Pink…Bourbon?: Cryptozoology and Genetics in Specialty Coffee

One area that has been rightly ripping, in particular relative to historical norms, has been the introduction, interest in, and acceptance of new coffee varieties. When Castillo was introduced many people wanted to turn their noses up at it. In our lab, we were more accepting, as the results on the cupping table were impossible to deny. We regularly found it to perform well against Caturra, Typica, and the many other varieties that we blinded it against. When it won the Cup of Excellence, people were somehow shocked, going so far as to disbelieve the results.

And then, seemingly overnight, Castillos were broadly accepted. What happened?

The Race for Fresh Crop by Jason Long

Is Fresh and Fast Good?
Fresh is good – freshly baked bread or freshly roasted coffee.
Fast can be good, too. Coffee hanging out in port towns like Dar, Tanzania, when it’s 99ᵒF (37ᵒC) and 99% humidity for extended periods is not ideal. In coffee, though, fresh and fast together aren’t always good. There is a strange race nowadays for new crop coffees where offerings may arrive before they should even be shipped.

Ratnagiri Estate: A New Era of Coffee from India

Meet Ashok Patre, a third-generation producer revolutionizing coffee production and processing in the Karnataka State. Watch our interview with him, and learn more about his farm, Ratnagiri Estates.

Presenting Purchase Planning: Costa Rica 2023

As a nimble and independently owned importer, we recognize that a roaster’s selections can only be made in advance with real-time information. Our green buying team is passionate about working actively with producers at origin throughout the year and sharing their knowledge and experiences with roasters like you.

SCA Expo 2023 Round-Up!

EXPO is approaching, and this is the round-up of everything we’ve got going on at and around the show! See you in Portland, friends.

About 4 years ago we noticed . . .an international mystery

Ethiopian coffee has always been our favorite, but there has always been a weird reshuffle of the business every few years, usually due to a governmental change triggered by something behind the scenes. We wanted to figure out what was going on this time.

Anaerobic Fermentation

Interest in innovative post-harvest processing styles is building across the coffee supply chain. Producers and consumers are seeing benefits like unique flavor profiles that add value to coffee, help producers, processors, mills, farms, and coffees stand out from the crowd, and help diversify offerings. 

What happens when an experimental farm and a micromill work hand in hand for five years?

Finca Juan Martin and Manos Juntas are two different projects, both striving to make coffee production more profitable for producers and consistently delicious for consumers, all under the Banexport umbrella. Banexport is our longstanding partner and friend, sourcing and exporting many of our Cauca, Huila, and Nariño offerings. Their commitment to quality, sustainability, and economic equality for producers is exemplified in their projects, particularly Finca Juan Martin and Manos Juntas.

Break It Down & Brew It Up: Coffee Cascara

When coffee is processed, the layers of skin, fruit, and parchment are broken down and removed, leaving behind the seeds we roast and brew. Those discarded layers once provided life and protection to the seeds, but don’t have to all go to waste. The skin of the coffee cherry can be dried and sold as a singular product called Cascara.

New Compostable Green Coffee Sample Bags

Our new green-coffee sample bags are made from biodegradable plant-based materials and designed to be composted by you. One of our primary values is to decrease our negative impact on the earth at every chance we get, and this is a real-life opportunity to do so. We believe this new packaging is a step in the right direction, but simply sending out a compostable material instead of a plastic material doesn’t mean we’re doing anything better unless these bags actually end up in the compost.