It's A Riot! Dark Matter Coffee 2023 RIOT Fest Collaborations

. . . . 
Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton: Funk Uncut and Doobie in Your Funk

ALL THAT IS GOOD IS NASTY!

Your interplanetary dealers of funky coffee are here to announce the mothership of all collaborations has landed! In honor of THEE Star Child, George Clinton, we dropped TWO collaborative Coffee Cold Cans: Funk Uncut: a loud, jucy, all frills AND funk, straight coffee! And Doobie in Your Funk: a strawberry-cough terpene-bombed-out version of Funk Uncut with notes of berry, and grape.

As a celebration of both their performance at RIOT Fest and to commemmorate their farewell tour, we're also hosting an exclusive Parliament Funkadelic ft. George Clinton merch popup here at the Mothership--while supplies last! 

Big shoutout to Oscar Joyo for creating the beautiful artwork on these cans!

Merch only at The Mothership and Coffee Cold cans available at all of our stores!

COFFEE NOTES: 

For this blend, we definitely needed to bring the funk so for the base of this blend we used a juicy, funky natural processed Pacamara from El Rosario in El Salvador. Pacamaras are known for having some herbaceous, tea-like notes that work well with the natural processing method for this coffee to create a complex, unique cup profile. 

Country: El Salvador
Farm: El Rosario
Cultivar: Pacamara
Process: Natural
Country: El Salvador
Farm: Las Marias
Cultivar: Pacas
Process: Natural
  • Funk Uncut  Notes: Papaya, Oolong Tea, Demerara Sugar
  • Doobie in Your Funk Notes: berry, and grape, a noticeably different flavor profile!
*Terpenes are organic compounds produced in plants, flowers, and botanicals that are extremely aromatic. There are several companies that work to create terpene blends that mimic the flavors found in specific strains of cannabis such as the Grape Ape used in our coffee cold version of Chronikkah. This coffee cold does not contain alcohol, CBD or THC.*, with terpenes. Don't worry, it's just coffee...we don't want our funk stepped on! 

. . . . 
The Black Angels: Limited Coffee Cold

HEAD FOR THE HILLS, PICK UP CANS ON THE WAY

To celebrate their Chicago performances at Chop Shop, RIOT Fest, AND special solo acoustic performances at Star Lounge, we teamed up once again with the modern psychedelic masters, The Black Angels, from Austin, Texas for a new Coffee Cold can! We used double-honey processed coffees from the Pacas Family for our fuzz-toned darlings. 

Artwork: in-house designer, Jourdon Gullett

COFFEE NOTES: 

The base of this blend is a honey-processed Pacas from Vista Hermosa, producing an elegant, bright cup. We layered the blend like a good reverb, with a honey-processed Bourbon and Pacas blend of beans that comes from the Santa Ana region. This bean has loads of body, with a sweet, caramel-like profile. Together these beans make an approachable iced coffee that is delicious on its own and also pairs well with cream and sugar.

Country: El Salvador
Farm: Vista Hermosa
Cultivar: Pacas
Process: Honey
Country: El Salvador
Mill: Cafe Tuxpal
Cultivar: Bourbon & Pacas
Process: Honey
Notes: Toffee, Earl Grey, Cocoa

Black Angels at Star Lounge
Jake GarciaChristian BlandAlex Maas, and Ramiro Verdooren
*Photos by Andrew Bridgewater and Sundown Hodges

Queen! Coffee Cold!

Sunday night: The fit. The make-up. You're looking fierce and those chicken cutlets in your dress are serving eye-popping décolletage. But girl you're all dressed up with nowhere to go! Where can someone see and be seen by the upper echelons of fabulosity like yourself? Baby, you need to sashay that ass to Smart Bar's weekly Sunday service drag party, Queen! Tonight DMC and the Queen! resident party people will save your life.

Smart Bar, for the uninitiated, is the nightclub located under Metro and one of the United States' most important nightclubs featuring cutting-edge DJs from around the world. For the last 10 years, Queen! has been hosted by legendary drag queens Lucy Stoole, Jojo Baby, and Nico serving the looks with music selections by resident DJs Derrick Carter, Michael Serafini, and Garrett David. Consider it your weekly gospel to underground House and Disco.

For the coffee, we wanted to create a juicy, rich coffee cold, strong enough to keep you moving through the 4am crowd. Using a natural processed Pacas from Las Marias as the base with its red fruit notes, we paired this with a honey processed Sarchimor from Finca San Jeronimo Miramar to bring in the sweetness of brown sugar.

Together these create a balanced, smooth coffee cold and phantom disco balls clouding your vision.

Coffee 1
Country: El Salvador
Farm: Las Marias
Cultivar: Pacas
Process: Natural
Coffee 2
Country: Guatemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Cultivar: Sarchimor
Process: Honey
Notes: Pomegranate, Milk Duds, Tangerine

Another Side with Leo Nocentelli

'At just fourteen, LEO NOCENTELLI was backing up Otis Redding. Soon after, he was playing on hits for Lee Dorsey, The Supremes, and The Temptations...

As a young man and original member of legendary funk group The Meters, Leo wrote the Grammy inducted classic "CISSY STRUT” and the Mardi Gras anthem "FIRE ON THE BAYOU,” but his greatest moment on record has gone totally unheard -- shelved and believed to be lost to the ages by all involved, including the artist himself. Until now.


Another Side, the album that inspired this collaboration, is a previously unreleased studio album recorded in New Orleans from 1970-72 and features Allen Toussaint, James Black and both George Porter Jr. & Zigaboo Modeliste of The Meters. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the archive where the album was stored and all seemed lost forever.
Over a decade later, collector Mike Nishita stumbles across the master tapes from the session at a Southern California swap meet, unearthing a hidden gem waiting to be discovered, and the rest is history...

 

 

For the blend, we've decided to pair two sides of a washed Guatemalan coffee (get it?), roasting one side to our typical light roast parameters and for the other side a bit heavier, caramelizing more of the sugars present in the bean. This darker component also matches the roastiness of the chicory, to further enhance that profile when brewing the two together. 

 

 

As an homage to his hometown of New Orleans and their coffee traditions, we have built this blend to pair well with roasted chicory root, a first for us. During times of economic crisis and coffee shortages, chicory root was roasted and blended with coffee to stretch the supply and has since become a staple in the coffee culture in Nola. 

This blend is a combination of two roast profiles on the following coffee:

Country: Guatemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Cultivar: Sarchimor
Process: Washed
Notes: Cocoa, Toasted Almonds, Dried Fig

Situation Chicago Volume II

Initially put together to support venues during the height of the pandemic, the first Situation Chicago LP successfully raised 35k for more than 25 stages. We're back for round two, and this time around, proceeds from the follow-up record go to the CIVL SAVE Emergency Relief Fund, powered by The Giving Back Fund, giving need-based grants to furloughed staff, local artists, and venues via need-based grants in the Chicagoland area. Volume 2 features tracks from Jeff Parker, Umphrey's McGee, and Fess Grandiose.

For this coffee cold can, we chose to highlight a fun, fruity coffee from El Salvador that went through a unique fermentation process. The Pacamara cultivar is a cross between Pacas and Maragogype, a spontaneous mutation of Typica with especially large cherries. Immediately after the cherries were picked, they were collected in an enclosed vessel using carbon dioxide to purge out any oxygen remaining. The intact cherries were left to ferment in this closed system, allowing the natural microbes and yeasts present to ferment the mucilage on the bean without introducing any outside factors. After a few days, the cherries were removed and dried in their skins on raised beds, further developing the acidity and complexity of the coffee.


Country: El Salvador
Farm: Santa Petrona
Cultivar: Pacamara
Process: Carbonic Maceration
Notes: Mulled Wine, Tangerine, Dried Cranberries
Wanna cop the record? You can either grab it from Quiet Pterodactyl's Bandcamp or swing through our Bodega record shop to snatch it up alongside a copy of the first compilation too!
March 16, 2022 — Jake Kryshak

Soul Summit (Limited Blend)

Soul Summit 

 

Chicago has a long and storied history with Soul music - it's part of what makes this city's heart beat. Soulis also the communicational connection that helps everyday people with whatever ails them.  

With the reemergence of Soul music increasingly gaining more awareness within popular music, there are those individuals who dedicate their music journey to dusting off old records, highlighting current bands and blending them all together to create something exciting and fresh. Soul Summit are one such group that host a monthly Soul dance party at the acclaimed Double Door in Chicago. Each month Dave Mata, Duke Grip & Sloppy White bring in a who's who of DJs, bands and music producers to their party, making it one helluva night to get all hot & sweaty on the dance floor. 
 


Being big fans of both the music and the event, DMC & Soul Summit teamed up to bring the Soul Summit blend and mixtape CDs. This blend is no jive friends, just straight to the point with it's black gold brew - using two of our washed coffees from El Salvador, El Condor and San Eduardo. El Condor is a tasty, straight-forward coffee, while the Eduardo washed has classic Salvadoran flavors. Notes of melon, cocoa and lemon make this a dance floor filler that will put the soul back in your day with every sip. 

There are 3 mix cds, one from each Soul Summit resident: Dave Mata, Duke Grip & Sloppy White, that will be given out for FREE, while supplies last, with each bag purchased. We will also be giving out a batch of these heaters at Soul Summit on Saturday, June 21st at the Double Door. Along with the three resident DJs, Soul Suffers, from Russia, will be the featured band  and admission is also FREE !! What could be better than sweatin' to some classic Soul music on a Saturday night? 

To grab a bag of this classic brew just click here. To hear a mini mix of all three mixtapes combined, hop on over to our mixcloud

Open Windows (Limited Blend)

Open Windows 

Last year this time was devastating to our community. Coffee lost a friend. Chicago lost a brother. The insight and innovation that Jim Karr taught us still holds strong today and his friendship, compassion and presence are missed. To commemorate Jim's life and his inspiration to all of us, we are releasing a coffee with our brethren in his honor. Open Windows is a collaboration between DMC, Metropolis Coffee & Quasar Coffee. Special thanks for the brilliant bag and text, written below, from Timothy Breen.  

"Jim Karr had a desire to engage with people. He set out manifesting this action through boundless friendships and through tireless work in the coffee community. He made no designation between the two. In creating Steam Volt there were regular discussions about the responsibility of business, and how great collaborative efforts must be driven by the hard-fought personal convictions. After all of the noise settles down the good ideas come in through the open windows. Jim was that open window for a lot of us, a sounding board and encouraging voice amidst a complicated work/life scenario. His memory will always be a guiding force. Seems appropriate then, with this bag of coffee in his honor, to let some light in and see what can be seen."  
 
Coffees
From Metropolis:
Country: Colombia
Coop: Grupo Asociativo Cafe Andino Especial
Region: Huila 
Cultivar: Caturra
Process: Washed (low fermentation)
 
From Dark Matter:
Country: El Salvador
Farm: Vista Hermosa
Region: Santa Ana
Cultivar: Pacas "Joven"
Process: Pulped Natural (moderate fermentation)
 
Notes: Brown Sugar, Toffee, Baked Goods 
12oz 
The music mixtape was constructed by Konstantine Jace and features a rare collection of old Blues, Jazz and Pop Standards, all from 78 rpm shellac records. A fitting soundtrack for Jim's superb taste