News

March has come and gone, and so has the snow. One of the lowest snow seasons on record, however, the fresh coffee never underdelivers and helps ease the pain of non-existent powder days. We are ready for Easter and had a productive March with production days and events.

March brought some downtime to fly over to France to see some family and be inspired by the French/Swiss Alps landscapes, food, and culture.

We are humbled and honored to take part in the Norway SCA Coffee competition, roasting Ole Kristian Bøens comp coffee, which was from the most famous farm in the world, Hacienda la Esmeralda. We roasted this high-priced coffee with an auction lot price of $1200 US in the new Link sample roaster. Ole Kristian cruised easily through the semi-finals and into the finals and took home 3rd place. A well-deserved win!

We were also on the road to do a pop-up event at Solheisen for a group of Norway's biggest influencers. We served up 3 filter coffees using the Fellow Aiden, which folks enjoyed with Babs the Baker's sweet treats.

We also have a new Youtube episode out where we discuss all things coffee competitions. So if you are thinking or interested in taking part in a coffee competition, then we highly recommend checking it out and going for it!. We also walk you through last month's washed Rwanda and brewing it via the V60. We hope the brew tips are helping you become a better brewer each day.

Have a wonderful Easter, and please enjoy this month's natural from PNG:

How I Ended Up in Hemsedal
By Micke DJ

My love for skiing started at a young age. I was lucky—my uncle owned a ski resort in Sweden called Funäsberget. My friend Magnus and I would skip school and spend every vacation skiing and working at the resort. That same uncle also owned a nightclub in Marstrand, where I got my first paid DJ gig at just 13 years old.

After finishing my military service, I headed to St. Anton, Austria, and spent a season working at the legendary Krazy Kanguruh. The next step? Another season somewhere else in the world. My friends Magnus, Jonas, and I (a.k.a. Tre Kronor) made a dream list:

• Aspen / Vail
• Whistler
• Chamonix
• St. Anton
• Hemsedal

As fate would have it, Magnus had a friend working in Hemsedal, so in the 91/92 season, we found ourselves behind the bar at the old Stavkroa. When they found out I was a DJ, everything changed. Since the 92/93 season, I’ve been DJing full time.

Over the years, I think I’ve played at almost every venue in town—Old Stavkroa, Garasjen, Skogstad Hotel, Hemsedal Hotel, Fanitullen, Askeladden, Skistar, Skarsnuten, Lodgen, Skigaarden, Fyri, Tapas Club... the list goes on. In 1998, I became the resident DJ at Hemsedal Café and have been with that crew ever since—Caféen, Hemsen, Big Horn, Oxen, Rockebaren, Kjelleren, Kitchenbar... and now, back where it all started, as the resident DJ at Stavkroa.

34 years later, I’m still here. Still skiing. Still playing music. Still loving every minute.

See you on the slopes—or the dance floor.

/ Micke DJ

February was an incredibly busy month for us, with a record number of orders going out to our partners for sports holidays here in Norway. We also hit a new milestone, shipping more coffee than ever to our fans—including some of our latest Grand Cru Reserve lots. Our roasting and shipping times have gotten significantly faster, with one customer dropping by Alps HQ to tell us she ordered on Sunday and received her coffee by Tuesday morning. That kind of speed makes us proud, and we continue striving to offer the best customer service in Norway—so far, so good with a 5-star rating!

Elias Roa is a renowned coffee producer from Huila, Colombia, with farms in the subregions of Pital and Acevedo. As one of the founding members and former President of Asociación Primaveral in Acevedo, he has played a key role in shaping the region’s coffee culture.

Nestled in the heart of the Macizo Colombiano, the Acevedo region boasts breathtaking landscapes. It’s common to see large rain clouds rolling over the mountains, periodically covering the farms in mist.

Coffee is a true family endeavor for Elias. His wife, Bellanid, his daughter, Derlin, and his son-in-law, Diego Campos (Colombian Barista Champion), all contribute to the farm’s operations.

Elias manages two primary farms: Finca Tamana in Pital and Finca Recuerdo in Acevedo. Both are home to a diverse selection of heirloom varieties, including those with African lineage. His processing method involves a dry fermentation of 14-16 hours, followed by multiple washes with fresh water before the coffee is carefully dried on raised beds for optimal quality.

Taste Profile: Dried stone fruit, fresh berry flavors, dried bergamot and lavender with a soft smooth mouthfeel

Here are the farm notes:

Origin: Ethiopia

Washing Station: Arsosala

Altitude (MASL): 1800-1900 MASL

Process: Washed

Arsosala is a washing station founded in 2015 that currently serves about 1,200 smallholder producers in the Uraga woreda of Guji. Coffees are picked ripe and depulped the same day, then fermented overnight before being washed clean and dried on raised beds. It typically takes the coffee 8–15 days to dry under sun and 15–20 days to dry when there are cloudy skies.

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.

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 professionals and nonprofessionals. 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