Dear Coffee Subscribers,
I know these past weeks have been challenging, the normal we were used to suddenly changed and we have been forced to find new ways to keep in touch, make new routines and figuring out how to make the best out of it. I hope you all are staring to get the hang of the new normal.
I also want to thank you for being so patient with the April subscription shipments. We sent them all out on April 1st but we know that some of you are still waiting to receive your shipment. I am really sorry for the delay. We have been in contact with the postal service and to give you the short story they had extreme congestion problems due to the fact that all post get sent to Frankfurt from Norway before it is distributed to the rest of the world via airplane. Because there were much less planes leaving both from Norway and also from Frankfurt, the mail kept piling up. We know that they are now working faster but we can still expect delays as they are a bit backed up with deliveries. We are hoping that your April shipments arrive soon and that this months subscriptions that were sent out Wednesday 6th of May will take maximum 4 weeks to reach you. In some cases it will go faster and others slightly slower. As society is starting to open up gradually we are hoping to get back to normal shipping times at least over summer.
Now for the more fun part..
For this months subscription we are sending out some of my favourite coffees and some really special ones. All of you will get a bag of late harvest Pacas from Nacimiento in Honduras. 2-bags subscribers will also get the last lots we have of delicious coffees from Mexico Chipas. For our 3-bags subscribers we have decided to do a spring cleaning with coffee from various lots, they are all super tasty and will be sent out randomly so look at it as a little surprise.
Nacimiento Pacas 1 bag
Flavournotes: Cherries, blackberries, mango
Producer: Jobneel Caceres Dios
Harvest: April 2019
Origin: El Cielito, Santa Barbara, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Pacas
This is a late harvest lot from Nacimiento which means it is harvested from the higher part of Jobneel’s farm. A really sweet and fruity Pacas from one of the best coffee areas in Honduras. Packed with stone fruit and red berry flavours with loads of sweetness.
Mexico Chipas 2 bags
Flavournotes: Winey, red berries & cocoa nibs
Producer: Olabia Lopez & Diego Jimenez
Harvest: April – May 2019
Origin: Tenejapa, Chiapas, Mexico
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Bourbon & Caturra
These old Bourbon and Caturra cultivars really shine when grown in the cool climate of Tenejapa in Chiapas, Mexico. In combination with the meticulous picking of fully ripe coffee cherries and long fermentation times, these coffees tastes like a bowl of ripe cherries and red wine with sweet cocoa nib in the finish. These coffees were by far the best I tasted from Mexico when I was searching for coffees to be served at restaurant noma’s Mexican pop up in Tulúm in 2017. Since then we have been able to increase the amount we buy and this year we have bought 7 different lots from 7 different smallholder producers in the area of Tenejapa and San Pedro in Chiapas. These are the last two lots we have of these coffees from 2019. They were meant to be sold at restaurant noma, but due to the Covid-19 shut down, we are able to send it our to our beloved subscribers instead.
3 bags various lots:
We decided to do a spring cleaning in our roastery and send out the rest of many small special lots that we have bought throughout the last year. Some of these lots were bought for competition, others for special clients like restaurant Noma. As we have very limited quantities of each lot we are sending these out randomly to our 3- bag subscribers. That means some of you may get the Ethiopian cultivar from the Caballeros and others will get an Batian cultivar from the same farm. I can assure you that all these coffees are spectacular and rare, so I am pretty sure you will be happy with the one you get.
For more information please see this month’s subscription video. Here are a few of my notes on each coffee.
Caballero Ethiopian
Flavournotes: Citrus, floral & cocoa.
Producer: MarysabelCaballero & MoisesHerrera
Harvest: February – March 2019
Origin: Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Etiopian
An Ethiopian landrace cultivar grown in Honduras. Marysabel and Moises only have a small amount of these trees and we buy the whole production which last year was less than 100kg.
Caballero Batian
Flavournotes: Floral, herbal & Citric
Producer: Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest: February – March 2019
Origin: Cinacla, la Paz, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Batian
A Kenyan hybrid cultivar grown in Honduras. Marysabel and Moises only have a small amount of these trees as well and last year we bought the whole production mainly as an alternative competition coffee for the Nordic Roaster Competition. We ended up not competing with it just because we had so little of it and wanted to compete with a coffee we would be able to experiment more with. Nevertheless this is competition worthy and delicious.
Los Pirineos
Flavournotes: Stone fruit & milk chocolate
Producer: Gilberto Baraona
Harvest: March 2019
Origin: Tecapa-Chinameca, Usulutan, El Salvador
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Bourbon Elite
Last year Gilberto won 2nd place in the El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition with this lot of coffee. We did not buy it at the Cup of Excellence auction but Gilberto was kind enough to sell me a bag directly. That means we only bought 69kg of this coffee. It is from the top of his volcanic farm and a washed processed Bourbon with slightly longer fermentation time than he normally does. It gives a very fruity cup still with the pleasant chocolaty sweetness you can expect from Gilberto’s coffees.
Mexico Chiapas
Flavournotes: Stone fruit & strawberries
Producer: Ana Santiz
Harvest: April – May 2019
Origin: Tenejapa, Chiapas, Mexico
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Maragogipe
This is a crazy lot that we bought from our friend Jesus Salazar in Mexico last year. This coffee was meant to be served at restaurant Nomain Copenhagen only, but they closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic before we managed to roast the last batch for them. It means we have 15 kilos left for our dear subscribers.
Nacimiento SL28
Flavournotes: Winey, blackberries & blackcurrants
Producer: Jobneel Caceres Dios
Harvest: May 2019
Origin: El Cielito, Santa Barbara, Honduras
Process: Washed
Cultivar: SL28
I know we sent this out in October, but it is a delicious coffee and we had a bit left after the last time we sent it out. This is the very second harvest of Jobneel’s new SL28 variety. SL28 is a variety that is commonly grown only in Kenya and parts of East Africa but we managed to source some seeds in Central America and planted seeds with Jobneel in 2014. In 2015 Jobneel transplanted the seedlings to virgin land on top of his farm at the very highest altitude and I have been waiting ever since to be able to taste the fruit of his harvest. Last year we tasted the very first harvest and it tasted phenomenal, but the yields were very low so we only sold a tiny amount. This year we managed to get a bit more as the trees are getting bigger and hopefully there will be even more in the years to come. The SL 28 from Nacimiento has a bit bigger mouthfeel and more of a sweet blackberry flavour than the classic tart black currant notes you typically find in Kenyan SL28 coffees. I also enjoy a very delicate floral note in this particular lot.
Thanks for reading and as always, we hope you enjoy the coffees and learning from our monthly videos. If you need some brewing tips, visit our website.
Cheers,
Tim & Co