Silver Jews - American Water
We're so happy to bring you Silver Jews' third album American Water as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall. I'd been a peripheral listener to David Berman's earlier records because Pavement's Stephen Malkmus (my high school hero) played on the Silver Jews' debut, Starlite Walker. At that time Silver Jews were, to me, Pavement's witty little country brother. That all changed during my first week of college way back in the 90s when someone turned to me and said, "You've never heard American Water?!" We went straight to their room for a listen. I was transformed by the time we got to the first chorus of "Random Rules". With American Water, David Berman stepped out of the shadow of his more famous indie rock friend and made a record that, in my opinion, outshines Pavement at their brightest.
San Jacinto - Huehuetenango, Guatemala
Every so often at a cupping table I lose control of my poker face. Not often, but if a coffee is stand-out amazing I might accidentally break into a cheesy grin, too blown away to keep my cool. This happened with San Jacinto, my personal favorite of the Huehuetenengo offerings that we cupped in Guatemala this past winter. The cupping notes that I wrote down in the cupping lab that day were “grape jam, cherry jam, blackberry jam, jammy”. It’s really fruity. San Jacinto was produced on three small farms owned by Jacinto, Francisco, and Rudy Pérez Sánchez in San Pedro Necta, Huehuetenango. It was sourced by beneficio Bella Vista in Antigua with the help of Bella Vista’s long-time colleague, Byron Benavente. Byron has been working with producers in Huehue to improve their agronomical management and to increase their quality in their fields and at their wet mill, which they run themselves. It's pretty awesome.