Latitude Espresso is the new name for our Seasonal Espresso Blend.

The blend currently comprises two components from smallholding farmers in Colombia and Ethiopia.

The Colombian component is produced by farmers from the town of Belen in the Inzá region while the Ethiopian component is produced by farmers from the town of Bonga in the Keffa Zone.

Expect floral and orange tones at the start with a long, smooth finish of maple with perhaps a hint of cocoa.

This coffee was produced by 40 smallholder coffee producers hailing from the sub-municipality of Belen. Every single micro-lot delivered was cupped and reserved due to its scoring 85 points or above by the community cupping lab. These stringent standards result in very limited quantities of this exceptional coffee being made available for export. This particular group is also one of the first from the region to be an entirely organic certified coffee.

Farm: 40 smallholder farmers
Varietals: Caturra, colombia & castillo

This exceptional fully washed coffee was grown by smallholder farmers living around the Kebele (town) of Bonga in Keffa Zone, SNNPR Region. The coffee is collected from farmers by Home Land Organic Coffee Agro Industry PLC, who processes the coffee.

Income from coffee is important but minimal for most farmers due to the small size of their farms. As such, inputs are minimal – most coffee grown in the region is 100% organic, though not certified, as farmers simply don’t have the money to apply chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides.

Washing station: Home Land Organic Coffee Agro
Varietals: Heirloom (Local Landraces & JARC 74 selections)

Latitude Espresso

Carvetii are specialty coffee roasters committed to supplying high quality coffee to Cumbria and beyond.

Carvetii Coffee have been supplying Cumbria and the UK with the most amazing specialty coffee since 2011. We have developed a strong reputation for the quality of our products and our commitment to the very best customer service. Today we continue to roast only the very best coffee and have expanded our products to include our own range of teas and hot chocolates. We supply espresso machines to both commercial and domestic customers and have our own servicing department to provide excellent and prompt after sales support. Our commitment to staff training is unparalleled and we are licensed to deliver the Specialty Coffee Association Coffee Skills Programme. We also run a range of home barista courses from our premises. Winner of the CN Group New Business of the Year Award 2013 Top 5 Micro Roaster in the UK according to Caffeine Magazine Best Small Producer 2015 (Cumbria Life Food & Drink Awards) Best Drinks Producer 2018 (Cumbria Life Food & Drink Awards) Shortlisted finalist for the Great British Food Awards 2020

Carvetii Coffee Roasters

Our Solitude Espresso currently comprises a single coffee from the farms of Tomas Bueno Medina in the La Coipa region of Peru

Expect flavours of black cherry and chocolate as an espresso, with a mellow acidity, and tones of biscotti when combined with milk.

You can purchase our Solitude Espresso in 1kg bags (please note quantity price break only applies to 250g purchases).

Tomas’ farms are located in La Naranjas, La Coipa, around 20km from the association’s headquarters in Jaen; high in Peru’s Cajamarca department. Tomas has been a member of the association Alpes Andinos since it first began in 2019. This means he is often regarded as one of the founders, along with his neighbour, Elmer Cruz.

Tomas, aged 34, bought his first farm, El Níspero when he was just 25 years old. Containing just 1 hectare of Typica and located some 500 meters away, Tomas has been farming the same lot for over a decade, honing his craft and using his 1 hectare to produce a fantastic cup. More recently, Tomas has inherited a second 2-hectare farm from his grandparents, El Cedro. Situated at over 1850masl, Tomas’ lot is made up of local varieties, Typica, Red Caturra & Bourbon; all of which thrive at high altitudes. This year, Tomas has also begun renovating a small section of the farm to include Yellow Caturra. This drive to improve quality with new varietals in one shared and promoted by the association. Alpes Andinos believing that producing great quality leads to producer empowerment and wider benefits for all coffee families.

Farms: El Cedro & El Níspero
Varietal(s): Red Caturra, Typica, & Bourbon

Solitude Espresso

This is our take in a more traditional espresso blend: we’ve roasted the coffee slightly more but without losing the origin character in the cup. This blend utilises coffees from Brazil and Colombia, making use of the fact that both these countries have a main and second harvest.

We're currently featuring a coffee from a single Brazilian farm in the current Fortitude Espresso:

Farm: Fazenda Santa Cecilia
Varietal(s): Red Catuai & Yellow Catuai

Fortitude Espresso

There are some coffees which we always look forward to receiving year on year, and Finca Nazareth is one of them. Fernando Alfaro, owner of the mill who processed this coffee, visited our Roastery a couple of years ago. While he was with us we put him on the spot and asked him to recommend a coffee to buy. Finca Nazareth was his personal recommendation and we’ve been purchasing it ever since.

While Fernando is responsible for processing this coffee (at Finca El Carmen, it was actually grown by his neighbour Mario Acosta, a fourth generation coffee farmer.

Mario and his family take a stringent approach to quality. The coffee on the family’s farms is selectively hand harvested, with only the best and ripest cherries being selected at each ‘pass’. All coffee is meticulously sorted before being delivered for processing to the nearby El Carmen. Fernando Alfaro works with the family to process their coffee to their specifications so as to assure its quality and consistency. The majority of coffee from Nazareth is fully washed, soaked and pre-dried. However, very special lots, such as this one, are processed using the natural processing method, for which El Carmen mill is increasingly renowned.

After cherries are sorted by hand again at the mill, they are delivered to dry on African Beds or on the mills extensive clay patios for 21 days, where they are regularly raked (initially every 20 minutes) to ensure even drying. Lots that start in the beds will spend an additional three to four days on clay patios, for a total drying time of around 26 days. Finally, the beans are prepared and all defects removed and screened to uniform size.

Expect flavours of pomegranate and prune with floral undertones.

Farm: Finca Nazareth
Varietal(s): 100% Bourbon

Finca Nazareth

We’ve been buying coffee from Lunji Estate in Tanzania for a number of years and always look forwards to this time of year, when the fresh harvests arrive.

Coffee has been grown at Lunji Estate since 1893, but when the current owners took over in 1994, the farm had been abandoned and a huge amount of work was required to allow production to resume.

After being selectively hand-picked, coffee is sorted to remove all debris and damaged cherries before being pulped on the same day using the farm’s 4 disc Mckinnon Pulper, which is electrically powered. In case of a power shut-down during the pulping hours, a 60 year old Lister engine powers the same pulper in order that the coffee is pulped immediately after picking.

The coffee is then conveyed to the fermentation tanks using fresh water, where it ferments for around 24 hours. The parchment is then fully washed before being washed again through the grading channel. The grading channel has several wooden stoppers at different heights. In this way the coffee is again sorted, whereby the floaters and possible debris will pass over the high-set stoppers while the heavier beans will remain at the top of the channel, held in place. This separation ensures a further quality control.

After fermentation and washing, the coffee is dried on raised beds for between 9 to 13 days, depending on the weather. During this time, the coffee is regularly turned and sorted to remove any damaged beans and debris.

Farm: Lunji Estate
Varietal(s): Blue Mountain Bourbon, Blue Mountain Typica, Bourbon SL28, Bourbon N39, Kent, Pacamara
Processing: Fully washed

Lunji Estate

Finca Los Nogales is the result of a combined effort from two farms in the Santa Ana region of El Salvador. Aviles Pacas Hermanos is a family business founded in 1973 and are responsible for growing and harvesting the coffee cherries. The processing has been undertaken at the neighbouring farm of Finca El Carmen, owned by Fernando Alfaro.

We currently have two coffees available from this region, both of which have been processed by Fernando. One is a fully washed coffee and the other, Finca Nazareth, is a natural processed coffee. Why not try both?

Expect flavours of cocoa, dried fruit and hazelnut in the cup.

Continuing a Legacy

The coffee legacy began on Finca San Rafael, the family’s first farm, which they have cultivated for more than 100 years. Back in 1930, the brothers’ grandfather, Don Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa, planted saplings of Maragogype, San Ramón, Arabica and Robusta in his small coffee garden on San Rafael. As they plants grew, Don Fernando cared carefully for them, making sure they produced to the best of their ability. Soon, some of the varieties on his small coffee plot were producing 85-102 quintales per acre, which was practically unheard of at the time. Don Francisco De Sola, one of El Salvador’s prominent coffee exporters, got wind of this, and understandably he was keen to see for himself. He visited the coffee garden and made specific observations regarding the Arabica hybrid known as San Ramón. He was so impressed by some of the coffee trees in the garden that he called Dr. William Cowgill of the University of Florida and invited him to see Finca San Rafael for himself. After his visit and subsequent research, Dr. Cowgill concluded that the new, highly-productive coffee plants were a mutation of San Ramón. He named the variety ‘Pacas’ in honour of Don Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa. This variety is now grown widely across El Salvador and Guatemala – indeed across Central America.

Farm: Finca Los Nogales
Varietal(s): 100% Bourbon

Finca Los Nogales

Our current decaf offering is an organic, mountain water decaffeinated coffee from Mexico.

Inherited by Alan Moreno in 2010, the farms reputation gained particular traction after in 2015, Finca Nueva Esperanza were selected by Starbucks Reserve to be their first full Mexican micro lot. Since then, Nueva Esperanza has been noted for its excellence and as an example of ‘best practices’ for specialty coffee in Mexico.

About Mountain Water Decaf

This unique non-chemical decaffeination process uses clear pure waters from the highest mountain in Mexico, the Pico de Orizaba, known as Citlatepetl in the local indigenous language.

The process works by immersing the green beans in water to extract the caffeine content. The water preserves the soluble flavour components of the green beans, helping to protect the original characteristics of the coffee.

To remove the caffeine from the water containing these soluble flavour elements, the water is passed through a filtration system. This produces a solution comprising the origin mountain water and the soluble coffee flavours, now free from caffeine.

The resulting green coffee is 99.9% caffeine-free. The beans are then dried to the required moisture content, polished and packed, ready to export in 69kg bags.

An organic approach

As an organic producer, production at Finca Nueva Esperanza is free from added pesticides or fertilisers, with old cherry pulp used to rejuvenate the soil. This does, however, leave coffee trees open to disease, with one of the main challenges at Finca Nueva Esperanza being the maintenance of older trees. To combat this issue, 25% of Finca Nueva Esperanza is renovated every year, making sure the remaining 75% is working at full productivity. Regularly adding new trees also allow producers to cycle in new varieties such as Marsellesa: the variety is becoming increasingly popular in the region for its resistance to leaf rust.

Processing

Processing in the region begins initially with coffee cherry being selectively handpicked, before being bagged and brought to the farms own wet mill. Finca Nueva Esperanza employees 60 members of staff to help pick in the harvest season, typically carrying out five passes to only pick the ripest of cherry. One final round is often carried out in the region, used to collect dried cherries and green cherries to create ‘Cerezo’ (sold to Coyotes for national consumption).

At the farm's wet mill, the coffee cherry is first sorted by hand and separated by quality, before being pulped of its cherry. Next, the beans are cleaned with cool clean water from the nearby river, before being placed into tanks to ferment. Here, the beans will remain for around 24 hours, depending on the climate. Once complete, the coffee is taken to the farm's patios and slowly dried, maintaining control to keep the flavour of the bean. Here, the beans will remain for several days, until moisture reaches below 12%. Finally, the dried coffee is milled at and bagged, ready for export.

Farm: Finca Nueva Esperanza
Varietal(s): Typica, Catuai, Red & Yellow Caturra, Red & Yellow Bourbon

Finca Nueva Esperanza Mountain Water Decaf

This season we’ve been lucky enough to secure three coffees from Tanzania. We’re using Igamba in our Latitude Espresso and following on from Lunji Estate we have Itende JKT. The flavour profile of this coffee is that of stone fruit with plum and dried fruit tones.

Itende JKT coffees are produced through the Tanzanian Army’s National Youth Program. The National Service – or Jeshi la Kujenga Taifa (JKT) in Swahili – offers alternatives to young people who have neither the opportunities nor the resources to access higher education. The programme is voluntary, and young people who inscribe are taught life-skills that enhance their ability to gain employment and income in areas such as agriculture, masonry, carpentry and entrepreneurship.

This coffee was wet-milled at Itende JKT’s mill on the same day that it is harvested. First, the coffee cherry was sorted in cement tanks filled with water. Floaters (including lighter-weight cherries that may have damage and under-ripe cherries) are removed. The cherries were then pulped using a four disc pulper and subsequently washed through grading channels. The parchment was then dry-fermented for between 48-72 hours (where it is turned once or twice during that period) and then washed and spread to dry on raised beds. In 2014, from the 27th to the 30th of October, the wet-mill processed some 22 tonnes of parchment coffee.

Itende JKT

This Decaffeinated lot is a mix of eight different lots purchased by our broker, Mercanta. This is a collection of five Brazilian estates, one group lot from the Democratic Republic of Congo and two group lots from Ethiopia.

Eight of the nine lots have been processed using the natural method, with just the Democratic Republic of Congo using the fully washed method.

The coffees in this blend are:

Brazil – Fazenda Samambaia Yellow Bourbon Natural

Brazil - Campo Alegre Mundo Novo Natural

Brazil – Fazenda Quilimbo Red Catuai Natural

Brazil – Fazenda Bela Vista Mundo Novo Natural

Brazil – Fazenda Rio Verde Acaia Natural

The Democratic Republic of Congo - Societe Maitea Minova South Kivu Bourbon & Blue Mountain Fully Washed

Ethiopia - Sidamo Shantawene Local Landraces & JARC 74 selections Natural

Ethiopia - Banco Gotete Local Landraces & JARC 74 selections Natural

Brazafrica CO2 Decaf

We only have a small amount of this coffee available so we’d suggest grabbing it while you can! This coffee was the Limited Release for our subscribers earlier this month and we’re down to the very last roast.

With one of the highest COVID rates in the world exporter Alpes Andinos has faced untold pressures at exporting their lots this year. Not only has Eric and the team at Alpes Andinos faced usual problems of rust and untimely rains, but nationwide restrictions and curfews have made coordinating it’s 115+ members even more difficult. It is really exciting therefore to be able to offer this coffee from the farm of German Carranza Barbosa.

Through extensive cupping, German Carranza’s farm, El Bebedero, has been singled out as one of the top lots from the region. German’s farm is located in the department of Amazonas, around 4 hours from the association’s headquarters in Jaen, high in Peru’s Cajamarca department. Having only joined the association last year, Germans farm El Bebedero is unique, as unlike many farmers in the region, German is able to produce natural and honeyed coffees; as well as washed. German’s farm, named El Bebedero (‘The Drinker’ in English) takes its name from its water source; supplied via the mountain deep within the subsoil.

German's harvest spans from June to September. For this natural lot, coffee processing begins with the cherries being selectively handpicked, before being sorted by hand into ripe and overripe. Once sorted, the coffee is fermented using the anaerobic method. This is conducted by placing the coffee cherry into grain pro liners for 30 hours. Once complete, the fermented cherry is taken to German’s solar dryer and placed on raised beds. Here, German monitors the moisture reduction using a hygrometer, slowly drying the coffee over 22 days. Once dried, the coffee is milled of its cherry and placed into sacks to rest before export.

German Carranza

Our latest ‘easy drinking’ offering is probably one of our favourites this season. This coffee has a broad chocolate profile with flavours of raisin, hazelnut and maple.

The Schaps brothers are fourth generation coffee producers in Guatemala and owners of the well-known farms Finca Los Caballitos and Finca Santa Paula, and at the time they had been considering investing in El Salvador in order to pursue new challenges and expand their portfolio of coffees. Patagonia was a must for the Schaps brothers since this farm was their grandfather’s, and they could not bear to see it go out of the family. Since then, the brothers have been working hard to transform Patagonia into a Specialty Coffee farm, just like their farms in Guatemala.

The farm is currently planted under 70% Pacas trees and around 30% Bourbon and is 100% shade grown, using primarily Inga trees to provide protection from sun and heat. Due to the strong winds that characterize this area of the Ilotepec region, which lies high within the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range, the Schaps brothers have found that many old Bourbon trees have struggled to survive. In these areas, they have been hard at work renovating and planting Pacas variety trees, which are shorter and more resistant to the wind.

Finca Patagonia

We always look forward to coffees from Kenya and this season we have an interesting offering from the Karani Factory, situated in the foothills of Mount Kenya. We often associate coffee from Kenya with tropical or blackcurrant flavours so it is always interesting to buy a coffee which breaks the mould. You can expect flavours of molasses, chocolate and cherry in this coffee.

Mills in Kenya are known as factories. The Karani Factory was built in 1998 when it also opened its doors for processing. Collectively, the 600 members of the Factory grow coffee on 134,000 trees, producing around 455 MT of cherries each year.

Harvest generally occurs amongst the cooperative members between October and December. In some cases, early crop can be harvested between April and July.

The coffee trees are carefully monitored and picking ensues only when the cherry is at the ideal level of ripeness. Picking occurs in the morning and buckets of bright red coffee cherries are carried to the mill. As the sun traverses across the sky into the afternoon, the cherries are piled high as underripe cherries and foreign objects are removed from the gleaming pile. The cherries are then poured into a hopper located just above the pulping station.

From here, clean water from the River Ragati is drawn upwards and directed into the hopper to cover the coffee cherries. This force pushes the cherries down a chute into the pulping house. Here, the outer pulp is removed thanks to the work of two rotating abrasive slabs. The de-pulped coffee is then moved via the force of a water channel towards a fermentation tank. Along the way, floaters, or lower quality coffee beans, are removed to ensure only the highest quality continue along the process. The denser beans are funnelled through a hole where they land into a fermentation tank to rest for the evening.

The following morning, workers assess the feel of the sticky mucilage remaining on the coffee. If it has reached the ideal level, water is placed over the beans to give them a final wash. From here, sluice gates open to move the coffee into washing channels where the coffee slides down a gently sloping tiled channel. Wooden shunts used by workers are manually placed into the coffee to separate the denser beans from the lighter beans.

From here, the coffee is evenly dispersed onto raised tables, under careful surveillance. If it is too sunny, or rain is in the forecast, the parchment is carefully covered. Moisture is regulated until the target of 10-12% is reached. The parchment is bagged up and transported to the dry mill.

Karani AB

The secret to this exceptional and very special lot is wood. Usually this is not the ‘secret ingredient’ you are looking for in a specialty coffee, but when you are talking about wooden barrels, you are into a whole new category of excellence. This nano lot of Guadalupe Zaju has been barrel aged in whisky barrels re-purposed from the Brown Forman Group, whose famous bourbon brands include Jack Daniels, Gentleman Jack and Woodford Reserve. The coffee is aged, in parchment, in these barrels for three weeks, and the result is a complex, boozy and deeply satisfying brew.

The team at Guadalupe Zaju came up with this innovative concept in seeking to develop a new product that would emphasise the complex and intrinsic characteristics of the coffee bean itself. Barrel Aging as a process is a relatively quick method of enhancing the flavour profile of the coffee without damaging the bean structure and with minimal risk to negative characteristics.

Lots selected to be barrel aged were selected based on a score of 83+, with fruit and wine profiles. These selected lots were then blended to balance the cup and aged in parchment barrels to contribute the heady aroma of Bourbon.

The coffee at Guadalupe Zaju is 100% shade grown (in fact, the farm is Rainforest Alliance, Utz AND Cafe Practices certified). Shade is well-managed and designed to be multi-purpose. Magnolia from Guatemala has been selected due to the fact that it is evergreen and has less leaf fall. Even more importantly, it is a sturdy tree with a relatively high canopy. The area is known for being windy (high winds in of 2008’s Tropical Storm Odile almost ripped the entire harvest away). Magnolia can withstand high winds and help protect the vulnerable coffee trees below. Shade trees are also selected for their ability to control pests. Because of coffee leaf rust and rising temperatures, the farm still has to apply some fungicide and pesticide. But they are able to limit application by widely planting the Chal n tree (Inga spp.). Not only does this tree provide shade and help fix nitrogen into the soil, it provides a feast for the “Chulunero” insect (as it is known locally), which would otherwise attack the coffee trees.

All coffee on the farm is selectively hand harvested and sorted, again, when it is delivered to the farms mill. The coffee is pulped using a Pinhalense ecopulper, purchased in 2009, which separates ripe and underripe/underweight cherries again, along with removing any debris remaining with the cherries. This pulper uses one cubic meter of water to process up to 20 tonnes! This is a huge water savings and contributes greatly towards limiting the farm’s environmental footprint.

After pulping, coffee is sorted by density and delivered to separate tanks to ferment between 15 to 40 hours, depending on the weather at the time. The coffee’s ‘readiness’ to be washed is done using the traditional method of ‘prueba de palo’ (stick test), where the coffee is stirred with a long pole to see if it is the right consistency to be washed. The farm has experimented with temperature gauges, but the workers find that these traditional methods are equally as accurate in determining fermentation levels.

After fermentation, the coffee is delivered to a demucilager to remove any last traces of mucilage, again helping the farm save water and limit waste.

Guadalupe Zaju Barrel Aged

Our current decaf has been produced entirely from Smallholder farms from Lufa and Okapa Districts. Each lot is sourced by local coffee entrepreneur, Mr Peno Kavori, Monpi’s partner in the region with more than 30 years of experience. From the Tua valley in the north, through the Crater Mountain range, down to the lower Lamari valley in the south, Mr Kavori’s fleet of vehicles helps to source some of the best coffee in the region; paying fair prices and incentivising local farmers to produce a quality product.

Traditionally, these very remote regions are difficult to traverse, meaning many producers would have to carry their crop over long distances to receive factory door prices. This often meant that many producers in the region leaned towards selling

their lots for cheap to those willing to transport it to the mill, rather than transporting it themselves for a higher premium. As such, many producers in the region also began to focus less on producing quality coffee. Instead, producers would cut corners, rushing post-harvest processing stages to achieve a quick sale.

In comes Mr Peno Kavori. Focusing solely on sourcing quality coffee, Mr Kavori’s fleet of trucks scour the rough terrain of his supply network; searching for the best lots Lufa and Okapa Districts have to offer. Instead of offering minimum prices for his collection service, Mr Kavori pays factory door prices at collection. This not only means producers are paid fairly for their quality product, but it also helps to incentivize other producers to improve their processing techniques.

This coffee as been decaffeinated using the carbon dioxide method.

Carvetii Coffee Roasters

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Carvetii Coffee Roasters

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Coffee Roasts

Finca Patagonia

Fortitude Espresso

Guadalupe Zaju Barrel Aged

Itende JKT

Karani AB

Latitude Espresso

Lunji Estate

Luoka Decaf

Solitude Espresso

Coffee archive

Brazafrica CO2 Decaf

Finca Los Nogales

Finca Nazareth

Finca Nueva Esperanza Mountain Water Decaf

German Carranza

New Coffee Review