Here is a list of countries we are currently working in.
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Bolivia
Read moreWe have been purchasing coffee in Bolivia since 2011. The coffees we source from here are grown at exceptionally high altitudes and are incredibly sweet and clean. Most of these coffees come from very dedicated smallholder producers, who own a couple of hectares of land and produce a handful of bags of coffee each year. As a result, the lot sizes from Bolivia are very small – typically 10-20 bags in size, and usually they are produced organically. We also purchase some tiny micro lots of unique varieties, such as Geisha, SL28 and Java from here, and an incredibly clean and well processed Cascara tea.
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Brazil
Read moreTypically, we do a number of shipments from Brazil over several months, due to the long harvest period. We buy from higher altitude farms in Brazil, so our coffees land a little later than those from lower altitude farms, arriving in Australia from late October - March. We buy some exceptional lots from Bahia and Minas Gerais, as well as Espirito Santo. Lot sizes are typically medium to large (20 bags – 100 bags+). We’re very proud of the quality of the Brazils we source, the diversity of the producers we represent and the flavour profiles of their coffees.
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Colombia
Read moreColombia is a relatively new origin for Melbourne Coffee Merchants, but one that is rapidly becoming one of our most important offerings, due to the quality, versality, diversity and relative value of the coffees available, and the fact that we’re able to source delicious coffees from there almost all year round.
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Ethiopia
Read moreEthiopia is a relatively new origin for us, but one that we absolutely love, despite it being an incredibly complex country to source coffee from. All of the Ethiopian coffees that we purchase are selected on the basis of their exceptional cup profile first and foremost, and this drives our purchasing decisions each year. We look for exceptional washed lots that are complex, elegant, floral and tea like. We also buy well processed naturals when we across them, and look for lots that are intensely sweet, rich and fruit driven, but clean and balanced.
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Guatemala
Read moreGuatemala is another country we visit every year, to meet with our favourite producers, many of whom we’ve been working with for nearly a decade. We purchase coffees from regions all over Guatemala, including Huehuetenango, Coban and Antigua. As different areas peak at different times, we get multiple shipments out of Guatemala that land in Australia over several months from May - September. 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.
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Kenya
Read moreWe select our absolute favourite Kenyan lots via the Kenyan Auction System, as well as through direct relationships. Everything we buy from Kenya is vacuum-packed and available in 30kg lots. We typically have Kenyans on offer from May / June, but due to the high density of these coffees, we find the quality holds up really well, and they can be used throughout the year. We look for Kenyans that are juicy, sweet and complex and buy the very best quality we can find on the cupping table.
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Rwanda
Read moreWe travel to Rwanda to select our favourite coffees in early June every year. We buy lots from washing stations in the North, South and Western 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 coffees: they tend to be incredibly floral and sweet, with notes of dried fruit, stewed fruit and chocolate. In the past, the potato defect was a concern to many roasters, but we’ve thankfully found that incidents of this have been very low over the last two years, thanks to a lot of hard work on the ground in Rwanda.