Neues Schwarz

From Dortmund, Germany, we’re happy to share some excellent coffee from Neues Schwarz. For this month we’re shipping sweet coffees from Latin America.

EL CEDRAL

Origin: Costa Rica
Process:  Black honey
Altitude: 1700 masl
Varieties: Caturra & Red catuai
Tasting notes: Mandarin, Walnut, Dark Caramel

”In Costa Rica, we look for coffees that stand out with their sweetness. With El Cedral, we found a coffee in the province of San José that delivers what we were looking for. The processing plays an important role for the cup profile in this coffee. The cherries are depulped and then dried in the sun with a relatively large amount of pulp still adhering to them. With this harvest, this process leads to a balanced interplay between clear acidity and concise sweetness.”

EDWIN & LUZ

Origin: Peru
Process:  Washed
Altitude: 2000 - 2200 masl
Varieties:  Typica
Tasting notes: Honeydew melon, Almond & Cocoa

”Edwin & Luz, grown at an altitude of 2000-2200 meters, convinces with unusual fruity properties and an intense sweetness. The harvests of the last few years have also delivered these complex flavour profiles. Such constant results are evidence of the steady routines they have when processing the coffee. Sufficient hours of sunshine and little rainfall during the drying period after harvest are also important factors for such a compelling result.”

LA PILA & NEIGHBOURS

Origin: Guatemala
Process:  Washed
Altitude: 1700 - 1750 masl
Varieties:  Catuai, Bourbon, Pache
Tasting notes: Plum, Cane Sugar & Cocoa

”Rodolfo Gracia, the owner of the farm, runs his finca with great passion and is constantly striving to improve the quality of his coffee through soil analysis and innovation. Together with his neighbours Antonio and Fredy, and his family, the ripe coffee cherries are hand-picked every year and brought to the El Hato farm, where the washed processing takes place.”

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Swerl

Swerl is a specialty coffee roastery with a focus on exciting and seasonal coffees. They are opening their first stationary coffee bar early 2023 in the Swedish town Falkenberg. Until now, they have had a mobile café in their cute Mercedes Benz van from 1972.

Swerl from Falkenberg, Sweden

AA KAHETE

Sent to all of our subscribers

Origin: Kenya
Process: Washed
Variety: SL28, Batian & Ruiru 11
Tasting notes: Blackcurrant, blueberries & hibiscus

"Kahete Coffee Factory was founded in 1984 and rests on 5 hectares of land. It is currently affiliated with the Rwaikamba Farmers Cooperative Society and is run by John Muchiri Mwangi. Kahete buys its coffee berries from 600 small farmers, member producers, whose farms are located on average 1800 meters above sea level."

UREÑA ROJAS

Sent to our 2x250g and Tasting box subscribers

Origin: Costa Rica
Process: Natural
Variety: Villalobos
Tasting notes: Raspberries, litchi & stone fruit

"Café Rivense is a family-run micromill, established in 2005 by Regulo Ureña and Isabel Rojas. All their sons - Ricardo, Mario, Esteban and Luis - are deeply involved in running the farm. It's located in mid-southern part of Costa Rica, in a micro region called Chirripó. It's not that far away from the capital, San Jose."

SAMII BENSA

Only for our Tasting box subscribers

Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Washed
Variety: Heirloom
Tasting notes: Tropical fruit

"Bensa is located between the borders of Sidamo and West Arsi, and due to its proximity to Bale Mountain National Park, they have developed a surprisingly wide range of exciting and high-quality coffee. The station is part of a group of successful washing stations run by local coffee entrepreneur Faisel Abdosh."

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Senzu

For June’s box we had the pleasure of featuring Senzu coffee roasters, from Porto, Portugal. Let’s hear what they say about June’s coffees.

FINCA MATEO

Origin: Costa Rica
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1500 masl
Producer: Valle Central - Finca Mateo
Varieties: Catuaí, Caturra
Tasting notes: Caramel, Red Fruits, Cocoa

”Finca Mateo is a selected lot from a larger farm called Clodomiro, located in Costa Rica in the Valle Central region. Although the region extends from 900 - 1600 meters, more than 80% of the coffee plantations are located between 1000 - 1400 m.a.s.l. Altitude and climatic factors affect the size and hardness of the bean and influence the quality in the cup. Formerly the farm was planted with corn and later it became a paddock in which it was used for the breeding and maintenance of dairy cattle. Four years ago, the family decided to leave the ranching activity on that lot and plant it with coffee.”

TADELE TESEMA

Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1800 masl
Producer: Wonsho - Tadele Tesema
Varieties: Heirloom Varieties
Tasting notes: Citric, Peach, Floral

”Sidamo is the main coffee-producing region of Ethiopia. Its coffee is so appreciated in international markets that its export represents 60% of foreign exchange earnings to Ethiopia. The Sidamo region is located in southern Ethiopia, 6 hours from the Kenyan border. Its name comes from an ethnic group from the southeast of the country. These coffees grow under the shade of the forest trees and are manually selected.”

KAWO KAMINA

Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Natural
Altitude: 2100 masl
Producer: Sheka – Kawo Kamina
Varieties: 74110, 74112, 74140
Tasting notes: Caramel; Cocoa; Yogurt; Raisin

”Heleanna Georgalis has been at the head of Moplaco since 2008. She is immersed in the third wave of coffee, worrying firsthand about the quality of the coffee that she exports. She continues her father's legacy and affirms that she feels passion for this world where she can experiment with processes and have fun seeing the results. It is important to note that the uniqueness of Ethiopian coffees lies in the "no genetic modification" of the coffee trees. In Ethiopia, there are thousands of unexplored varieties and those that are known remain intact, and Helenanna emphasizes this each time she talks about the subject.”

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Meron

For May’s box, we’re welcoming Romanian roaster Meron! With multiple locations across the country, Meron originates from Cluj-Napoca, Romania’s second-largest city. This is our first Romanian roaster in the box. Enjoy!

FINCA SEBASTIAN

Origin: Costa Rica
Process: Natural
Altitude: 1800 MASL
Producer: Fernando and Angie
Varieties: F1-hybrid
Tasting notes: Red grapes, nectarine jam, apple, toffee

”Located in Llano Bonito of Naranjo, West Valley of Costa Rica, the plantation is recognised for its specialty coffee production. The plantation has 100% F1 Hybrid varieties, through which specific processes have been developed to bring out the natural flavors of the coffee. Fernando is an agricultural engineer and has been cultivating new hybrid F-1 coffee varieties. These have been developed by recognised coffee research organisations worldwide, including the World Coffee Research, with the intention of developing genetic diversity.”

ALDAMA

Origin: Mexico
Process: Honey
Altitude: 1450 MASL
Producer: Jesus Salazar
Varieties: Garnica
Tasting notes: Cranberry, raisin, wine, maple syrup

”The Beneficio Comunitario San Pedro is located in the Aldama region. The inhabitants of this Tsotsil community live far from everything. The Beneficio brings together 80 farmers and each has about 2 hectares of coffee. They cultivate coffee trees in the shade of their native forest. The coffees are not certified but all grown according to organic farming practices. The Beneficio has 65 African beds and a biologist who manages the varietal garden where all kinds of coffee varieties are under observation in order to be able to cultivate the most resistant, qualitative and productive.”

NEMBA

Origin: Burundi
Process: Natural
Altitude: 1700 MASL
Producer: Nemba Washing Station
Varieties: Red Bourbon
Tasting notes: Blueberry jam, dehydrated pear, black tea, toffee

”There are 3,113 smallholders living around Kayanza, Burundi, who deliver their cherry to Nemba Washing Station. Nemba station lies in the northern province of Kayanza. Each washing station is managed and led by an agronomist. This agronomist oversees the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and farmer education. During the harvest season, all coffee is selectively hand-picked. Nemba uses a monitoring system to ensure traceability all along the production and processing chain. All 3,000+ producers are smallholders who own an average of 150 coffee trees.”

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Schot

We're happy to have invited Schot for January's box. They delivered some stellar coffees and we can't be more excited to share them with you.

For this month we have two Costa Rican coffees from the Aquiares farm, of different variety, and produced in different ways. A great way to experience how different two coffees with the same origin can be. To complement this we have the expressive Colombian La Cristalina.

Tasty Aquiares with a croissant

AQUIARES [Washed]

Origin: Costa Rica 
Process: Washed 
Altitude: 1.200 masl
Producer: Diego Robelo
Varieties: Caturra 
Tasting notes: Milk Chocolate, caramel & orange

The name Aquiares means “land between rivers” in the Huetar indigenous language, and Aquiares is commonly referred to as “Aquiares Coffee and Community.” It is the largest farm in Costa Rica and home to 1,800 people. Although the farm was founded in 1890, Alfonso Robelo is the man responsible for its transformation a century later. Alfonso arrived in Costa Rica in the 1980’s seeking refuge from the civil war in Nicaragua, where he was politically active. When politics soured into violence, he fled the country to keep his family and himself safe after receiving several threats against his life. Once in Costa Rica, Alfonso began building the Aquiares community on the enchanting slopes of the Turrialba volcano, a lush area of forests, rivers, fauna, and bright flora.

Alfredo challenged the status quo, transforming the relationship between landowner and farm workers. He brought a visionary approach to Aquiares, a farm suffering from low prices and instability. Aquiares had more than 200 employee homes on the farm, but because none owned their home, there was great insecurity in the workforce. Alfonso saw this as an opportunity to strengthen the company by having people feel pride in the coffee they produce. He evolved the farm into a small town where workers purchased their own homes. Today, Aquiares remains a model of sustainable agriculture.
Nowadays Alfonso’s son, Diego, manages the farm. Under his lead, the farm has taken a fresh approach to specialty coffee and exploring the farm’s potential. Through excellent agricultural management, embracing new varieties, and experimenting with processing, Aquiares has become a trailblazer among specialty coffee producers in Costa Rica and all of Central America.

Aquiares focuses on carbon neutrality and measures its greenhouse gas emissions to calculate its carbon emissions against its offsets. An agent verified under International Panel on Climate Change norms verifies these calculations and Aquiares’ carbon measurement and emissions reduction are part of Costa Rica’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action. In addition to capturing carbon, the farm’s protected biological corridors have long ensured the wellbeing of local animals and plants. Aquiares also welcomes researchers from around the world to conduct agricultural and environmental studies on their land. Projects have included investigating the benefits of agroforestry on soil health and observing the diverse bird and wildlife species that thrive in an agroecological environment.

Aquiares is an example of innovation and perseverance whose benefits extend beyond the farm and workers and serve as a model for sustainable, equitable production for the broader coffee industry.

Peaberry coffee is named for its pea-like appearance. Most coffee cherries contain two seeds and Peaberries occur when only one seed, small and round in shape, develops in the cherry. Around 5 percent of all coffee is peaberry beans, but usually these are not separated. Aquiares separated the peaberry and made this beautiful lot. This lot was mechanically washed and dried on raised beds in a solar dryer for 18 to 24 days.

AQUIARES [Natural]

Origin: Costa Rica 
Process: Natural anaerobic
Altitude: 1.200 masl
Producer: Diego Robelo
Varieties: Cenrtoamericano
Tasting notes: Grapefruit, strawberry & caramel

Centroamericano H1 is an F1 hybrid variety generated by crossing the Sarchimor T-5296 and a wild Rume Sudan variety. It is reproduced through a tissue culture cloning process called somatic embryogenesis. This cultivar has been distributed among coffee producers in Central America over the last decade and the first productive harvests are now available. Turrialba’s climate is well suited to growing this new variety and Aquaires is up to the challenge of meeting its complex nutritional needs.

The Centroamericano variety was especially selected for Anaerobic Natural processing because of its high mucilage content. The cherries are floated and washed with fresh water but not depulped. Afterwards, the coffee is placed in a stainless steel tank with a one-way air valve. In the tank the coffee will start to ferment with the natural microorganisms and yeast present on the coffee cherries. The fermentation will push out all the oxygen and after one or two hours the anaerobic environment is created within the tank. This fermentation continues for a total time of 24 hours. After fermenting the cherries are washed again with fresh water and dried in the solar dryer. First for two days they are placed on a ceramic patio and finish drying in layered beds within the solar dryer.

Unlike a lot of other anaerobics the flavours of the Aquiares Anaerobic are less intense but more layered and complex. You’ll find flavours of grapefruit, strawberry, caramel and orange.

LA CRISTALINA

Origin: Colombia
Process: Natural
Altitude: 1.450 - 1.500 masl
Producer: Maria Grajales
Varieties: Castillo
Tasting notes: Cherry, mandarin & strawberry

The La Cristalina plantation is located near Quimbaya in the Quindo department. The plantation has been owned by the Grajales for over 100 years. Maria Mercedes Grajales is now the 5th generation at the helm of La Cristalina. The total plantation is approximately 19 hectares, of which 14 hectares are planted with coffee. about 5 hectares of the plantation are planted with other trees such as orange, ‘platano’ and ‘cafatero’. The majority of the plants on the Cristalina plantation are of the Castillo variety.

The pickers are encouraged to pick the coffee at its optimal maturity. For that selective picking process La Cristalina works with the long-term pickers that get paid far more than normal. Most pickers come to this farm for 10+ years. After picking the cherries are floated intensively to remove the less dense and defected cherries. The coffee is placed on “carros corredizos” and drying tunnels with direct sun exposure for the first 48 hours. After the humidity is down to about 40% it is placed in GrainPro for 36 hours to create its fruity punch in its cup. During fermentation the temperature and PH is monitored and documented every 3 hours. After fermentation the coffee goes back to the drying beds where it is also moved every 3 hours. The total process takes around 15 days, depending on the weather.

The coffee is very fragrant and expressive, with flavours of cherry, mandarin and strawberry.

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Balck Coffee 2019

From Kalmar, Sweden, we are happy to introduce you to Balck Coffee. This is the second time they take place in our box and we couldn't be more excited!

How did Balck Coffee start?

Sebastian and Louise wanted to change the unsustainable coffee market of commodity coffee. Today we are 100% independent of middle hands and are working directly with all the farmers, for better quality which they can get more paid for and aiming for more sustainable agriculture. We do pay between 102-308% directly to the producers over the stock market price.

What is the coffee scene like in Kalmar? How has your coffee been received since you started roasting?

In Kalmar, we started a new coffee standard, especially when a lot of cafes and restaurants wanted to support our visions. Our customers are all over Europe and are finding themselves as the coffee drinkers of the future :)

Many of our subscribers are tasting Balck Coffee for the first time. What can we expect from the three coffees (Costa Rica Montero, Rwanda Huye Mountain and Ethiopia Gersi)?

Costa Rica Montero - Experimental anaerobic process which seems to go from a hype to a new process standard. This coffee is from the Family Urenas neighbor (Montero family) who produce around 700kg green coffee a year and Ricardo Urena is helping them to process and export the coffee together with the coffee we also buy from them. This is a typical example of how close you can come to the producer if you have the interest, we are like family :) Clean tastes of candied apples and some purple fruit with a balanced chocolate taste.

Rwanda Huye Mountain - Is one of our first direct relationships and is still the strongest, Alloys and David is probably producing the best coffees in Rwanda. The coffee in the box is in its last month before new crop and right now you can expect black tea notes and citric acidity. When it arrived at the roastery you could taste a lot of vanilla and marzipan but it´s not there anymore, still a very complex and tasty cup! For the coming crop, we do have bought the best lot of the whole farm, both washed process and also natural which has been forbidden to produce in Rwanda for many years. This will be our most complex and extreme cups going out from the roastery 2020!

Etiopien Gersi - What can I say?! If you love naturals this is heaven, a result of very skilled processing controlled by Adham and Faysel who are the visionaries. We do buy the coffee from the station Gersi which also got placed as 2:nd best coffee in the national competition Cup of Ethiopia. We will visit Ethiopia this week and also record a documentary movie about the origin country of coffee!

Are there any projects you are working on right now that you are extra excited about?

Several ones! We love the trend of making a difference and make speciality coffee more available. Now in 1-2 years, we will do origin movies of all the producers we are working with :)

Looking ahead, what can we expect from Balck Coffee in the future?

That we will make better coffee more available and also find a lot of unique coffees in our portfolio, as a result of long term and strong relationships with the farmers!

What coffees did we send in October?

Montero

Origin: Costa Rica
Process: Black Honey
Altitude:
Varieties: Red Catuai
Tasting notes: Candy apple & vanilla

This coffee is produced by the family Montero in the region Chirripo in Costa Rica. Montero’s neighbour, Ureña Rojas, built a micro mill in 2005 to open up the possibility for the area’s local coffee farmers to export their coffee themselves, instead of selling it on the commercial market. Montero use a secret anaerobic process method that gives this coffee its unique flavours. Balck bought this coffee from the Monteros at 432% above the coffee market price.

Huye Mountain

Origin: Rwanda
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1600 - 2300 MASL
Varieties: Red Bourbon
Tasting notes: Vanilla, peach & black tea

Huye Mountain was featured in our last collaboration with Balck. When we heard that they still had the coffee, we couldn’t resist having it again. Huye Mountain is produced by David Rubanzangabo who is connected to 500 local farmers in South Butare, Rwanda, where minimal impact on the environment and organic farming are important cornerstones in their philosophy. The farming is conducted according to organic principles, making this a coffee that both tastes and feels good.

And exclusive to our Tasting box subscribers

Gersi

Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Natural
Altitude: 2000 - 2150 MASL
Varieties: Heirloom
Tasting notes: Sponge cake & apricot

In the village Idido, not far from Yirgacheffe, Faysel Abdosh runs the farm Aricha. When he took over the farm in 2018, it was in bad shape. Compared to that time, now there’s both electricity and clean water at the farm, as well as proper roads. 700 smallholder farmers work and live next to the farm. They own on average 1-2 hectares of land each, and together the farmers grow the typical Heirloom variety. This natural processed coffee has notes of sponge cake and apricot.

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Shokunin Coffee Collective

All the way from Rotterdam, Netherlands, we’re happy to welcome Shokunin to our June’s box! We had a chat.

How did Shokunin start and what's the story behind the name?
We already had an existing brand called Stielman, which is an old Dutch word for a craftsman. But I wanted to take big steps with the company, aimed at both quality and direct trade. Doing amazing projects in origin and here in Europe alike, I felt that we needed to present these accordingly. So I decided to start an upgraded version of the brand: Shokunin. It's a Japanese word for someone who's a master of their profession and does nothing but striving for perfection. They do this to such an extent that the entire community benefits from it. This very much resembled my mindset on coffee, and seen as how it felt like an upgraded Stielman, it was a great match. People also know me as a perfectionist who is overly caring about his product.

Many of our subscribers are tasting Shokunin for the first time. How would you describe coffee roasted by Shokunin?
I want to present the unique flavours in an accessible way. My coffees are always as sweet as I can get them, but not too tea-like or sour. I want to make sure that anyone drinking my coffee finds it interesting but especially enjoyable, with nothing negative to say about it. Even though I have about sixteen different coffees right now, each with a unique flavour profile, they are all pleasant to drink. This should make it easy to choose between my coffees depending on what you feel like, and it will be a good brew every time, no matter the filter or espresso method you use.

How do you think Shokunin will evolve in the future? Have you got any set goals?
Our projects in origin are developing every week, and we're trying to communicate these to consumers in order to create a connection across the chain. Our flavour portfolio is already diverse enough, so now we want to focus on improving the quality of the producers that we already work with. I'm hoping to connect more roasters and baristas to our vision and to increase our volumes, just so that we can make a bigger impact on operations. For instance, we managed to reserve the entire Argote harvest this season, which gives us a lot more freedom to decide on processing and investments.

For those of us who's never been to Rotterdam, how's Rotterdam's coffee scene?
I feel that Rotterdam's coffee scene is actually very, very small. There's many lunchrooms and cafes that take their coffee somewhat seriously, but most still work with the same generic blend by a relatively big roaster. Which is already a lot better than any commercial brand, but there's no vibrancy or fun to it. It can be easy to find decent coffee, but there's very few cafes that actually serve multiple coffees with unique flavour profiles and that focus on coffee instead of having it as an important side product.

What can we expect from this month's coffees (El Nido, Intango and El Bueyerito)?
It's a very diverse flavour package. El Nido is an excellent example of why I love Colombian coffee. It's so diverse, sweet and with enough body, perfect for my roasting style, and this one actually tastes like an Ethiopian coffee. Intango is sort of a classic Rwandan profile, but with more sweetness and body, also fitting my flavour preferences. El Bueyerito is an interesting coffee that started as a kickstarter. I've never really liked Costa Rican coffee, but when I tasted this sample, I actually found a lot that I could appreciate. After talking to the importer, I realized that with such a good start, and with our mutual mindset about sustainability and involvement, this would not only be a tasty, easy-going coffee now, but become even better in the future. You can read more about the stories behind these coffees on my website!

We sent the following coffees in June's box

El Nido

Origin: Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia
Producer: Daniel Hernandez
Process: Fully washed, 72hr dry fermentation, dried first in parabolic, then in gas drier.
Harvest: 2018
Altitude: 2,000 MASL
Varieties: Caturra Chirozo
Tasting notes: Light and floral aromas like jasmin and bergamot. Bright, sweet flavours like peach and lychee. Soft body like earl grey tea.

El Nido is a rare Caturra Chirozo variety, a natural Typica-like hybrid, farmed by Daniel Hernandez in Antioquia, Colombia. The special variety gives this coffee a very Ethiopian-like flavour profile. Last year, this coffee earned the first place in the Youth Cup for young farmers, as well as a second place in Cup of Antioquia. Colombia has always been a favourite of Shokunin Coffee Collective due to its high supply in quality coffee and its diversity in flavour profiles.

Intango

Origin: Kibaya, Musasa, Gishyita, Karongi, Rwanda
Producer: Gilbert Gatali
Process: Fully washed, overnight fermentation, dried on raised beds
Harvest: 2018
Altitude: 1,500 – 2,000 MASL
Varieties: Red Bourbon
Tasting notes: Bright yet thick aromas like pineapple. Juicy sweetness like strawberries. Silky body like hazelnut and black tea.

This coffee is the first one from the Rwandan entrepreneur Gilbert Gatali. He owns coffee shops in the capital Kigali and is known for his sustainability work in coffee exports from Rwanda. Gilbert recently bought a washing station where this coffee is produced. In 2012, Gilbert won the Most Notable Producer Sprudgee award.

Our tasting box members also received…

El Bueyerito

Origin: Miramar, Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Producer: Roberto Jimenez
Process: Fully washed
Harvest: 2018 / 2019
Altitude: 1,100 – 1,400 MASL

Varieties: Caturra
Tasting notes: Bright and sweet aromas like tangerine. Sweet and soft taste like plums and brown sugar. Strong body like chocolate and nuts.

The micro-mill El Bueyerito, located in Miramar, Costa Rica, is owned by Roberto Jiménez. This coffee is a product from the crowdfunding project Planting Costa Rica. The project wanted to reinvigorate specialty coffee from Miramar. With the project, they will help Roberto to develop the infrastructure at El Bueyerito as well as improve the know how.

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Nero Scuro

For the month of April, we have our very first Italian roaster in the box. However, these coffees are very far from traditional Italian coffee. They are way better. Say hi to Nero Scuro!

How did Nero Scuro start?

Nero Scuro started out of a passion for coffee and hospitality. Silvia after a career in communication agencies, became a Cordon Bleu graduated in Patisserie, and managed operations and customers for several top-level pastry and coffee shops in Australia. Paolo, a coffee passionate, born industrial engineer, discovered that roasting comes down to manage chemical reactions in miniature scale. He started attending roasting courses and seminars all over the world since mid-2000 and eventually became involved with the Nordic roasting approach. At some point, in 2013, he bought a Probat roaster, only to eventually realize he would need a proper place to install and operate it.

At that point, we both thought it was a good idea starting a specialty coffee roastery as we could fruitfully combine our experiences, and so Nero Scuro was born. In reality, it took more than 6 months to find a proper place, and the guys at Probat were so kind to store the machine in their warehouse for the whole period.

Left image by @aryanjoshani on Instagram

What drove you to the specialty coffee business?

We actually started with specialty coffee from day one, as we were already aware of this trend having lived overseas and being in touch with the Nordic roasting style. We used, at the time, the exact same partners for green coffee that we use today, and the roasting style is pretty much the same as well. However, the market was pretty much non-existent in Italy at the time, and we had to struggle a lot during the first year to explain our concepts and to get the first customers.

Italy has a well-known coffee culture. How have you seen the specialty coffee scene evolve?

The majority of the Italian market is still focused on the classic dark roasted espresso. Nero Scuro started at a time when there were just a very few micro-roasteries, so it is fairly known in the segment. In the last 1-2 years, however, there has been a growing interest in the segment, with the opening of various independent coffee shops and also numerous roasting facilities. However, the segment is still very small.

Many of our subscribers are tasting Nero Scuro for the first time. What can we expect from this April’s coffees?

The coffees are a good example of Nero Scuro’s diverse coffee line-up, although they have in common the extremely high quality of the green, ethically sourced through our partner Nordic Approach. We believe you cannot achieve an outstanding roasted coffee if the green is not outstanding as well, therefore we always choose outstanding greens!

The coffees are roasted with specific profiles for filter and espresso: our filter coffees are roasted light yet well developed, while the espresso profiles are not nearly as dark as the traditional Italian espresso. In any case, we target a roast level just right to ensure a proper extraction while preserving all the sweetness and pleasant acidity of the cultivar. Finally, we like to work with coffees prepared with different processes, and they are all sampled in the April coffees. Qore Magarissa is a classic fruity fully washed Ethiopia, Costa Rica El Llano is a honey processed coffee and Burundi Sehe Collective is a natural processed lot. The latter appears, over the last months, the preferred preparation for many customers.

Looking ahead, what can we expect from Nero Scuro in the future?

Short term: install a bigger roasting machine and keep increasing the quality of our coffees. We’ve just bought a new small 500gr roaster for competition lots and for the more expensive coffees available on our website, like Panama Geshas.

We’ve just redesigned our logo and changed our coffee pouches with a more modern and distinguishable look.

We’re always working on new projects and ideas, stay tuned for what’s ahead ;-).

Nero Scuro’s new design and logo

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Keen Coffee

The Netherland’s coolest roastery Keen Coffee has delivered some splendid coffees. Let us introduce you to February’s box!

Keen Coffee has one goal: to lift the coffee scene to an even higher level. This is seen in everything they do. Keen works directly with their farmers and only roasts the highest quality coffees, looking for the most unique flavor profiles.

Located outside of the capital, Keen Coffee follows their everyday quest, to strive for perfection and not settling for it. We hope you enjoyed February’s box! 

SHEMBATI
Origin: Burundi
Altitude: 1800 MASL
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Process: Washed
Flavour: Citrus & Berries

The team of Shembati washing station are working hard to produce and process the high quality coffee you are about to drink. It is a great example of a Burundian coffee, which are known to have a great sweetness. When brewed you will get a balanced cup with fresh citric notes and berries, together with a sweet chocolate finish.

LOS VASCOS
Origin: Colombia
Altitude: 1950 MASL
Varietal: Caturra
Process: Washed
Flavour: Caramel & Chocolate

Included in the 2x250 and 3x100 Tasting box.

Los Vascos’ coffee farmers originates from Spain's northern regions. Los Vascos translates to “The Basques”. The coffee importer of this coffee is known for investing a lot in the local farmers as well as in mills and cupping labs. With their aim at sustainability we hope you like this coffee which has notes of sweet caramel, milk chocolate and red fruits.

DANILO
Origin: Costa Rica
Altitude: 1800 MASL
Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
Process: Anaerobic Fermentation
Flavour: Cinnamon & Sugar cane

Exclusive for the 3x100 Tasting box.

On top of a mountain ridge in West Alley, you will find the beautiful location of Danilo’s plantation. Danilo has previously delivered the coffee that Keen Coffee has used in the World Brewers Cup. The cinnamon notes are very distinct in this microlot. You will also find notes of sugar cane, yellow stone fruit and passion fruit.

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Cloud Picker

How can a year possibly start better than with great coffee? Our first roaster 2018 is the fantastic coffee roaster Cloud Picker Coffee from Dublin, Ireland.

From Cloud Picker we sent three fantastic coffees from Rwanda, Guatemala and Costa Rica. What a month!

Don't miss out on our next box!

September's Shipment

For the month of September we shipped coffees from the German roaster JB Kaffee! We hope you will enjoy them just as much as we did. These are the coffees we sent.

LA LUCHA
Origin: Colombia , Antioquia (Jardin)
Producer: Los Andes Coop
Process: fermented for 36 hrs, washed and sun dried
Harvest: 2016
Soil:
Altitude: 1800m
Varieties:  Caturra & Colombia
Tasting notes: grapefruit, lemon, thick

Included in the 250g coffee box

LAS LAJAS PERLA NEGRA
Origin: Costa Rica, Los Angeles, Sabanillas de Alajuela
Producer: Chacón Solano Family
Process: natural
Harvest: 2016
Soil:
Altitude: 1300 – 1500m
Varieties: Caturra
Tasting notes: dried tropical fruit, sweet, smooth

Included in the 2x250g coffee box

NYERI NDAROINI AA
Origin: Kenya, Nyeri County, Central Kenya
Producer: Gikanda Farmers Cooperative Society
Process: Fully washed & dried on African beds
Harvest: 2015/16
Soil:
Altitude: 1600 - 1700m
Varieties: SL28 & SL34
Tasting notes: stonefruit, apple, gooseberry

Only included in the 3x100g tasting box

August's Shipment

August’s box was sent last Thursday! Great coffee from Koppi is now on its way to you people! We hope you will enjoy what we selected for this month. These are the coffees for August:

BIFTU GUDINA

Included in the 250g and 2x250g box.

Origin: Ethiopia, Goma Woreda, Agaro
Producer: Smallholders
Process: Washed
Harvest: 2016
Soil:
Altitude: 1900 - 2000 masl
Varieties: Mixed Heirloom
Tasting notes: Floral, Tropical fruits, Black Tea

Koppi’s words about the coffee:

"The small co-operative Biftu Gudina is one of Technoserves projects that are set up to improve the work structure at the processing stations, the quality of the coffee and the lives of the farmers. Biftu Gudina is a new co-op that was established in 2012 and thanks to a strong management the co-op produced fantastic coffee already the first year. Most of the coffee has grown at an altitude around 2000 meters, which let the cherries ripen slowly and build up a high sugar, content.

The coffee cherries are hand picked and then hand sorted for unripes and overripes before they are being processed. After sorting, the cherries are mechanically pulped and the mucilage is removed with a Penagos Eco-pulper. The coffee is left to soak in water overnight before it is washed and dried on African beds for 10 days. The wastewater is naturally filtered through Vetiver grass before it is lead back into the ground.

Shade nets cover the coffee during the warmest time of the day and over night. This is to avoid that the coffee is drying too fast.

Biftu Gudina has a very unique flavour profile with a beautiful floral aroma and a taste of tropical fruits and black tea."
 

DON OSCAR

Included in the 2x250g box.

Origin: Costa Rica, Tarrazu, San Marcos
Producer: Oscar Solis
Process: White Honey
Harvest: 2016
Soil:
Altitude: 1600-1800 masl
Varieties: Mainly Catuai & Caturra
Tasting notes: Tropical, Milk Chocolate, Almond

Koppi’s words about the coffee:

"The micro-mill Don Oscar is run by the brothers Horacio and Alejandro Solis. It is situated in Bajo Canet in San Marcos, Tarrazu. They mainly grow Catuai and Caturra on their farms. The coffees cherries are hand picked and hand sorted before they are being processed as white honey. Through the white honey process 95% of the mucilage is being removed mechanically before the coffee is moved to dry on raised beds for around 15 days.     

The last couple of years the young brothers have put a lot of hard work into making the production more efficient but also to produce better tasting coffees. They have been changing their growing practises resulting in coffees that are cupping several points higher than previous years. We are very excited to start working with the Solis brothers this year and are looking forward to many more."

 

KARIMIKUI AA

Only included in the tasting box.

Origin: Kenya, Kirinyaga
Producer: Smallholders
Process: Washed
Harvest: 2016
Soil:
Altitude: 1600-1800 masl
Varieties: SL28 & SL34
Tasting notes: Black Currants, Red Berries, Grapefruit

Koppi’s words about the coffee:

"The Karimikui Coffee Factory was established in 1966 and rests on a 6 acres piece of land serving the villages of Githureia, Gituba and Kiamugumo. Currently it is affiliated to Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), in an area where most smallholder farmers are growing tea, not coffee. The farmers here are mainly growing SL28 and SL34, accounting for 99% of the total coffee production, while we see some occasional Ruiru 11 plants.

All coffees are pulped, dry fermented, washed, soaked and then sundried. Cherries are hand sorted for unripes and overripes by the farmers before they go in to production. A disc pulper removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density in to 3 grades. Grade 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation, grade 3 is considered low grade and processed separatly. The coffee is fermented for 16-24 hours under closed shade. After fermentation the coffee is washed and again graded by density in washing channels. The last step before drying is letting the coffee soak under clean water for 16-20 hours. The coffee is left to dry on raised beds between 14-16 days.

The long-term goal is to increase coffee production through farmer training, input access and Good Agricultural Practice seminars that are conducted year round. The wish is to establish a transparent, trust based relationship with the smallholder farmer, helping to support a sustained industry growth in Kenya, whilst bringing premium quality to our customers, and premium prices to the farmers."

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