Our current espresso blend is created with two fresh crop arrivals to our roastery. We decided on a 50:50 ratio, as with previous blends, to allow both coffees to sit beside each other and bring out the best of both. The La Copalita from Pluma Hidalgo in the southern state of Oaxaca in Mexico provides a full chocolate body and interesting aniseed sweetness, an ideal and harmonious base for our fruity juice driven Rwandan Gisuma to work with. This versatile espresso works equially well either as a straight shot or paired with milk. Alternatively, we have found that it can be used as a creamy satisfying filter option for those who like a solid medium roast and a little milk in their filter coffee.

The farm’s 100% Bourbon coffee is hand-picked when perfectly ripe, fully washed and dried in the sun. The coffee grows under a protective canopy of shade, made up of indigenous tree varieties such as the leguminous balsam and ingas. Both of these trees are chosen for their heavy leaf fall, which provides a rich natural mulch. El Retiro was a finalist at the Cup of Excellence in 2006 and continues to produce fantastic coffee.

Cascara, meaning "skin" or "peel" in Spanish, is a novel way of recycling left over coffee pulp, which is produced in huge quantities when ripe coffee cherries are pulped before the beans are washed and dried. In most producing countries this pulp is traditionally seen as worthless and is usually broken down and used as fertilizer - but it is also possible to dry this left over cherry to create the base for a unique and refeshing tea type drink.

Colonia Bolinda is the latest arrival in our roastery having arrived at port at the start of January. We are very excited to have this coffee on offer as it is part of a very small lot of excellent coffee. The Colonia or co-operative is certified organic and shade grown. Shade growing is a farming technique that encourages the growth of native flora in and amoungst the coffee plants creating a richer and more bio diverse environment with more natural fauna and a higher insect count that other instensive farming methods. Not only does the local ecology benefit from this, quite often farmers are able to grow other native crops around the coffee plants. This not only adds to the richness of the topsoil but can provide additional income to the coffee crop.

Yirgacheffe is well known as one of the finest coffee producing regions in Ethiopia and this coffee is an excellent example of some of the more dynamic and unusual flavour profiles to be had from the region. This coffee has been processed naturally, meaning that the outer pulp of the coffee cherry has remained on the bean while it dries. This provides great diversity to our current offer as all our other coffees have been fully washed. A result of this processing is an intensity of fruit flavours and a creamy body that really challenge expectations as to what "coffee" tastes like. A beautifully processed, challenging coffee.

Kamwangi lies at 1,250 metres above sea level and is bordered by the Igendambora river. The washing station serves some 1,215 farmers from five different villages in the local area. Most farms are small - averaging only 120 trees. The coffee trees are a mixture of SL 28, SL 34 and Ruiru 11 varietals, which grow in the shade of Macadamia and fruit trees.

This coffee is from the Southwest region of Mbeya, bordering the countries of Malawi and Zambia, and is traded commercially as the "Hope Project". The Hope Project, an acronym for Highland Organic Products Export, is a co-operative of farmers who all grow small crops of coffee on their own individual land and then pool their crops together. These are largely self-sufficient households who also have goats and gardens, and sometimes work another trade on the side. Whilst this coffee is not certified as organic, the Tanzanian smallholders eschew all use of chemicals in their production.