This month at Blue Coffee Box, we are featuring 6 new gourmet coffees for March. Instead of doing a post on each coffee, we decided to put them all in one place for you.
Below you will find the list, as well as the roasters we are sourcing these coffees from this month as well.
Gourmet Coffees for March
Women of Huehue
Producer: Women of Huehue
Varietals: Caturra, Bourbon
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1500-2000m
Country: Guatemala
Region: Huehuetenango
Cupping Notes: Plum, blackberry
Roaster: Moonroast Coffee
We are pleased to introduce (from left to right) Juana, Nati, Minga, and Lety. These are 4 of the 8 ladies behind this special coffee.
Their individual parcels were combined to make this special lot based on flavour profile. Farms are at ridiculously high elevations of up to 2000 m, tucked into the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, the highest mountains in Guatemala. Farmers grow bourbon, caturra, catuai and pache varieties here.
In founding their microlot competition, farmers here made a commitment to producing the highest quality coffees. These women are supported by a producer we have been working since 2013, Fredy Morales of Finca Rosma, along with his wife and brother.
They were introduced to these communities through word of mouth. Fredy provides agricultural assistance and processing education. As part of this collaboration, these women were assisted by the provision of new plants, fertilisers, and on-going support.
Ibrahim Hussein
Producer: Ibrahim Hussien
Varietals: Heirloom
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1900-2100m
Country: Ethiopia
Region: Limu Kossa, Jimma Zone, Oromia
Cupping Notes: Lime, bergamot, custard
Roaster: Moonroast Coffee
Ibrahim Hussein is the owner of a 200-hectare coffee farm in the Limu Kossa district, Jimma. The farm is planted with the 74110 and 74165 varieties, which are landrace selections from the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre which have been selected for specific micro-regions, climates and altitudes.
The coffee is grown under a natural forest where Ibrahim has beehives and some fruit trees. Ibrahim also buys cherry from over 300 outgrowers who all have small farms in the area. He keeps a list of outgrowers with their basic information which he uses to track deliveries and maintain traceability for his lots.
All the coffee is processed and dried at Ibrahim's farm and is dried on raised beds for around two weeks. Unsurprisingly, with such quality, the cup score is an exceptional 86.
Pico de Águila
Producer: Pico de Águila
Varietals: Colombia, Caturra, Tipica
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1500-1850m
Country: Colombia
Region: Cauca
Cupping Notes: Chocolate, orange marmalade, black cherry
Roaster: Casa Espresso
This coffee is produced by the CENCOIC coop by over 316 families in the Cauca region. Pico de Aguila is located in the Honduras Reserve in the municipality of Morales on the western mountain range 32km east of Popayán.
The highest peak in the reserve is called Cerro Pico de Águila. At 2800masl up in the Paramo, it's a touch too high to grow coffee, but members of the local community manage to cultivate it at 1500-1850masl.
Pico de Aguila is one of the most sacred sites for the indigenous community within the reserve and is also a key source of water for the surrounding region.
Cencoic, which stands for Central Cooperativa Indígena del Cauca, is a group that we have been working with since 2008. They are a cooperative comprised of indigenous reserves in the Cauca region and they also export their own coffee.
Fazenda Macaubas
Producer: Carlos Walter Behrend
Varietals: Mundo Novo
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 950m
Country: Brazil
Region: São Paulo
Cupping Notes: Cocoa nibs, almonds, marmalade
Roaster: Casa Espresso
The Behrend family started their story in coffee in 1946 in the state of Paraná, where they had complications due to weather patterns.
In 1975 the family moved to Patrocínio in the Cerrado region after severe losses caused by a historical frost and, once again, they invested in the cultivation of coffee and have remained since then.
Recently, Carlo's son Rodrigo, aware of the proportion of the third wave of coffee and the need of consumers of this generation, has initiated investing in the production of quality, which has resulted in really nice, clean and well-balanced cups.
Carlos's coffee is of the topaz variety and has a vine flavor, with a fruity and floral aroma. With citric acidity, dense and creamy body and long, sweet and pleasant finish, the drink harmonizes very well with fresh cheese.
Huaman Tanga
Producer: Huamantanga
Varietals: Various
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1600-200m
Country: Peru
Region: Cajamarca
Cupping Notes: Melon, apricot
Roaster: Campbell & Syme
Day lots of coffees from 15 different producers all over Cajamarca were purposefully blended together based on cup profile, one typical of the region.
All day long, lots come from the early part of the harvest in high altitude areas, which were processed and dried on the producers' farms. Most producers in Northern Peru have their own hand pulping machine and fermentation tank where they process the coffee, before drying it on their patio or raised beds.
Once the coffees have been processed, farmers deliver them as parchment to the Falcon warehouse in Jaen, where they are graded, analysed for moisture content, roasted and cupped.
This lot is a blend of lots from the middle of the harvest and is named after the large protected area near the city of Jaén.
Oporapa
Producer: Various Smallholders
Varietals: Castillo, Caturra
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1200-2100m
Country: Colombia
Region: Oporapa, Huila
Cupping Notes: Lemon, grapefruit, caramel
Roaster: Campbell & Syme
The Regional Select program was created to highlight the unique profiles we have found that are inherent to various microclimates in many of the countries from which we source green coffee.
Local variables like wind patterns, soil quality, sunlight, elevation, and other environmental influencers have much to do with the common characteristics that separate, say, a Northern Colombian from a Southern Colombian coffee, just as they inform the differences between a Colombian and a Kenyan.
For our Regional Select offerings, we source based on cup quality and character, seeking a balance of taste of place with availability and price.
These lots are built as blends from coffees that cup out between 84_x0096_87 on our 100-point cupping scale, and come with regional and often microregional traceability, but are not farm- or producer-specific.
For more speciality coffees like these, be sure to subscribe to Blue Coffee Box. You can check out our past featured coffees here.
