In My Mug

This coffee is a staple, a big favourite and a stunning example of what a very fine coffee from Brazil should be. Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira Pulped Natural Yellow Bourbon from the Minas Gerais area is one of my all-time great cups. This coffee has always been fantastic, and it has such amazing memories for me.

This farm and its coffee sparked a massive change in what I thought I knew about coffee. I remember the first time I ever cupped this coffee: time stood still as the cup opened my mind to what great coffee is and can be. Gabriel, the farmer, continues to produce great coffee year on year. We have access to the best of the crop this year – and have had for the last three years – on a European exclusive. This is due to the special relationship we, and our importers, enjoy with Gabriel.

I like this coffee so much I used it for the UK Brewers Cup last year (where I made it to the semi-finals) to show off just how delicious a Brazilian coffee can be. To see my performance, please click below.

Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama has been in the Carvalho Dias family since 1890 and is located in São Paolo state, just three miles from the border with Minas Gerais state. It enjoys the typical characteristics of the mountainous Mogiana and Sul de Minas regions, and it's located at an altitude of 1,100–1,250 metres above sea level.

Gabriel de Carvalho Dias is one of Brazil’s leading agronomists. His family owns several farms, and they border each other in this area. With a total area of 417 hectares, Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama has a coffee plantation area of 165 hectares. Everything is done manually on this farm since its topography does not allow any kind of mechanisation. The mill is located close to the spa town of Poços de Caldas, which is 45 minutes away from the farm.

The Carvalho Dias family consider social and environmental sustainability to be very important. The farm has a programme of planting native species of trees to maintain a better ecological balance. There is also a school, a club and an official-size soccer field for the employees and workers. There are 47 houses, all with modern facilities. The waste water is treated in order to avoid polluting the stream that runs across the farm. The farm has a small hydroelectric plant and only buys energy during the peak harvest. Some of the original Bourbon varietal trees are as much as 108 years old.

The beans are harvested on a sheet and prepared by the ‘pulped natural’ process, which separates the greens. The beans receive the maximum possible attention after harvest so that they don't lose any of the body and cup qualities for which this region is famed.

In the cup expect hot chocolate with hazelnut, and a Jammy Dodger aftertaste.

• Country: Brazil

Clean cup: (1–8): 6

Total (max. 100): 89

Roasting Information

"Quick Look" Guide

An In My Mug exclusive coffee roasted only for subscribers on Friday the 23rd of February, 2018.

Raul Perez has grown up around coffee, he comes from a fifth generation coffee farming family on his father's side, and a third generation family on his mother's side. Coffee has always been part of his life. He has told me about stories his grandparents would share with him about their experiences.

But I think it's fair to say that Raul has made plenty of his own coffee stories in his ten years of involvement in the specialty coffee industry.

It was ten years ago when Raul first became involved in the family business. After living in Guatemala City in his youth (so he was able to go to a good school and university), he returned to the farm where his family had still been working and commuting.

This coincided with a visit from an international buyer who made the family view coffee production in a different way. The speciality market was blossoming and the visitor gave them new ideas for varietals, picking, and processing that changed the direction of their farm and their cup quality. As Raul puts it, they began to work in a "more interactive way".

Finca La Soledad has been a Pérez family coffee farm since 1895, the farm is located in Acatenango, near to the Acatenango volcano. It has a great microclimate and an altitude of 1,650 metres above sea level.

The Pérez family invested heavily in their mill, rebuilding it with the environment in mind. They have a clever system through which they are able to recycle the water they use for processing many times.

Raul and his dad Henio work together on the farm to raise quality standards every day. Since that visit which sparked the changes, they have built a cupping and roasting lab on the farm and Raul has been roasting and cupping samples of days' pickings so they can learn at farm level what they can do to improve the cup.

The first time I met Raul was at a friend's wedding in Guatemala. I didn't know him (like most of the other guests), but we got talking and I enjoyed his company. At no time did he try to push his coffee on me, and I think only in passing did he say his family worked in coffee.

Raul was so kind he offered to take us back to our hotel that evening to save us having to get in a dodgy cab in Guatemala City.

I have an exporting partner in Guatemala who sent me this amazing sample, which I decided there and then we had to but. I was only after I committed to buying the coffee that I found out it was from Raul's farm.

Since then I've been lucky enough to visit the farm and meet the whole family. A fond memory that will stay with me is sitting on the unused drying patio with them all, enjoying a beer and watching the sun go down. They are a professional team and a lovely, warm family.

All our lots from La Soledad this year are washed coffees - meaning they are soaked in water to remove the fruit from the beans. This fermentation process plays a key part in developing the flavours that make a great coffee something special. It’s a super interesting (and complex!) part of the beans journey from the plant to us and one which clever producers like the Perez family are really starting to explore and experiment with.

In the cup expect a thick, sweet coffee. It’s golden sugar and cream, shifting in to chocolate coated raisins on the finish. This is the heaviest and gloopiest of the lots from the farm which really kicks that chocolate up a notch!

• Country: Guatemala

Cupping notes: Golden sugar, cream, chocolate coated raisins.

A coffee that I first fell in love with waaaaaaay back in 2007 is thankfully back for another year. After many years without  it, I was massively excited to get this farm and coffee back two years ago, and I'm even more excited to be able to offer this coffee once again.

Finca Alaska is located just one hour from Santa Ana city. It's on the northwest slopes of the Santa Ana volcano, which is one of the most amazing coffee growing areas in El Salvador. It is owned by Ernesto Menéndez of La Ilusion fame – or Neto, as we like to call him! This is a name you should be familiar with by now, because I think you know how much I love the coffee that this amazing man grows. I often get asked what my favourite coffee of all time is and I will never say exactly (although my friends know the true answer), but I always narrow it to three coffees; one of them is definitely from Neto.

This is a coffee that we first saw back in 2007 (check out 2007 Steve and Neto in the pictures!) and I was desperate to have a long-term relationship with the grower. Due to some politics and miscommunication, it slipped through our fingers. The following year we bought coffee from La Ilusion, but it always felt like there was a piece of the jigsaw missing. I managed to get my hands on Finca Alaska four years later in 2011, and another four years later in 2015 I did it again. Now here we are in 2018, and we have it back once more. I will keep doing my best to not let it be four years until we see Finca Alaska again, I promise!

In the cup this tastes like a Cadbury's Dairy Milk bar left in the sun for just a little too long, with red grape and fresh lime acidity. It has a super sweet and clean finish.

• Country: El Salvador

• Latitude: N 13º 52’ 22.2’’

Clean cup: (1–8): 7

Total: (max. 100): 89

Roasting Information

"Quick Look" Guide

Due to the complications within the Bolivian coffee industry, many of the smaller Bolivian farms we have worked with in the past are no longer producing coffee. Whilst this has created some challenges for us, it has had a much more significant impact on our exporting partners AgriCafe, who have been working with these growers for many years. As a result, AgriCafe have decided to begin farming for themselves, in an effort to demonstrate what can be achieved with the application of more modern techniques and a scientific farming approach.

AgriCafe now manage seven farms, and these are collectively known as the Buena Vista Project. Finca Don Carlos is the second farm of the project, and it was planted in Caranavi in 2014.

The farm is named in honour of Don Carlos, the oldest and most unconditionally awesome employee of AgriCafe. He was there at the start of the specialty coffee trend and, together with Pedro, helped to build the wet mill in Caranavi. To show their gratitude for all his good work, the company decided to give him partnership of the farm.

This farm, along with the other Buena Vista project farms, is run by Pedro Pablo Rodriguez, the son of Pedro Rodriguez who owns AgriCafe. AgriCafe first bought their farms in 2012, when it became clear they were facing rapidly decreasing coffee production across the country. They have 12 farms in total and this is one of 8 in the Caranavi region (the traditional coffee producing area of Bolivia). Pedro Pablo studied agronomy in Honduras and bought techniques he had learnt there to the Buena Vista Farms.

In 2016, farms surrounding Don Carlos suffered badly with Leaf Rust (also called Roya). This caused a substantial drop in production, but the farm developed a strong program to combat the disease, which they can now use when other farms are affected.

This is a washed Caturra lot containing both red and yellow fruit, the cherries are left for 15 hours to allow the fruit to begin to break down before it goes through the mechanical washing process.

In the cup a Mars a day helps you work, rest, and drink coffee! There's a Mars Bar mix of chocolate, nougat and caramel which is finished off with soft yellow fruit - think tinned peaches.

• Country: Bolivia

Finca San José is the pride and joy of the Rodríguez family, and is now in the hands of a fourth and fifth generation of coffee producers. The story begins in 1815, when José María Rodriguez and Josefina Rodriguez (great-grandparents) planted the first coffee trees with their own hands.

Through the generations, the farm has passed through the hands of many committed farmers like José's son, Israel Rodriguez. He was then followed by Jose Maria Rodriguez, who took care of the farm until it came to Gloria Mercedes Rodriguez Fontán, the most recent owner.

Ever the strong woman, Gloria has overcome gender barriers in an industry that has historically been the province of men, and she personally supervises every step at the farm level. Gloria not only takes care of San José but, together with her siblings' support, she manages five other small farms which collectively add up to 38 hectares.

The mountain slopes of Finca San José are fully shaded by trees that help to maintain and preserve the crop and the surrounding environment. In addition to the trees' diversity, the farm is home to a variety of wild animals and birds, which can be seen in their natural habitat. San José is nested in the northwestern slope of an extinct volcanic crater, which holds a small lagoon inside it. The lagoon is named Nymph Lagoon, due to the abundance of water lilies.

San José has seventeen full-time workers performing several activities, such as shade tree and coffee pruning, vegetative tissue renewing, and weed control. All of this work is done skillfully by hand. Approximately 60 more seasonal workers assist in the harvest process, earning their livelihood from picking and selecting coffee cherries only at the peak of ripeness. The people who harvest coffee have extensive experience and share a commitment of growing a superior quality coffee.

Gloria believes in maintaining highly motivated staff; the farm's permanent workers are receiving almost 10% above the legal wage, while the seasonal workers received almost 50% more during harvest due to the importance of this specific task for the coffee's end quality.

One of Gloria’s major blessings is to have Antonio Avelino as her farm manager or 'mandador'. His level of commitment, knowledge and shared philosophy of quality makes him an integral part of this effort.

At Finca San José, coffee goes through extensive quality control in addition to being grown under standards that support specialty coffee production. The unique micro-climate conditions include an average altitude of 1,500 metres above sea level, an average temperature of 17°C, and rich and loamy clay soil; and the coffee grown is mainly Bourbon variety.

Some other works done to the farm recently included three foliar fertilizations and two soil fertilizations, including one of organic fertilizer named 'Huisil', which is based on soil studies to ensure specific requirements. Where possible, workers ply the farm with stem bending or 'agobio', and they perform coffee shade pruning to balance sunlight and shade requirements under sustainable levels. They also perform weed control, mainly manually.

One of Gloria’s commitments is to reinvest an important share of the economic benefits from this activity into the farms, impacting the people who toil the fields and maintaining the quality of the production chain from seed to cup.

In the cup I want you to imagine a cherry truffle chocolate that's been drenched in red wine. This big bodied, well structured and balanced coffee finishes with milk chocolate and a gentle sherry like kick.​

• Country: El Salvador

I first discovered El Limon on my trip to Guatemala in early 2013. At the time we'd never bought coffee directly from Guatemala, but since then this has become one of our strongest and most amazing relationships.

My friend Raul (whom you may remember as the World Barista Champion of 2012!) in Guatemala had been buying coffee from these guys for a couple of years, and he was very keen for me to go and meet them. Located around an hour's drive to the east of Guatemala City in the small town of Palencia, this farm sits at an altitude of between 1,600 and 1,800 metres above sea level. It's owned by Guadalupe Alberto Reyes, who's also just known as Beto. He used to be the Mayor of Palencia and helped to build and develop the town.

Palencia is not part of the eight regions of coffee as defined by Anacafé, but you can see a lot of development in the zone, and this farm is a perfect example of that development. I like being in places that are working to be hot and up-and-coming, as well as those that are established players.

One of the main reasons I love El Limon is the desire to experiment; the farm mostly produces Bourbon and Caturra, but also plays around with a few other varietals. The experimentation comes from Beto's motivation; he has really focused on the farm over the last couple of years. He wanted to take more care in every step they take – from picking to processing, to shipping – and also take more care in the agronomy of the farm. This is very much a family affair: his wife and son also work on the farm, along with Beto's siblings. In fact, his son is studying agronomy at the local college for the benefit of the farm.

Pache is a dwarf mutation of Typica. It's high-yielding, and it grows well between 900 and 1,800 metres above sea level. It was first seen in Guatemala and has since been crossed with some other varietals because of its high yield, and its resistance to pests and disease.

The dedication and care devoted to each step of production is reflected in the fact that the family has built a new wet mill so that they can separate different lots and have control over the quality of the coffee. Previously the mill could process only one lot; now they are able to process many lots, and keep separate days' pickings and varietals in their own parcels. With this wet mill came another opportunity, which was for neighbours and people within the region of Palencia to bring their coffees to the mill where they could get them processed. Again, another sign that this is a hot spot for Guatemalan coffee.

As time moves on, Beto doesn't want to stand still and is continuing to invest in the farm. He showed me lots of new planting during my recent visit, and a lot of building work around the wet mill. He is also building a QC lab and new accommodation for people working on the farm. It was a real hive of activity.

Beto and his family have always been the perfect hosts whenever I visited the farm. They are such welcoming people and take great pride in showing me around their farm. One of the kindest things they've done for me is to welcome me into their home when I am visiting, and they always prepare the most amazing meals! When you travel as much as I do, mid-trip you find yourself longing for something big, home-cooked, and not from a restaurant or roadside pop-up cafe. Traditional Guatemalan meals are just the ticket, and I always look forward to the food – but mainly I look forward to the company.

In the cup this reminds me of Greek yoghurt and lemon rind but the finish does a right turn into dark chocolate and delicate allspice.

• Country: Guatemala

Hi there folks, listen up! This is 1 of those coffees that has quite a long name that contains quite a bit of information, and there's even more that I didn't put in there as I wanted to make it a little bit shorter too! So - let me explain all the bits...

'Costa Rica' (I'm guessing you worked this out!) is the country it's from.

'Don Mayo' is the name of the micro mill where the coffee is milled and processed.

'Finca La Loma' is the farm that the coffee was grown on.

'Yellow Honey' is the processing method (if you want to learn a little more about processing, be sure to check out our processing videos).

I've left the varietal information out of the total name as this is a mix of Villa Sarchi & Caturra, you can find more information about them both in our varietal archive.

See, I told you it was all important stuff!

Finca La Loma is located at an altitude of 1,850–1,900 metres above sea level in the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica, and it's owned by Hector Bonilla and his family. We first had a chance to enjoy coffee from this awesome farm/mill combo in 2014, and I'm delighted to see it back for another year. I came across it on my trip to Costa Rica in January 2013, because we were already working with the Bonilla family and their coffee from the neighbouring Finca Bella Vista.

The Don Mayo mill is somewhat of a celebrity in the world of coffee mills, winning a beautiful selection of awards for its coffees which are bought by many top buyers from around the world, and I am (of course) very pleased to be one of them.

In the cup this unique coffee hits you with peach and sharp nectarine, a white wine like acidity and finishes on fresh raspberry juice.

• Country: Costa Rica


This is a brand new farm to us from the department of Jinotega, in the community of Lipululu. Although brand new, it comes from people who we know well and have worked with for over ten years. The family Mierisch (who you may recognise from such farms as Limoncillo, Mama Mina, Escondida and Milligros) have worked with us over that time to bring us delicious coffee.

Much of that deliciousness is thanks to their amazing processing, and Eleane is in charge of that. She works in the family business but has never owned her own farm – until last year, when she acquired Las Delicias.

The farm is located in the region of Jinotega at an average altitude of 1,450 metres above sea leve. It is located next to another Mierisch farm, which you might have heard of; it's called San José.

Eleane knows the area very well, and knows the land and what it's capable of producing. Add to this her passion for coffee, and you can start to understand why she wanted to produce coffee on a farm of her own.

The Longberry varietal is the fruit of some of the amazing experimental work that's taking place at Limoncello, another Mierisch farm. To explain a little bit of the story behind it, I'll hand over to another Mierisch that I just so happen to know. Oh hi there, Erwin!

As far as we can tell the Longberry varietal is a Typica-type coffee because of its bean shape, as is the Geisha. Its physical appearance is a uniform seed that is elongated and has been described by several of our customers as an 'Ethiopian Long Berry type'.

In the cup there are lemons and lychees with a milk chocolate sweetness. It has a complex and super interesting finish.

• Country: Nicaragua

The Vieira Ferreira family has specialised in coffee production for three generations and is now headed by Adolfo Vieira Ferreira, whose attention to detail and commitment to producing top-class specialty coffee is second to none.

The farm employs a high number of skilled workers to carry out most of the production process by hand, in order to guarantee quality. They do everything, from soil preparation for planting to hand-picking the ripe cherries. In return, the farm looks after its workers. Permanent workers and their families live on-site and are provided with schooling for their children, professional training and environmental education.

The farm also takes environmental sustainability seriously and abides by all Brazilian environmental protection laws. Its native forests are set aside as protected reserves and are often visited by tourists, school children and ecologists. The farm also regularly plants new trees, particularly around its water sources, in order to maintain the local ecosystem.

Passeio’s coffee is picked by hand only when the cherries reach an advanced stage of ripeness, to avoid processing green beans. Pulped natural lots such as this one are pulped and then, rather than being soaked and washed, they are immediately transferred to the patios for drying, with the bean’s sticky outer mucilage still attached. The coffee is then kept in wooden resting bins for a minimum of 60 days before the final dry milling, and is sorted immediately prior to export.

The farm cultivates several different varietals: this Rubi lot, a hybrid of Mundo Novo, and Catuaí. This single-varietal lot was harvested and processed separately from other lots to maintain its own distinct characteristics.

In the cup expect delicious creamy milk chocolate with caramel and Brazil nut and a finish of apricot jam.

• Country: Brazil

It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas blend now, would it?!

Now in its TWELFTH (!) year of Christmas blends here at Has Bean, this is our take on the perfect espresso to enjoy at this wonderful festive time of year.

This blend can only be roasted throughout the month of December. Some fella in a red suit (no, not me!) said so, so make sure to enjoy it while you can!

• 50% El Salvador Finca Alaska Washed Bourbon

In the cup you get an insight into my Christmas: dark chocolate, dried fruit, boozy and orange peel. Yes that's the Steve Leighton Christmas in coffee descriptors!