New Products of the Month

Size: 200g (Whole Beans)

Tasting Note: Mango | Cherry jam | Passion Fruit | Mulberry

Varietal: Caturra

Processing Method: Natural

Growing Altitude: 1750m

We currently offer a natural processed caturra varietal from Finca La ILUSIÓN located in Caldas, Colombia. This coffee carries some tropical notes akin to mango and passion fruit.

The Caldas department is one of the major Colombian coffee-producing departments alongside Risaralda, Quindío, and Tolima who gained traction recently. Contributing to the majority coffee production of Colombia, these regions form what the Colombian people called Triángulo del Café – the Coffee Triangle.

What comes as a surprise is that around 60% of the Colombian farmers are independent small farmers with farm sizes of not even more than one hectare. Imagine the number of micro-lots and undiscovered treasures scattered all over Colombia! 

Ever Heard of a Coffee Theme Park?

With an agricultural GDP contribution of around 10-16%, the Colombians have even built Parque del Café, the Colombian National Coffee Theme Park located in the Montenegro town of Quindío! 

As of 2018, the theme park has 28 rides and various coffee related cultural attractions including a coffee museum, coffee show, coffee variety gardens and sections for forest myths and legends.

How cool is that? 

Tasting Note: Grape juice | Mixed berries | Dark Chocolate | Red Wine

Varietal: Castillo

Processing Method: Winey Natural

Growing Altitude: 1600-1750m

This is a deep-toned coffee with notes of grape and mixed berries, as well as a pleasant winey aroma left in the cup, reminding one of an emptied glass of red wine. 

Led by Luis and Rigoberto Herrera, Granja La Esperanza is a pioneering coffee farm that has never stopped experimenting to push the boundaries of coffee production, including the invention of their exclusive X.O. processing method which won Lex Wenneker his 1st-runner up title in WBC 2018 (Wenneker competed with X.O. processed Geisha). Apart from the X.O. process, Granja La Esperanza has also been producing a lot of hybrid washed coffees recently. 

Granja La Esperanza’s origin traces back to as far as 1930 when their first farm, Potosi, was acquired in Valle de Cauca, Colombia. After nearly one century of family business, Cafe Granja La Esperanza manages five excellent farms today: Cerro Azul, Las Margaritas, La Esperanza, Hawaii and of course, the very first farm, Potosi. 

Their extraordinary vision and adventurer spirit for coffee production resulted in amazing achievements, including Best of Panama 2018 Champion and 1st-runner up in 2019. In year 2012, three of La Esperanza’s coffee won 2nd, 3rd and 7th place at the same time in SCAA’s Top Ten Coffee of the Year – an achievement which turned all eyes to them.

Excited to keep up with them? You may click here to follow them on Instagram too!

Tasting Note: Peach | Berries | Muscat Grapes | Kyoho Grapes | Oolong Tea

Varietal: Heirloom

Processing Method: Noble Winey Natural

Growing Altitude: 2300m

Special experimental processing in the house! This processing method experimentation was initiated by Pebble Coffee, a Taiwanese coffee company, who often works directly with farmers and washing stations for interesting coffees.

The experimental processing method of this Ethiopia Guji G1 Noble Winey was inspired by Trockenbeerenauslese wines (often called “TBA” for short) which undergo an interesting process called noble rot.

Unlike the usual drying practice with full sunlight, the Guji G1 Noble Rot was dried under shades for an extremely long time each day, with only two to three hours of sunlight each day; the entire drying process took 50-60 days. In the midst of the drying process, the fully red cherries underwent interesting colour changes. They were then covered with a layer of whitish fungus, similar to the German noble rot wines.

This particular experiment required careful monitoring to avoid over-fermentation, therefore the washing station was requested to allow limited yet balanced sunlight during the drying process, as well as constantly turning the cherries on the raised beds.

The extraordinarily long processing period indirectly translates into high managing maintenance and cost. Fortunately, the long, extensive haul fruited into a rich, complex yet extremely clean - noble winey coffee!