away with a 2015 Good Food Award last month with its Green Tip Gesha beans.
The Santa Cruz company buys green beans from around the world that get finished in a 1965 German-made roaster.
I had a chance to sample this award-winning coffee grown on a farm in Panama that’s been family-owned for three generations.
The green tip refers to the youngest leaves on the Gesha plants. Verve’s buyer found that the beans from those particular plants produced a far superior cup of coffee compared to the regular bronze-tipped Gesha plants.
All I know is this is one very smooth cup of joe. It’s not a dark roast, so there’s not much bitterness in the taste. It has notes of mocha and flowers, and even a touch of subtle coconut on the finish. It’s not a sip that jolts you awake. It’s more one that prompts a blissful “ahh.”
Verve has three cafes in Santa Cruz. The coffee also can be purchased online. The Green Tip Gesha has a limited supply. And like anything that’s scarce, it doesn’t come cheap. An 8-ounce tin is $65.