black.

For August we’re in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We are happy to have black. onboard!

How did Black start? What’s your story?

black. is a small roastery which nowadays produces circa 350kg of coffee per month, but the vision for growth is huge. We started our café in November 2017, and the roastery joined the club in early summer 2018. We focus on giving a great experience to our customers while having a great cup of coffee. We love Slovakia but always knew that there are plenty of people throughout Europe whom we can surprise and give pleasure to. That’s why we are eager for collaborations like with you guys, so more people can get to know us.

We find the coffee culture of different cities varies a lot. What’s Bratislava’s coffee scene like?

Bratislava is a great small scene with plenty of amazing cafés (we have more specialty coffee shops than Oslo or Copenhagen for example), but there is still plenty of space for improvement and growth. We as Slovakians are known for good hospitality and hearty service. So that’s what we do. And we are so happy more and more people start to recognise us. For example, we are the first café which for filter and serves 95% solely batch brew. Says a lot about us. Great coffee should be - black, fast, good priced and enjoyed with good service.

A lot of our subscribers try coffee from Black for the first time. What can they expect from the three featured coffees of this month (Idido, Finca el Carmen and Herlindo Sepulvera)?

For the subscription box, we picked three very different coffees. Idido is a typical washed Ethiopian full of florals and citruses. El Carmen is all we look for in an El Salvador’s coffee - sweet, fruity, but easy to drink and sooo pleasurable. Finally Herlindo’s Caturra chiroso, which shows how diverse Colombian coffees are. Full, complex, a cup of coffee which you’d like to sit by for an hour and be thrilled by all the tastes it brings.

August’s box included these marvelous coffees ❤️

Idido

Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1800 - 2000 MASL
Varieties: Typica, heirloom
Tasting notes: mirabelle, apricot jam, rooibos, floral & citrusy

East of the bustling town of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, the Idido cooperative is located. This area has some of the highest-altitude coffees, with members’ farms situated in seven communities. The growers bring their cherries to the Idido cooperative after harvest for processing. Coffee from this region is renowned for its sweetness, crisp and complex acidity. This floral and citrusy cup of coffee has notes of mirabelle, apricot jam, and rooibos.

Finca El Carmen

Origin: El Salvador
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1300 MASL
Varieties: Red bourbon
Tasting notes: red grape, orange zest, wild cherry

Finca el carmen is a farm run by Fernando Alfaro and his family in the region Apaneca-Llamatepec in El Salvador. Fernando is a fourth-generation coffee farmer who cares a lot about his coffee. Fernando's knowledge and experience can be felt when tasting his coffee. Although being one of the smallest countries in Central America, Black has seen a huge increase in quality since 2000 due to better farming and great volcanic soil.

And exclusive for our Tasting Box™ subscribers... 💥

Herlindo Sepulvera

Origin: Colombia
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1900 MASL
Varieties: Caturra chiroso
Tasting notes: bubblegum, cola, orange blossom

This coffee comes from Urrao in Antiquia, a part of Colombia not very well known for growing coffee. Herlindo Sepulvera was one of several farmers who took advantage of the high altitude and great soil in the area to grow specialty coffee here. We are happy he did. Under almost perfect conditions he managed to create an excellent coffee. The unique Caturra Chiroso variety creates a beautiful floral cup with notes of bubblegum, cola and orange blossom.

Don’t miss out on our next box! Become a member now ⚡️

Lippe

From our neighbouring country in the west, we're happy to announce Lippe from Oslo, Norway, as our October’s roaster!

Glad to have you back in our subscription! First time you were featured was about 18 months ago.

Great to hear! Glad to be back, cooperating with you and sharing our coffee with you all. :-)

What has happened since our last collaboration?

18 months, yes, well always lots going on, always tasting new coffees which has of course been made easier by receiving delivery of our Røst sample roaster which we’re very happy with. We have continued to strengthen our relationships with our suppliers, endeavoring to give back to the communities we buy coffee from as well as educating our customers about this and about how to get the best out of the coffees.

We have seen an increased awareness of our brand overseas which is always pleasant. It’s great to see and to hear how others outside of Norway react to our roasts. Something that we are very happy to confirm is that we now have the possibility to sell wholesale to EU customers with 0% customs duties which is a big help to those cafes out there who are looking for a supplier of premium Norwegian roasted coffee!

Further, 2018 is a special year for us as it is our 10th anniversary as a coffee roaster and our 20th anniversary as a company, two things that we are very proud of. The first 10 years we grew organically providing the market with coffee brewing equipment, machines and service, this growth was made ever easier thanks to the Rancilio Silvia which is also celebrating it’s 20th anniversary. A machine that has been close to us since our earliest days.

Is there any project you are working on right now that you are extra excited about?

Absolutely, we’re very pleased to say that over summer we confirmed our order of a brand new Loring roaster which will allow us to continue in our goals to be known as one of the leaders of specialty coffee in Norway. We expect to receive delivery and to install it early in 2019. We will hold onto our old roaster as it gives us the flexibility that we need.

What can we expect from this month’s coffees (La Esperanza, Uraga, Los Pirineos)?

Esperanza is a real fruit bomb. Big mouth feel, tastes of honey snaps and sweet citrus. Uraga is a beautiful example of a Guji from very high altitudes. We have taken coffee from this producer (Israel Degfa) a number of times over the years and we’re always very happy with their coffees. We find tastes of strawberry jam, tropical fruits and herbs. Los Pirineos is the coffee we chose for this year’s Nordic Barista Cup, a standout honey processed pacamara with a beautiful acidity and sweetness with tastes of ripe stone fruits, prune juice, nougat and chocolate. We were lucky enough to meet the producer of this coffee, Gilberto Baraona, during the event and can only confirm that he is a very knowledgeable and fun guy to be around.

How would you recommend brewing them?

Pour over, aeropress…we have also experimented with the Pirineos on espresso but at a slightly different roast degree

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

More of the same that has put us where we are now, providing the market with some of Norway’s best tasting and best value specialty coffees.

Thank you Lippe for providing us with delicious coffee for October!

Don’t miss out on our next box. Get your subscription going!

Gringo Nordic

Fresh from Gothenburg’s specialty coffee scene, let us introduce Gringo Nordic Coffee Roasters as our August’s roaster!

Gringo Nordic started roasting this year, but the team behind the roastery has many years of experience from other coffee companies such as Johan & Nyström and Gevalia. This month, we had the pleasure to ship three very special coffees.

LA SIBERIA HONEY

Origin: El Salvador
Process: Honey
Variety: Pacamara
Altitude: 1450 masl
Flavour: Peach, mandarine & milk chocolate

The team behind Gringo Nordic have known Carmen & Rafael Da Silva, the producers of this coffee, for 15 years and visited their farms several times. Gringo Nordic describes how they always surprise them with their improvements and experiments. This micro lot is a honey processed coffee on the large sized variety Pacamara. The coffee has a sweet and soft taste of peach, mandarine and milk chocolate.

GUJI ORGANIC

Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Natural
Variety: Local heirloom
Altitude: 1800 - 2130 masl
Flavour: Fruit, sweet berries & vanilla

The small region Guji in the south of Ethiopia produces some of the worlds most exciting coffees. The quality is incredible. This natural processed coffee from small-holder farmers at Dimtu Tero is one of them. The coffee has been dried in its pulp and has got notes of dried fruit, sweet berries and vanilla. Compared to what is often found in specialty coffee, this coffee is not only produced according to organic principles, it’s also certified organic.

Our tasting box members also received…

KIANGAI AA

Origin: Kenya
Process: Washed
Variety: SL28 & SL34
Altitude: 1700 - 1800 masl
Flavour: Green apple, lemonade & elderflower

This fine Kenyan coffee is from the region Kirinyaga in Nyeri. 900 small-holder farmers bring their coffee to the Kiangai washing station. The coffee of the varieties SL28 and SL34 is grown in red volcanic soil, a soil rich in minerals. This coffee has notes of green apple, lemonade and elderflower. An elegant and complex coffee that tastes just as good warm as it does chilled with ice.

We hoped you enjoyed this month’s box! Don’t miss out on our next box.

February's shipment

Dear friends,

February’s box was sent out yesterday with coffees from Slöinge Kafferosteri. We have selected these coffees together with Daniel, the person behind the roastery. We hope you will enjoy them as much as we have!

EL ANGEL

Origin: El Salvador, Santa Ana Volcano
Producer: Patricia Molina Batlle / Finca El Angel
Processing: Honey
Harvest: October 2014 - March 2015
Soil: Sandy Loam
Altitude: 1550-1600 masl
Varieties: Red Bourbon

In this honey processed coffee from El Salvador you will find notes of milk chocolate and tropical fruits. The coffee is grown at the family-owned farm Finca El Angel, and is processed at the process station Rio Zarco, owned by the same family: Batlle.

YANDARO

Origin: Burundi, Kayanza
Producer: Various small holders / Yandaro washing station
Processing: Washed
Harvest: February - May 2014
Soil: Hygro-Xéro-Ferrasols with Ferralic
Altitude: 1774 masl
Varieties: Red Bourbon

The cooperative of Yandaro is located in the north of Burundi, just by the border to Rwanda. The vulcanic soil and good climate makes it perfect for coffee farming. The name comes from the river Yandaro, which makes its way through the valley, below where the coffee is grown. Expect notes of chocolate, brown sugar and red fruits.

ABYSSINIAN MOCCA

Origin: Special Selection/Western Highlands
Producer: Various smallholders/Heleanna Georgalis, Moplaco
Processing: Washed
Harvest: Nov 2014 - Feb 2015
Soil: Red brown soil
Altitude: 1800-2000 masl
Varieties: Ethiopian heirloom

This Ethiopian coffee is a Grade 1, which means minimal defects. It gives a clean and complex cup with notes of dark chocolate, sweet citrus and stone fruit. Abyssinian Mocca is a registered brand, and because of this the exact origin of the coffee is kept private. This coffee is brought forward by the very talented Heleanna Georgalis.