Espresso

Anoxic Washed, Gesha, Lightest Roast Influence - Best brewed with Filter
3 key notes: [Tangerine, Honeysuckle, Elderflower]

We've been working with Osito since we started, and they're one of our key supply chain partners. For the past 4 years (and some years before that with smaller regional events), Osito have run the "Copa de Oro" competition in Colombia - running over the 3 main regions they buy coffee from. This is the first year Copa de Oro lots have come to the UK/EU (typically they'd all been snaffled by the US), and we were very lucky to secure 2 of those - including this overall grand champion - first place central region and top overall - lot from Hugo González. A banger and top example of excellent Colombian Gesha

We're tasting:
Huge floral aromatics - we're finding fresh elderflower blossoms, honeysuckle and magnolia. In the cup it's creamy and very sweet - we find fresh tangerine, honeydew melon, and loquat, with a zippy white wine acidity. As it cools becoming more delicate - we find white tea, lemongrass, and dried jasmine.

V16: Peru Gesha - Bioreactor + Anoxic Washed:
Ripe cherries pulped and placed in a bioreactor, and inoculated from a mosto made from previous batches (both washed & natural) for a 72 hr fermentation in an anoxic environment. Parchment then washed and dried in a parabolic drier over 15 days.Traditional Washed + Kenya Batian, Ruiru 11 - Koji Inoculated Anoxic Natural: Ripe cherries are delivered to the washing station and are sorted and floated on arrival, before moving to fermentation barrels. The cherries are inoculated with Koji (A. oryzae) and fermented in an anoxic environment for 96 hrs, with continual agitation of the barrels. Cherries then drained and dried on raised beds.

Light Roaster Influence - great for filter/espresso. Excellent batch or guest espresso option.

Sourcing coffees that are exceptionally vibrant, bright and intensely expressive, then blending them together for a raucous cacophony of flavour. This blend will be an exploration of modern processing and vibrancy, a year round staple of intense fruit-forward notes. Coffee in full Colour, not just black and white.

We're tasting: Aromatics of foam sweets, strawberry laces and lemon/ginger tea. In the cup it's super sweet and bright, with milk chocolate as well as blackberry & redcurrant jam as the dominant notes. There's a spicy/savoury note that reminds us of gingersnap biscuits and preserved lemon. As it cools becoming more like dried strawberries, with earl grey and chinotto soda.

Variety: Pink Bourbon
Country: Colombia
Region: El Cerrito, La Plata, Huila
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1850 MASL
Producer: Elder Castro Garcia
Farm: Finca Las Acacias
Roast Level: Light

Award
4th place award at the Western Copa de Oro competition.

In the cup
We taste fresh red fruits that remind us of raspberries and strawberries, a balanced sweetness reminiscent of candy floss, and delicate black tea. This coffee has a light body and a round finish.

About The Producer
Elder Castro Garcia is a coffee producer from the rural township of El Cerrito in La Plata. He has approximately 5,000 two to five-year-old trees per hectare, regularly growing Colombia, Geisha, Pink Bourbon, and Sidra varieties. He also grows avocados and sells them locally.

Processing
This Pink Bourbon micro lot is hand-selected and brought in from the field by local and itinerant pickers. They are then floated to remove any lower-density beans before being placed in plastic bags for 36 hours. They are then de-pulped fully and dry-fermented for another 40 hours. The coffee parchment is then rinsed and placed on raised beds in a parabolic greenhouse dryer for 15 to 20 days to dry.

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 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.

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.