News

Hello MRC members,

The coffee is brewed, and the ski equipment is ready to come out of the garage. However, Mother Nature is waiting to bless us with that first big dump of snow. It is quite late now, but I know it will come with a bang. Similar to the coffee we have chosen for this final coffee drop of 2024. The minute we cupped this coffee, I knew it was perfect to enjoy over the holidays. It has everything I love in coffee. Smooth and round, stone fruits, and a great aftertaste. So I really hope you enjoy it!

Here are the farm notes:

Country: Guatemala

Farm: Samuel Escalante - Finca La Vega

Region:Cuilco, Huehuetenango

Variety: Bourbon,

Catimor, Caturra, Maragogype, Pache,

Altitude: 2000 masl

Processing: Washed

Tasting notes:

Panela and dark chocolate with mild dried apple and cooked red grape flavors. Mellow winey acidity and candy-like sweetness.

We are humbled & honored to take 4th place out of 35 of some of the best roasters in Norway and the world. Here are the results:

This has been an annual cupping event in Drammen with coffee profeesionals, and non proffesionals. The best we have placed before was in 2019 with a 6th.

This months coffee is back to the birth place of coffee: Ethiopia.

Origin: Ethiopia

Washing Mundayo

Region: Oromia, West Arsi

Altitude (MASL): 1945

Process: natural

Harvest Season: Nov - Jan

Varieties: Heirloom

Flavour: Tons of cooked lime with

perfumey jasmine, perfumey bergamot,

and fresh apricot flavors.

Tangy malic acidity and syrupy sweetness.

The Mundayo Washing Station is located in the Oromia Region in the zone of West Arsi and serves about 750 smallholder producers in the area. The farmers deliver their cherry to the washing station, where it is floated to remove damaged and underripe cherries before being dried on raised beds for 21 days.

Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on very small plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of smallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central processing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a receipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station and dried on raised beds.

I think you will like this months micro-lot that just landed into the roastery and is a washed Guatemala.

Country: Guatemala

Region: Todos Santos Cuchumatanes, Huehuetenango

Farm: Wilmer Barrios

Process: Washed

Varieties :Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Pache, Maragogype, Catimor

Elevation: 2000 MASL

Harvest: September–April

Farmers story:

Wilmer Barrios owns Finca Ojo de Agua in Todos Santos Cuchumatanes, an area with many beautiful coffee farms in Huehuetenango. He primarily grows Caturra and Catuai varieties but also explores the creation of hybrids. Barrios works to maintain the coffee area already planted and the native forest of their environment. Coffee growing is his livelihood and he takes great care to produce quality coffee.

It is back to work for most, and finding that “routine ”for all parents sending their kids back to school. So I hope August's coffee arrived to you in time for that first week back to the grind.

If you have not seen our new Youtube channel, we have Augusts coffee episode up now and with a bonus video tutorial with Ole Kristian showing you how to brew a simple V60 with the Ethiopian natural Bombe. The new media platform being on video is harder then it looks, but we hope to make fun informative coffee material for the coffee community.

August Ole and I were lucky to attend Huckfest, which is a massive Bike fest in Ål. We put on a fun brew workshop, which people seem to really enjoy and Ole shared his tips on brewing tasty Kokkekafe

Hello MRC members,

From South America now back to Africa for your coffee cup in August.. Summer in the coffee world is always exciting since a lot of coffee is being shipped from Africa. I choose this coffee because it has everything in the cup. Smooth, juicy, sweet, clean, and fruity but with a beautiful balance. Great for filter and exceptional on espresso.

Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on very small plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of smallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central processing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a receipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station and dried on raised beds.

Origin:Ethiopia

Washing Station: Ayla Bombe

Region: Bombe, Sidama

Altitude (MASL):2200

Process: Natural

Varieties: Heirloom

.

Testi Ayla Washing Station was founded in 2010 and became part of the Testi group in 2016. It now serves about 375 smallholder farmers in the village of Bombe in Sidama, near the Bombe Mountain. Producers here own an average of 2.5 hectares and grow varieties such as Mikicho and Setami, which are local coffees.

The washing stations serve as many as several hundred to sometimes a thousand or more producers, who deliver cherry throughout the harvest season: The blending of these cherries into day lots makes it virtually impossible under normal circumstances to know precisely whose coffee winds up in which bags on what day, making traceability to the producer difficult. We do, however, make every available effort to source coffee from the same washing stations every year, through our export partners and their connections with mills and washing stations.

Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and therefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee

Hello MRC members,

From Africa back to South America for your coffee cup in June. The adventure & journey always continues with the f the first ever catucai varietal Brazil.

Catucai is a cross between Icatu and Catuai, existing in yellow and red form. It is a hardy variety resistant to leaf rust and characterised by vigorous growth and high productivity. Yellow and red Catucai are small in statue, with red Catucai being slightly taller. This hybrid was made in 1988 by researchers at the then Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC). This variety was created to be coffee rust resistant and requires less water than other varieties. Catucai is also known for its high productivity.

Origin: Brazil

Farm: Fazenda do Cruzeiro

Region: Santo Antônio do Amparo, Campo das Vertentes

Altitude (MASL):905-1160

Process: Natural

Varieties:Yellow Catucai, Catucai

Hello MRC members,

This month is probably my secret favorite origin from East Africa. Everyone knows Ethiopia and Kenyan as the two power houses of world class coffee. However, I would say Rwandan coffees punch well above their weight and for the month of May you get a perfect example of greatness with this lovely washed process with clean notes of burnt toffee and brown sugar, dried fruits, almond and citrus zest.

Origin: Rwanda

Rwanda, Abadatezuka COOP

Region: Cyato sector, Nyamasheke

district, Western Province

Altitude (MASL): 1850-2200

Process: Washed

Varieties:Bourbon

Abadatezuka Cooperative is a group of smallholder farmers in Rwanda's Western Province who deliver their coffee in cherry to the Cyato Washing Station, which is located in the Cyato sector of the Nayamasheke district in that region. The producers here grow coffee at elevations all the way up to 2,200 meters above sea level, and the washing station is located at 1,850 meters above sea level. The washing station was established in 2017.

One interesting facet to coffee here is that the native honeybees that live in and around the Nyungwe forest where the coffee is grown are said to be responsible in part to the "unique profile" this coffee has. The bee-assisted pollination, fertile ground (black humus and sandy soil), and cool lake-affected climate thanks to the area's proximity to Lake Kivu contribute to the flavors found in the cup. The farmers use no synthetic inputs, either as fertilizers or as pest control.