This edition of our house espresso blend features coffee from Colombia and Burundi. The Yard is seasonally blended to hit notes of red apple and caramel all year round. As espresso you will find this coffee is incredibly juicy, yet with milk you will be getting notes of brown sugar and a honey mouthfeel. The Colombian component, Aponte, comes from the Aponte Community in Nariño. This community has a rich history, descending from the Inga community, which remained isolated in the mountains during the Spanish conquest. Due to this isolation, for years they were forcibly involved in poppy and heroin production due to external influences like guerrilla groups and drug traffickers. However, over the last decade, the community has shifted its focus to coffee production. Situated at an average altitude of 2150 meters above sea level, the coffee plants thrive in the nutrient-rich soil enriched by ash from the nearby Galeras Volcano, resulting in a coffee with exceptional complexity and sweetness. The Burundian component is sourced from the Izuba Community Washing Station, where Muharo Trading Company operates. They collaborate closely with the community, purchasing coffee cherries directly from local farmers. This direct relationship ensures quality control and a fair return to the farmers. We work with their exporters, Raw Material, who operate as a CIC and reinvest all profits into the communities they operate in. We take pride in protecting our planet. All of our coffee bags are 100% recyclable. |
Our classic espresso blend The Block has notes of milk chocolate, caramel and hazelnut, with a little dried fruit sweetness reminiscent of raisins and is sourced from Brazil and Nicaragua. Its rich, creamy body makes for a delicious espresso both with and without milk. Our Brazilian component comes from Patricia Coelho’s farm, who grows coffee at her higher altitude farm in the Mogiana region. Collaborating with Patricia Coelho aligns with one of our three core sourcing principles of female economic empowerment. This is our third year working with Patricia, where we have seen an improvement in quality year-on-year. We look forward to many more years working with Patricia. The Nicaraguan component – San Ramon – sits within the Dipilto mountain range, a Nicaraguan nature reserve located close to the border with Honduras. The farm is run by Donald Efrain Roque, who is the third generation of coffee producers in the Roque Family. Both his grandfather and father were dedicated to coffee, and he is continuing with this beautiful legacy. For his entire life, he has worked with coffee and over this time he has acquired a very special affection and passion for it. In 2006, Donald Efrain found out about the Cup of Excellence in Nicaragua and he decided to participate in the contest to see how much potential his coffee had. After performing well, he became more motivated than ever to continue improving the quality of his coffee and participated again in COE in 2009 and 2011, where he achieved great results. For him, the biggest change from being a conventional farmer to a specialty coffee farmer was having to train and educate his workers to change their harvesting and processing practices. Donald has been working with our sourcing partners Caravela for five years now and his point of view on coffee has completely changed since he started producing specialty coffee. Now he is consistently seeking to improve and to become a better farmer. He strongly believes in the potential of specialty coffee in Dipilto, Nueva Segovia and he recommends every single farmer in the region to focus solely on producing a high-quality product. |