Harvest: Mar-Apr 2020
Producer: Carlos Eduardo Herrera Villatoro
Region: Huehuetenango
Variety: Caturra

As the seasons change, so does our TEAMWORK espresso, highlighting the very best single origin coffees throughout the year. We’re looking for coffees that are balanced and sweet, delicious in milk, and with enough complexity to be enjoyed straight up.

This is our first year featuring a Guatemalan coffee for Teamwork Espresso, and this particular lot is from one of our favourite producing regions - Huehuetenango! Picked in March-April this year, this is a single farmer lot, made up of 100% Caturra variety. Expect an espresso that's vibrant and sweet, with deep plummy notes that pairs with milk beautifully. 


Today, nearly half of coffee production comes from countries predicted to lose more than 60% of land suitable for growing coffee by 2050. As temperatures rise and extreme weather becomes more frequent, coffee farming is becoming increasingly difficult and less profitable for many producers across the globe. World Coffee Research is a non-profit organisation providing farmers with the tools, knowledge, and plants necessary to adapt in a changing climate. Together with our importing partners Caravela, we are donating €0.50 from every Kg of TEAMWORK Seasonal Espresso to support their work.

Teamwork

Great coffee starts with the quality and freshness of the unroasted beans, which is why our coffees are seasonally sourced from some of the most dedicated and passionate producers on the planet. But we believe quality is much more than just taste. Environmental responsibility is at the heart of everything we do, and our goal is to build a coffee company for the future.

Calendar Coffee

Harvest: January 2020
Country: Ethiopia
Producer: Raro washing station  
Region: Guji
Variety: Heirloom

Uraga is the name of the greater area where this coffee was grown, and Raro refers to the washing station where it was processed. With lots of new plantings in the area, there has been significant improvements in quality from Guji over the last few years, and we love the coffees from Uraga for their distinctive tropical flavours.  The Raro washing station is located at a whopping 2000 masl and the surrounding farms are at even higher altitudes! Due to the cooler temperatures, the coffee here matures slowly, and unlike other regions of Ethiopia, picking often continues right into February. 

All coffee here is picked by hand and during harvest, over 430 smallholder farmers deliver their cherries to the station for processing. The average farm size is 2-3 hectares and most of the coffees are organic by default. On delivery, farmers are paid premiums for higher quality cherries and most are registered for a second payment after the coffee is sold. Even though Uraga is a relatively new washing station, the management here is very strong and the team invests a lot of time and effort into improving their processing techniques.

Last year we roasted this coffee for espresso, but with a slightly slimmer body and an unusual acidity, we decided to reserve this year's crop for filter. With notes of lychee and guava, this coffee is intensely tropical and we think quite unique! 

Uraga Raro

Harvest: January 2020
Country: Honduras
Producer: Wilfredo Sanchez
Region: Opalaca
Variety: Caturra

It's only been since 2001 that the production of Honduran coffee has increased dramatically, and today it's one of the largest producers in Central America. The late blossoming of Honduran coffee was largely due to the lack of infrastructure, and the high rainfall in the country making it difficult for farmers to dry their crops. Only recently have we begun to see excellent coffees coming out of this country, and the best have a complex fruity quality, great structure and a juicy acidity. Everything we look for when sourcing coffees!  

Wilfredo Sanchez is a member of the COMICOVEL cooperative - a group of smallholder coffee producers who farm organically with a focus on environmental sustainability. Through agroforestry management, the producers are transforming their farms into mini ecosystems, helping to protect the forest and the freshwater resources in the area. The co-op exported their first coffee in 2018, and 2019 was the first year they sold their coffee under organic certification, earning them higher premiums for their crop. 

Wilfredo’s farm is located in the Opalaca mountain range and is a great example of how sweet and delicious Honduran coffee can be. Expect a juicy and well balanced cup, with notes of plum, brown sugar and black tea. This is a very versatile coffee and it's been going down a treat brewed in big batches at the roastery! 

Wilfredo Sanchez

Harvest: March - April 2020
Country: Colombia
Producer: 50 Smallholder Producers 
Region: Pitalito, Huila
Variety: Caturra, Castillo & Colombia

La Serrania is grown along an isolated set of mountains within the central Andes, stretching from Timana to Palestina. This coffee represents the work of 50 producers in the region who are committed to quality and excellence. Meticulous hand sorting and processing is practiced at each individual farm, with special attention paid to the drying process to ensure consistency, uniformity and a clean cup profile.

Sugarcane E.A. Decaffeination is a natural process that not only maintains fantastic integrity of green coffee flavour, but also allows us to offer a coffee that is grown, processed and decaffeinated all at source. This coffee is processed at the Descafecol plant in Manzales, Colombia where Ethyl Acetate derived from 100% sugarcane and mountain water is used to remove 99.7% of the caffeine present.

With the full decaffeination process happening at origin, this provides a secondary income to the country and has benefits for both the environment and cup quality. Unlike other decaffeinated coffees that are shipped to Mexico, Germany or Canada for processing, this coffee is shipped directly to our European warehouse. By minimising the time spent in transit, we are able to offer a decaf that is better for the environment, fresh and delicious.

La Serrania

Harvest: December 2019
Country: Honduras
Producer: Marysabel Caballero & Moises Harrera
Region: Marcala
Variety: Catuai

We’ve had so many memorable cups produced by the Caballero family over the years, and this will be the first time roasting one of their coffees for ourselves. Owning almost 200 hectares of land in the southeastern region of Honduras, Marysabel Caballero and her husband Moises Herrera are considered rockstars among coffee roasters. Their unshakeable commitment to quality and the environmental sustainability of their farms has played a significant role in building the reputation of Honduran speciality grade coffees. 

Everything they do on their land is documented, and they invest considerable time and resources, both in new equipment and the planting of new varieties to improve the quality of their coffee. A lot of their energy and focus goes towards improving the biology of the soil, farming organically, and ensuring a healthy growing environment for their crops.  

This lot is from the farm La Francisca - it’s fully washed, and made up of 100% Catuai variety. This coffee is approachable and well balanced, but what we loved most was its interesting herbal notes. We would typically steer away from herbal tasting coffees because they can often be quite savoury and not to our taste. However, this coffee is super sweet with amazing flavours of fresh garden herbs and toffee apple, something we hadn’t experienced before!

Caballero

Harvest: December 2019
Country: Ethiopia
Producer: Chebesa Washing station
Region: Gedeb, Gedeo
Variety: Dega, Walisho & Heirloom

The coffees from Ethiopia have been particularly good this season, and we were spoilt for choice when making our buying decisions earlier this year. In the end, we picked three amazing coffees, all from the south of the country, east of the Rift Valley. This lot in particular stood out for its fantastic depth of flavour and unbelievable aromatics, and we could resist reserving this for espresso.  

Chelbesa is the first of two sites that exporting company SNAP coffee owns in the area. This washing station is located at 2,100 masl, not far from the Worka town in Gedeb. Chelbesa is the largest coffee growing area in Gedeb, with a total area of 1,240 hectares of coffee farms, and this station buys cherries from approximately 170 farmers all located in the area. The farms are between 0.5 to 2 hectares in size, and sit between 1,925 and 2,110 masl. The varieties that make up this lot are Woliso, Dega and local heirloom.

Expect a complex, fruity and incredibly aromatic espresso, with notes of dried apricot, lychee and bergamot. 

Chelbesa

Known for its high altitudes and fertile soils, the Cajamarca region in northern Peru is perfectly suited for growing quality coffee. However, the lack of infrastructure and governmental support in the area has resulted in the majority of the coffees produced here being blended together and sold for much less than they are worth. Fortunately, things are changing. This lot comes from the Cenocafe cooperative, who are helping producers improve cup quality through organic farming practices and rewarding them financially for their investment.

This is our second year roasting coffee from Segundo Salvador, and for many of you his coffee was one of the highlights from last year! This lot is USDA certified organic, and as of February this year we are certified to roast and sell organic coffee with the little green label to prove it. We’re really proud of this achievement and excited to bring you more fully certified organic coffees in the future.

The flavours, sweetness and structure of this coffee lends itself perfectly to espresso, making some of the sweetest milk drinks we’ve tasted. With notes of toffee, apricot and orange, it's a real pleasure to have this coffee back in the range.

Calendar Coffee

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Calendar Coffee

🇮🇪 Ireland

Coffee Roasts

Caballero

Chelbesa

La Serrania

Segundo Salvador

Teamwork

Uraga Raro

Wilfredo Sanchez

New Coffee Review