A Year of Coffee 2014
Over the past couple of years I’ve enjoyed looking back over the coffees we’ve used over the previous twelve months. Up until now this has been a relatively easy task which I’ve mostly been able to do from memory. However, looking back over 2014 has proved very different and is probably a good indicator as to how much our business has changed and developed in the past twelve months. I found it impossible to compile a list of coffees without looking back over our database, and even then I found it hard to remember which coffees we used in a blend and which were offered as a single origin. So, with a little help from technology, I have been able to compile the following:
Espresso Blends
In 2014 we produced four different espresso blends, and towards the end of the year also introduced our first single origin espresso. Three of the four blends used components from African, which we very much enjoy:
| Espresso Blends | ||
|---|---|---|
| January 2014 | Los Cerritos | Guatemala |
| Cafetalera Zamorana | Costa Rica | |
| Yirgacheffe | Ethiopia | |
| April 2014 | La Joyeria | Colombia |
| Fazenda Barreiro | Brazil | |
| Fazenda Cruzeiro | Brazil | |
| June 2014 | Finca Puerta Verde | Guatemala |
| Finca Angelina | Costa Rica | |
| September 2014 | La Joyeria | Colombia |
| Finca Palo Blanco | Honduras | |
| Aricha | Ethiopia | |
| November 2014 | Musasa Dukunde Kawa | Rwanda |
Of these blends, two really stand out for me. I really enjoyed the combination of the two Brazilian coffees with the Colombian which we used in the April 2014 blend. More recently, I’ve really been enjoying our current blend which offers just enough familiarity with some challenging underlying fruitiness.
Single Origin Coffees
We’ve roasted some amazing single origin coffees this year, and this is one aspect of the business which has grown a lot in the past twelve months:
| Farm/Mill | Origin |
|---|---|
| Monte de Oro | Guatemala |
| Pocos De Caldas | Brazil |
| Blackburn Estate | Tanzania |
| Dumerso | Ethiopia |
| La Esperanza | Nicaragua |
| El Recuerdo | Colombia |
| Inza | Colombia |
| Karii AA | Kenya |
| Finca Las Chicharras | Mexico |
| BUF Cafe Remera | Rwanda |
| Finca San Agustin | Guatemala |
| Finca El Triangulo | Guatemala |
| Fazenda Cruzeiro | Brazil |
| Yirgacheffe Aricha | Ethopia |
| Finca Angelina | Costa Rica |
There are some amazing coffees on this list and it really is difficult to pick out a favourite. We have used a lot of coffee from Colombia this year and this is probably due to the consistent quality of the coffee coming from that country. We started the year with the delicious El Recuerdo and as we move into 2015 we have the Inza to enjoy.
We’re also fans of coffee from Kenya and this year the Karii lived up to expectations – a little different from previous Kenyans we’ve used with less of the citrus fruit apparent in the cup. The Blackburn Estate from Tanzania was another firm favourite and we’d like to look at this farm again in 2015. We may also have access to some other microlots from the same region.
If you have a favourite coffee from this list please feel free to comment below.
