Roasted for Espresso | Marmalade, honey cake, dates
A warming espresso with notes of dates and marmalade. Look for brown sugar and cardamom in the finish.
Please join us in thanking Aime Gahizis and the smallholder coffee producers of Karongi as we mark twelve years of working with delicious coffee from Gitesi washing station.
The Producer
Aime is always hospitable and positive when we visit Rwanda. We stay in close contact throughout the year to hear how things are going at the washing station. As well as buying and processing coffee cherries grown by the smallholder farmers in the surrounding hillsides, the Gahizi family also tend to their own small farm. They have a wormery which they use to make an organic fertiliser spray, which also helps to limit the spread of leaf rust. Every year they are buying more land and planting more coffee, with over 20,000 trees now producing on their own farm. Their mature trees produce an average of 5kg fruit per year but can produce upwards of 20kg.
Cows kept at the station provide milk and fertiliser for their own trees, and through Aime’s social work they donate dozens of cows each year to farmers in the local area, as well as spray pumps for fertiliser. They also donate seedlings from their nursery of over 10,000 plants to neighbouring farmers and run workshops to teach them about tending to other food crops as well as coffee.
The Washing Station
The water used for producing washed coffees comes from a natural spring. After being used for processing the coffee it becomes full of particulates and enzymes, needing to be filtered before being reintroduced into the local water table. At Gitesi they collect water from the washing channels as well as run off from the mounds of coffee pulp (which breaks down to provide more compost for their trees) and first hold it in a tank. The mucilage settles and is separated off to be added to organic fertiliser whilst the water passes through lime and EM (effective microorganisms). Subsequent stages use molasses, holding tanks, charcoal and fine gravel to filter the water before it finally passes through a bed of vetiver reeds, re-oxygenating it. This filtration system is highly advanced and is held up as an exemplary model for other washing stations to work towards.
A couple of years ago they built new washing and grading channels at the station as part of their renovations. Typically they will process around 80% of their coffee volumes as washed coffee, with 20% naturals being done on a case by case basis for certain clients.
Their Approach
Aime sees the work at Gitesi as much more than simple crop husbandry and coffee production, doing amazing work within the neighbouring community. We asked him for a message that we could pass along to the people drinking coffee from Gitesi and he replied with the following, that we haven’t the heart to shorten:
“The Gitesi Sector is the land of our grandfathers, it’s where even my father was born. But as you know, because of Rwandan history we grew up outside our country, and we came back in 1994 after the genocide and liberation war. Upon our return we have found in our land no one among our family members, all of them were killed in the genocide. We are now living and working with those who killed (or their children) our relatives. What motivates us is the reconciliation between the survivors of genocide of those who participated in genocide in our sector, now we are working together at the washing station, sharing everything in peace. Our plan is to continue changing the lives of our people at Gitesi both socially and economically.”
Origin: Karongi, Western Province, Rwanda
Produced by: Aime Gahizis
Processing: Floated & eco-pulped, dry fermented, fully washed and soaked, dried on raised beds.
Variety: Red Bourbon & RAB C15
Altitude: 1,750 to 2,000 metres
Harvest: June, 2024
Arrival: December, 2024
Roasted for Espresso | Marmalade, honey cake, dates
A warming espresso with notes of dates and marmalade. Look for brown sugar and cardamom in the finish.
Please join us in thanking Aime Gahizis and the smallholder coffee producers of Karongi as we mark twelve years of working with delicious coffee from Gitesi washing station.
The Producer
Aime is always hospitable and positive when we visit Rwanda. We stay in close contact throughout the year to hear how things are going at the washing station. As well as buying and processing coffee cherries grown by the smallholder farmers in the surrounding hillsides, the Gahizi family also tend to their own small farm. They have a wormery which they use to make an organic fertiliser spray, which also helps to limit the spread of leaf rust. Every year they are buying more land and planting more coffee, with over 20,000 trees now producing on their own farm. Their mature trees produce an average of 5kg fruit per year but can produce upwards of 20kg.
Cows kept at the station provide milk and fertiliser for their own trees, and through Aime’s social work they donate dozens of cows each year to farmers in the local area, as well as spray pumps for fertiliser. They also donate seedlings from their nursery of over 10,000 plants to neighbouring farmers and run workshops to teach them about tending to other food crops as well as coffee.
The Washing Station
The water used for producing washed coffees comes from a natural spring. After being used for processing the coffee it becomes full of particulates and enzymes, needing to be filtered before being reintroduced into the local water table. At Gitesi they collect water from the washing channels as well as run off from the mounds of coffee pulp (which breaks down to provide more compost for their trees) and first hold it in a tank. The mucilage settles and is separated off to be added to organic fertiliser whilst the water passes through lime and EM (effective microorganisms). Subsequent stages use molasses, holding tanks, charcoal and fine gravel to filter the water before it finally passes through a bed of vetiver reeds, re-oxygenating it. This filtration system is highly advanced and is held up as an exemplary model for other washing stations to work towards.
A couple of years ago they built new washing and grading channels at the station as part of their renovations. Typically they will process around 80% of their coffee volumes as washed coffee, with 20% naturals being done on a case by case basis for certain clients.
Their Approach
Aime sees the work at Gitesi as much more than simple crop husbandry and coffee production, doing amazing work within the neighbouring community. We asked him for a message that we could pass along to the people drinking coffee from Gitesi and he replied with the following, that we haven’t the heart to shorten:
“The Gitesi Sector is the land of our grandfathers, it’s where even my father was born. But as you know, because of Rwandan history we grew up outside our country, and we came back in 1994 after the genocide and liberation war. Upon our return we have found in our land no one among our family members, all of them were killed in the genocide. We are now living and working with those who killed (or their children) our relatives. What motivates us is the reconciliation between the survivors of genocide of those who participated in genocide in our sector, now we are working together at the washing station, sharing everything in peace. Our plan is to continue changing the lives of our people at Gitesi both socially and economically.”
Origin: Karongi, Western Province, Rwanda
Produced by: Aime Gahizis
Processing: Floated & eco-pulped, dry fermented, fully washed and soaked, dried on raised beds.
Variety: Red Bourbon & RAB C15
Altitude: 1,750 to 2,000 metres
Harvest: June, 2024
Arrival: December, 2024
Roasted for Espresso | Marmalade, honey cake, dates
A7 information cards for use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
A warming espresso with notes of dates and marmalade. Look for brown sugar and cardamom in the finish.
Please join us in thanking Aime Gahizis and the smallholder coffee producers of Karongi as we mark twelve years of working with delicious coffee from Gitesi washing station.
The Producer
Aime is always hospitable and positive when we visit Rwanda. We stay in close contact throughout the year to hear how things are going at the washing station. As well as buying and processing coffee cherries grown by the smallholder farmers in the surrounding hillsides, the Gahizi family also tend to their own small farm. They have a wormery which they use to make an organic fertiliser spray, which also helps to limit the spread of leaf rust. Every year they are buying more land and planting more coffee, with over 20,000 trees now producing on their own farm. Their mature trees produce an average of 5kg fruit per year but can produce upwards of 20kg.
Cows kept at the station provide milk and fertiliser for their own trees, and through Aime’s social work they donate dozens of cows each year to farmers in the local area, as well as spray pumps for fertiliser. They also donate seedlings from their nursery of over 10,000 plants to neighbouring farmers and run workshops to teach them about tending to other food crops as well as coffee.
The Washing Station
The water used for producing washed coffees comes from a natural spring. After being used for processing the coffee it becomes full of particulates and enzymes, needing to be filtered before being reintroduced into the local water table. At Gitesi they collect water from the washing channels as well as run off from the mounds of coffee pulp (which breaks down to provide more compost for their trees) and first hold it in a tank. The mucilage settles and is separated off to be added to organic fertiliser whilst the water passes through lime and EM (effective microorganisms). Subsequent stages use molasses, holding tanks, charcoal and fine gravel to filter the water before it finally passes through a bed of vetiver reeds, re-oxygenating it. This filtration system is highly advanced and is held up as an exemplary model for other washing stations to work towards.
A couple of years ago they built new washing and grading channels at the station as part of their renovations. Typically they will process around 80% of their coffee volumes as washed coffee, with 20% naturals being done on a case by case basis for certain clients.
Their Approach
Aime sees the work at Gitesi as much more than simple crop husbandry and coffee production, doing amazing work within the neighbouring community. We asked him for a message that we could pass along to the people drinking coffee from Gitesi and he replied with the following, that we haven’t the heart to shorten:
“The Gitesi Sector is the land of our grandfathers, it’s where even my father was born. But as you know, because of Rwandan history we grew up outside our country, and we came back in 1994 after the genocide and liberation war. Upon our return we have found in our land no one among our family members, all of them were killed in the genocide. We are now living and working with those who killed (or their children) our relatives. What motivates us is the reconciliation between the survivors of genocide of those who participated in genocide in our sector, now we are working together at the washing station, sharing everything in peace. Our plan is to continue changing the lives of our people at Gitesi both socially and economically.”
Origin: Karongi, Western Province, Rwanda
Produced by: Aime Gahizis
Processing: Floated & eco-pulped, dry fermented, fully washed and soaked, dried on raised beds.
Variety: Red Bourbon & RAB C15
Altitude: 1,750 to 2,000 metres
Harvest: June, 2024
Arrival: December, 2024
Roasted for Espresso | Clementine, honeyed, fresh pine
Our first Ugandan coffee release since 2019, we’re really excited by the prospect of this new buying relationship with Zukuka Bora.
The Producers
The smallhold farmers growing the coffee that makes its way into this lot live in the remote community of Bulaago on Mount Elgon, close to the border with Kenya. A typical family would have between 20 and 200 coffee trees, and so volumes are built via communities rather than individual farmers and households. Visiting the area is difficult, in particular when rains and mudslides limit accessibility, with the preferred mode of transport in and out being the motorcycle taxi. The soils are volcanic and rich, with altitudes spanning 1,700 up to 2,000 metres, resulting in ideal conditions for producing top quality arabica coffees.
The Co-operative
To help untap the potential of the region and work towards farmer prosperity, the NGO ‘JENGA’ from Mbale in Eastern Uganda established the Zukuka Bora co-operative. Zukuka Bora means ‘Revive!’ or ‘Wake Up the Best!’ referencing the history of the region as famed for producing top quality specialty coffees.
In 2014 they bought a small plot to use as a demonstration farm to teach the growers in the area about best agricultural practices for coffee, such as how to plant and space their coffee trees, utilising shade cover and how to apply mulch and organic fertiliser around the trees. There is also training on best ways to perform selective harvesting, the cornerstone of producing specialty coffee. Initially the prospect of ‘floating’ prior to depulping was met with skepticism, as on the surface it looks like syphoning off cherry and therefore money, but the goal of producing specialty outturns can require this type of refinement, and the seconds and off-grades pulled out at this stage will still find a home in the local market.
As well as good-agricultural-practices training the group held discussions with their grower members to understand what they could do socially to bring some positive impact. The results were establishing a women’s community group, training community health workers, running a goat rearing program, offering education support and facilitating clean water schemes.
The Coffee
Once the ripe cherries are picked they are delivered, typically via motorcycle-taxi to the central processing station. After rigorous hand sorting and floating they are traditionally depulped and fermented before being fully washed and subsequently dried on raised beds. Day lots are separated and cupped individually to assess their flavour qualities prior to bulk blending. This outturn was earmarked for the ‘reserve’ selections, having stood out as particularly good quality and a fantastic expression of the region. Isaac who oversees quality control monitors every stage closely to maximise the chances of the individual lots achieving a higher cup score and therefore higher selling price.
A field blend of SL14 and SL28 cultivars, we are getting citrus like fruit notes, a refined, silky sweetness and fresh aromatics.
Origin: Bulaago, Sisiyi, Mt. Elgon, Uganda
Producer: 179 smallholder farmers in Bulaago
Processing: Hand-harvested and floated, traditionally depulped and fermented, fully washed, dried on raised beds.
Cultivar: SL14 & SL28
Altitude: 1,950 metres
Harvest: February, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Espresso | Clementine, honeyed, fresh pine
Our first Ugandan coffee release since 2019, we’re really excited by the prospect of this new buying relationship with Zukuka Bora.
The Producers
The smallhold farmers growing the coffee that makes its way into this lot live in the remote community of Bulaago on Mount Elgon, close to the border with Kenya. A typical family would have between 20 and 200 coffee trees, and so volumes are built via communities rather than individual farmers and households. Visiting the area is difficult, in particular when rains and mudslides limit accessibility, with the preferred mode of transport in and out being the motorcycle taxi. The soils are volcanic and rich, with altitudes spanning 1,700 up to 2,000 metres, resulting in ideal conditions for producing top quality arabica coffees.
The Co-operative
To help untap the potential of the region and work towards farmer prosperity, the NGO ‘JENGA’ from Mbale in Eastern Uganda established the Zukuka Bora co-operative. Zukuka Bora means ‘Revive!’ or ‘Wake Up the Best!’ referencing the history of the region as famed for producing top quality specialty coffees.
In 2014 they bought a small plot to use as a demonstration farm to teach the growers in the area about best agricultural practices for coffee, such as how to plant and space their coffee trees, utilising shade cover and how to apply mulch and organic fertiliser around the trees. There is also training on best ways to perform selective harvesting, the cornerstone of producing specialty coffee. Initially the prospect of ‘floating’ prior to depulping was met with skepticism, as on the surface it looks like syphoning off cherry and therefore money, but the goal of producing specialty outturns can require this type of refinement, and the seconds and off-grades pulled out at this stage will still find a home in the local market.
As well as good-agricultural-practices training the group held discussions with their grower members to understand what they could do socially to bring some positive impact. The results were establishing a women’s community group, training community health workers, running a goat rearing program, offering education support and facilitating clean water schemes.
The Coffee
Once the ripe cherries are picked they are delivered, typically via motorcycle-taxi to the central processing station. After rigorous hand sorting and floating they are traditionally depulped and fermented before being fully washed and subsequently dried on raised beds. Day lots are separated and cupped individually to assess their flavour qualities prior to bulk blending. This outturn was earmarked for the ‘reserve’ selections, having stood out as particularly good quality and a fantastic expression of the region. Isaac who oversees quality control monitors every stage closely to maximise the chances of the individual lots achieving a higher cup score and therefore higher selling price.
A field blend of SL14 and SL28 cultivars, we are getting citrus like fruit notes, a refined, silky sweetness and fresh aromatics.
Origin: Bulaago, Sisiyi, Mt. Elgon, Uganda
Producer: 179 smallholder farmers in Bulaago
Processing: Hand-harvested and floated, traditionally depulped and fermented, fully washed, dried on raised beds.
Cultivar: SL14 & SL28
Altitude: 1,950 metres
Harvest: February, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Espresso | Clementine, honeyed, fresh pine
A7 information cards for use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
Our first Ugandan coffee release since 2019, we’re really excited by the prospect of this new buying relationship with Zukuka Bora.
The Producers
The smallhold farmers growing the coffee that makes its way into this lot live in the remote community of Bulaago on Mount Elgon, close to the border with Kenya. A typical family would have between 20 and 200 coffee trees, and so volumes are built via communities rather than individual farmers and households. Visiting the area is difficult, in particular when rains and mudslides limit accessibility, with the preferred mode of transport in and out being the motorcycle taxi. The soils are volcanic and rich, with altitudes spanning 1,700 up to 2,000 metres, resulting in ideal conditions for producing top quality arabica coffees.
The Co-operative
To help untap the potential of the region and work towards farmer prosperity, the NGO ‘JENGA’ from Mbale in Eastern Uganda established the Zukuka Bora co-operative. Zukuka Bora means ‘Revive!’ or ‘Wake Up the Best!’ referencing the history of the region as famed for producing top quality specialty coffees.
In 2014 they bought a small plot to use as a demonstration farm to teach the growers in the area about best agricultural practices for coffee, such as how to plant and space their coffee trees, utilising shade cover and how to apply mulch and organic fertiliser around the trees. There is also training on best ways to perform selective harvesting, the cornerstone of producing specialty coffee. Initially the prospect of ‘floating’ prior to depulping was met with skepticism, as on the surface it looks like syphoning off cherry and therefore money, but the goal of producing specialty outturns can require this type of refinement, and the seconds and off-grades pulled out at this stage will still find a home in the local market.
As well as good-agricultural-practices training the group held discussions with their grower members to understand what they could do socially to bring some positive impact. The results were establishing a women’s community group, training community health workers, running a goat rearing program, offering education support and facilitating clean water schemes.
The Coffee
Once the ripe cherries are picked they are delivered, typically via motorcycle-taxi to the central processing station. After rigorous hand sorting and floating they are traditionally depulped and fermented before being fully washed and subsequently dried on raised beds. Day lots are separated and cupped individually to assess their flavour qualities prior to bulk blending. This outturn was earmarked for the ‘reserve’ selections, having stood out as particularly good quality and a fantastic expression of the region. Isaac who oversees quality control monitors every stage closely to maximise the chances of the individual lots achieving a higher cup score and therefore higher selling price.
A field blend of SL14 and SL28 cultivars, we are getting citrus like fruit notes, a refined, silky sweetness and fresh aromatics.
Origin: Bulaago, Sisiyi, Mt. Elgon, Uganda
Producer: 179 smallholder farmers in Bulaago
Processing: Hand-harvested and floated, traditionally depulped and fermented, fully washed, dried on raised beds.
Cultivar: SL14 & SL28
Altitude: 1,950 metres
Harvest: February, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Marzipan, Warm Berries, Caramel
A sweet, vibrant cup with a silky body carries flavours of caramelised sugars, marzipan and warm berries.
We are funding a tree planting program called 'Shading Farms', where forest and fruit trees are donated to and planted on coffee farms in Huila. The aim is to increase biodiversity, provide secondary income and to capture CO2.
The Region
We have worked in Huila for over a decade, and in our experience the cup profiles of top lots from this region really chime with our preferences. El Nevado del Huila is Colombia’s highest volcano, named for its snowy top, and we are referencing the notion of the pinnacle of quality in our Colombian offerings through using its name for our espresso.
The Producers
We are currently featuring coffee from 24 producers, based primarily in the La Plata municipality of Huila, who contribute their lots to Caravela's buying hub for quality assessment and sale. A few growers are based in Agrado, La Argentina and Nataga, but despite slight geographic differences we are still finding the flavour profile to chime with what we expect and enjoy from the region, delivering brown sugar sweetness, hints of red berries and a clean, lingering finish. The vast majority of these contributing growers receive agronomical assistance and support from Caravela. The primary contribution to this most recent outturn was from Artemo Quebrada Collo, whose farm La Chorrera has achieved 'Legend' status on the PECA program.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
|
PRODUCER
|
Multiple small-scale producers with farms of around 1 hectare in size |
|
PROCESS |
Traditionally depulped, fermented & washed, dried via polytunnel or rooftop patio. |
|
VARIETY |
Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia |
|
REGION |
Various municipalities within Huila |
|
COUNTRY |
Colombia |
|
ALTITUDE |
1,650 to 2,150 metres |
|
|
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Marzipan, Warm Berries, Caramel
A sweet, vibrant cup with a silky body carries flavours of caramelised sugars, marzipan and warm berries.
We are funding a tree planting program called 'Shading Farms', where forest and fruit trees are donated to and planted on coffee farms in Huila. The aim is to increase biodiversity, provide secondary income and to capture CO2.
The Region
We have worked in Huila for over a decade, and in our experience the cup profiles of top lots from this region really chime with our preferences. El Nevado del Huila is Colombia’s highest volcano, named for its snowy top, and we are referencing the notion of the pinnacle of quality in our Colombian offerings through using its name for our espresso.
The Producers
We are currently featuring coffee from 24 producers, based primarily in the La Plata municipality of Huila, who contribute their lots to Caravela's buying hub for quality assessment and sale. A few growers are based in Agrado, La Argentina and Nataga, but despite slight geographic differences we are still finding the flavour profile to chime with what we expect and enjoy from the region, delivering brown sugar sweetness, hints of red berries and a clean, lingering finish. The vast majority of these contributing growers receive agronomical assistance and support from Caravela. The primary contribution to this most recent outturn was from Artemo Quebrada Collo, whose farm La Chorrera has achieved 'Legend' status on the PECA program.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
|
PRODUCER
|
Multiple small-scale producers with farms of around 1 hectare in size |
|
PROCESS |
Traditionally depulped, fermented & washed, dried via polytunnel or rooftop patio. |
|
VARIETY |
Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia |
|
REGION |
Various municipalities within Huila |
|
COUNTRY |
Colombia |
|
ALTITUDE |
1,650 to 2,150 metres |
|
|
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Marzipan, Warm Berries, Caramel
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
A sweet, vibrant cup with a silky body carries flavours of caramelised sugars, marzipan and warm berries.
We are funding a tree planting program called 'Shading Farms', where forest and fruit trees are donated to and planted on coffee farms in Huila. The aim is to increase biodiversity, provide secondary income and to capture CO2.
The Region
We have worked in Huila for over a decade, and in our experience the cup profiles of top lots from this region really chime with our preferences. El Nevado del Huila is Colombia’s highest volcano, named for its snowy top, and we are referencing the notion of the pinnacle of quality in our Colombian offerings through using its name for our espresso.
The Producers
We are currently featuring coffee from 24 producers, based primarily in the La Plata municipality of Huila, who contribute their lots to Caravela's buying hub for quality assessment and sale. A few growers are based in Agrado, La Argentina and Nataga, but despite slight geographic differences we are still finding the flavour profile to chime with what we expect and enjoy from the region, delivering brown sugar sweetness, hints of red berries and a clean, lingering finish. The vast majority of these contributing growers receive agronomical assistance and support from Caravela. The primary contribution to this most recent outturn was from Artemo Quebrada Collo, whose farm La Chorrera has achieved 'Legend' status on the PECA program.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
|
PRODUCER
|
Multiple small-scale producers with farms of around 1 hectare in size |
|
PROCESS |
Traditionally depulped, fermented & washed, dried via polytunnel or rooftop patio. |
|
VARIETY |
Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia |
|
REGION |
Various municipalities within Huila |
|
COUNTRY |
Colombia |
|
ALTITUDE |
1,650 to 2,150 metres |
|
|
Roasted for Filter | Raspberry, cranberry, tonka
One of our favourite Kenyan coffees, we’re thrilled to reintroduce a juicy AA lot from the Karimikui factory into our filter coffee line-up.
The Farmers
Several hundred smallhold farmers in the villages of Kiamugumo, Githure and Gituba deliver their coffee cherries to the Karimikui factory, some by foot, some on motorbike and some by ox-drawn carts. The farmers attend agricultural seminars held by the Rungeto Farmers’ Co-operative Society (FCS) year-round, and are provided access to fertilisers with the aim of helping them to sustain and improve their coffee production.
The Washing Station
The coffee cherries are first sorted through by hand for under- or over-ripe cherries, and then floated to sort by density before depulping. After depulping, they are fermented for up to 24 hours. The washing stage is then done by periodically introducing clean water from the nearby Nyamindi river into the tanks and stirring the coffee, before sluicing away the dissolving fruit mucilage layers. Once squeaky clean the coffee is moved to a soaking tank to sit in fresh water for another 24 hours before it goes out to dry on raised beds. This can take between 12 and 20 days, depending on the weather conditions. The water used in processing is treated in two large soak pits before it makes its way back into the local water table, to break down the sugars, acids and particulates that accumulate during coffee processing.
The Farmers’ Co-operative society
The Karimikui Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is run by the Rungeto FCS. They also oversee Kii CWS and Kiangoi CWS, from whom we’ve cupped many delicious coffees over the years. The region, Ngariama, was previously home to one of the largest FCS in Kenya, called Ngiriama FCS. It was liquidated in 1996 which allowed smaller FCS to snap up their assets, like Rungeto taking over Karimikui, Kii and Kiangoi. As well as processing coffee cherries the FCS has created job opportunities and improved the local community’s infrastructure by opening a fuel station and a dairy cooling facility. Some of the smallholder coffee farmers who deliver coffee cherries also have cattle, and so can sell their milk to the dairy.
Impeccable processing and drying conditions, coupled with predominantly SL28 & SL34 varieties grown in volcanic soils in a cool climate makes for an excellent expression of Kenya’s Kirinyaga country, with lots of tart red fruits and sweetness in the cup.
Origin: Ngariama, Kirinyaga, Kenya
Produced by: Rungeto Farmers’ Co-op Society
Processing: Traditionally depulped, 24hrs dry fermented, multiple washing stages, soaked & dried on raised beds.
Cultivars: Predominantly SL28 & SL34, some Ruiru 11
Altitude: 1,650 to 1,900 metres
Harvest: January, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Raspberry, cranberry, tonka
One of our favourite Kenyan coffees, we’re thrilled to reintroduce a juicy AA lot from the Karimikui factory into our filter coffee line-up.
The Farmers
Several hundred smallhold farmers in the villages of Kiamugumo, Githure and Gituba deliver their coffee cherries to the Karimikui factory, some by foot, some on motorbike and some by ox-drawn carts. The farmers attend agricultural seminars held by the Rungeto Farmers’ Co-operative Society (FCS) year-round, and are provided access to fertilisers with the aim of helping them to sustain and improve their coffee production.
The Washing Station
The coffee cherries are first sorted through by hand for under- or over-ripe cherries, and then floated to sort by density before depulping. After depulping, they are fermented for up to 24 hours. The washing stage is then done by periodically introducing clean water from the nearby Nyamindi river into the tanks and stirring the coffee, before sluicing away the dissolving fruit mucilage layers. Once squeaky clean the coffee is moved to a soaking tank to sit in fresh water for another 24 hours before it goes out to dry on raised beds. This can take between 12 and 20 days, depending on the weather conditions. The water used in processing is treated in two large soak pits before it makes its way back into the local water table, to break down the sugars, acids and particulates that accumulate during coffee processing.
The Farmers’ Co-operative society
The Karimikui Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is run by the Rungeto FCS. They also oversee Kii CWS and Kiangoi CWS, from whom we’ve cupped many delicious coffees over the years. The region, Ngariama, was previously home to one of the largest FCS in Kenya, called Ngiriama FCS. It was liquidated in 1996 which allowed smaller FCS to snap up their assets, like Rungeto taking over Karimikui, Kii and Kiangoi. As well as processing coffee cherries the FCS has created job opportunities and improved the local community’s infrastructure by opening a fuel station and a dairy cooling facility. Some of the smallholder coffee farmers who deliver coffee cherries also have cattle, and so can sell their milk to the dairy.
Impeccable processing and drying conditions, coupled with predominantly SL28 & SL34 varieties grown in volcanic soils in a cool climate makes for an excellent expression of Kenya’s Kirinyaga country, with lots of tart red fruits and sweetness in the cup.
Origin: Ngariama, Kirinyaga, Kenya
Produced by: Rungeto Farmers’ Co-op Society
Processing: Traditionally depulped, 24hrs dry fermented, multiple washing stages, soaked & dried on raised beds.
Cultivars: Predominantly SL28 & SL34, some Ruiru 11
Altitude: 1,650 to 1,900 metres
Harvest: January, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Raspberry, cranberry, tonka
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
One of our favourite Kenyan coffees, we’re thrilled to reintroduce a juicy AA lot from the Karimikui factory into our filter coffee line-up.
The Farmers
Several hundred smallhold farmers in the villages of Kiamugumo, Githure and Gituba deliver their coffee cherries to the Karimikui factory, some by foot, some on motorbike and some by ox-drawn carts. The farmers attend agricultural seminars held by the Rungeto Farmers’ Co-operative Society (FCS) year-round, and are provided access to fertilisers with the aim of helping them to sustain and improve their coffee production.
The Washing Station
The coffee cherries are first sorted through by hand for under- or over-ripe cherries, and then floated to sort by density before depulping. After depulping, they are fermented for up to 24 hours. The washing stage is then done by periodically introducing clean water from the nearby Nyamindi river into the tanks and stirring the coffee, before sluicing away the dissolving fruit mucilage layers. Once squeaky clean the coffee is moved to a soaking tank to sit in fresh water for another 24 hours before it goes out to dry on raised beds. This can take between 12 and 20 days, depending on the weather conditions. The water used in processing is treated in two large soak pits before it makes its way back into the local water table, to break down the sugars, acids and particulates that accumulate during coffee processing.
The Farmers’ Co-operative society
The Karimikui Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is run by the Rungeto FCS. They also oversee Kii CWS and Kiangoi CWS, from whom we’ve cupped many delicious coffees over the years. The region, Ngariama, was previously home to one of the largest FCS in Kenya, called Ngiriama FCS. It was liquidated in 1996 which allowed smaller FCS to snap up their assets, like Rungeto taking over Karimikui, Kii and Kiangoi. As well as processing coffee cherries the FCS has created job opportunities and improved the local community’s infrastructure by opening a fuel station and a dairy cooling facility. Some of the smallholder coffee farmers who deliver coffee cherries also have cattle, and so can sell their milk to the dairy.
Impeccable processing and drying conditions, coupled with predominantly SL28 & SL34 varieties grown in volcanic soils in a cool climate makes for an excellent expression of Kenya’s Kirinyaga country, with lots of tart red fruits and sweetness in the cup.
Origin: Ngariama, Kirinyaga, Kenya
Produced by: Rungeto Farmers’ Co-op Society
Processing: Traditionally depulped, 24hrs dry fermented, multiple washing stages, soaked & dried on raised beds.
Cultivars: Predominantly SL28 & SL34, some Ruiru 11
Altitude: 1,650 to 1,900 metres
Harvest: January, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Candied chestnuts, mangosteen, butterscotch
It’s a great joy to welcome back onto the coffee menu an exceptionally well processed lot of Bourbon from 2,000 metres in Peru’s Cusco region, produced by Miranda Huaman Gregoria. Expect a balanced cup with an array of fruity, herbal and sugary characteristics.
The Producer:
Miranda Huaman Gregoria has been working in coffee for 36 years. In the last 8 she has been in partnership with the Valle Inca Association, headed up by José Prundencio. She tends to Bourbon coffee trees on her 5-hectare farm, Mesapata, which are about a dozen years old. Being situated at 2,000 metres above sea level means that both Broca (coffee borer beetle) and Roya (coffee leaf rust) are not hugely problematic.
Their Approach:
Miranda has planted Pacay trees on her farm, to provide shade for the coffee plants as well as to encourage biodiversity. As well as coffee she is producing small peppers known locally as Rocoto. The coffee plants are nourished with a homemade compost, composed primarily of spent coffee pulp and bird poo. In processing her harvested coffee cherries, she first floats in water to skim off the less dense fruit. They are then fed through a manual disc depulper to remove the seed from the fruit. The depulped parchment is sieved to remove any coffee cherry skins. Experimenting in their approach to fermentation, they place the mucilage laden parchment coffee into GrainPro sacks and then seal in a plastic barrel. A tube allows for degassing, as the microbiome breaking down the coffee's mucilage produces CO2 during this stage. After nearly 40 hours the fermented coffee is fully washed in clean water, which is then treated in wells. The parchment coffee is then placed onto raised beds in a parabolic dried to slowly dry down to a stable moisture content over around 18 days. In recent years Miranda has also been producing some honey processed lots.
The Association
In 2018, our first year buying coffee through Valle Inca, the group had around 100 members. Thanks to word of mouth, with producers telling their neighbours of the premium prices that they were able to receive having been able to access a more discerning coffee market through the association, the group now works with around 300 producers in the Cusco region and have recently expanded their operations to include Puno. All the members are working organically and are certified as such via the Valle Inca group. For a member to join, there needs to be a baseline of quality met, dictated in part by altitude and the type of varieties planted, but ultimately it is down to the desire of each member to improve their quality through hard work. The group provides agronomical advice and training as well as pre-financing, so the farmer members are supported in multiple ways. Several of their members reliably place well in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition.
Origin: Huaynapata, Yanatile, Calca, Cusco, Peru
Farm: Mesapata
Processing: Floated & manually depulped, sealed barrel ferment for 39 hours, fully washed, dried on raised beds.
Variety: Bourbon
Altitude: 2,000 metres
Harvest: August to September, 2024
Arrival: January, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Candied chestnuts, mangosteen, butterscotch
It’s a great joy to welcome back onto the coffee menu an exceptionally well processed lot of Bourbon from 2,000 metres in Peru’s Cusco region, produced by Miranda Huaman Gregoria. Expect a balanced cup with an array of fruity, herbal and sugary characteristics.
The Producer:
Miranda Huaman Gregoria has been working in coffee for 36 years. In the last 8 she has been in partnership with the Valle Inca Association, headed up by José Prundencio. She tends to Bourbon coffee trees on her 5-hectare farm, Mesapata, which are about a dozen years old. Being situated at 2,000 metres above sea level means that both Broca (coffee borer beetle) and Roya (coffee leaf rust) are not hugely problematic.
Their Approach:
Miranda has planted Pacay trees on her farm, to provide shade for the coffee plants as well as to encourage biodiversity. As well as coffee she is producing small peppers known locally as Rocoto. The coffee plants are nourished with a homemade compost, composed primarily of spent coffee pulp and bird poo. In processing her harvested coffee cherries, she first floats in water to skim off the less dense fruit. They are then fed through a manual disc depulper to remove the seed from the fruit. The depulped parchment is sieved to remove any coffee cherry skins. Experimenting in their approach to fermentation, they place the mucilage laden parchment coffee into GrainPro sacks and then seal in a plastic barrel. A tube allows for degassing, as the microbiome breaking down the coffee's mucilage produces CO2 during this stage. After nearly 40 hours the fermented coffee is fully washed in clean water, which is then treated in wells. The parchment coffee is then placed onto raised beds in a parabolic dried to slowly dry down to a stable moisture content over around 18 days. In recent years Miranda has also been producing some honey processed lots.
The Association
In 2018, our first year buying coffee through Valle Inca, the group had around 100 members. Thanks to word of mouth, with producers telling their neighbours of the premium prices that they were able to receive having been able to access a more discerning coffee market through the association, the group now works with around 300 producers in the Cusco region and have recently expanded their operations to include Puno. All the members are working organically and are certified as such via the Valle Inca group. For a member to join, there needs to be a baseline of quality met, dictated in part by altitude and the type of varieties planted, but ultimately it is down to the desire of each member to improve their quality through hard work. The group provides agronomical advice and training as well as pre-financing, so the farmer members are supported in multiple ways. Several of their members reliably place well in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition.
Origin: Huaynapata, Yanatile, Calca, Cusco, Peru
Farm: Mesapata
Processing: Floated & manually depulped, sealed barrel ferment for 39 hours, fully washed, dried on raised beds.
Variety: Bourbon
Altitude: 2,000 metres
Harvest: August to September, 2024
Arrival: January, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Candied chestnuts, mangosteen, butterscotch
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
It’s a great joy to welcome back onto the coffee menu an exceptionally well processed lot of Bourbon from 2,000 metres in Peru’s Cusco region, produced by Miranda Huaman Gregoria. Expect a balanced cup with an array of fruity, herbal and sugary characteristics.
The Producer:
Miranda Huaman Gregoria has been working in coffee for 36 years. In the last 8 she has been in partnership with the Valle Inca Association, headed up by José Prundencio. She tends to Bourbon coffee trees on her 5-hectare farm, Mesapata, which are about a dozen years old. Being situated at 2,000 metres above sea level means that both Broca (coffee borer beetle) and Roya (coffee leaf rust) are not hugely problematic.
Their Approach:
Miranda has planted Pacay trees on her farm, to provide shade for the coffee plants as well as to encourage biodiversity. As well as coffee she is producing small peppers known locally as Rocoto. The coffee plants are nourished with a homemade compost, composed primarily of spent coffee pulp and bird poo. In processing her harvested coffee cherries, she first floats in water to skim off the less dense fruit. They are then fed through a manual disc depulper to remove the seed from the fruit. The depulped parchment is sieved to remove any coffee cherry skins. Experimenting in their approach to fermentation, they place the mucilage laden parchment coffee into GrainPro sacks and then seal in a plastic barrel. A tube allows for degassing, as the microbiome breaking down the coffee's mucilage produces CO2 during this stage. After nearly 40 hours the fermented coffee is fully washed in clean water, which is then treated in wells. The parchment coffee is then placed onto raised beds in a parabolic dried to slowly dry down to a stable moisture content over around 18 days. In recent years Miranda has also been producing some honey processed lots.
The Association
In 2018, our first year buying coffee through Valle Inca, the group had around 100 members. Thanks to word of mouth, with producers telling their neighbours of the premium prices that they were able to receive having been able to access a more discerning coffee market through the association, the group now works with around 300 producers in the Cusco region and have recently expanded their operations to include Puno. All the members are working organically and are certified as such via the Valle Inca group. For a member to join, there needs to be a baseline of quality met, dictated in part by altitude and the type of varieties planted, but ultimately it is down to the desire of each member to improve their quality through hard work. The group provides agronomical advice and training as well as pre-financing, so the farmer members are supported in multiple ways. Several of their members reliably place well in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition.
Origin: Huaynapata, Yanatile, Calca, Cusco, Peru
Farm: Mesapata
Processing: Floated & manually depulped, sealed barrel ferment for 39 hours, fully washed, dried on raised beds.
Variety: Bourbon
Altitude: 2,000 metres
Harvest: August to September, 2024
Arrival: January, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Honey, lemon zest, violets
Sweet, gentle and perfumed. Look for honey and violets, with complex fruit flavours like guava and lemon zest.
The latest harvest from Ethiopia is with us! We’re beginning the season with the release of an old staff favourite, this incredibly floral and potent coffee from Danche in Chelbesa.
The Farmers
Around 600 smallholder coffee farmers in the Chelbesa kebele have contributed towards this lot. The cultivars are Wolisho, Dega & Kurume, which are tended to completely organically in a semi-forest system. Each farmer has between 0.5 and 2 hectares planted with coffee, amidst bananas and natural shade trees, with 1,500 to 2,400 coffee trees per hectare. Each tree only produces around 3kg of coffee fruit per season, which is delivered on foot or by mule to the Danche washing station.
The Washing Station & Their Approach
Situated at 2,160 metres the Danche wet mill was established in 2019 and is managed by Girum Assefa. It is one of two sites that Snap Coffees are operating in the Chelbesa kebele, the other being Worka washing station. After depulping the received coffee cherries using an Agaarde disc pulper the coffee is fermented under cool water in ceramic tiled tanks for 72 hours, before washing and grading in long channels. The seeds are effectively graded by density in these channels and will be graded again once fully dried when the quality is refined at the dry mill using vibrating density sorting tables. It makes for a reliable product for us to roast, as the seeds are small and compact yet very dense, allowing an efficient transfer of heat through each seed and the entire batch.
The Exporter
Snap Coffee was established in 2008 by Negusse Debela Weldyes and the group are responsible for the running and operation of several coffee washing stations which feature in our coffee range each year. Snap oversee the processing facilities but also take on the task of dispensing agricultural knowledge to their contributing farmers. Steps such as tiling fermentation tanks to enable better cleaning, as well as implementing strict drying protocols, have gone long ways to improving the clarity, cleanliness and longevity of the coffees’ characteristics. They are committed to recycling waste by-products from coffee processing at each of their stations where they have also built schools and provided them with computing equipment from the other arm of their business which is in electronics. They have improved the roads to streamline access to the washing stations and have built health clinics to provide access to better healthcare for their contributing farmers as well. The lots of dried parchment are dry milled at Snap’s own processing and warehousing facility. This affords the group even more control and traceability over the final exportable product that we get to work with, leading to improved consistency and uniformity.
We have visited Snap’s cupping lab and dry mill in Addis Ababa and connected with Negusse and his son Amanuel, who has taken on an operational role at Snap Coffee. Last year Amanuel came to visit us in our roastery and we were able to show him all of the processes we undertake to ensure we handle Snap’s, and other producers’, coffees with respect and care.
Origin: Chelbesa, Gedeo, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Producer: 600 smallholders in Chelbesa
Processing: Organically grown, hand harvested, traditionally depulped and wet fermented 72hrs, fully washed & dried on raised beds.
Cultivar: Wolisho, Dega & Kurume
Altitude: 1,925 to 2,210 metres
Harvest: January, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Honey, lemon zest, violets
Sweet, gentle and perfumed. Look for honey and violets, with complex fruit flavours like guava and lemon zest.
The latest harvest from Ethiopia is with us! We’re beginning the season with the release of an old staff favourite, this incredibly floral and potent coffee from Danche in Chelbesa.
The Farmers
Around 600 smallholder coffee farmers in the Chelbesa kebele have contributed towards this lot. The cultivars are Wolisho, Dega & Kurume, which are tended to completely organically in a semi-forest system. Each farmer has between 0.5 and 2 hectares planted with coffee, amidst bananas and natural shade trees, with 1,500 to 2,400 coffee trees per hectare. Each tree only produces around 3kg of coffee fruit per season, which is delivered on foot or by mule to the Danche washing station.
The Washing Station & Their Approach
Situated at 2,160 metres the Danche wet mill was established in 2019 and is managed by Girum Assefa. It is one of two sites that Snap Coffees are operating in the Chelbesa kebele, the other being Worka washing station. After depulping the received coffee cherries using an Agaarde disc pulper the coffee is fermented under cool water in ceramic tiled tanks for 72 hours, before washing and grading in long channels. The seeds are effectively graded by density in these channels and will be graded again once fully dried when the quality is refined at the dry mill using vibrating density sorting tables. It makes for a reliable product for us to roast, as the seeds are small and compact yet very dense, allowing an efficient transfer of heat through each seed and the entire batch.
The Exporter
Snap Coffee was established in 2008 by Negusse Debela Weldyes and the group are responsible for the running and operation of several coffee washing stations which feature in our coffee range each year. Snap oversee the processing facilities but also take on the task of dispensing agricultural knowledge to their contributing farmers. Steps such as tiling fermentation tanks to enable better cleaning, as well as implementing strict drying protocols, have gone long ways to improving the clarity, cleanliness and longevity of the coffees’ characteristics. They are committed to recycling waste by-products from coffee processing at each of their stations where they have also built schools and provided them with computing equipment from the other arm of their business which is in electronics. They have improved the roads to streamline access to the washing stations and have built health clinics to provide access to better healthcare for their contributing farmers as well. The lots of dried parchment are dry milled at Snap’s own processing and warehousing facility. This affords the group even more control and traceability over the final exportable product that we get to work with, leading to improved consistency and uniformity.
We have visited Snap’s cupping lab and dry mill in Addis Ababa and connected with Negusse and his son Amanuel, who has taken on an operational role at Snap Coffee. Last year Amanuel came to visit us in our roastery and we were able to show him all of the processes we undertake to ensure we handle Snap’s, and other producers’, coffees with respect and care.
Origin: Chelbesa, Gedeo, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Producer: 600 smallholders in Chelbesa
Processing: Organically grown, hand harvested, traditionally depulped and wet fermented 72hrs, fully washed & dried on raised beds.
Cultivar: Wolisho, Dega & Kurume
Altitude: 1,925 to 2,210 metres
Harvest: January, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Honey, lemon zest, violets
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
Sweet, gentle and perfumed. Look for honey and violets, with complex fruit flavours like guava and lemon zest.
The latest harvest from Ethiopia is with us! We’re beginning the season with the release of an old staff favourite, this incredibly floral and potent coffee from Danche in Chelbesa.
The Farmers
Around 600 smallholder coffee farmers in the Chelbesa kebele have contributed towards this lot. The cultivars are Wolisho, Dega & Kurume, which are tended to completely organically in a semi-forest system. Each farmer has between 0.5 and 2 hectares planted with coffee, amidst bananas and natural shade trees, with 1,500 to 2,400 coffee trees per hectare. Each tree only produces around 3kg of coffee fruit per season, which is delivered on foot or by mule to the Danche washing station.
The Washing Station & Their Approach
Situated at 2,160 metres the Danche wet mill was established in 2019 and is managed by Girum Assefa. It is one of two sites that Snap Coffees are operating in the Chelbesa kebele, the other being Worka washing station. After depulping the received coffee cherries using an Agaarde disc pulper the coffee is fermented under cool water in ceramic tiled tanks for 72 hours, before washing and grading in long channels. The seeds are effectively graded by density in these channels and will be graded again once fully dried when the quality is refined at the dry mill using vibrating density sorting tables. It makes for a reliable product for us to roast, as the seeds are small and compact yet very dense, allowing an efficient transfer of heat through each seed and the entire batch.
The Exporter
Snap Coffee was established in 2008 by Negusse Debela Weldyes and the group are responsible for the running and operation of several coffee washing stations which feature in our coffee range each year. Snap oversee the processing facilities but also take on the task of dispensing agricultural knowledge to their contributing farmers. Steps such as tiling fermentation tanks to enable better cleaning, as well as implementing strict drying protocols, have gone long ways to improving the clarity, cleanliness and longevity of the coffees’ characteristics. They are committed to recycling waste by-products from coffee processing at each of their stations where they have also built schools and provided them with computing equipment from the other arm of their business which is in electronics. They have improved the roads to streamline access to the washing stations and have built health clinics to provide access to better healthcare for their contributing farmers as well. The lots of dried parchment are dry milled at Snap’s own processing and warehousing facility. This affords the group even more control and traceability over the final exportable product that we get to work with, leading to improved consistency and uniformity.
We have visited Snap’s cupping lab and dry mill in Addis Ababa and connected with Negusse and his son Amanuel, who has taken on an operational role at Snap Coffee. Last year Amanuel came to visit us in our roastery and we were able to show him all of the processes we undertake to ensure we handle Snap’s, and other producers’, coffees with respect and care.
Origin: Chelbesa, Gedeo, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Producer: 600 smallholders in Chelbesa
Processing: Organically grown, hand harvested, traditionally depulped and wet fermented 72hrs, fully washed & dried on raised beds.
Cultivar: Wolisho, Dega & Kurume
Altitude: 1,925 to 2,210 metres
Harvest: January, 2025
Arrival: June, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Redcurrant, cacao nib, complex
Fresh, vibrant redcurrant notes lift a very moreish coffee, with accents of cacao nib lending complexity.
Our second Burundian coffee of the year comes from Rubanda in Mutambu, where over 1,200 smallholder farmers deliver ripe cherries to the Migoti washing station. Expect complex fruits, cacao depth, and a clean, structured finish from this meticulously processed Red Bourbon lot.
The Producers
Contributing smallholder farmers grow their cherries in the highlands in rural Bujumbura, close by to Migoti Hill. Established in 2016, the operation has steadily grown and now collaborates with over 1,300 growers. Through training and agricultural support, including the annual distribution of 30,000 coffee seedlings, Migoti helps farmers increase the yield and quality of their harvest. These farmers benefit not only from technical assistance but also from accessing a discerning market for their coffee willing to pay a premium price for their hard work.
The business was co-founded by engineers Dan Brose and Pontien Ntunzwenimana with a vision to revitalise Burundi’s coffee sector after years of conflict. Their efforts have not only improved farmer livelihoods but also contributed to long-term stability and growth in the region. From just 310 farmers in 2019, Migoti’s network has expanded rapidly to 1,326 current members, providing vital seasonal employment across their two wet mills.
The Washing Station
At the wet mill, cherries are sorted by hand to remove defects and underripe fruit before being depulped. The coffee is then dry fermented for 10 to 12 hours before the mucilage is removed physically by workers jumping in the tank (think grape crushing with your feet to make wine) before the coffee is fully washed and graded in long channels. It undergoes a short pre-drying phase under shade of 3 to 4 days, after which it is transferred to raised beds in the sun where it’s turned and sorted for up to 25 days. Once dried, the coffee is transported for milling, graded by size and density, and carefully hand-sorted again before export.
The station’s controlled processing and focus on traceability contribute to the clarity and quality of the final cup. Migoti’s consistent attention to detail across all stages of production reflects their broader goal of producing specialty coffee that enables them to receive better prices and in turn this supports the long-term prosperity of farming families.
The Community
Migoti Coffee place a large focus on socio-economic community development. Since 2022 they have offered loans to the contributing farmers, strengthening financial resilience across the producing community. In the same year, they began growing essential oil crops like lemongrass and eucalyptus alongside coffee, providing farmers with additional revenue streams between harvests.
They have constructed a water reservoir near the washing station to reliably provide clean drinking water to over 4,800 people from five surrounding villages. 2024 also saw the group complete their rainforest alliance certification and they have expanded into sustainable initiatives like shade tree planting and creating natural composts.
Origin: Rubanda, Mutambu, Bujumbura, Burundi
Producer: 1,326 smallholders near Migoti Hill in Rubanda
Processing: Hand sorted, depulped, fermented 10-12 hours and fully washed. Shade dried 3-4 days, sun dried 20-25 days on raised beds.
Cultivars: Red Bourbon
Altitude: 2,042 metres
Harvest: June, 2024
Arrival: April, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Redcurrant, cacao nib, complex
Fresh, vibrant redcurrant notes lift a very moreish coffee, with accents of cacao nib lending complexity.
Our second Burundian coffee of the year comes from Rubanda in Mutambu, where over 1,200 smallholder farmers deliver ripe cherries to the Migoti washing station. Expect complex fruits, cacao depth, and a clean, structured finish from this meticulously processed Red Bourbon lot.
The Producers
Contributing smallholder farmers grow their cherries in the highlands in rural Bujumbura, close by to Migoti Hill. Established in 2016, the operation has steadily grown and now collaborates with over 1,300 growers. Through training and agricultural support, including the annual distribution of 30,000 coffee seedlings, Migoti helps farmers increase the yield and quality of their harvest. These farmers benefit not only from technical assistance but also from accessing a discerning market for their coffee willing to pay a premium price for their hard work.
The business was co-founded by engineers Dan Brose and Pontien Ntunzwenimana with a vision to revitalise Burundi’s coffee sector after years of conflict. Their efforts have not only improved farmer livelihoods but also contributed to long-term stability and growth in the region. From just 310 farmers in 2019, Migoti’s network has expanded rapidly to 1,326 current members, providing vital seasonal employment across their two wet mills.
The Washing Station
At the wet mill, cherries are sorted by hand to remove defects and underripe fruit before being depulped. The coffee is then dry fermented for 10 to 12 hours before the mucilage is removed physically by workers jumping in the tank (think grape crushing with your feet to make wine) before the coffee is fully washed and graded in long channels. It undergoes a short pre-drying phase under shade of 3 to 4 days, after which it is transferred to raised beds in the sun where it’s turned and sorted for up to 25 days. Once dried, the coffee is transported for milling, graded by size and density, and carefully hand-sorted again before export.
The station’s controlled processing and focus on traceability contribute to the clarity and quality of the final cup. Migoti’s consistent attention to detail across all stages of production reflects their broader goal of producing specialty coffee that enables them to receive better prices and in turn this supports the long-term prosperity of farming families.
The Community
Migoti Coffee place a large focus on socio-economic community development. Since 2022 they have offered loans to the contributing farmers, strengthening financial resilience across the producing community. In the same year, they began growing essential oil crops like lemongrass and eucalyptus alongside coffee, providing farmers with additional revenue streams between harvests.
They have constructed a water reservoir near the washing station to reliably provide clean drinking water to over 4,800 people from five surrounding villages. 2024 also saw the group complete their rainforest alliance certification and they have expanded into sustainable initiatives like shade tree planting and creating natural composts.
Origin: Rubanda, Mutambu, Bujumbura, Burundi
Producer: 1,326 smallholders near Migoti Hill in Rubanda
Processing: Hand sorted, depulped, fermented 10-12 hours and fully washed. Shade dried 3-4 days, sun dried 20-25 days on raised beds.
Cultivars: Red Bourbon
Altitude: 2,042 metres
Harvest: June, 2024
Arrival: April, 2025
Roasted for Filter | Redcurrant, cacao nib, complex
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
Our second Burundian coffee of the year comes from Rubanda in Mutambu, where over 1,200 smallholder farmers deliver ripe cherries to the Migoti washing station. Expect complex fruits, cacao depth, and a clean, structured finish from this meticulously processed Red Bourbon lot.
The Producers
Contributing smallholder farmers grow their cherries in the highlands in rural Bujumbura, close by to Migoti Hill. Established in 2016, the operation has steadily grown and now collaborates with over 1,300 growers. Through training and agricultural support, including the annual distribution of 30,000 coffee seedlings, Migoti helps farmers increase the yield and quality of their harvest. These farmers benefit not only from technical assistance but also from accessing a discerning market for their coffee willing to pay a premium price for their hard work.
The business was co-founded by engineers Dan Brose and Pontien Ntunzwenimana with a vision to revitalise Burundi’s coffee sector after years of conflict. Their efforts have not only improved farmer livelihoods but also contributed to long-term stability and growth in the region. From just 310 farmers in 2019, Migoti’s network has expanded rapidly to 1,326 current members, providing vital seasonal employment across their two wet mills.
The Washing Station
At the wet mill, cherries are sorted by hand to remove defects and underripe fruit before being depulped. The coffee is then dry fermented for 10 to 12 hours before the mucilage is removed physically by workers jumping in the tank (think grape crushing with your feet to make wine) before the coffee is fully washed and graded in long channels. It undergoes a short pre-drying phase under shade of 3 to 4 days, after which it is transferred to raised beds in the sun where it’s turned and sorted for up to 25 days. Once dried, the coffee is transported for milling, graded by size and density, and carefully hand-sorted again before export.
The station’s controlled processing and focus on traceability contribute to the clarity and quality of the final cup. Migoti’s consistent attention to detail across all stages of production reflects their broader goal of producing specialty coffee that enables them to receive better prices and in turn this supports the long-term prosperity of farming families.
The Community
Migoti Coffee place a large focus on socio-economic community development. Since 2022 they have offered loans to the contributing farmers, strengthening financial resilience across the producing community. In the same year, they began growing essential oil crops like lemongrass and eucalyptus alongside coffee, providing farmers with additional revenue streams between harvests.
They have constructed a water reservoir near the washing station to reliably provide clean drinking water to over 4,800 people from five surrounding villages. 2024 also saw the group complete their rainforest alliance certification and they have expanded into sustainable initiatives like shade tree planting and creating natural composts.
Origin: Rubanda, Mutambu, Bujumbura, Burundi
Producer: 1,326 smallholders near Migoti Hill in Rubanda
Processing: Hand sorted, depulped, fermented 10-12 hours and fully washed. Shade dried 3-4 days, sun dried 20-25 days on raised beds.
Cultivars: Red Bourbon
Altitude: 2,042 metres
Harvest: June, 2024
Arrival: April, 2025
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Baking Spice, Toffee, Jammy Fruits
Baking spice, toffee, jammy fruits
Comprised of seasonally refreshed lots from our most trusted and established producer relationships. This elevated blend offers a complex and nuanced cup, delivering a sweet, jammy cup with integrated fruit tones.
Developing this blend has been driven through the desire to support our core producer groups through paying premium prices for larger volumes and more lots of coffee. The flavours are very complementary, and we have been honing our roasting approach to ensure the resulting cups are harmonious and balanced. We really hope you enjoy this coffee and are grateful for your support.
Current Composition:
50% Washed Bourbon from Manuel Patillo in Cusco, Peru.
50% Washed Kurume, Dega & Wolisho from Snap’s Raro Boda wet mill in Uraga, Guji Zone, Ethiopia.
Component Information:
We're updating our Legacy blend with this fresh arrival from Snap's Raro Boda washing station, in Ethiopia's Guji zone. Snap Coffee are our primary supplier from Ethiopia, with whom we've worked for the last 8 years.
The Farmers
Around 257 farmers deliver their coffee cherries to the Raro Boda washing station, located in Guji Zone’s Uraga woreda. Amidst natural forest and vegetation, they are working completely organically, tending to a range of cultivars, some of which are improved landrace selections such as Wolisho, Dega & Kurume. There are also pockets of JARC (Jimma Agricultural Research Center) identified and released varieties, dubbed 74110 and 74112 after having been initially catalogued in 1974, which are being promoted due to their resistance to coffee berry disease. Each farmer tends to around 2,000 coffee trees.
The Washing Station & Their Approach
Named after the kebele (small town), Raro Boda washing station has been recently refurbished and fitted out with a Penagos eco-pulper and white tiled fermentation tanks. These innovations and investments allow greater control over the processing of the fruit delivered by smallholders in the kebele. They process the coffee by depulping and fermenting under water for 48 hours before the parchment coffee is graded, initially in washing channels and then by hand during the time it spends drying in the sun on raised beds. To ensure uniform drying the layers are spread around 2cm deep and spend 10 days or so before they are consolidated, and samples are sent to the cupping lab.
Raro Boda wet mill’s QC manager, Medhin Tamiru, is an experienced cupper with over a decade of experience in the industry, and who is a judge for the Ethiopian Cup of Excellence competition. He will continue to oversee operations ensuring the coffee produced at Raro Boda is squeaky clean and of the highest quality.
The Exporter
Snap Coffee was established in 2008 by Negusse Debela Weldyes and the group are responsible for the running and operation of several coffee washing stations which feature in our coffee range each year. Snap oversee the processing facilities but also take on the task of dispensing agricultural knowledge to their contributing farmers. Steps such as tiling fermentation tanks to enable better cleaning, as well as implementing strict drying protocols, have gone long ways to improving the clarity, cleanliness and longevity of the coffees’ characteristics. They are committed to recycling waste by-products from coffee processing at each of their stations where they have also built schools and provided them with computing equipment from the other arm of their business which is in electronics. They have improved the roads to streamline access to the washing stations and have built health clinics to provide access to better healthcare for their contributing farmers as well. Lots from the most recent harvest have been dry milled at Snap’s own processing and warehousing facility. This has afforded the group even more control over the final exportable product that we get to work with, leading to improved consistency and uniformity.
We’re always impressed by the sweetness, structure and overall performance of the high-quality outturns from members of the Valle Inca Association in Cusco, Peru. Here we have a 32hr fermentation washed Bourbon from Manuel’s farm, Finca Limonniyoc in Yanatile Dristrict, to run as the Peruvian base component in our house concept blend, Legacy.
The Farm
Manuel inherited Finca Limonniyoc from his parents, and has renovated areas of Catimor with Bourbon to produce specialty calibre coffees in partnership with the Valle Inca Association. They have expanded their area of production, which reaches 1,800 metres above sea level, as well as improved and renovated the processing and drying infrastructures. Valle Inca are not just dispensing agronomical advice, but through their ecologically holistic approach to coffee cultivation and membership in the association Manuel’s farm is certified organic. Pacay trees are planted for shade and to encourage biodiversity. There are many secondary food crops including Rocoto peppers, chirimoyas, oranges, avocadoes and limes. The most common method for nourishing the coffee trees is to apply a homemade compost, composed primarily of spent coffee pulp and bird poo. Some of the farmers are working to ensure moisture is kept in the soil if they are in a more arid area, whereas those for whom there is excess humidity are pruning back the lower growth on their coffee trees to promote adequate ventilation.
Their Approach
Coffees are harvested by hand and floated to remove underripes before they are fed through a manually cranked depulper. Coffee cherry skins are removed during a sieving stage before the clean parchment is placed into GrainPro sacks before being sealed into plastic barrels fitted with a carboy style airlock. After a period of 32 hours has passed the native microbiome has broken down the mucilage surrounding the coffee’s parchment layer and is ready to be washed off. Valle Inca have funded the building of drying infastructures at many of their members’ farms, and these allow the lots to be dried in ventilated secadores on raised beds, which we are confident is adding to the stability, uniformity and reliability of their producers’ coffees. At Finca Limonniyoc the coffee takes around 18 days to get to stable and homoegnised moisture content.
The Association
In 2018, our first year buying coffee through Valle Inca, the group had around 100 members. Thanks to word of mouth, with producers telling their neighbours of the premium prices that they were able to receive having been able to access a more discerning coffee market through the association, the group now works with around 300 producers in the Cusco region and have recently expanded their operations to include Puno. All the members are working organically and are certified as such via the Valle Inca group. For a member to join, there needs to be a baseline of quality met, dictated in part by altitude and the type of varieties planted, but ultimately it is down to the desire of each member to improve their quality through hard work. The group provide agronomical advice and training as well as pre-financing, so the farmer members are supported in multiple ways. Several of their members reliably place well in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition.
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Baking Spice, Toffee, Jammy Fruits
Baking spice, toffee, jammy fruits
Comprised of seasonally refreshed lots from our most trusted and established producer relationships. This elevated blend offers a complex and nuanced cup, delivering a sweet, jammy cup with integrated fruit tones.
Developing this blend has been driven through the desire to support our core producer groups through paying premium prices for larger volumes and more lots of coffee. The flavours are very complementary, and we have been honing our roasting approach to ensure the resulting cups are harmonious and balanced. We really hope you enjoy this coffee and are grateful for your support.
Current Composition:
50% Washed Bourbon from Manuel Patillo in Cusco, Peru.
50% Washed Kurume, Dega & Wolisho from Snap’s Raro Boda wet mill in Uraga, Guji Zone, Ethiopia.
Component Information:
We're updating our Legacy blend with this fresh arrival from Snap's Raro Boda washing station, in Ethiopia's Guji zone. Snap Coffee are our primary supplier from Ethiopia, with whom we've worked for the last 8 years.
The Farmers
Around 257 farmers deliver their coffee cherries to the Raro Boda washing station, located in Guji Zone’s Uraga woreda. Amidst natural forest and vegetation, they are working completely organically, tending to a range of cultivars, some of which are improved landrace selections such as Wolisho, Dega & Kurume. There are also pockets of JARC (Jimma Agricultural Research Center) identified and released varieties, dubbed 74110 and 74112 after having been initially catalogued in 1974, which are being promoted due to their resistance to coffee berry disease. Each farmer tends to around 2,000 coffee trees.
The Washing Station & Their Approach
Named after the kebele (small town), Raro Boda washing station has been recently refurbished and fitted out with a Penagos eco-pulper and white tiled fermentation tanks. These innovations and investments allow greater control over the processing of the fruit delivered by smallholders in the kebele. They process the coffee by depulping and fermenting under water for 48 hours before the parchment coffee is graded, initially in washing channels and then by hand during the time it spends drying in the sun on raised beds. To ensure uniform drying the layers are spread around 2cm deep and spend 10 days or so before they are consolidated, and samples are sent to the cupping lab.
Raro Boda wet mill’s QC manager, Medhin Tamiru, is an experienced cupper with over a decade of experience in the industry, and who is a judge for the Ethiopian Cup of Excellence competition. He will continue to oversee operations ensuring the coffee produced at Raro Boda is squeaky clean and of the highest quality.
The Exporter
Snap Coffee was established in 2008 by Negusse Debela Weldyes and the group are responsible for the running and operation of several coffee washing stations which feature in our coffee range each year. Snap oversee the processing facilities but also take on the task of dispensing agricultural knowledge to their contributing farmers. Steps such as tiling fermentation tanks to enable better cleaning, as well as implementing strict drying protocols, have gone long ways to improving the clarity, cleanliness and longevity of the coffees’ characteristics. They are committed to recycling waste by-products from coffee processing at each of their stations where they have also built schools and provided them with computing equipment from the other arm of their business which is in electronics. They have improved the roads to streamline access to the washing stations and have built health clinics to provide access to better healthcare for their contributing farmers as well. Lots from the most recent harvest have been dry milled at Snap’s own processing and warehousing facility. This has afforded the group even more control over the final exportable product that we get to work with, leading to improved consistency and uniformity.
We’re always impressed by the sweetness, structure and overall performance of the high-quality outturns from members of the Valle Inca Association in Cusco, Peru. Here we have a 32hr fermentation washed Bourbon from Manuel’s farm, Finca Limonniyoc in Yanatile Dristrict, to run as the Peruvian base component in our house concept blend, Legacy.
The Farm
Manuel inherited Finca Limonniyoc from his parents, and has renovated areas of Catimor with Bourbon to produce specialty calibre coffees in partnership with the Valle Inca Association. They have expanded their area of production, which reaches 1,800 metres above sea level, as well as improved and renovated the processing and drying infrastructures. Valle Inca are not just dispensing agronomical advice, but through their ecologically holistic approach to coffee cultivation and membership in the association Manuel’s farm is certified organic. Pacay trees are planted for shade and to encourage biodiversity. There are many secondary food crops including Rocoto peppers, chirimoyas, oranges, avocadoes and limes. The most common method for nourishing the coffee trees is to apply a homemade compost, composed primarily of spent coffee pulp and bird poo. Some of the farmers are working to ensure moisture is kept in the soil if they are in a more arid area, whereas those for whom there is excess humidity are pruning back the lower growth on their coffee trees to promote adequate ventilation.
Their Approach
Coffees are harvested by hand and floated to remove underripes before they are fed through a manually cranked depulper. Coffee cherry skins are removed during a sieving stage before the clean parchment is placed into GrainPro sacks before being sealed into plastic barrels fitted with a carboy style airlock. After a period of 32 hours has passed the native microbiome has broken down the mucilage surrounding the coffee’s parchment layer and is ready to be washed off. Valle Inca have funded the building of drying infastructures at many of their members’ farms, and these allow the lots to be dried in ventilated secadores on raised beds, which we are confident is adding to the stability, uniformity and reliability of their producers’ coffees. At Finca Limonniyoc the coffee takes around 18 days to get to stable and homoegnised moisture content.
The Association
In 2018, our first year buying coffee through Valle Inca, the group had around 100 members. Thanks to word of mouth, with producers telling their neighbours of the premium prices that they were able to receive having been able to access a more discerning coffee market through the association, the group now works with around 300 producers in the Cusco region and have recently expanded their operations to include Puno. All the members are working organically and are certified as such via the Valle Inca group. For a member to join, there needs to be a baseline of quality met, dictated in part by altitude and the type of varieties planted, but ultimately it is down to the desire of each member to improve their quality through hard work. The group provide agronomical advice and training as well as pre-financing, so the farmer members are supported in multiple ways. Several of their members reliably place well in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition.
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Baking Spice, Toffee, Jammy Fruits
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
Baking spice, toffee, jammy
Comprised of seasonally refreshed lots from our most trusted and established producer relationships. This elevated blend offers a complex and nuanced cup, delivering a sweet, jammy cup with integrated fruit tones.
Developing this blend has been driven through the desire to support our core producer groups through paying premium prices for larger volumes and more lots of coffee. The flavours are very complementary, and we have been honing our roasting approach to ensure the resulting cups are harmonious and balanced. We really hope you enjoy this coffee and are grateful for your support.
Current Composition:
50% Washed Typica & Bourbon from Colca in Cusco, Peru.
50% Washed Kurume, Dega & Wolisho from Snap’s Aricha wet mill in Yirgacheffe, Gedeo Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Component Information:
Aricha, Ethiopia
Around 700 smallholder coffee farmers in the Aricha kebele have contributed towards this lot. The varieties being grown are Wolisho, Dega & Kurume, which are tended to completely organically in a semi-forest system. Each farmer has between 0.5 and 2 hectares planted with coffee, amidst bananas and natural shade trees, with 1,500 to 2,400 coffee trees per hectare. Each tree only produces around 3kg of coffee fruit per season, which is delivered on foot or by mule to the washing station. Coffee is grown under shade amidst secondary crops like bananas, maize and other cereals, which not only provides food but improves the root structure on the farms which can protect against erosion.
The cherry reception and processing is undertaken under the watchful eye and scrutiny of Henok Admassu, the mill manager. Henok and his children have been working at this mill with Snap Coffee in a vertically integrated fashion since late 2021.
After depulping the received coffee cherries using an Agaarde disc pulper the coffee is fermented under cool water in ceramic tiled tanks for 72 hours, before washing and grading in long channels. The seeds are effectively graded by density in these channels and will be graded again once fully dried when the quality is refined at the dry mill using vibrating density sorting tables. It makes for a reliable product for us to roast, as the seeds are small and compact yet very dense, allowing an efficient transfer of heat through each seed and the entire batch.
Snap Coffee was established in 2008 by Negusse Debela Weldyes and the group are responsible for the running and operation of several coffee washing stations which feature in our coffee range each year. Snap oversee the processing facilities but also take on the task of dispensing agricultural knowledge to their contributing farmers. Steps such as tiling fermentation tanks to enable better cleaning, as well as implementing strict drying protocols, have gone long ways to improving the clarity, cleanliness and longevity of the coffees’ characteristics. They are committed to recycling waste by-products from coffee processing at each of their stations where they have also built schools and provided them with computing equipment from the other arm of their business which is in electronics. They have improved the roads to streamline access to the washing stations and have built health clinics to provide access to better healthcare for their contributing farmers as well. Lots from the most recent harvest have been dry milled at Snap’s own processing and warehousing facility. This has afforded the group even more control over the final exportable product that we get to work with, leading to improved consistency and uniformity.
We’re always impressed by the sweetness, structure and overall performance of the high-quality outturns from members of the Valle Inca Association in Cusco, Peru. Here we have a community lot of washed Bourbon and Typica selections from the group to run as the Peruvian base component in our house concept blend, Legacy.
The Producers
The farmers who are contributing coffee to this community blend are following agronomical advice from the Valle Inca group, and working in an ecologically holistic fashion, as well as carrying an organic certification. Farms have Pacay trees planted for shade and to encourage biodiversity. There are many secondary food crops including Rocoto peppers, chirimoyas, oranges, avocadoes and limes. The most common method for nourishing the coffee trees is to apply a homemade compost, composed primarily of spent coffee pulp and bird poo. Some of the farmers are working to ensure moisture is kept in the soil if they are in a more arid area, whereas those for whom there is excess humidity are pruning back the lower growth on their coffee trees to promote adequate ventilation.
Their Approach
Coffees are harvested by hand and floated to remove underripes before they are fed through a manually cranked depulper. Coffee cherry skins are removed during a sieving stage before the clean parchment is placed into GrainPro sacks before being sealed into plastic barrels fitted with a carboy style airlock. After a period between 20 and 40 hours has passed the native microbiome has broken down the mucilage surrounding the coffee’s parchment layer and is ready to be washed off. Valle Inca have funded the building of drying infastructures at many of their members’ farms, and these allow the lots to be dried in ventilated secadores on raised beds, which we are confident is adding to the stability, uniformity and reliability of their producers’ coffees.
The Association
In 2018, our first year buying coffee through Valle Inca, the group had around 100 members. Thanks to word of mouth, with producers telling their neighbours of the premium prices that they were able to receive having been able to access a more discerning coffee market through the association, the group now works with around 300 producers in the Cusco region and have recently expanded their operations to include Puno. All the members are working organically and are certified as such via the Valle Inca group. For a member to join, there needs to be a baseline of quality met, dictated in part by altitude and the type of varieties planted, but ultimately it is down to the desire of each member to improve their quality through hard work. The group provide agronomical advice and training as well as pre-financing, so the farmer members are supported in multiple ways. Several of their members reliably place well in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition.
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Dark Chocolate, Maple, Raisin
Article is the name of our house coffee, a high performing, consistent blend offering reliability and a satisfying, classic flavour profile. Components are seasonally refreshed and roasted to accentuate deeper caramels and chocolate tones.
With each iteration we aim to compose a coffee that has great balance, packed with classic coffee characteristics whilst retaining a sweet, clean finish.
Current Composition:
50% Washed Bourbon & Typica from San Ignacio in Peru.
50% Semi washed Mundo Novo & Catuaí from Chapada Diamantina in Brazil.
Component Information:
Chapada Diamantina, Brazil
This season we cupped lots of samples from Brazil to ensure we found the right coffee to use across our house blends. Our preference has always been for coffees that are clean and sweet that taste fresh and vibrant. The same goes when we source our Brazil coffees, where we seek out lots that have a creamy body, fresh but mellow acidity and bags of brown sugar and milk chocolate sweetness. This season we have sourced a field blend of Mundo Novo & Catuaí cultivars, produced by a community of smallhold farmers in Chapada Diamantina. Typically, we have bought from large landowners with sprawling estates, but through Ofi sourcing we have been able to collate the work of several farmers who tend to coffee on around 20 hectares, whilst supporting a tree planting program in the community to promote biodiversity, increase shade coverage on the farms and facilitate carbon capture.
The Producers & Their Approach:
Around 30 families are ultimately responsible for growing the coffee cherries that have made their way into this community lot, named ‘Saravá’ which loosely translates to “Respect” or “Blessing”. The cultivars are Mundo Novo and Catuaí. The farms span from 900 to 1,300 metres above sea level. Joel Marques de Oliveira is one producer, whose farm Rio Brilhante is in the locale of Ibicoara. He has been motivated to pursue specialty coffee production having won awards for cup quality in 2019. Another producer is Nilson Aguiar Ferreira, who grows coffee on Fazenda Encanto up to 1,100 metres. He learnt the ropes of coffee production from his parents and has been working here since 1997.
We predominantly buy washed coffees, as we love their clarity, vibrancy and clean taste. In Brazil it is highly unusual to see any fully washed lots, with ‘pulped natural’ or honey processing more the norm and ‘natural’ or dry process also common. With our Saravá blend the harvested cherries are initially depulped and put through a demucilaginator or ‘mechanical washer’ which removes the fruit mucilage, bypassing the need for fermentation and decreasing the water requirements. The parchment is then slowly dried with a minor amount of residual mucilage present.
The Cultivars:
Mundo Novo represents a natural cross between Typica and Bourbon that was initially noted in Brazil in the 1940s. Over the subsequent decades, breeding programs in Brazil have made refinements and selections to this tall tree, which offers a good yield and cup quality but is susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. Mundo Novo has since been cross-bred with Caturra, which itself is a dwarf mutation of Bourbon, to create Catuaí. It’s compact nature allows a denser planting, and the tree itself is quite productive. Catuaí has been far more popular in terms of spreading to other producing countries, Costa Rica in particular.
Offering a clean, soft cup with tonnes of sweetness and a creamy body we have been enjoying sample roasts and initial tests of this lot drunk as a single origin, which tastes round and warming. The cup profile is quite versatile and so it lends itself well to blending with other coffees that offer a little more in the way of top notes, acidity and aromatics.
Workshop Select, Río Blanco, Namballe, San Ignacio, Peru
Returning as a top note component in Article for a second year, we are featuring a beautiful community coffee from the Río Blanco Coffee Growers Association in Namballe, Cajamarca.
We made selections from 19 distinct producers, growing coffee across Namballe and Piura this year, and parcelled them up into our Workshop Select and Workshop Reserve lots, so that we could release them in workable volumes across our house blends and single origin programs respectively. The 12 producing families from Namballe whose coffee is featured this year in Article are growing their coffee from around 1,550 up to 1,850 metres. Coffees from San Ignacio in the north of Peru tend to be a little more pointed and fruit driven than the other lots we source from the Huadquiña and Valle Inca associations in Cusco, with a slightly riper and more pronounced acidity. We feel this pairs very nicely with the creamier, chocolatey base note from Chapada Diamantina in Brazil.
Cultivars are primarily Typica & Bourbon, with some small lots of Caturra, Pache and San Ramon. Farm sizes are typically around 1-2 hectares and the coffee trees are planted under native Albizia and Pacay shade trees and amidst secondary food crops like yucca, citrus and bananas. All of the Río Blanco producers are working to high standards and undertaking harvest and processing methodologies in the manner typical to the region. Coffee is organically grown under shade, the coffee cherries are hand harvested via communal work in tandem with their neighbours, The cherries are manually depulped and then wet fermented between 18 and 24 hours before washing and slowly drying for around 15 days on raised beds.
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Dark Chocolate, Maple, Raisin
Article is the name of our house coffee, a high performing, consistent blend offering reliability and a satisfying, classic flavour profile. Components are seasonally refreshed and roasted to accentuate deeper caramels and chocolate tones.
With each iteration we aim to compose a coffee that has great balance, packed with classic coffee characteristics whilst retaining a sweet, clean finish.
Current Composition:
50% Washed Bourbon & Typica from San Ignacio in Peru.
50% Semi washed Mundo Novo & Catuaí from Chapada Diamantina in Brazil.
Component Information:
Chapada Diamantina, Brazil
This season we cupped lots of samples from Brazil to ensure we found the right coffee to use across our house blends. Our preference has always been for coffees that are clean and sweet that taste fresh and vibrant. The same goes when we source our Brazil coffees, where we seek out lots that have a creamy body, fresh but mellow acidity and bags of brown sugar and milk chocolate sweetness. This season we have sourced a field blend of Mundo Novo & Catuaí cultivars, produced by a community of smallhold farmers in Chapada Diamantina. Typically, we have bought from large landowners with sprawling estates, but through Ofi sourcing we have been able to collate the work of several farmers who tend to coffee on around 20 hectares, whilst supporting a tree planting program in the community to promote biodiversity, increase shade coverage on the farms and facilitate carbon capture.
The Producers & Their Approach:
Around 30 families are ultimately responsible for growing the coffee cherries that have made their way into this community lot, named ‘Saravá’ which loosely translates to “Respect” or “Blessing”. The cultivars are Mundo Novo and Catuaí. The farms span from 900 to 1,300 metres above sea level. Joel Marques de Oliveira is one producer, whose farm Rio Brilhante is in the locale of Ibicoara. He has been motivated to pursue specialty coffee production having won awards for cup quality in 2019. Another producer is Nilson Aguiar Ferreira, who grows coffee on Fazenda Encanto up to 1,100 metres. He learnt the ropes of coffee production from his parents and has been working here since 1997.
We predominantly buy washed coffees, as we love their clarity, vibrancy and clean taste. In Brazil it is highly unusual to see any fully washed lots, with ‘pulped natural’ or honey processing more the norm and ‘natural’ or dry process also common. With our Saravá blend the harvested cherries are initially depulped and put through a demucilaginator or ‘mechanical washer’ which removes the fruit mucilage, bypassing the need for fermentation and decreasing the water requirements. The parchment is then slowly dried with a minor amount of residual mucilage present.
The Cultivars:
Mundo Novo represents a natural cross between Typica and Bourbon that was initially noted in Brazil in the 1940s. Over the subsequent decades, breeding programs in Brazil have made refinements and selections to this tall tree, which offers a good yield and cup quality but is susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. Mundo Novo has since been cross-bred with Caturra, which itself is a dwarf mutation of Bourbon, to create Catuaí. It’s compact nature allows a denser planting, and the tree itself is quite productive. Catuaí has been far more popular in terms of spreading to other producing countries, Costa Rica in particular.
Offering a clean, soft cup with tonnes of sweetness and a creamy body we have been enjoying sample roasts and initial tests of this lot drunk as a single origin, which tastes round and warming. The cup profile is quite versatile and so it lends itself well to blending with other coffees that offer a little more in the way of top notes, acidity and aromatics.
Workshop Select, Río Blanco, Namballe, San Ignacio, Peru
Returning as a top note component in Article for a second year, we are featuring a beautiful community coffee from the Río Blanco Coffee Growers Association in Namballe, Cajamarca.
We made selections from 19 distinct producers, growing coffee across Namballe and Piura this year, and parcelled them up into our Workshop Select and Workshop Reserve lots, so that we could release them in workable volumes across our house blends and single origin programs respectively. The 12 producing families from Namballe whose coffee is featured this year in Article are growing their coffee from around 1,550 up to 1,850 metres. Coffees from San Ignacio in the north of Peru tend to be a little more pointed and fruit driven than the other lots we source from the Huadquiña and Valle Inca associations in Cusco, with a slightly riper and more pronounced acidity. We feel this pairs very nicely with the creamier, chocolatey base note from Chapada Diamantina in Brazil.
Cultivars are primarily Typica & Bourbon, with some small lots of Caturra, Pache and San Ramon. Farm sizes are typically around 1-2 hectares and the coffee trees are planted under native Albizia and Pacay shade trees and amidst secondary food crops like yucca, citrus and bananas. All of the Río Blanco producers are working to high standards and undertaking harvest and processing methodologies in the manner typical to the region. Coffee is organically grown under shade, the coffee cherries are hand harvested via communal work in tandem with their neighbours, The cherries are manually depulped and then wet fermented between 18 and 24 hours before washing and slowly drying for around 15 days on raised beds.
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Dark Chocolate, Maple, Raisin
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
Article is the name of our house coffee, a high performing, consistent blend offering reliability and a satisfying, classic flavour profile. Components are seasonally refreshed and roasted to accentuate deeper caramels and chocolate tones.
With each iteration we aim to compose a coffee that has great balance, packed with classic coffee characteristics whilst retaining a sweet, clean finish.
Current Composition:
50% Washed Caturra, Castillo & V. Colombia from Pitalito in Colombia.
50% Semi washed Mundo Novo & Catuaí from Chapada Diamantina in Brazil.
Component Information:
Chapada Diamantina, Brazil
This season we cupped lots of samples from Brazil to ensure we found the right coffee to use across our house blends. Our preference has always been for coffees that are clean and sweet that taste fresh and vibrant. The same goes when we source our Brazil coffees, where we seek out lots that have a creamy body, fresh but mellow acidity and bags of brown sugar and milk chocolate sweetness. This season we have sourced a field blend of Mundo Novo & Catuaí cultivars, produced by a community of smallhold farmers in Chapada Diamantina. Typically, we have bought from large landowners with sprawling estates, but through Ofi sourcing we have been able to collate the work of several farmers who tend to coffee on around 20 hectares, whilst supporting a tree planting program in the community to promote biodiversity, increase shade coverage on the farms and facilitate carbon capture.
The Producers & Their Approach:
Around 30 families are ultimately responsible for growing the coffee cherries that have made their way into this community lot, named ‘Saravá’ which loosely translates to “Respect” or “Blessing”. The cultivars are Mundo Novo and Catuaí. The farms span from 900 to 1,300 metres above sea level. Joel Marques de Oliveira is one producer, whose farm Rio Brilhante is in the locale of Ibicoara. He has been motivated to pursue specialty coffee production having won awards for cup quality in 2019. Another producer is Nilson Aguiar Ferreira, who grows coffee on Fazenda Encanto up to 1,100 metres. He learnt the ropes of coffee production from his parents and has been working here since 1997.
We predominantly buy washed coffees, as we love their clarity, vibrancy and clean taste. In Brazil it is highly unusual to see any fully washed lots, with ‘pulped natural’ or honey processing more the norm and ‘natural’ or dry process also common. With our Saravá blend the harvested cherries are initially depulped and put through a demucilaginator or ‘mechanical washer’ which removes the fruit mucilage, bypassing the need for fermentation and decreasing the water requirements. The parchment is then slowly dried with a minor amount of residual mucilage present.
The Cultivars:
Mundo Novo represents a natural cross between Typica and Bourbon that was initially noted in Brazil in the 1940s. Over the subsequent decades, breeding programs in Brazil have made refinements and selections to this tall tree, which offers a good yield and cup quality but is susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. Mundo Novo has since been cross-bred with Caturra, which itself is a dwarf mutation of Bourbon, to create Catuaí. It’s compact nature allows a denser planting, and the tree itself is quite productive. Catuaí has been far more popular in terms of spreading to other producing countries, Costa Rica in particular.
Offering a clean, soft cup with tonnes of sweetness and a creamy body we have been enjoying sample roasts and initial tests of this lot drunk as a single origin, which tastes round and warming. The cup profile is quite versatile and so it lends itself well to blending with other coffees that offer a little more in the way of top notes, acidity and aromatics.
Piltalito, Colombia:
We have worked in Huila for over a decade, and in our experience the cup profiles of top lots from this region really chime with our preferences.
The Producers
We are currently featuring coffee from 5 farmers who contribute to the La Magdalena community marque. The majority of this high quality community lot has been produced by Alexander Hernandez at Finca La Esmeralda and Willyan Zambrano at Finca La Montañita, with small contributions from Luis Anacona, Horacio Bolaños and Yobani Joven. The contributing members all grow their coffee in the municipality of Pitalito in Huila, which is one of our all-time favourite regions of Colombia. Dotted on their various coffee farms are shade trees including Cachingo, Guamo (Ice-cream Bean), Carbonero and various citrus and avocado trees. The farms range from just 1 up to 5 hectares in size, and are planted out with a combination of Caturra, Castillo and Variedad Colombia, spanning from around 1,700 all the way up to 2,100 metres above sea level. Alexander Toledo and Willyan Zambrano also have a diverse portfolio including Geshas, Bourbon Ají and other exotic varieties that are typically separated into microlots.
Fertile soils with volcanic ash deposits coupled with the high altitudes, quality varieties and agronomical training and support from Caravela all lead to a group of coffee growers who are reliably producing clean, sweet lots that we feel make for very juicy, complex espresso. Each farmer may practice variations on fermentation, size of batches and for different periods, so we can’t be hugely specific with any fermentation details here. Some of them then use raised beds in a polytunnel to dry their coffee, whilst others use their rooftop patios which can be shaded from the sun or sheltered from the rain by sliding a corrugated iron cover over the drying coffee.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Candied Orange, Sultana, Almonds
Creamy and balanced with fruity notes of candied orange and sultanas. The finish is like milk chocolate and sugared almonds.
This year we have finally been able to select our own bespoke lot for decaffeination. Paying close attention to all the coffees we buy means we have always treated our decaf purchases with the same care and rigour as all lots we buy, but we have finally reached the volumes whereby we can purchase an entire lot to be decaffeinated in Colombia (the plant in Manizales processes 70 sacks to create 58 bags of decaffeinated green coffee).
The Producers
This lot from La Plata in Colombia’s Huila region has been created by combining high quality outturns from 7 farmers in and around the small parish of San Sebastian. Producers such as Gina Samara Jalvin, Gloria Isabel Garcia, Ivonne Andrea Oviedo and Laura Ramirez are amongst the larger contributors. The coffee varieties being tended to are typical for the region, comprising Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia. These are planted amongst Cambulo and Guamo trees, which are nitrogen fixing, as well as Cedro and other native trees which provide shade and increase biodiversity on the farms. During harvest the cherries are selected by hand when ripe, traditionally depulped and fermented before being fully washed and dried either on covered patios or raised beds in polytunnels. Once cupped, assessed and collated the lots are sent for decaffeination.
The Decaffeination Process:
Having tasted various options in their regular and subsequent decaffeinated state we have been able to secure a coffee that has a sweet, clean cup profile and has best maintained its character and integrity after the decaffeination process.
For the last eight years we’ve solely purchased decaffeinated coffees that have undergone the Sugar Cane Ethyl Acetate process. Not only does this method provide a secondary income to the producing country, but the green coffee only needs to be transported once rather than twice. Obviously more eco-friendly and less costly, it has a huge impact on cup quality too. The conditions in which coffee is transported are rarely conducive to preserving quality, and so avoiding this process from happening twice is always beneficial for the cup. The coffee, having been shipped only once unlike most decaf options that arrive into the UK via Mexico, Canada or Germany, tastes all the fresher for it.
The actual solvent doing the work of decaffeinating the green coffee at Descafecol is derived from fermenting and making an alcohol from sugar cane. This is combined with spring water and is used to wash the caffeine out of the steamed green coffee until less than 0.1% of the original caffeine content remains.
The Exporter:
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Candied Orange, Sultana, Almonds
Creamy and balanced with fruity notes of candied orange and sultanas. The finish is like milk chocolate and sugared almonds.
This year we have finally been able to select our own bespoke lot for decaffeination. Paying close attention to all the coffees we buy means we have always treated our decaf purchases with the same care and rigour as all lots we buy, but we have finally reached the volumes whereby we can purchase an entire lot to be decaffeinated in Colombia (the plant in Manizales processes 70 sacks to create 58 bags of decaffeinated green coffee).
The Producers
This lot from La Plata in Colombia’s Huila region has been created by combining high quality outturns from 7 farmers in and around the small parish of San Sebastian. Producers such as Gina Samara Jalvin, Gloria Isabel Garcia, Ivonne Andrea Oviedo and Laura Ramirez are amongst the larger contributors. The coffee varieties being tended to are typical for the region, comprising Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia. These are planted amongst Cambulo and Guamo trees, which are nitrogen fixing, as well as Cedro and other native trees which provide shade and increase biodiversity on the farms. During harvest the cherries are selected by hand when ripe, traditionally depulped and fermented before being fully washed and dried either on covered patios or raised beds in polytunnels. Once cupped, assessed and collated the lots are sent for decaffeination.
The Decaffeination Process:
Having tasted various options in their regular and subsequent decaffeinated state we have been able to secure a coffee that has a sweet, clean cup profile and has best maintained its character and integrity after the decaffeination process.
For the last eight years we’ve solely purchased decaffeinated coffees that have undergone the Sugar Cane Ethyl Acetate process. Not only does this method provide a secondary income to the producing country, but the green coffee only needs to be transported once rather than twice. Obviously more eco-friendly and less costly, it has a huge impact on cup quality too. The conditions in which coffee is transported are rarely conducive to preserving quality, and so avoiding this process from happening twice is always beneficial for the cup. The coffee, having been shipped only once unlike most decaf options that arrive into the UK via Mexico, Canada or Germany, tastes all the fresher for it.
The actual solvent doing the work of decaffeinating the green coffee at Descafecol is derived from fermenting and making an alcohol from sugar cane. This is combined with spring water and is used to wash the caffeine out of the steamed green coffee until less than 0.1% of the original caffeine content remains.
The Exporter:
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
|
PRODUCER
|
7 farmers in La Plata |
|
HARVEST
|
February, 2024 |
|
PROCESS |
Hand-harvested, traditionally depulped & dry fermented, fully washed & E. A. sugar cane decaffeinated. |
|
VARIETIES |
Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia |
|
REGION |
San Sebastian, La Plata, Huila |
|
COUNTRY |
Colombia |
|
ALTITUDE |
1,750 to 2,000 metres
|
|
ARRIVAL |
June, 2024 |
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Candied Orange, Sultana, Almonds
A7 information cards which you can use on retail shelves, at POS, on grinders and to display alongside brewed coffee. Please add to your cart the amount you wish to receive with your order.
Expect a creamy, balanced espresso with sweet fruit notes of currants & prunes. The finish is like dark chocolate & roasted almonds.
This year we have finally been able to select our own bespoke lot for decaffeination. Paying close attention to all the coffees we buy means we have always treated our decaf purchases with the same care and rigour as all lots we buy, but we have finally reached the volumes whereby we can purchase an entire lot to be decaffeinated in Colombia (the plant in Manizales processes 70 sacks to create 58 bags of decaffeinated green coffee).
The Producers
This lot from La Plata in Colombia’s Huila region has been created by combining high quality outturns from 7 farmers in and around the small parish of San Sebastian. Producers such as Gina Samara Jalvin, Gloria Isabel Garcia, Ivonne Andrea Oviedo and Laura Ramirez are amongst the larger contributors. The coffee varieties being tended to are typical for the region, comprising Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia. These are planted amongst Cambulo and Guamo trees, which are nitrogen fixing, as well as Cedro and other native trees which provide shade and increase biodiversity on the farms. During harvest the cherries are selected by hand when ripe, traditionally depulped and fermented before being fully washed and dried either on covered patios or raised beds in polytunnels. Once cupped, assessed and collated the lots are sent for decaffeination.
The Decaffeination Process
Having tasted various options in their regular and subsequent decaffeinated state we have been able to secure a coffee that has a sweet, clean cup profile and has best maintained its character and integrity after the decaffeination process.
For the last eight years we’ve solely purchased decaffeinated coffees that have undergone the Sugar Cane Ethyl Acetate process. Not only does this method provide a secondary income to the producing country, but the green coffee only needs to be transported once rather than twice. Obviously more eco-friendly and less costly, it has a huge impact on cup quality too. The conditions in which coffee is transported are rarely conducive to preserving quality, and so avoiding this process from happening twice is always beneficial for the cup. The coffee, having been shipped only once unlike most decaf options that arrive into the UK via Mexico, Canada or Germany, tastes all the fresher for it.
The actual solvent doing the work of decaffeinating the green coffee at Descafecol is derived from fermenting and making an alcohol from sugar cane. This is combined with spring water and is used to wash the caffeine out of the steamed green coffee until less than 0.1% of the original caffeine content remains.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
|
PRODUCER
|
7 farmers in La Plata |
|
HARVEST
|
February 2024 |
|
PROCESS |
Hand-harvested, traditionally depulped & dry fermented, fully washed & E. A. sugar cane decaffeinated. |
|
VARIETIES |
Caturra, Castillo & Variedad Colombia |
|
REGION |
San Sebastian, La Plata, Huila |
|
COUNTRY |
Colombia |
|
ALTITUDE |
1,750 to 2,000 metres
|
|
ARRIVAL |
May, 2024 |
Roasted for Espresso & Filter | Raspberry, Chocolate, Nougat
Comprised of 50% decaffeinated coffee. Designed for productive afternoons and restful evenings. Look for flavours of roasted almonds, sweet raspberry & milk chocolate.
Comprised of 50% decaffeinated coffee we find ourselves drawn to this blend in the afternoons and evenings, when the prospect of a full jolt of caffeine becomes less appealing but there are still tasks to complete before the day is out. A chance to reset and remain on an even keel rather than overdo it and regret it later on.
Our single origin coffees vary throughout the year, depending on what is tasting best each month. We have, in recent years, found that with careful planning we are able to curate a line of Colombian coffee that tastes fresh and expressive throughout the calendar year, thanks to this producing country having multiple harvesting and shipping periods. Given our soft spot for espresso roasts of coffees from Huila region we recently launched our El Nevado Espresso, a perennially available single origin Colombian coffee. We’re also selecting lots from Huila to send for decaffeination, this year featuring a lot from La Plata, and so weaving these two product lines together makes for a harmonious tasting half-caff coffee.
The Producers
We are currently featuring coffee from 8 farmers who contribute to the La Magdalena community. A select few of the farmers who have contributed significant chunks of coffee to this lot include Nicomedes Benavides, Nito Arbey Molina Navia and Edgar Yony Melo Gomez, the latter two having cup of excellence awards amongst their accolades. The members grow their coffee in the municipality of San Agustín in Huila, which is one of our all-time favourite regions of Colombia, in the veredas (wards) of La Argentina, La Llanada, La Muralla and Naranjos. Dotted on their various coffee farms are shade trees including Cachingo, Guamo (Ice-cream Bean), Carbonero and various citrus and avocado trees. The farms range from just 1 up to 5 hectares in size, and are planted out with a combination of Caturra, Castillo and Variedad Colombia, spanning from around 1,700 all the way up to 2,100 metres above sea level.
Fertile soils with volcanic ash deposits coupled with the high altitudes, quality varieties and agronomical training and support from Caravela all lead to a group of coffee growers who are reliably producing clean, sweet lots that we feel make for very juicy, complex espresso. Each farmer may practice variations on fermentation, size of batches and for different periods, so we can’t be hugely specific with any fermentation details here. Some of them then use raised beds in a polytunnel to dry their coffee, whilst others use their rooftop patios which can be shaded from the sun or sheltered from the rain by sliding a corrugated iron cover over the drying coffee.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”