Colourful

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Suitable for Filter and Espresso

Best Rested for: 2-3 weeks

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 blueberry, bubblegum, floral honey and yellow plum in the blend - but with such complex coffees, there are more interpretations you can bring out through brewing at home.

Traceability:

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. Whether it's a blend of beans from various origins or a single origin with an exceptionally vibrant character, what matters is the lively and unique taste experience it delivers. Something you can return to any time of the year when you fancy putting a bit of colour back in your mug. 

Version 5:

Moving into spring with a complete component switchover, we’ve got 2 brand new lots picked for a short 6-8 week run while new components are on the water. Edit - 03/05/24 - We're loving this combination so much we've extended the run by a further 4-5 weeks.

First up - an Indonesian anaerobic natural from the Koerintji Barokah Bersama co-operative. We’re fans of modern Indonesian preps - Alex competed in the 2020 UKBC heats with an Indonesian anaerobic natural, and one half of Colourful V4 was an Indo anaerobic natural from producer Aulia Kahfi. 

The Koerintji Barokah Bersama Cooperative brings together 320 members who cultivate coffee in the fertile region surrounding Mount Kerinci, a volcano in Sumatra's Pacific Ring of Fire.  This volcanic activity ensures a rich, productive soil for coffee growing. Led by Triyono, the cooperative boasts impressive facilities, including a roasting facility and cupping lab, a remarkable achievement considering its founding in 2017.

Sumatran coffee farms tend to be small-scale, averaging 0.5 to 2.5 hectares. Coffee serves as the primary cash crop, but farmers often diversify their income by intercropping with vegetables, potatoes, and fruit for their families, or by supplementing their income with work at nearby tea plantations. A growing trend in Sumatra sees farmers organising into cooperatives, like the Koerintji Barokah Bersama, to gain better pricing power, share resources, and access training.

During harvest season, families handpick the coffee cherries and deliver them to collection centers (UPHs) owned by the cooperative. Triyono oversees nine of these stations, ensuring quality standards are met with the help of an agriculturalist. Each UPH serves a specific area and receives cherries from local farmer groups.

An additional focus for co-operatives like Koerintji Barokah Bersama is value-addition processing. They have perfected the art of anaerobic naturals, with this lot fermented for 7 days in grain-pro bags - heavy, winey and very sweet, without the cheesy and off-putting flavours associated with a stressed fermentation.

The second half of Colourful V5 hails from Masha CWS in Burundi. The Masha station takes its name from the sub-hill where it's located, a place more well-known for its cattle than its coffee production. Interestingly, the name "Masha" originates from the Kirundi word "amasho" meaning "herds of cattle", reflecting the area's history as a crossroads for herders. Local herders even have a unique regional greeting, "gira amosho", which means "owner of cows". Masha was established in 1989 and primarily serves subsistence farmers who intercrop coffee with other food and cash crops to support their families.

Cultivating coffee in the region presents challenges. Many of the coffee trees are Red Bourbon but are quite old – often over 50 years.  Limited plot sizes make it difficult for farmers to justify removing old trees and waiting years for new ones to produce. To help farmers revitalise their crops, Greenco works with the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU) to establish nurseries and sell seedlings at a reduced cost. Additionally, Greenco provides organic fertiliser from composted coffee pulp to farmers.

Despite coffee's widespread presence in Burundi, individual smallholders have relatively small harvests. An average farmer might have 250 coffee trees producing about 1.5 kilos of cherry each, leading to annual yields of 200-300 kilos per farmer. During the harvest season, families handpick their coffee cherries, reflecting the small-scale nature of their operations.

One of the key focuses of Greenco has been in value-add processing, and they are early adopters of commercial yeast inoculated processing (“Kwambira” in the local Kirundi language). We featured a yeast-inoculated natural lot from the Kibingo station as both a component of Colourful V1 and from this latest harvest as a single origin espresso. 

This washed “oro” yeast inoculated lot from Masha was too good to pass up and perfectly matched with the heavy profile found in the Koerintji Barokah Bersama anaerobic. Very bright, citric and floral, the perfect foil for the more dense Indonesian coffee.

When combined together, we’re finding this blend to be almost like Beaujolais nouveau - sweet, bright, tart raspberry, blueberry and bubblegum-esq with honey and plums in the finish.