Colourful

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Suitable for Filter and Espresso

Best Rested for: 2-3 weeks

Light Roaster Influence:
We roast this blend on the lighter side, with the view that it should still work as an all-rounder for both filter and espresso. Try a modern open recipe at 18g in, 45-50g out in 25-30s when brewing as espresso to really open up the flavour, or 60g/L when brewing on filter.

In combining the excellent agronomy and modern processing in these two lots, we’re tasting: Sweet aromatics of cola & parma violets. In the cup very plum forward with orange zest, brown sugar, & jasmine tea florals. As it cools, a dense cup full of stewed fruits with sticky body

Traceability (Version 9):

The Story:

Colourful was born out of another concept we wanted to play with, something we felt almost criminally under-explored. There is such huge potential in combining deeply fruity and fun coffees into a blend, yet so often it’s almost seen as sacrilege, that they must be a single origin special release, or else some green coffee buyer secret police will break in and confiscate the sacks back. 

Yet who amongst us has not occasionally chucked the remnants of a special bag or two into the grinder, and found the result to be more than the sum of its parts? So in the full rebellious spirit of  resisting pretentious coffee traditions, we've sought out the most uniquely fruity and fun coffees to feature in Colourful . There's no denying that the funky, wild profile of an anaerobic or experimentally processed coffee might not be for everyone, or the sort of coffee you drink every single day. However, we believe in their ability to surprise and delight, with the objective to showcase the vibrancy and full dynamic range that coffee has to offer. Like a mug full of pick n’ mix sweets, coffee in full colour (not just black and white!).

So here we have it - Colourful. It's a year-round celebration of colour and flavour, giving us the freedom to source, blend, or even to spotlight single origins under its banner. Colourful isn't dictated by its components; instead, its essence is its flavour profile and the fun we have in creating and selecting for it.

Version 9:

What could possibly out-do the last version of Colourful? We think we've pulled it off, in a return of a classic spring formula for us - Yeast inoculated, mad fruity Burundi natural, combined with an elegant, bright juicy floral lot.

We've secured a portion of Maria Nila Heredia's first Gesha harvest, which shows heaps of variety potential but also has the tightness associated with first harvest trees. In tandem, these lots blend into a mariage parfait

Butegana has an interesting history - one of Burundi's pioneering washing stations, established in 1952 during King Mwambutsa's reign. The station's very name—"Butegana" meaning "to be trapped"—commemorates a historical military event where Rwandan forces were cornered in the valley by the Burundian army.

Prince Baranyanka strategically designed the station with a unique split layout spanning two hills: all operational buildings sit on Shikankoni hill, while the drying tables occupy neighboring Nkuba hill.

The 841 smallholder farmers contributing to this lot typically maintain just 250 coffee trees each, primarily Red Bourbon variety, with many trees exceeding 50 years of age. Despite the challenges of aging rootstock, these farmers deliver their cherries on foot or bicycle to the washing station, where a modern fermentation approach awaits.

The LALCAFÉ INTENSO™ yeast used in processing represents four years of specialized coffee research and development. This extended 36-hour fermentation—triple the standard fermentation time—allows the yeast plenty of time to create flavor-enhancing metabolites before undergoing a careful 10-14 day drying period on raised beds.

On the other side of this blend, Maria Nila Heredia's journey to coffee cultivation followed a winding path. With her husband Rey, she spent her youth as an itinerant vegetable farmer around Jaen and San Ignacio, gradually purchasing small plots until they could afford a substantial 3-hectare property. In their 30s, they pivoted from vegetables to coffee, seeing it as a more stable and profitable future.

As one of the original settlers in El Paraiso village, Maria Nila established Los Cedros farm at the ideal coffee-growing elevation of 1800-1900 MASL. Though she initially planted varieties like Caturra, Bourbon and Catimor, it was her sons who encouraged her to explore specialty varieties like Gesha and Java.

The Gesha trees planted in 2021 delivered their first significant harvest in 2024—the very lot featured in this blend. The farm's biodiversity extends beyond coffee, with plantain, banana, guaba (a nitrogen-fixing tree), lucuma, and the namesake cedar trees all thriving alongside coffee.

Maria Nila processed this first crop of her Gesha with her standard technique (one refined for Caturra and Bourbon) —36 hours of fermentation in tiled tanks before double washing with spring water. Her recent investment in parabolic dryers demonstrates her commitment to quality improvement, allowing for controlled 15-day drying periods on raised beds. We see a lot of potential in the coffee and suspect there may be a single origin release in the making with future harvests.

Together, these distinctive lots create the contrast that defines Colourful. A modern experimental yeast fermentation from the oldest station in Burundi, complimented by a trad washed clean lot from a farmer pivoting to the new wave of Speciality cultivars.

Each lot is roasted separately with a unique profile to combine in the blend, to allow us maximum control over the final cup profile.