General Roundup

July 2021

We are firmly in the landing time for the new crops from Central America. Some, like the Malacara A (El Salvador) and Telia Herbazu (Costa Rica), are already with us but July is when most of our coffee from Guatemala starts to land. And what a crop it is. We have old favourites from Capetillo and Santa Catalina already in … Continue reading

Organic Audit

June 2021

Last month we had our organic audit, always nerve racking and always better than expected, which we passed with a couple of small things to do within twenty-eight days of the audit. Audits are there to keep the process of buying, importing, warehousing, roasting and selling organic coffee controlled and legitimate. One cannot in the UK or EU simply pop … Continue reading

Decaffeinated Coffee

April 2021

We have, this month, our best decaffeinated coffee to date arriving. The coffee itself is from Fazenda IP, Brazil, a stalwart on our counter. It has been decaffeinated at Descamex in Mexico and at time of writing has just arrived at the roastery. We tasted the arrival sample when it landed and all of us agree, it is our best … Continue reading

Shipping

April 2021

April in the roastery is all about sample roasting and tasting. This is a super busy time for our coffee buying team with all the new crop samples coming in from Central America. Each coffee is sampled before shipping, after shipping, and on arrival to make sure the coffees are tasting great and ready to go on the counter. This … Continue reading

A New Coffee from Peru

February 2021

We have a new coffee on our counter this month – El Morito – from Peru. We haven’t had a coffee from Peru for several years and it is interesting to think about how and why that happens. Peru is a large coffee producer and over the thirty last years or so has really concentrated on the cooperative and certified-production … Continue reading

Coffee Processing

February 2021

As we are all here rejoicing in the occasional snow fall, holding off the usual February malaise, and generally feeling fed up and frustrated with the virus, there is plenty happening on the farms in Central America. The crop is finishing ripening and being picked with COVID precautions in place. Once picked the coffee cherry is moved to beneficios and … Continue reading