Tasting Notes
500 independent coffee growers contribute to this lot by growing organically on their small plots of local land, typically only two to five hectares in size. Coffee grows alongside food crops including corn, grains and bananas, under the shade of native trees. This shade growing technique, along with the high altitude, fertile soils and cool temperatures, is ideal for the slow ripening of coffee cherries. This leads to denser beans and a sweeter, more complex cup profile.
This coffee was produced as part of a Testi quality improvement initiative (Testi are the owners of the washing station). This initiative ensures that the best practises are used for growing, harvesting and processing the coffee cherry, and Testi pay a premium to farmers who pick and deliver only the ripest and highest quality cherry.
This is a naturally processes coffee. Hand picked coffee cherry is delivered daily to the wet mill and carefully hand sorted prior to processing to remove unripe, over-ripe or damaged fruit. The coffee is then graded by weight, and spread out evenly on raised beds to dry in the sun, while being turned frequently to ensure even drying and prevent over-fermentation. This is done for between fifteen and eighteen days until it reaches its ideal moisture content, before being hulled and rested prior to export.
The Ethiopia Hadeso coffee exhibits a strawberries and peach-like sweetness, a creamy body with a distinct floral finish reminiscent of rosehips.
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What We Taste: Peach, strawberry and rosehip
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Details:
Region: Hadeso, Shakisso, Guji, Oromia
Varietal: Karume & Wolisho
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 1950 MASL
High in the fertile red-clay hills of Ethiopia's Guji region is the Danse Mormora washing station. This heavily forested area of Ethiopia is known for producing exceptional quality coffee, thanks in part to the high elevation and the ancient volcanic soil. Most coffee growers in the region are small-holder farmers who grow other crops alongside their coffee. Every small hut has a fenced off area growing other produce including fava beans, maize, bananas, or chat (a local narcotic plant that is chewed). These small gardens are the cash crops that sustain the income for these families, and it’s critical to their livelihood that these crops produce well every year. Most of the cash crops are sold locally, in the local town or marketplace, or traded at local shops or houses for other goods. Chat and coffee are the two biggest cash crops in this area: chat is able to be harvested more often and doesn’t require as much attention to grow, while coffee gets a better price.
This coffee is considered 'special preparation', which simply means the coffee cherries are collected from a limited number of small hold farmers and this is a selection of the best quality premium cherry only. Each day hand-picked coffee cherries are delivered to the wet mill and are meticulously hand-sorted prior to processing to remove unripe, overripe, or damaged fruit, in order to enhance the quality and sweetness of the cup. The coffee is then graded by weight and spread evenly on raised screens to sun-dry, initially laid very thinly and turned regularly to ensure consistent drying and prevent over-fermentation. This is done very carefully to avoid damage to the fruit. After a few days the layers of coffee are gradually increased and turned frequently during this drying phase to ensure the coffee is stable and that a clean and balanced cup profile is achieved. At midday, the coffee is covered to protect it from full sun and also covered overnight to prevent damage from morning dew. Once the coffee has reached its optimum moisture level it is hulled and rested in bags in parchment until it is ready for export.
This Ethiopia Danse Mormora has a juicy acidity and pronounced sweetness. We are tasting blueberries, stone fruit and sparkling cola like notes.
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What We Taste: Blueberry, peach and cola
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Details:
Region: Shakisso, Guji, Oromia
Varietal: Heirloom
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 1900 - 2200 MASL
La Unión farm is a beautiful twenty one hectare farm owned by third generation producer Carlos Rivas, who purchased the property in 2017 after is had been left abandoned and in disrepair for over a decade. The farm is near the small town of Agua Dulce in the west of Guatemala near the border with Mexico. Crops are shade grown underneath Ingas and Grevillea trees which protect the coffee from the sun and keep the soils moist and well nourished. This particular lot is made up of varieties that yield yellow cherries, with "Amarillo" meaning "yellow" in Spanish.
Fresh hand picked coffee cherry underwent an initial pre-ferment of 24 hours, before being pulped at the on-site mill and left to ferment again in tanks for around 36 hours. The coffee is then washed before undergoing an additional round of fermentation, before being washed again and then dried on raised beds for ten to fifteen days.
The La Unión Amarillo coffee has a delightful juicy body with a crisp and clean finish. We love its taste of sweet apples, strawberry and dark chocolate.
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What We Taste: Sweet apple, strawberry and dark chocolate
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Details:
Region: Huehuetenango, San Pedro Necta
Varietal: Yellow Topazio, Yellow Catucai, Yellow Bourbon
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1650 - 1850 MASL
The Calahute farm is owned and operated by third generation producer Alfonso Anzueto, near the town of San Pedro Necta on the steep slopes of the El Tapon Mountain. The coffee is shade grown under Ingas and Grevillia trees, protecting the coffee from the sun and providing valuable nutrients. Alfonso cares deeply about the environment, ensuring all water used is treated and recycled, and also keeping bees to produce honey.
The Huehuetenango region is in the west of Guatemala near the border with Mexico, previously known as Xinabajul by local indigenous Maya indigenous peoples. It is renowned for complex and clean coffees due to its high elevation, high rainfall, stable temperatures and the hot and dry winds that blow in from Mexico's Tehuantepec plains.
This coffee was hand picked by trained workers from the local villages, employing about 120 people. This is a washed coffee, processed at the Anzueto family's wet mill, which was built on the farm in 1958. The cherries are hand sorted after picking, then weighed, pulped and fermented for 24-36 hours. The beans are then washed, graded by weight and then dried on patios for seven to twelve days. As the coffee reaches its target moisture content, shade covers are used and only dried in the sun as it sets late in the day.
This Calahute coffee is balanced and sweet with a creamy mouthfeel. Flavour notes are of toffee apple, almond butter, milk chocolate and raisins, with a roasted hazelnut finish.
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What We Taste: Stewed apples, raisins and milk chocolate
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Details:
Region: San Pedro Necta, Huehuetenango
Varietal: Bourbon
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1300 - 1500 MASL
Small hold farmers make up the majority of farms in Honduras, and this microlot from the La Paz region and grown by Roger Dominguez, is no exception. Roger is a young producer in the area from a family of coffee farmers, and he now has three parcels of land in the area, each of three to five hectares in size. The La Paz region is known for its high elevation and low temperatures, which both lend to coffees developing slowly while they grow, aiding in complexity.
Honduras does not yet have the reputation for producing incredible coffees like some of its Central American neighbours, despite being the largest producer of coffee in the region. This coffee however is a great example of the potential of Honduras for excellent coffee, which is in part why we have chosen to highlight it now.
The Finca Las Flores natural process is syrupy sweet and complex. We love its taste notes of cooked passionfruit and rockmelon, bright nectarine acidty and caramel milk chocolate finish.
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What We Taste: Sweet passionfruit, rock melon, nectarine, caramel and milk chocolate
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Details:
Region: Worka, Marcala, La Paz
Varietal: Paraneima
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 1500 MASL
This is not your average decaffeinated coffee. Producer Wilton Benitez has become one of the world's leaders in coffee production, including innovative farming and processing methods. This includes the use of terraced gardens, drip irrigation, and laboratory tested shade and nutrition calculations. Finca Paraiso-92 even has its own microbiology laboratory, quality laboratory and processing plant.
The processes applied to the different coffees at Finca Paraiso-92 start from a strict selection, sterilization and characterization of the cherry, before moving to the first phase of controlled anaerobic fermentation which lasts for 36 hours. Specific microorganisms are added for each process, then the coffee is pulped and subjected to a second fermentation phase, this time in an anaerobic environment using cane sugar juices, which is how the caffeine content is removed while still preserving the coffees vibrant flavours. When this second phase ends, a process of thermo shock is carried out via alternating hot and cold water to improve the organoleptic conditions of the coffee.
All of this effort results in a coffee that stands out in its own right, with the added benefit of being caffeine free so you can enjoy it at anytime. We love its clean, silky body with a complex profile of strawberries, mandarine, peaches and floral rose notes.
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What We Taste: Strawberry, mandarine, peach and rose
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Details:
Region: Piendamo, Cauca
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Processing: Anaerobic Natural / Sugar Cane
Altitude: 1900 MASL
Hula Girl is our customised blend for filter coffee, comprised of one washed process and one natural process coffee. Seasonally selected, the two coffees will vary over time but the taste will always be on point. Hula Girl is easy to drink and enjoy, like a long summers day.
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What We Taste: Stone fruits, chocolate & nuts
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Components:
Ethiopia Guji natural process
Ethiopia Sidamo washed process
The OG Solitude Coffee blend, sweet, full bodied and smooth, it pairs beautifully with dairy or alternate milks. Wake Up Call has a subtly fruity and buttery flavour, gentle acidity and a lingering creamy finish.
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What We Taste: Toffee, chocolate, hazelnut, lychee & raspberry
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Components:
Ethiopia Guji natural process
India Tiger Mountain washed process
Papua New Guinea Tungei A Selection fully washed process
Dead Set is just dead set delicious. Think spiced blackcurrants, a gentle grapefruit like acidity, lingering cacao with a coating almond butter finish.
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What We Taste: Spiced blackcurrant, grapefruit, cacao, & almond butter
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Components:
Papua New Guinea Tungei A Selection fully washed process
Kenya peaberry washed process