For all coffees we buy we have an extensive description with background information about the farm or partner where the coffee is sourced.
We roast several times a week and keep limited stock of roasted coffee to guarantee freshness.
Coffee can be stored for years, however, the best results are achieved between about two and eight weeks after roasting. That’s why we don’t mention an expiry date, but a roasting date on the bottom of our bags.
The Sakami farm is creating “agroforestry” by intercropping macadamia trees between coffee, protecting all indigenous trees in and around the farm, protecting the wetland by not interfering on it, leaving natural bush sections in and around the coffee trees, having beehives around the farm, and avoiding the use of pesticides or herbicides. All “waste” such as coffee pulp and macadamia husks are fed to earth worms and worm castings are returned back to field as manure or used to make foliar feed. Water from pulping and washing the coffee is treated in a settling pond with lime and then used to irrigate the pasture below the ponds. Next to all this, Sakami uses mineral fertilizers to replace the nutrients taken away when harvesting cherries.
Region
Trans Nzoia County
Plantation
Sakami Estate
Altitude
1.800
Plant variety
Batian
Process
Washed
Tasting notes
Orange, chocolate & plum
When Pepe Davila and Celestinda Valdivia got engaged 28 years ago they also decided to give coffee-growing a chance, which in those years was not as common. Neither of them came from coffee-growing families. They had seen in neighbouring communities how well it grew and the market it had. So Pepe asked his brother for a 0.5 hectare of land where they planted their first coffee plants. Years later, Celestinda and Pepe had 6 children who were taught to grow coffee. These days, 4 of their children have their respective families and coffee represents their main source of income for all of them. In addition to coffee, the family also grows cane sugar to produce “yonque”, a strong alcohol that is very popular in the north of the country. They produce 25 “botijas” (approx. 35 litres per “botija”, 875 litres in total!) a year which are sold to neighbouring communities and provinces.
Pepe and Celestinda now have 3 acres of land, where they have planted a mix of Yellow and Red Caturra. This lot is a washed lot. The coffee cherries are handpicked and floated after picking. After pulping the coffee goes through 48 hours of wet fermentation and is then dried in black tents for 18 – 25 days depending on weather conditions.
This coffee is nice and sweet, with flavours of caramel, vanilla and honey.
Region
Sector El Campo, Cajamarca
Plantation
Pepe Davila
Altitude
2.000
Plant variety
Yellow & Red Caturra
Process
Washed
Tasting notes
caramel, vanilla & honey
Sitio Santa Luzia is located in the region of Matas de Minas. One of the oldest and most traditional Brazilian coffee regions. Ana Maria Ribeiro is a third generation coffee farmer. All knowledge about coffee and coffee processing was passed on from generation to generation.
For many years the cultivation and management of Sitio Santa Luzia were directed towards producing commodity coffee. In 2013 they discovered the possibilities of producing specialty coffees, but it was only in the 20/21 harvest that they decided to improve their harvesting and processing techniques.
Continuously they seek to improve the quality of their coffees, the quality of picking and the environment.
The harvest is predominantly manual and semi mechanized due to the slope of their plots. In the post-harvest period after floating the cherries, the batches are de-hulled. After hulling the coffees are dried in paved terraces, suspended terraces or rotary driers.
The result is a very refined classic Brazilian coffee: good body and sweetness, with pronounced flavours of almond and hazelnut and mild fruit notes.
Region
Plantation
Altitude
Plant variety
Catuaí 144
Process
Pulped Natural
Tasting notes
Hazelnut, almond & creamy
@fazendacalifornia
Quality and consistency. It’s not easy when you’re a farmer, with changing weather and different circumstances on a yearly or even seasonal basis, to match the exact same flavor profile as last year. It might even be impossible. For this reason, the team of Q-graders of Capricornio Coffees cup all the coffees of the more than a dozen partner fazendas and farmer groups, grade them according to their flavor and quality, and then make farmer blends, solely based on taste. For example, the Dulce Signature blend is described as dark chocolate, with a sweet and round thick body. One year, this might consist of more coffee from Fazenda Terra Preta and less from Sítio Teixeira. The year after, this might be the other way around.
Farm composition in the coffee bag might change, but the farms don’t sit still themselves either. Being part of Capricornio’s 4 Seasons Project, they get free agronomical support, with an agronomist visiting them every 60 days. Together, they look at plant and soil health and do soil measurements, that are used to advice on which parts of the farms need extra attention. It’s high-end knowledge and solid partnership to provide a sustainable future.
Since 2017, we have been working with the Dulce blend and they have since proven to be the stable factor for many cafe’s. It comes with its own traceability report, so we know in detail which farms contributed to which blend, year after year.
The cup profile gives us everything we want in a good Brazilian coffee: good body and sweetness, mild acidity and heavy chocolate and nutty flavours without any fruit notes. A true crowd pleaser.
Region
Plantation
Altitude
– 900
Plant variety
Yellow Catuaí, Mundo Novo, Obatã.
Process
Pulped natural
Tasting notes
Walnut & chocolate
@plotcoffee
The Aricha station, in the words of the current manager, was a dump. A neglected, abandoned, and the out-of-business station that did not process a single cherry for years on end. Grass covered the entire terrain and the buildings were in decay. The surrounding smallholders had to deliver their cherries to another washing station further up the road. A far from an ideal situation, since transport goes on foot or by mule. But just a few months before the harvest of 2018, the communities met with a new potential station owner. Faysel Yonis, the founder of coffee exporter Testi Coffee.
Testi owns and/or operates washing stations in Guji, Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Limu – all premier coffee producing regions. They work with smallholder farmers, intending to secure the very best prices for their coffee so that they can pay fair prices for the cherry delivered. They are currently also building a warehouse in Shakiso where they can process natural coffees locally, in the region where the coffee is grown. This keeps more revenue in the communities where the coffees are produced.
Testi’s objective is quality and building long term business relationships. Their washing stations are very well run and they do diligent work through sorting and screening to get clean and quality beans for export. Testi always adheres to the very highest quality standards to prepare and deliver nothing but high-quality beans.
As of 2018, Testi has launched a quality improvement project at each washing stations that they operate. Their PCS (Premium Cherry Selection) Project fully controls all aspects of harvest and processing to ensure that the fantastic natural quality of the coffee is maintained at each step. They are also making the most of the market liberalisation to benefit the small producers that they work with. Social projects, such as building new classrooms for the local school near their Guji processing factory are also important, and with support from their importing partners they hope to do even more in the future. They also currently have a drinking/household water provisioning project underway in Guji, and they plan to extend this to other communities in the future.
The name ‘Testi’ means Happy or Happiness in Harrari language (it is also the name of Faysel’s middle son). Certainly, Testi is bringing happiness to small scale producers and us!
This washed lot from the Aricha station is very layered and complex with lots of floral notes, lemon and peach.
Region
Plantation
Process
Tasting notes
Peach, lime & floral
@plotcoffee
Region
Plantation
Process
Tasting notes
Forest fruits, lemongrass & jasmin
The name Aquiares means “land between rivers” in the Huetar indigenous language, and Aquiares is commonly referred to as “Aquiares Coffee and Community.” It is the largest farm in Costa Rica and home to 1,800 people. Although the farm was founded in 1890, Alfonso Robelo is the man responsible for its transformation a century later. Alfonso arrived in Costa Rica in the 1980’s seeking refuge from the civil war in Nicaragua, where he was politically active. When politics soured into violence, he fled the country to keep his family and himself safe after receiving several threats against his life. Once in Costa Rica, Alfonso began building the Aquiares community on the enchanting slopes of the Turrialba volcano, a lush area of forests, rivers, fauna, and bright flora.
Alfredo challenged the status quo, transforming the relationship between landowner and farm workers. He brought a visionary approach to Aquiares, a farm suffering from low prices and instability. Aquiares had more than 200 employee homes on the farm, but because none owned their home, there was great insecurity in the workforce. Alfonso saw this as an opportunity to strengthen the company by having people feel pride in the coffee they produce. He evolved the farm into a small town where workers purchased their own homes. Today, Aquiares remains a model of sustainable agriculture.
Nowadays Alfonso’s son, Diego, manages the farm. Under his lead, the farm has taken a fresh approach to specialty coffee and exploring the farm’s potential. Through excellent agricultural management, embracing new varieties, and experimenting with processing, Aquiares has become a trailblazer among specialty coffee producers in Costa Rica and all of Central America.
Aquiares focuses on carbon neutrality and measures its greenhouse gas emissions to calculate its carbon emissions against its offsets. An agent verified under International Panel on Climate Change norms verifies these calculations and Aquiares’ carbon measurement and emissions reduction are part of Costa Rica’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action. In addition to capturing carbon, the farm’s protected biological corridors have long ensured the wellbeing of local animals and plants. Aquiares also welcomes researchers from around the world to conduct agricultural and environmental studies on their land. Projects have included investigating the benefits of agroforestry on soil health and observing the diverse bird and wildlife species that thrive in an agroecological environment.
Aquiares is an example of innovation and perseverance whose benefits extend beyond the farm and workers and serve as a model for sustainable, equitable production for the broader coffee industry.
We currently have two lots from Aquiares Estate;
Natural Anaerobic lot
Centroamericano H1 is an F1 hybrid variety generated by crossing the Sarchimor T-5296 and a wild Rume Sudan variety. It is reproduced through a tissue culture cloning process called somatic embryogenesis. This cultivar has been distributed among coffee producers in Central America over the last decade and the first productive harvests are now available. Turrialba’s climate is well suited to growing this new variety and Aquaires is up to the challenge of meeting its complex nutritional needs.
The Centroamericano variety was especially selected for Anaerobic Natural processing because of its high mucilage content. The cherries are floated and washed with fresh water but not depulped. Afterwards, the coffee is placed in a stainless steel tank with a one-way air valve. In the tank the coffee will start to ferment with the natural microorganisms and yeast present on the coffee cherries. The fermentation will push out all the oxygen and after one or two hours the anaerobic environment is created within the tank. This fermentation continues for a total time of 24 hours. After fermenting the cherries are washed again with fresh water and dried in the solar dryer. First for two days they are placed on a ceramic patio and finish drying in layered beds within the solar dryer.
Unlike a lot of other anaerobics the flavours of the Aquiares Anaerobic are less intense but more layered and complex. You’ll find flavours of grapefruit, strawberry, caramel and orange.
Red Honey lot
Honey processing removes the coffee pulp or cherry skin but leaves the sweet mucilage intact on the coffee bean during the drying stage. The descriptor “red” refers to the color of the mucilage as it dries on the coffee beans. This is later hulled off with the parchment during milling, but the sugars have been absorbed into the coffee bean giving greater dimension to the final cup. Red Honey from Aquiares is dried on raised beds for 18–24 days.
This coffee is very sweet with mild acidity. Expect flavours of pecan, orange and dark chocolate.
Region
Plantation
Altitude
Plant variety
Process
Tasting notes
Bubblegum, orange & tropical fruits
Region
Plantation
Altitude
Plant variety
Process
Tasting notes
Pecan, orange & dark chocolate
Luis Anibal Calderón is a second generation coffee farmer working in coffee for over 40 years now. His life in the fields started when he was 12 years old. By the age of 15, his father gave him a small piece of land to work and he began to save the profits generated by this production. Six years later he managed to buy his first farm. He married and had 3 children. At age 40 he bought the Villa Betulia farm, where he first planted Castillo and Caturra.
In search of a way to remain profitable, he began planting specialty coffee varieties in 2012, when he planted 5,000 Geisha trees on around 5% of his farm. Luis’s sons work alongside him on the farm and are learning to cultivate these specialty varieties.
Ten years later, it was apparent to Luis Anibal that returns from cultivating Geisha were worth the extra effort. He decided to dedicate his entire farm to farm more delicate and rare specialty varieties, such as Geisha and the Pink Bourbon in this lot. His dream is to produce 100% exotic varieties like these on his farm and would like drinkers of his coffee to understand the effort and love his family puts into their coffees.
Today, Villa Betulia is planted with a wide range of specialty varieties including Red, Pink and Yellow Geisha, Tabi, Java, Sidra, Striped Bourbon, Maragogype, Pacamara, Marageisha and several varieties of dwarf Geisha.
We currently have three excellent coffees in stock from Luis Anibal. Two Gesha’s (Natural and washed) and one experimental processed Honey Anaerobic Caturron variety.
Region
Plantation
Altitude
Plant variety
Process
Tasting notes
cola, cardamom & star anise
Region
Plantation
Altitude
Plant variety
Process
Tasting notes
Lemoncurd, tropical fruits & honeycomb
