From Kalmar, Sweden, we are happy to introduce you to Balck Coffee. This is the second time they take place in our box and we couldn't be more excited!
How did Balck Coffee start?
Sebastian and Louise wanted to change the unsustainable coffee market of commodity coffee. Today we are 100% independent of middle hands and are working directly with all the farmers, for better quality which they can get more paid for and aiming for more sustainable agriculture. We do pay between 102-308% directly to the producers over the stock market price.
What is the coffee scene like in Kalmar? How has your coffee been received since you started roasting?
In Kalmar, we started a new coffee standard, especially when a lot of cafes and restaurants wanted to support our visions. Our customers are all over Europe and are finding themselves as the coffee drinkers of the future :)
Many of our subscribers are tasting Balck Coffee for the first time. What can we expect from the three coffees (Costa Rica Montero, Rwanda Huye Mountain and Ethiopia Gersi)?
Costa Rica Montero - Experimental anaerobic process which seems to go from a hype to a new process standard. This coffee is from the Family Urenas neighbor (Montero family) who produce around 700kg green coffee a year and Ricardo Urena is helping them to process and export the coffee together with the coffee we also buy from them. This is a typical example of how close you can come to the producer if you have the interest, we are like family :) Clean tastes of candied apples and some purple fruit with a balanced chocolate taste.
Rwanda Huye Mountain - Is one of our first direct relationships and is still the strongest, Alloys and David is probably producing the best coffees in Rwanda. The coffee in the box is in its last month before new crop and right now you can expect black tea notes and citric acidity. When it arrived at the roastery you could taste a lot of vanilla and marzipan but it´s not there anymore, still a very complex and tasty cup! For the coming crop, we do have bought the best lot of the whole farm, both washed process and also natural which has been forbidden to produce in Rwanda for many years. This will be our most complex and extreme cups going out from the roastery 2020!
Etiopien Gersi - What can I say?! If you love naturals this is heaven, a result of very skilled processing controlled by Adham and Faysel who are the visionaries. We do buy the coffee from the station Gersi which also got placed as 2:nd best coffee in the national competition Cup of Ethiopia. We will visit Ethiopia this week and also record a documentary movie about the origin country of coffee!
Are there any projects you are working on right now that you are extra excited about?
Several ones! We love the trend of making a difference and make speciality coffee more available. Now in 1-2 years, we will do origin movies of all the producers we are working with :)
Looking ahead, what can we expect from Balck Coffee in the future?
That we will make better coffee more available and also find a lot of unique coffees in our portfolio, as a result of long term and strong relationships with the farmers!
What coffees did we send in October?
Montero
Origin: Costa Rica
Process: Black Honey
Altitude:
Varieties: Red Catuai
Tasting notes: Candy apple & vanilla
This coffee is produced by the family Montero in the region Chirripo in Costa Rica. Montero’s neighbour, Ureña Rojas, built a micro mill in 2005 to open up the possibility for the area’s local coffee farmers to export their coffee themselves, instead of selling it on the commercial market. Montero use a secret anaerobic process method that gives this coffee its unique flavours. Balck bought this coffee from the Monteros at 432% above the coffee market price.
Huye Mountain
Origin: Rwanda
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1600 - 2300 MASL
Varieties: Red Bourbon
Tasting notes: Vanilla, peach & black tea
Huye Mountain was featured in our last collaboration with Balck. When we heard that they still had the coffee, we couldn’t resist having it again. Huye Mountain is produced by David Rubanzangabo who is connected to 500 local farmers in South Butare, Rwanda, where minimal impact on the environment and organic farming are important cornerstones in their philosophy. The farming is conducted according to organic principles, making this a coffee that both tastes and feels good.
And exclusive to our Tasting box subscribers
Gersi
Origin: Ethiopia
Process: Natural
Altitude: 2000 - 2150 MASL
Varieties: Heirloom
Tasting notes: Sponge cake & apricot
In the village Idido, not far from Yirgacheffe, Faysel Abdosh runs the farm Aricha. When he took over the farm in 2018, it was in bad shape. Compared to that time, now there’s both electricity and clean water at the farm, as well as proper roads. 700 smallholder farmers work and live next to the farm. They own on average 1-2 hectares of land each, and together the farmers grow the typical Heirloom variety. This natural processed coffee has notes of sponge cake and apricot.
Get your new favourite coffee ✨