Colourful

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter and Espresso

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.

Best Rested: 2-3+ Weeks

Filter: 60g/L, 93°C

Espresso: 18g/45-50g/20-25s

We're tasting: Confectionary aromatics of mixed berry danish and vanilla crème pât, in the cup there's heaps of fresh red fruits to the acidity - strawberry, cherry and red grape, with a white chocolate & hazelnut praline cream-esq sweetness. As it cools becoming a bit more like gummy wine gums, with greengage plum and lime zest adding lift.

Traceability (Blend Version: 18)

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 18:

A short run version worked out with our pals from Primavera coffee. We've got a forecaster stacked with planned Colourful versions that should see us out till the end of the year, but as ever the best laid plans o' mice & men go oft awry - especially when we throw international logistics and harvest schedules into the mix. A little bit more of a "traditional" mix this time - no higher intervention processing or rare(r) varieties, this is still emphatically Colourful in flavour profile through and through. A good demonstration that what Colourful is, is how it tastes, not the number of adjectives in the processing descriptors...

We've built the blend from two lots - both fresh crop, freshly landed Guatemala. Setting the base we've got a trad natty Catuaí from Fredy Orantes (of Pacamara fame). Fredy is farming in the relatively hotter & drier climate of Fraijanes - perfect for naturals - but is committed to shade growing his coffee and protecting biodiversity on the farm. Combine that with a pretty high altitude for Fraijanes and we find a farm that can produce excellent base quality despite a warming climate, and experienced drying practices in the drier climate means excellent naturals. We find lots of tropical fruits, gummy sweets and base level Catuaí sweetness.

Adding elegance and lift, we've got a wonderful washed lot from Ramon Pablos' Flor del Cafe plot on his farm, Finca Los Pablos. This is everything we ever wanted from a washed Huehue - ripe fruits, bright acidity, super rich and sweet. A slightly extended wet ferment with a secondary soak is exactly what the Caturra and Pache in this lot wanted, it seemed. Combining the two lots we've got oodles of fruit and sweetness, this little short run of trad coffees acting as an intermezzo - but one with deep quality in it's own right - before we get back to the whizz bang specials

Each lot roasted separately and post roast blended.