Latest

Region: Nyeri, Kenya
Producer: 839 smallholder farmers organized around Kiama FCS
Varietal: Field blend of SL-28, SL-34, Batian and Ruiru
Process: Washed

Tasting notes: white grape, black currant, puer tea orange.

Producer info and cup notes: 
Within the Kiama FCS, Kiangundo operates at a similar scale to Ichuga with 839 members delivering cherry to their site at 1,800masl. Jackson Mahu Kooro, an active member of Kiama who delivers cherry to Ichuga, currently oversees operations at Kiangundo after working as a machine operator there for 17 years. Through Jackson's dedication and attention to detail, and the hardwork of its 5 permanent on site staff members, Kiangundo's quality remains stable year over year. After the predominantly red flavors of Ichuga, we were delighted to find this classical black currant cup as a good companion coffee to it. While hot, blackberry and blackcurrant jump to the top of the palate, eventually giving way to cleaner tones of white grape, orange blossom, and black tea, reminding us of a puer tea orange.

Source: Cafe Imports

Region: Nyeri, Kenya
Producer: 835 smallholder farmers organized around Kiama FCS
Varietal: Field blend of SL-28, SL-34, Batian and Ruiru
Process: Washed

Tasting notes: lime juice, green apple, cane sugar.

Producer info and cup notes: 
Founded by the Mutira FCS in 1975, Mugaya washing station provides processing and drying, technical agriculture advice and services, and regularly checks in with its 924 members to ensure the surrounding land remains healthy and vibrant. Mugaya sits at 1570masl, and farmers are encouraged to plant shade trees and grow beans, macadamia, and other crops to maintain the health of the soil. In the cup, we find an extremely high green apple and lime acidity that absolutely knocked our socks off on the initial offer sample of this coffee. Despite this loud punchy start, this coffee contains multitudes, opening up to notes of buttery chardonnay, nectarine, and kiwi. 

Region: Nyeri, Kenya
Producer: 835 smallholder farmers organized around Kiama FCS
Varietal: Field blend of SL-28, SL-34, Batian and Ruiru
Process: Washed

Tasting notes: black cherry cola, red currant, honeysuckle

Producer info and cup notes:
Ichuga washing station, owned by Kiama Farmers Cooperative Society(FCS) is managed by Stephen Kinyua and processes cherry for over 835 smallholder farmers that live in the surrounding Nyeri county. On average, these farmers only tend to half a hectare or less than 300 trees, growing at an average 1,800masl. Kiama FCS was established in 2005 after a merger between 2 neighboring co-ops, and eventually grew to represent over 3,000 smallholders. Kiama operates 4 different washing stations including Gachuiro, Kiangundo, Ichuga and Kiamaina. After the government reforms in 2023 changed the way coffee exports are handled, Kiama was able to obtain its own export license and bargain directly with buyers, increasing its ability to better advocate for its members and ask for more fair prices for their coffee. This classically processed double-washed lot hits exactly what you'd expect from a Nyeri coffee, with a red fruit forward cup the highlights red currants, black cherry cola, and an abundance of citric aromatics like lemon and lime zest. As it cools, a beautiful honeysuckle floral tone rises to the surface and lingers long on the finish.

Source: Cafe Imports

Region: Huila, Colombia 
Producer: Marlon Bolaños / The Three Coffee Farmers 
Varietal: Pink Bourbon
Process: Honey, 48hours in cherry in barrels, depulped, another 48hrs bulk fermented in barrels, then dried on raised beds as a honey for 10-15 days

Tasting notes: Yuzu, raw honey, bergamot

Producer info and cup notes: 
Marlon Bolaños's project "The Three Coffee Farmers" produces some of the highest quality we have ever seen from Huila. Despite growing up in a coffee producing family, it wasn't until the age of 17 that Marlon took an interest in it, signing himself up for a Barista education course at SENA where he learned brewing, green coffee grading, and sensory analysis. Upon returning from that course, Marlon began planting differentiated varietals like pink bourbon, gesha, and chiroso while experimenting with new fermentation techniques on each subsequent harvest. Flash forward to today, and the farm is now owned by Marlon and his 2 brothers, Pedro and Hemerson. Marlon is responsible for quality control, fermentation protocols, sampling and part of the logistics operations. Marlon has also competed and won in several barista and brewing competitions over the last several years, taking spring water from his family's farm for brewing. It's especially suited for coffee due to the natural trace mineral composition, and now coveted by peers after earning the name "Champion's Water." This specific late harvest pink bourbon lot underwent a double fermentation very similar to the process he used for his washed Gesha, first being kept in sealed plastic barrels in cherry without water for 48 hours before being depulped and bulk fermented in the barrels for another 48 hours, then finally dried for 10-15 days on raised beds as a honey. In the cup, we find intensely bright and sweet citric acidity like yuzu lemonade, which quickly cools to a more rounded raw honey note in the centerline. As the cup fully cools, an array of florals rises to the surface alongside a more delicate stonefruit, reminding you of this varietal's Ethiopian heritage. Apricot, bergamot, and jasmine all settle out into a delightfully juicy but still tealike brew. 

Region: Huila, Colombia 
Producer: Marlon Bolaños / The Three Coffee Farmers 
Varietal: Gesha
Process: Washed: 48hrs held in cherry underwater in barrels, then fully drained and left to dry ferment further for another 48hrs, then fully washed and dried on raised beds for 10-15 days

Tasting notes: Yellow Fig, pineapple, bergamot

Producer info and cup notes:
As we near our 1 year anniversary of launching Shoebox, Colombia season is well underway and we are particularly interested in extremely high quality, advanced fermentation Geshas. This past harvest has truly brought us some of the best coffees we've ever had, and this fruit bomb from Marlon Bolaños's project "The Three Coffee Farmers" is amongst the best of them. Despite growing up in a coffee producing family, it wasn't until the age of 17 that Marlon took an interest in it, signing himself up for a Barista education course at SENA where he learned brewing, green coffee grading, and sensory analysis. Upon returning from that course, Marlon began planting differentiated varietals like pink bourbon, gesha, and chiroso while experimenting with new fermentation techniques on each subsequent harvest. Flash forward to today, and the farm is now owned by Marlon and his 2 brothers, Pedro and Hemerson. Marlon is responsible for quality control, fermentation protocols, sampling and part of the logistics operations. Marlon has also competed and won in several barista and brewing competitions over the last several years, taking spring water from his family's farm for brewing. It's especially suited for coffee due to the natural trace mineral composition, and now coveted by peers after earning the name "Champion's Water." This specific washed gesha lot has quite an interesting process to it, having been submerged in cherry underwater for 48 hours before being drained, left in the same barrels dry to further ferment naturally for 48 hours before being fully washed and dried on raised beds.

Region: Urrao, Colombia
Producer: Sergio
Varietal: Chiroso
Process: Washed

Tasting notes: Blue-raspberry, white tea, jasmine

Producer info and cup notes: 
In 2025, at just 26 years old, Sergio Caro won the Tierra de Diversidad competition in Colombia with his very first harvest. He started his coffee career learning in the Urrao producers co-operative championed by Unblended's team alongside producers like Viktor Pineda and Daniel Hernandez, who's coffees we've recently featured as intensely floral and fruited examples of the Chiroso production happening there. Sergio's farm Los Pinos sits at a soaring 2,400masl, providing an extremely unique microclimate with some of the highest growing altitudes in all of Colombia. At just half a hectare with only 4 employees, Sergio's operation is very tight-knit, well controlled, and highly quality focused, producing just under 1,000kg for the lot that ended up winning the Tierra De Diversidad competition. Due to the high elevation, the fermentation times used here are quite long, with a total of 72 hours held in cherry underwater still somehow yielding quite a clean cup as the end result. For drying, Los Pinos utilizes raised and shaded beds for optimal stability and slow drying, taking 2-3 weeks to reach their final moisture content targets. In the cup, we find an explosive process-related mixed berry tone reminiscent of blue-raspberry candy with a white tealike texture that carries with it tons of delicate florals. This coffee is quite flexible under both of our QC brewing methods, the washed and natural recipes, with the washed recipe highlighting the incredible fruited character, and the natural recipe focusing deeply on the florality, which presents as jasmine and bergamot.

Source: Unblended Coffee