Coffee Archive

Variety: Chiroso
Country: Colombia
Region: Urrao, Antioquia
Process: Washed
Altitude: 2100 MASL
Producer: David Berrio
Farm: Finca La Casita
Roast Level: Light

In the cup
Red fruits reminiscent of juicy red grapes and sweet pomegranate. This coffee has a light body and a sparkling citric acidity that reminds us of limes and lingers in the finish of the cup.

About The Producer
David Berrio is a second-generation coffee producer who was first introduced to specialty coffee by his brother-in-law. He was taught how to maintain coffee plants sustainably and how to manage different fermentation processes. His farm, Finca La Casita, was bought by his grandfather 15 years ago and inherited by his father. In addition to coffee, David and his family grow avocados, bananas, and plantains that provide shade for the coffee plants. David is currently building his own house with the profits he receives from coffee production.

Processing
The coffee is picked and left in sacks for two days before being transported by horse to the road and then taken by car to the main house. This travel journey alone can take a couple of hours! The coffee is then de-pulped and left in a stainless steel tank for 5 days with just enough water to cover it. The drying process takes place in a traditional Colombian called a “casa helda.”

Variety: Mejorado
Country: Ecuador
Region: Loja
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1900 MASL
Harvest: Late 2025
Producer: Abel Salinas
Farm: Finca Arashi
Roast Level: Light

In the cup
Sweet stone fruits like peach and plums, a delicate florality reminiscent of oolong tea, and fresh lemon. This coffee has an incredibly light body and a clean finish.

About The Producer
Finca Arashi is located in Saraguro, Loja, Ecuador, and is managed by Abel Salinas, a 58-year-old, Cup of Excellence winner and first-generation coffee grower and fifth out of twelve siblings. The farm sits at an elevation of 1900 MASL and consists of 7 hectares of land with around 22,000 coffee trees currently in production. The majority of Abel’s current coffee production is the exotic Typica Mejorado coffee plant, however he also grows some Sidra and H1 Hybrid.

Processing
This coffee is de-pulped at peak ripeness and then dry-fermented for 24 hours before washing. After washing the coffee, Abel immediately places it to dry for approximately 15 days.

Traditional Washed, JARC Cultivars and Jimma Landraces, Lightest Roaster Influence - Best for Filter/Pourover/Turbo Espresso
3 key notes: [Peach Iced Tea, Lemon Bun, Wildflowers]

Simon and Merlith's farm is in the Jaén province, planted in early 2020 with Ethiopian landrace and JARC lines alongside the more "classic" Latin American cultivars, with roughly half the property preserved as primary forest. Working as Falcon's country manager, Simon's years of quality improvement work with Peruvian smallholders led him to permanently relocate in 2019. His previous role as Head of Sourcing for Falcon gave him the global connections to obtain seedstock with germlines from Jimma, Sidama and Yirgacheffe, hence the name Las Etiopes ("The Ethiopians").

We’re tasting: 
Super bright and sweet aromas - lemon curd, fresh white florals and butterscotch. In the cup the first impression is of peach iced tea, with a buttery body, layered florals and supporting notes of dried apricots, chamomile and lemongrass. As it cools that buttery caramel note becomes quite brioche-y, with the lemon curd it give the distinct impression of lemon iced buns.

"Static Cherry" Anoxic Natural, 74112/74110 & Enat Buna Megadu [Local landrace], Lightest Roaster Influence -Best for Filter/Pourover/Turbo Espresso
AIRFREIGHT FRESH CROP
3 key notes: [Blueberry Danish, Marmalade, Floral]

Our first introduction to Hester & Dawit - and the Bette Buna project - came from this very process. Having put down a table of coffees for the Scene Better Daze collab, this lot stood head and shoulders above the rest. We've been buying from Bette Buna ever since, with this season marking our third harvest purchasing their coffee. We had the pleasure of cupping in the Bette Buna lab in a recent trip to Ethiopia, and once again this lot jumped out on the table to us.
We're firing the starting gun on the fresh crop Ethiopia - we joined forces with Skylark and Yallah to split a full airfreight pallet, facilitated by the lovely team at Falcon. A rare chance to try this style of coffee as fresh as fresh can be - at peak florality, these more process-heavy coffees can tend to tip a little more towards in-cherry flavours with the longer shipping times we'll see for ships heading round the cape of good hope. 

We’re tasting: 
Big blueberry, strawberry, and pineapple aromatics - in the cup we're finding blueberry danish (cooked blueberry, buttery pastry and creamy lactic notes), dried pineapple and a white chocolate sweetness, with a prominent marmalade note in the finish while hot. As it cools becoming a little more process forward - the acidity and aromatics reminding us of orange gewürztraminer wine, with coriander seed, lemon oils & a lavender + geranium florality in the finish.

Traditional Washed, SL28/SL-34/Ruiru 11/Batian, Lightest Roaster Influence - Best for Filter/Pourover/Turbo Espresso
3 key notes: [Blackcurrant, Poached Rhubarb, Violet

Traditional Washed: Selectively picked cherries are delivered by smallholders to Gakuyu-ini Factory, where they are sorted at intake, then pulped in the afternoon with the parchment fermented overnight. The parchment is then washed with density sorting, with the top grades sent for a secondary soak in fresh water of around 16 hrs, before moving to raised beds to dry over 8 - 14 days, weather dependent.

We're tasting:
Really classic Kenyan aromatics - blackcurrant & apple cordial, some floral black tea like darjeeling. In the cup it's like hot vimto - all the purple fruits, with a hint of baking spice and pomegranate molasses, alongside lemon verbena and a floral note that reminds us of parma violets. As it cools, the acidity resolves to a really juicy malic note like poached rhubarb. Emblematic of type

Traditional Honey, Sidra, Lightest Roaster Influence - Best brewed with Filter (excellent batch brew or pourover option). Work as a great spro with rest
3 key notes: [Grape Jelly, Melon, Passionfruit Curd]

We got the opportunity to return to the esteemed Finca Maputo, who have successfully seen some podium finishes in the Taza Dorada (Best of Ecuador competition) as well as placing in the Cup of Excellence. Run by two retired Medicines San Frontières doctors (Henry is from Ecuador, his wife Verena is from Switzerland - but they met during their time working as rural doctors in Burundi, showing that coffee and the lands it grows in can facilitate connections in pretty magical ways), Maputo specialises in excellent honey processed lots, with plots growing H9, Sidra, Mejorado, and SL-28. Having released the SL-28 as an LCF exclusive, we're dropping the other lot we purchased from them - a super fun Sidra honey. Really unique flavours - all the big purple jammy notes we might expect from a funky natty, but none of the acetic acid we'd expect with the funk. Purple and clean?? Wild 

We're tasting:
Big passionfruit, bubblegum and grape aromatics. In the cup it's super sweet - we're getting purple grape juice, a white sugar sweetness (together, it reminds us a little of shloer), with supporting notes of nectarine, honeydew melon, and blackcurrant, alongside lemon/lime soda. Super bright and sweet, as it cools becoming a little more textural and less acidity driven- we're finding passionfruit curd & the grape note becomes more like grape jelly. Everything about it screams like it should be funky, but it's elegant, clean and delightful

Anoxic Natural, Gesha, Lightest Roaster Influence - Best for Filter. Turbo-espresso or pourover
3 key notes: [Blueberry Jam, Tropical, Lavender]

We welcome Yoiner to the offer after he took over his Aunt Marisela's Rosado plot, and with it we swiftly became fans of his work. While Colombia harvests biannually, Yoiners Gesha tends to only produce an exportable crop once a year - and this lot absolutely jumped off the table at us tasting like an old-school natty eth. We're thinking of 2018 Banko Gotiti natural as a particularly specific reference

All the berry, tropical, floral notes we expect from the concept of a natty Eth, yet distinctly also a Colo Gesha. Banger

We're tasting:
Raspberry jam aromatics alongside lavender and honeysuckle. In the cup it's straight blueberry jam, with tropical notes of soursop, papaya and ripe guava, alongside lemon zest and a hint of coriander seed, super juicy and long. As it cools the florals become more defined, and the blueberry note persists hot to cold.