Fazenda Capao – £7.00 (350g)

Finca Mauritania is run by Aida Batlle – many of you may remember her coffee we had last year from Finca Kilimanjaro, easily one of our highlight coffees from last year.  Aida runs three farms in total – Kilimanjaro, Mauritania and Los Alpes. I had the pleasure if visiting these farms earlier this year while in El Salvador for the Cup of Excellence. We cupped all the farms coffees while viewing the mill where they are processed, and the Mauritania and Kilimanjaro lots stood out for me as coffees I’d really like to introduce to you guys! We bought all three processes from both, as well as Cascara from all three farms. Stored in vacuum sealed bags the greens smell amazing when you open them up, and we’re so excited to be launching the different lots between now and Christmas.

We’re starting by introducing you to three selections from Finca Mauritania – all the same 100% Bourbon coffee, but processed three different ways:  Natural Process, Pulped Natural and Fully Washed.  Big thanks to Peter Giuliano and Counter Culture Coffee for giving up a little of what they normally buy from Mauritania, we’re now able to present to you this unique and fascinating opportunity to taste and learn a little more about how processing affects the flavour profile of a bean.

On to the coffees, and a little explanation of the processes.

After coffee is picked, our ultimate goal is to get the seeds from middle, and to dry them down ready to store and then ship.  There are three main ways used around the world to do this:

Natural Process: Here the cherry is dried whole in the sun, until it is a shriveled husk that can be hulled off.  This is commonly used in regions with very little access to water.  It is very easy for the natural process to go wrong – drying fruit in the sun can easily lead to fermentation or, even worse, mould.  However, when done correctly the natural process is capable of giving the coffee incredible fruit notes and a lovely sweetness.

Pulped Natural: Here the cherry is squeezed until the beans pop out, and then they are dried down.  Most of the fruit is removed but a sticky layer of fruit meat (called mucilage) still coats the seeds.  Again popular in areas with limited access to water, and much lower risk of defects compared to the natural process.  Coffees produced this way tend to have great body and sweetness and are often very popular in traditional espresso blends.

Washed Process: Here the cherry is squeezed until the beans pop out, and then the beans are soaked in fresh water until the sticky, sugary outer layer dissolves.  The beans are then dried, often in the sun.  This process results in the lowest incidence of defects, and as such is the most popular within speciality coffee.  Why work hard to craft and grow amazing coffee, only to take the risk when processing it.  The natural acidity in the coffee is really highlighted by the washed process, and the fruit and floral notes often given room to breathe.

With the Finca Mauritania lots the same Bourbon variety has been processed each of these ways.  Aida and her team are incredibly skilled, and as such these are great examples of the possibilities of each process.  The Natural has amazing tropical and strawberry notes, the Pulped Natural is comfortingly sweet, rich and full bodied while the Fully Washed lot has a lovely honeydew melon juiciness and soft caramel and fruit notes.  You can read more about each of them by clicking the links.

This year Aida has once again produced Cascara from the dried coffee fruit left behind after the beans are removed from the cherry.  This is used to make one the oldest coffee drink in history – Qishr, a tea made from steeping the fruit in hot water, often adding sugar and other spices as well. (Although we love it on it’s own, or as a highly caffeinated ice tea!)

This is a rare opportunity – to be able to taste the effects of processing so clearly by using the same coffee from the same farm.  We really want people to try this so we’ve created the Mauritania Collection.  A bag of each of the processes, with a free 200g bag of the Cascara.  Hold a cupping, share it with friends to help explain why you are so obsessed with coffee,  try them individually or buy the collection and just keep it all for yourself!  This is fascinating and delicious!  We really look forward to hearing what you think.

Just straight up delicious coffee, drinkable and satisfying.  We have a little under a bag of this so don’t expect it to be around for too long.

Progresso (350g) – £7.00

Juice is a one-off roast – we will be roasting and shipping it on the 1st of September only.  If you order before that date, and if you order any other items, then the entire order will be held til that date.  There will only be a small quantity of it roasted, due to the scarcity of some of the coffees we plan to use.

Onto the fun stuff – this espresso blend is all about big juicy fruit flavours.  This won’t be a tolerant, chocolatey espresso blend – it will be the polar opposite.  It will still be sweet and tasty, but expect and crisp and bright acidity and tonnes and tonnes of fruit aromatics and flavours.

This isn’t for everyone, but if it appeals to you then we hope you’ll try it.

When you get the coffee there will be loads of information about the blend, the brew recipe and some other bits and pieces.  For now though – it remains a secret.

Juice (350g) – £8.00

Screen printing in El Salvador

Aida Batlle sent us the above image, taken in El Salvador of one the guys who have been screen printing by hand the bags for the coffees we bought from there this year – the bag in the photo is from Finca Mauritania.  Awesome to see something like this, the attention to detail paid at every stage to these coffees is outstanding – and to have someone paint your logo on their clothes because they like it makes us very happy indeed!

We’re really excited by the coffees we are buying from Aida – we want to tell you more, but we’re all going to have to wait until they hit the UK!

We airfreighted two coffees in from Kenya – we cupped the samples, got incredibly excited and as they were such small amounts this was the easiest way to get them out quickly. They were also vacuum packed in 10kg bricks to make sure that we get them at their freshest.

They are two very different coffees – each highlighting different flavours – and each as a stunning example of that cup profile.

First up is the Tegu AA lot. This is the ‘classic’ Kenya profile, done with incredible sweetness and clarity. Big juicy blackcurrants, black cherries and blueberries made to shine by a wonderful acidity.

Next up is the Ngunguru AA selection. Last year we carried the Muchoki Peaberry from Kenya, and it was incredibly popular. This coffee reminds us of that cup but is sweeter. Tangerines, fresh strawberry, rosehip and cherries in a light bodied, crisp cup. So good!  If you tried the Muchoki last year and enjoyed it then we feel pretty confident you’ll enjoy this too.

Then we have the Blackburn Estate AA from Tanzania. This is the first Tanzanian coffee we’ve really loved and again a lovely showcase of the way fruit flavours can manifest in coffee. A heavier body, lower acidity and very sweet with plum, peach and stone fruit flavours as well as a little cocoa and blackcurrant. Very satisfying coffee indeed!

We hope you try them and enjoy them and we’d love to hear your thoughts!

In better news we do have a small amount of a Rwandan coffee we really enjoyed at a cupping.  Subscribers got a sneaky preview this month and we’ve really been enjoying it to as we dialed in the roast.  It is from a cooperative called Kopabagki in Rusenyi and it reminds me of apple and blackberry pie in a very good, yummy baked fruit kind of way!

Mmm… pie.

We hope everyone really enjoys it!

The Cascara is the dried outer fruit layer of the coffee cherry, typically considered either a waste product or sometimes used in compost.  However – if done right the process can produce a delicious and very rare ingredient.

Back before coffee was roasted and brewed, it was likely this fruit that was dried and brewed as tea.  Sometimes sweetened or complimented with spices like ginger this drink is best known as Qishr (spelled many different ways).

Whilst it doubtless has been done, we couldn’t help but wonder (hopefully) if this was the first time this drink had been made in the UK.  Who knows!

What we do know is that it really is quite delicious.  The cascara has notes of tobacco and rosehip, and the tea itself is very fruity and again very rosehip like.  It is surprisingly sweet though I could see how some people might want to sweeten it a touch more.

We have only a small amount available and are thinking about putting it in the webshop for those interested – if you are let us know.  It would be a very rare opportunity to taste something that is not only delicious but also a little historical glimpse into coffee’s history.  We are really excited about this, we hope you are too!

We’ll be cupping three coffees before they go live on the webshop and pulling shots of a single estate espresso we’ll be offering as well. Free entry – just shoot us an email to let us know you are coming, and when we hit 20 we’ll call it full.

Hope to see you there at 18:00 at the roastery!