About: This “Specialty Gourmet Peruvian Coffee Blend” is an 8.8 ounce whole bean blend of Bourbon, Caturra, and Typica varieties of “Arabica Coffee“. Grown at an altitude of 1800 meters (6000 feet) in the Satipo region of Peru, this gourmet coffee blend has a splendid Chocolate and Almond flavor and is medium roasted to perfection.
Quantity: 8.8oz
MSRP: $24.97
Website: https://mishalife.com/
One morning in November 2020 while relaxing on the boat drinking my generic, grocery store brand coffee…I was searching Facebook for a group that could offer some insight for a liveaboard family that wants to ”work from home.” Because of COVID, we changed the trajectory of our lifestyle back in Colorado including stepping away from our jobs since there literally was a halt on all of the in-person classes we were currently teaching. We knew we’d be ok without jobs for a little while (Steve is retired military) so we set aside those worries for a few months. After not finding any support groups for sailors who work from their boat to support their cruising lifestyle, I created a little group called ”Self Employed Sailors.” The group has now grown close to 600 individuals worldwide who brainstorm ways to generate income while living aboard…and even other cruisers who would like to support boaters that provide services at sea.
Fast forward to Janurary, 2021 when a new member, Shauna, introduced herself and her business partner, Mitchell. They are purveyors of a luxury coffee brand called Misha Life- Specialty Peruvian Coffee. The brand was developed after the founder, Mitchell Bandklayder arrived in Peru after sailing there. Mitchell met a man named Ernesto who shared with him the award winning coffee he produces with the ”help” of Coatis or locally known as a ”Mishasho.” The chocolate, almond, and fruity notes of the coffee immediately made Mitchell want to share Mishasho coffee with the world and that’s how Misha Life Coffee was born.
Now, I know what you might be thinking…just exactly how does a Coati ”help” make coffee? Well, Misha Life explains it best:
“The Coatis love to eat the Cherries of the Coffee trees. They select the ripest Cherries and then through the digestive process, the enzymes in the digestive tract break down the sugars and impart fruity notes into an already premium flavored coffee. The end result is a sweeter and more mellow coffee. The coffee beans are washed, dried, and then roasted at 230° Celsius (450° Fahrenheit) destroying any bacteria in the process. The Coatis used to make Misha Life Coffee are young rescued offspring which are kept in very humane conditions and are released back into the wild once they have matured.”
-Misha Life Coffee
We weren’t that brave, (maybe next time) so we opted for the regular beans…that didn’t have the ”help” of a Coati! Misha Life has three options as of now, an 8.8oz bag of whole bean, Specialty Gourmet Peruvian Coffee Blend, NEW K-Cups of the same blend, and a 4.4oz bag of whole bean, Extremely Rare Gourmet Dung Specialty Arabica Coffee. If you live in the South Florida area, you can even try it out in person at their coffee cart! We grabbed a bag of the Peruvian Blend and were pleasantly surprised!
Now, I’m no coffee connoisseur by any means but I do know that I really dislike watered down, ”brown water” of the hotel and gas station variety and also that I can’t drink my coffee black. I usually drink, by default, whatever my husband gets which is usually a dark roast of some kind. Misha Life is a medium roast and is a little light on the ”color” side. The aroma of grinding the beans filled our galley with a pleasureful scent. Even more so when we were brewing it! Upon first pour though…we were hesitant. The light, caramel colored drink made us nervous that the body, or mouthfeel, would also be light. We were right, but I will say that this was probably the most flavorful cup of coffee I’ve ever had! The light, but aromatic first sip sets the expectation that it’s only going to get better over time. The delicate sweet and fruity taste finishes with a mellow and smooth chocolatey-almond aftertaste leaving you yearning for more. I even drank a cup without any creamer, and again, I usually doctor up my coffee pretty heavily. The higher caffeine content was also surprising, as we later learned from Shauna (and validated with some internet sleuthing) that typically medium roast coffee has a higher caffeine content than dark roast. Well color me surprised!
We enjoyed the entire bag during our 5-day sail over Labor Day to Sebastian Inlet, and boy were we sad to see the bag empty. Wonderful taste and higher caffeine content? I think I just found my new favorite cruising coffee!
Destination Adrift 