In My Mug

Due to the complications within the Bolivian coffee industry many of the smaller 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 they have decided to begin farming themselves, in an effort to demonstrate what can be achieved with the application of more modern techniques and a scientific farming approach.

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 speciality 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.

Finca Don Carlos is a very unique farm planted with all the care and dedication of Don Carlos himself. The farm sits at an altitude of between 1,450 and 1,650 metres above sea level, and is located in Caranavi which is the capital of the Caranavi Province in the Yungas region of Bolivia.

In the cup expect a lovely silky milk chocolate, with a note of hazelnut. The acidity all comes at the end as delicious rhubarb, but more rhubarb and custard sweets than a stick of rhubarb.

• Country: Bolivia

In the cup you'll find chocolate and hazelnut alongside a hint of dark cherry, with a little cinnamon on the finish.

• Country: Bolivia

Coffee and cycling, they go together rather well don't they!  So it makes sense that there's a coffee just for the upcoming RideStaffs 2016 Staffordshire Cycling Festival : )

We were approached by the festival organiser to create a custom blend to celebrate the event and of course we jumped at the chance! 

RideStaffs 2016 Staffordshire Cycling Festival will take place on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July. The festival takes place across three days at Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, beginning on the evening of Friday July 1st and ending at 5pm on Sunday July 3rd.

There will be an exciting mixture of opportunities to ride, chances to watch the professionals in person through the races on site and on a big screen as the Tour de France gets underway.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

This blend consists of...

• 40% Brazil Fazenda Passeio Natural Rubi

In the cup expect a sweet milk chocolate from the start, that takes a u-turn into a fruit bomb. Like a bike down a hill out of control the acidity kicks, of citrus limes and oranges and finishes with candy floss sweetness.

So an old favourite returns in this Costa Rican Licho: it's a coffee that we first bought from a Cup of Excellence auction many, many years ago in 2007, where it finished 4th. This year we welcome Licho back for the eighth time and I'm super proud to offer it.

Licho is a coffee that I feel shows our development as a roaster over the years. First we bought this coffee in the Cup of Excellence program (a great way to meet a grower), then we bought it from an import broker; they helped us bring in this coffee because we are a small coffee buyer. Then we bought directly from them. Then, two years ago, I went out to the farm and did the deal on the farm with the brothers. I love the fact that last year I walked onto the farm after cupping a particular lot in the exporter's office, asked how much they wanted, and there was a short conference. They came back and told me, then we shook hands. Then we got back into the 4x4 and drove away. This year we agreed a European-exclusive deal with them for this coffee, continuing the close work we have with them.

We also agreed a price going forwards that is higher than last year's price, and we agreed to take an amount that's higher than ever before to prove how wedded we are to this coffee.

Grown by the Aguilera brothers in the region of Naranjo, in the volcanic Northern Cordiles corridor of the Western Valley, this coffee is cultivated at an altitude of 1500 metres above sea level. The varietal is carefully-selected Villa Sarchi with some Caturra (around 30%).

This coffee is honey processed, which is like the pulped natural method, so the fruit is removed from the seed of the coffee bush and left to dry. The main difference is that there is no water involved when the cherry is removed, so mucilage sticks to the bean. This can be dangerous, but it's necessary in these parts of Costa Rica where water is limited: in this area of Naranjo water is a precious commodity, so this method suits the location very well.

The coffee ends up clustering whilst drying because there is so much mucilage. So the coffee either needs to be turned regularly to stop this happening, or it has to be broken up. Over-fermentation can happen at this stage and you can end up with a not-so-good cup, but the Aguilera brothers are well-versed in this method and are some of the most skilled in Costa Rica.

In the cup this coffee is delicious and has become one of our most popular staple coffees year after year. On the front-end there's milk chocolate, then raspberry pavlova and a white sugar sweetness. Something that I'll always love about this coffee is the massive mouthfeel it has, melted milk chocolate all the way. It's smooth, it's creamy, it's fruity, it's sweet...it's super awesome!

• Country: Costa Rica

The Kieni Wet Mill is located in Nyeri in the central highlands of Kenya at an altitude of 1,700 metres above sea level and is run by the Mugaga Farmers' Cooperative Society.

Nyeri County has cool temperatures and fertile central highlands, lying between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) mountain range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift valley and the western slopes of Mt. Kenya. Nyeri town (county headquarters) acts as a destination for those visiting Aberdare National Park and Mt. Kenya. It is in Nyeri county, at the Treetops Hotel, (a rustic treehouse hotel) where the young Elizabeth went upstairs a princess and came down in the morning as Queen of England. Her father, King George VI, died on 5 February 1952, the night she spent at Treetops while on honeymoon.

Most of the coffee beans from Nyeri develop and mature slowly, producing extra hard beans. This quality is also evident in the cup. As a result, Nyeri is traditionally known as the heart of Kenya’s black gold coffee.

The coffee is mainly grown on the slopes and the upper plateau where most of the homes are located. The farms are demarcated into small family plots where each individual family looks after their own coffee.

The coffee is wet processed. It's pulped, fermented, washed and then dried slowly over 2- 3 weeks, while the moisture content is reduced to 10-12%. The coffee is then delivered to the dry mill.

In the cup expect a super different Kenyan that's been shaken up with a Tiki twist. First thing you'll get is the huge mouthfeel. Then there's a big hit of juicy tropical fruit, lemons and oranges which finishes with a super sweet caramel acidity. A deliciously different Kenyan. 

• Country: Kenya

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.

In order to guarantee quality, the farm employs a high number of skilled workers to carry out most of the production process by hand, 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.

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 think Kit Kat! Milk chocolate and wafer biscuit alongside cacao with a big body thanks to the natural processing. Have a break, have a Passeio Natural Rubi.

• Country: Brazil

This is a coffee from a colony in Bolivia that we've not had coffee from since 2012/2013 (Bolivia Taypiplaya Jatun Kollo Mountain for those who remember!) and it's awesome to have something delicious from Taypiplaya back in 2016!

Taypiplaya is quite a small town in the west of Bolivia, 14km from Caranavi it was formed in 1962 and corresponds to the third section of the Municipality of Caranavi. The region has grown coffee since 1975, when coffee growing was promoted by the government and assistance was offered. The colony has a population of only 750 people, of whom 150 are coffee producers (each owning around 2-3 hectares) and so you won't be surprised to hear that coffee is the main product of the area! It's been that way for about the last 10 years and I certainly hope it's going to stay the same : )

Elda Choquehuanca produces coffee with her husband Felix and they source their cherries from the colony of Taypiplaya, every night from midnight to 0400hrs Elda and Felix transport the cherries the local wet mill at Buena Vista which is run by AgriCafe where the coffee is processed for them.  AgriCafe manage 7 farms in the area (including La Linda!) and help local farmers to process their coffee when they don't have access to their own wet mill.

In the cup this is like eating a chocolate digestive biscuit with a glass of apple juice! Up front there's a hit of digestive biscuit then the delicious milk chocolate I love tasting in our Bolivians, all finishing off with sweet juicy apple and more milk chocolate in the aftertaste.

• Country: Bolivia

We bought this cup from the cupping table, and sometimes that means we don’t know much about it.  First we find out it's really delicious, then the deeper digging begins!

This is a specially selected micro-lot of coffee from the Tolima region of Columbia. It comes from a small growers’ cooperative with only 58 members (this lot was made by just 20 of them); their average farm size is only 4.5 hectares, and collectively they produce approximately 1,000 bags of coffee per year. This is a great example of smallholders working together to produce amazing coffee. Want to know their names so you can thank them personally? Of course you do!

Gilardo Gutirrrez (and his cat), Jose Hernan Quintero, Heiber Hernandez Perez , Nicolas Hernandez, Jose Quiceno, Qscar Gutierrez Ramirez, Luz Dary Montiel, Elver Rincon, Heiber Hernandez Perez, Jose Gustavo Quintero, Jose Ider Zapata Quiñones, Jose Quicens, Didier Ramirez, Jose Gustavo Quintero, Eydi Johana Saldaña, Eydi Johana Saldaña, Alexander Vargas, Jose Onorio Quiceno,Elver Rincon, Elver Rincon, and Jose Qnorio Quiceno 🙌👏😄

Tolima is 1 of 32 departments in Colombia and sits between the big cities of Bogotá (the capital) and Cali. Tolima is a southern department, and the county it's in is called Herrera. Rioblanco is the nearest town to the cooperative. The farm, El Meridiano, is about 79 miles (or 128 km if you prefer) west of Bogotá.

The varietals are Caturra, Colombia and Typica. They are fully washed, and are grown at altitudes from 1,550 m.a.s.l. to 1,900 m.a.s.l.

In the cup expect a boom. Strawberry jam and loads of red fruit sweetness that's mixed and loaded with white sugar. More red fruit, think red acidity (strawberry, raspberry and redcurrant) which finishes with a delicious and long lingering buttery aftertaste.

• Country: Colombia

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.

Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama has been in the Carvalho Dias family since 1890 and recently celebrated its 109th crop. It 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 wastewater 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 ‘natural’ process, where cherries are taken and dried in the sun (see here for a more full explanation).

In the cup you'll find walnut and dark chocolate alongside a white sugar sweetness.

• Country: Brazil

The owner of the farm is Feliciano Ramos, who is 45 years old and originally from the city of La Paz. His father was a potato and barley producer and Feliciano used to help him in the production and harvesting. In 2002 Feliciano decided to move to Caranavi, which is located in the sub-Andes valley.

Initially Feliciano rented a coffee farm for two years where he began his education in coffee, but also began saving to buy his own farm. After two years, he bought a farm of around 10 hectares. Like many farms in Bolivia his farm doesn't have a name (most other coffees are named after the person that grew them (David Vilca for example)), but it is in the Loayza municipality and so is known as Finca Loayza Feliciano Ramos.

The farm is located on top of a small mountain, looking out towards the high snowy peaks of the Andes. Finca Loayza Feliciano Ramos only had 2 hectares of old coffee plantations, but Feliciano has continued to raise this number whenever he is able to by planting new stock, selecting different varietals according to the terrain.

Feliciano is married to Tomasa Condori and they have 5 children who are all of school age, but they help their parents with the farm after school (imagine that as a chore after school, makes loading the dishwasher seem like a breeze!) Coffee is the only source of money for the family, and so for them it's very important that they continue to produce great coffee.

In the region of Caranavi and the Yungas valleys there is a serious problem of coffee being ripped out and coca leaf planted (which is legal in Bolivia), but this has a big environmental impact on the soil, forests, and the communities.  However, coffee is seen as a good alternative to this if good prices can be achieved with it, and it is also much kinder to the environment. With this in mind, Feliciano is in his second year of being organic certified, although we chose not to take the certification.

This coffee is sold as a washed coffee, and I guess it is. Washed coffee is normally placed in a fermentation tank to remove the sticky layer on the outside of the seed after removing the fruit. This coffee has been dry fermented, then it has been through a pulping machine a second time using the scrubber part of the pulper, then finally left to dry like a pulped natural would be, just without most of the mucilage. It's a hybrid process, and I really like the final result.

Times are tough for coffee farmers in Bolivia at the moment and Feliciano's yields are massively down, leaf rust is a huge problem. Feliciano has moved his family and himself off the farm, so his wife can work, and he commutes to the farm. Not because he wants to but because this is the only way he can make it work. I wouldn't be surprised to see Feliciano stop growing coffee in the near future unless something changes. To get great coffee out of Bolivia this year has been much harder than normal, and this has meant paying much more for it, but we think it's absolutely worth every penny. 

In the cup it's a very deep and complex coffee, where cherry cola meets key lime pie. Add to this thesweetness coming from a mixture of caramel and dark chocolate that just carries on in the aftertaste. A unique Bolivian.

• Farm: Finca Loayza