Latitude Espresso
Our seasonal espressos each come with their own story, which is part of what makes them so special. Here we take a closer look at the producers behind this coffee.
PERU
La Coipa
Luis’s farm is named La Palma and is 2 hectares in size whereas Noriel’s fam is named Los Gentiles, spanning across 5 hectares. He lives on his farm with his wife and children who assist with daily farm tasks and harvesting. Luis is experienced with extended fermentation and grows unique varietals including Yellow Gesha.
RWANDA
Musasa Ruli Women’s Coffee
Most of the smallholder producers with whom Musasa Dukunde Kawa works own less than a quarter of a hectare of land, where they cultivate an average of only 250 - 300 coffee trees each as well as other subsistence food crops such as maize and beans. The cooperative gives these small farmers the chance to combine their harvests and process cherries centrally.
La Coipa
Varietals: Typica, Caturra, Bourbon
Processing: Fully Washed & dried on raised beds
Altitude of farms: 1,800 to 1,850m
Musasa Ruli
Varietals: Red Bourbon
Processing: Fully Washed & dried on raised beds
Altitude of farms: 2,000m
HARVESTING & PROCESSING
La Coipa
Harvest season for La Coipa spans from June to October. The process begins with the cherries being selectively handpicked in baskets and delivered to the wet mills located on each farm. The cherries are loaded into tanks of water to remove any underripe cherries. The water is drained and the cherries ferment in the tanks for 48 hours. The cherries are then de-pulped to remove the external fruit and fermented once more for an additional 48 – 72 hours. The coffee is then washed three times before being dispersed on raised beds for one day, then moved to greenhouses to dry for 15 – 20 days depending on the weather. The coffee is then transported to Jaen to be hulled and prepared for export. This is typically a three-hour journey.
HARVESTING & PROCESSING
Musasa Ruli
impressive. Cherries are hand-picked only when fully ripe and delivered to the wet mill. They are sorted and pulped to remove the external fruit. The beans then undergo a 15-hour dry fermentation, are washed in channels, graded, and then dispersed on raised beds to dry. This typically takes 20 days or until an 11% moisture content is reached. The coffee is then stored in parchment in Ruli’s purpose-built warehouse prior to final dry-milling and hand-sorting at the Cooperative’s brand-new dry mill in Kigali.
sourcing coffee
Our Coffee Broker
For over ten years we have worked closely with Mercanta. They pay a fair price for coffee, empowering the growers they work with. Such is our faith in their commitment to supporting farmers that we now purchase 100% of our coffee through Mercanta.
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