We have been sourcing coffee from Bolivia since 2009, as it is one of our favourite origins and one that we feel very proud to represent. Our offerings from Bolivia are grown at exceptionally high elevations, many coming from quality-focused smallholder producers, who own a couple of hectares of land that yield limited amounts of incredibly sweet and clean coffee each year. Here, we also source tiny microlots of unique varieties, such as Gesha, Batian and Java, and an incredibly clean and well-processed Cascara tea.
Each year, we land a number of shipments from Brazil, thanks to the country's long harvest period and the importance of these offerings in most of our roasting partners' menus. Since we buy from higher altitude farms in Brazil, our coffees land a little later than those from lower altitude farms, typically arriving in Australia from late October through to March. Our goal here is to source exceptional lots from the Chapada Diamantina region in Bahia, which includes the towns of Mucugê and Piatã. Lot sizes vary from small to large (20 bags – 200 bags+), depending on the farm they come from and their intended roast application. We’re very proud of the quality of the Brazilian coffees we source, the diversity of the producers we represent, and the flavour profiles of the coffees we offer.
Coffees from Colombia are some of our most important offerings. This is due to the quality, versatility, diversity and relative value of the coffees available, and the fact that we’re able to source them almost all year round. We typically receive between 3-4 shipments out of Colombia, first in the months of August-October and later in December-January. Our containers are always made up of clean and refined small producer regional blends, as well as exceptional single estate micro-lots.
Ethiopia produces some of the most elegant and nuanced coffees in the world — even though it is an incredibly complex country to source coffee from. Here, we select coffees from quality-focused washing stations owned by longtime partners Testi Specialty Coffee. On the cupping table, we look for exceptional washed lots that are multilayered, floral and tea-like, as well as carefully processed naturals that are intensely sweet, rich and fruit-driven, while remaining clean and balanced. All of the Ethiopian coffees that we purchase are selected on the basis of their exceptional cup profile, and they tend to land between June-August each year.
Guatemalan coffee has been a staple of our offerings since 2008, and it is one of our most treasured origins. We purchase coffees from regions all over Guatemala, including Huehuetenango, Cobán and Antigua. As different areas peak at different times, we get multiple shipments out of Guatemala that land in Australia over the months of May - August. Most of the farms we work with perform well in the annual Cup of Excellence competition, and we find that the general quality and diversity of flavour profiles out of Guatemala is exceptional.
In Kenya, we select coffees from single producers and quality-focused cooperatives with the goal of establishing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with our supply partners. All of the lots we buy are vacuum-packed and available in 30kg lots. We typically have Kenyans on offer from May/June, and thanks to the high density of these beans, we find the quality holds up really well, and they can be used throughout the year. When selecting our offerings, we look for Kenyans that are juicy, sweet and complex, and buy the very best quality we can find on the cupping table.
Every June, we travel to Rwanda to select our favourite coffees, and source offerings from washing stations in the Northern and Southern Provinces. We have strong, long-standing relationships in Rwanda and we’re very passionate about supporting and promoting these coffees. We love the profile of Rwandan offerings: they tend to be incredibly floral and sweet, with notes of dried fruit, stewed fruit and chocolate. While the potato defect was a concern to many roasters when the industry was first established, we’ve found that incidents of this have been very low in recent years, thanks to a lot of hard work on the ground in Rwanda.