Coffee Archive

Anoxic Washed, Red Bourbon, Light Roast - Best brewed with Filter (excellent batch brew or pourover option). Would bang as a turbo-spro with rest

The Shyira washing station produces what we consider to be some of the best coffees coming out of Rwanda - extremely high altitude farms and precise processing combine to produce superlative results. 
Returning for its third season, we've got the two anoxic lots from Shyira. This year in a reversal of fortune, we're preferring the anoxic washed lot - we're finding really bright, clean acids and an incredible sweetness.

We’re tasting:
Aromas of grapefruit curd, panela and white florals. In the cup it's got a zippy bright acidity with heaps of structure - we're finding ripe whitecurrant, floral heather honey, hibiscus milk tea, golden raisin and stewed plums. As it cools we get a gentle note of darjeeling tea alongside a brioche sweetness, like vanilla pain suisse.

Natural / E.A Decaf, Variedad Colombia, Castillo Naranjal, Medium-Heavy Roaster Influence - Profiled mainly with balanced and soluble espresso in mind, but versatile

Returning to the very same decaf lot we first launched with Scenery, the Villamariá natural lot has some history. We're reliably told it might have been the starting gun on the trend of excellent decafs - as both one of the first naturals as well as one of the first 87+ lots to have been sent through the Descafescol plant in Manziales, all the way back in 2019. 

Operating a hub-and-spoke model, cherry for 30-50 smallholder families in close communities deliver cherry to Finca La Aurora, where it is consolidated and taken 500m downhill to the Jamaica drying station, where warmer conditions better suit the drying of naturals

Raw Material is a Community Interest Company that returns 100% of profits to producers. Having started in a time of record low coffee prices, they delivered high prices to producers; we're in record high coffee prices now and they deliver high prices to producers - and when the market inevitably contracts, they'll keep delivering high prices to producers, achieved through their cherry-purchasing model with two-stage payments that decouples farmer earnings from commodity volatility.

We’re tasting:
Aromas of sour cherry, malt syrup and chocolate brownie. In the cup we get poached pear, medjool dates and milk chocolate, with that classic pineapple acidity common to the Colombian E.A decaf process. Overall super rich and sweet with a long toffee finish
In milk: chocolate tiffin.

Traditional Washed, Castillo, Light Roaster Influence - Brilliant batch or espresso option, crowd pleaser

Another CDNT producer, this lot was all comfort flavours and very sweet - a classic example of Castillo processed well. This lot was separated out from the regional blend due to its quality, and we're releasing it as a nice easy going washed lot full of comfort flavours - and as such we're taking the roast a touch further to support the cup.

We’re tasting: 
Aromas of milk chocolate, dried apple and fig jam. In the cup it's got a syrupy texture with the aromatics carrying through to the cup, joined with ripe plum, toffee apples and cranberry, alongside toasted pistachio & macademia nut. We're finding a little of the traditional Castillo cup character but presenting as fig leaf - hints of coconut, vanilla and a fresh herbality.

Anoxic Honey, Castillo/Colombia, Lightest Roaster Influence - Brilliant on batch, pourover & turbo spro 

Edwin is a producer in the CDNT group, LaREB's collective of Tolima producers. We featured his coffee in the 23/24 crop cycle - after significant stumping and some issues with farm renovations, the 3 bags we purchased in that crop was his entire output of exportable coffee. We're stoked to hear from Herbert that the farm is back to productivity, and Edwin is in a good spot - he's now planting Rosado & Pacamara, and we look forward to trying them when the trees start producing!

One of the things we most enjoy about working with LaREB is the processing support they offer producers. That support, and the well calibrated lab, results in a really high quality floor from classic washed Castillos through to higher intervention anoxic processes.

We’re tasting: 
Aromas of dark chocolate digestive, port wine & plum jam, in the cup it's sweet milk chocolate, cherry jam & pomegranate molasses. As it cools we're getting spiced stewed apple, pomelo, and poached pear, with a syrupy body. On cold, there's the sticky sweetness of ripe figs, plum and caramel.

Yeast inoculated Natural, Red Bourbon, Light-Medium Roaster Influence - Best brewed with espresso - funky guest option or more chunky batch.

Our FOURTH harvest purchasing yeast lots from the Kibingo washing station. We've been having a bit of run of Scenery all-stars - Kibingo Intenso Natty was in the very first version of Colourful, and was our second single origin espresso. Brilliant to bring it back.
This year's is possibly the best version we've tried yet - some previous years presented very heavy funk character, this year there's a lot more complexity and clarity to the structure, a great example of Lalcafé yeast fermentation. 

We're tasting:

Super fun aromatics - raspberry kombucha, green banana & cacao nib. In the cup it's bright, juicy & tropical - we're getting passionfruit, fruit pastilles, pineapple, Riesling wine, with some of that classic Burundi baking spice. As it cools, we get orange glucose sweets, watermelon gummies & milk chocolate.

In milk - passionfruit, pineapple, & banana foam sweets.

Traditional Washed, Red Bourbon, Lightest Roaster Influence -Best for Filter/Pourover/Turbo Espresso

Our fourth harvest featuring coffee from the smallholders of Gikungere hill, every year a stunner. Long miles do great work

We’re tasting: Super bright citrus zest, chamomile and date aromatics. In the cup we're getting sweet meyer lemon, white grape, dried apricots, buttery shortbread sweetness and vanilla chantilly cream; with a complex tea note that reminds us of light oolong.