Where? Rojo’s Roastery, Lambertville, NJ.

A friend bought me a bag of Bosco’s Blend, a darker roast that is way beyond wonderful.

These folks roast their own beans on-site, and grind them to order. You can tell that they are passionate about their craft. I had a Cafe Americano in the very pleasant shop (delicious), but the real test for me was, how was this blend going to taste when it was the first thing to greet my taste buds at home in the morning?

Oh, yeah.

I’ve praised some other coffee suppliers in the past, particularly Mill Mountain in Roanoke, VA, and Storyville out in Seattle. Rojo is contending for the lead in my book. If you’re ever in Lambertville – or even within 15 miles – look them up. You won’t regret it.

She picked out 4 selections for me; thus far, I have tried two of them. Unlike Storyville (previously reviewed on this blog), which goes the simple route for mail order – Prologue (caffeinated) and Epilogue (decaf) – Boca gives you a wide variety of blends and roasts from which to choose.

I was immediately drawn to Sumatran Sunset, because it is positioned as a darker roast with a heartier flavor. In fact, I couldn’t wait – we were going away to Florida for a conference (ironically, only about an hour away from Boca Raton, where the company is located), so I packed the Sumatran with me for in-hotel-room brewing. Good move – this stuff is delicious. Definitely a tasty dark roast, and I’m guessing it’ll be my favorite.

The second flavor, just opened and brewed 1/2 hour ago, is Guatemalan Adventure. The packaging says that it is a medium roast with a nutty flavor…and that is exactly correct. Very nice – a little light for my taste – certainly a few rungs above anything store bought.

The packaging is visually attractive, and like Storyville, each packet has a “born-on date” to show freshness. Boca also has a commendable campaign going on, providing coffee donations to our troops overseas (closing in on 3 million cups).

If you’re looking for a wide variety of flavors and blends, you might want to give Boca Java a try!

Some of us provided links to coffee suppliers we felt embodied effective strategies and tactics; there were some interesting approaches at these sites. And one of them – Storyville – sold me. I put in an order.

Why? Well, I’m a sucker for good web design, and these people have a fabulous site. I’m also inclined to do business with companies that brand themselves well; Storyville presents a great image and message. But that isn’t enough – they also made an introductory offer that was very difficult to resist. And I didn’t resist (by the way, they highlight the introductory offer right on the landing page – great site design).

The descriptions of their beans, roasting, freshness, etc. got me “sold” on the desire level – I WANTED to try their superior product. The simplicity of choices was appealing – just Prologue (caffeinated) and Epilogue (Decaf). Nice naming strategy.

Like Gevalia, they offer a trial period of a few shipments at a reasonable price, plus a bonus (in Storyville’s case, a couple of nice, branded mugs). Then you can cancel at any time if you don’t want to continue the shipments.

So, how has the customer experience been thus far? In a word, outstanding.

First of all, the ordering process was simple and straightforward. I got a confirmation e-mail for my order. Good start.

Secondly, the 2 packages arrived very quickly (shipping from Seattle to NJ). And I was VERY impressed with the packaging – see the accompanying photo. The 2 mugs were perfectly packed and very nice; the packet of beans was very attractive; there was also a neat little packet with a DVD and a marketing/instruction booklet. And a cover letter. Very nice boxes and print materials. Great marketing design approach.

Thirdly, the coffee smells and tastes wonderful. As one would expect.

Now, am I going to be inclined to become an ongoing customer? Regretfully, probably not – at $8.49-$9.49 per 1/2 pound bag, I just have a hard time justifying the cost/value ratio. But will Storyville benefit from my customer experience? Since I am a blogger now writing about them – probably so!

(The DVD, by the way, is pretty funny. Part of Storyville’s spiel is the conspiracy of “Big Coffee” to get people to drink coffee made from non-fresh, over-roasted beans. It’s a good marketing twist.)

From there, we found other artists of the Celtic/Irish tradition – James Galway, The Chieftans, various others, and, more recently, Celtic Woman.

But one interesting group has emerged that I find intriguing. They hail from Norway, but half of this duo draws strongly from Celtic roots. You have probably heard some of their work, covered by others.

Secret Garden makes some very interesting music. If you go to this link, you can listen to samples – I recommend opening up the Earthsongs link, and checking out the various songs. You may well recognize “Always There.” The vocal purity of SleepSong is stunning. And I DARE you to keep your feet still when listening to Daughters of Erin!

I soon remembered – because it’s good! It’s not for winter consumption – this is a spring/summer beer. It is bright, almost a touch sweet, and very refreshing. It is easy-going and tasty without being “light” – well worth a try if you like a less hearty brew.

It’s almost enough to make you say, “Vive la France”!

We accompanied it with a Bogle Chardonnay. Bogle is a very affordable and reliable label, across all varietals – we especially enjoy the Merlot and the Old Vine Zinfandel. The Chardonnay is pretty buttery but not overwhelming – quite pleasant all around.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken. It was good, but I’d only rate it a single – maybe stretched into a double. A nice change from your “standard” barbecue-type sauce.

The wine we enjoyed with it was quite nice – a Matua Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand). Didn’t quite top the list of favorite NZ Sauvignons, but quite pleasant nonetheless – crisp, almost sharp at first sip, with a refreshing citrus taste. A good Friday afternoon wine for these warmer months…

How do we know about this artist? Well, in one of those odd twists of fate, in the early days of our marriage my wife used to work with Jim serving tables in a restaurant, back when he was just getting started. Jim gave us an a demo cassette of some of his earliest efforts, which even then were quite good. Glad to see him so successful!

Because I am an inveterate tinkerer, I added a few things to the rub: mustard powder, paprika, Mrs. Dash, rosemary.

The taste was exquisite. Highly recommended!

(The wine we tried with it, a 2004 Masterpeace Australian Chardonnay, was a strikeout, however. Nice color, but thick, syrupy, undistinguished taste.)