Location: Jimma, Oromia, Westermn Ethiopia

Genji Challa is a sister washing station to the famous Nano Challa which was established in 2019 just a few miles away from the Nano Challa station which was etsablished in 2004.

Farmer members cultivate coffees at altitudes between 1850 and 2100 metres, and have around 3 hectares of land each, on average. As is the case across Ethiopia, most of the coffees grown locally are organic by default, and consist mostly of old, naturally indigenous heirloom varieties, punctuated by smaller areas of an improved native varietal called 1274.

Once producers deliver coffee to the washing station, cherries are floated before being de-pulped using a Penagos Eco Pulper. The coffee is then soaked in clean water in concrete tanks for 8 hours before drying; firstly skin-dried and sorted under shade, before being sun dried for approximately 10 days on raised African drying beds.

Genji Chala

All of our coffee is roasted on site at our hq and roastery in Ammanford, South Wales. Unlocking the unique flavours within the world's finest coffee begins in the roaster. Hand-roasted in small batches to ensure the optimum roast profile every time.

Coaltown Coffee Roasters

The name sake and foundation of what we do here at the roastery. This was the coffee that kick started everything. The idea was a coffee that is easily approachable and great crowd pleaser. We serve Black Gold daily at our cafes alongside other sensational seasonal coffee offerings. It's part of people's habits and daily rituals and we couldn't be more proud of it.

Black Gold No3 espresso is our first blend and has won Two Gold Stars in the UK Great Taste Awards in 2014.

This blend is hand roasted to just beyond first crack to give it a rich espresso zing whilst still retaining the natural flavours that are manifested at origin. Its rich chocolate and biscuit base makes it very drinkable.

Black Gold №3

Producers: Emmanuel Ramirez, Faustino Ramirez,

Union San Pedro represents around 180 coffee producing families and is co-ordinated by Salomon Garcia. Salomon is originally from Xanica, one of the eight communities of San Pedro and he helped to establish the association back in the early 2000’s. Along with the original leadership group, Salomon went on to found UNTAO to support the production of San Pedro as the association grew.

The average farmer in San Pedro has between 1-4 hectares of land and generally a very small production of coffee like most producers in Oaxaca. The coffee is a mix of two varieties that are very typical to the Sierra Sur, Mundo Novo, and Pluma Hidalgo. Pluma Hidalgo is a variant of the typica variety and was developed in the Sierra Sur, in the town of Pluma Hidalgo just a few miles from San Pedro.

Union San Pedro

Producers: the ferrero family, patos de minas

Fazenda Pântano is located in the Cerrado close to the city of Patos de Minas at an altitude of 1,150 meters and covers a total area of 550 hectares.

Pantano has been a pioneering farm in Minas Gerais being the first one in the region to treat each hectare individually and then show equal levels of attention in the postharvest processing and production of the coffee. Once harvested the coffee is then separated by density with the ripe cherry being selected and then pulped with most of the mucilage removed before it is then laid out on the patio for drying for between 7 - 10 days.

There is also a meteorological station on site to ensure water is being used correctly, taking into account the following factors on each hectare.

Fazenda Pantano

Producers: Kisinga washing station, Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd

Kisinga is a coffee station in the Rwenzori mountains that we visited last year in order to source some of the best Arabica that Uganda has to offer. This premium natural captivated us with its amazing fruity sweet and boozy notes, creating a unique natural process coffee that we felt best represented the sensory experience of visiting this area.

The Rwenzoris, famously known as the ‘Mountains of the Moon’ range to the east and west, inhabited by farmers from the Bakonzo tribe. They stretch for 120km along the Western Uganda border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The high altitude, fertile soils and plentiful rainfall provide perfect conditions for Arabica beans.

Agri Evolve, the parent company of the Rwenzori Coffee Co. is dedicated to training farmers in the latest developments in agronomy - 'farming for a better future', as is stated in their motto.

Kisinga

Producers: Izuba washing station

The Izuba washing station is in the commune of Kabarore located 23km from the Kayanza township and within the greater Kayanza province - arguably Burundi’s most renowned specialty coffee producing region. Situated in the far north of the country coffees processed at Izuba benefit from high altitudes that range between 1750 and 1900 masl, and sharing many of the fruit forward taste characteristics of the coffees of their neighbours to the north, Rwanda.

The Izuba washing station is uniquely placed by a nearby river which it uses to produce the coffees for small-holding famers in the surrounding area. While, in 2019, Izuba was still able to process coffee for 784 farming families  the volume of production as a whole was significantly down due to bad weather and low harvests.

Izuba

Jenkin Jones is the name we gave to our decaffeinated single origin. It is a gesture to a Welsh coal baron Jenkin B. Jones, who travelled from Glyn Neath to America in 1863 to make his fortune in the prolific anthracite coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania.

Nicaragua matagalpa is a coffee that comes from the mountainous northwest region of Nicaragua. All coffee is grown at the highest altitudes, which allows the bean to develop slower, resulting in a denser high quality bean.

Finca el poetezuelo is farmed by dona elsa luz avila, the youngest sister of the avila magana family, where she follows the traditions of her ancestors in cultivating over 100 hectares of coffee plants shaded by Inga trees.

All beans are decaffeinated through organically certified and environmentally friendly sparkling water decaffeination process, and are then roasted gently to draw out the natural flavours manifested at origin.

Jenkin Jones Decaf

Pit Prop No1 is an espresso blend that is highly commended, and received recognition in the UK Great Taste Awards in 2015. A blend of Brazil and Ethiopia Arabica coffee, Pit Prop explores deep flavours of dark chocolate with a subtle hint of tobacco. It was developed for people who enjoy exploring new and unique flavours in coffee, and makes a wonderful, sumptuous espresso.

Candle Light №1

The criteria for Anthracite was a juicy fruity NATURAL Espresso full of flavour you wouldn't necessarily associate with coffee and we believe we have managed to achieve this.

Anthracites unique profile received commendation from the Guild of Fine Food with a 3 star Great Taste Award.

Region: Bookissa Kebele smallholders co-op

Bookkisa is the name of a sub-kebele (hamlet) where the Bookkisa group of 33 farmers are located. The average farm size of each member is 2.55 hectares and The coffee grows under a canopy of natural forest, which is typical of coffees gron in the Guji area. The fertile red land is made up of clay and loam.

All of these farmers are trained in agronomy and post-harvest practices by the "King of Guji", Ture Waji. What's unique about how these drying stations are managed are the drying beds themselves: each day lot is tracked with a tag for each bed, listing the specific delivery date, the start date of the drying process and moisture content readings for each day. This high level of care and attention to detail helps the Bookkisa group of farmers to turn out some spectacular coffees.

Anthracite №2

Producers: Atsabe wet mill in Baboe Kraik,

Having found its sovereignty in 2002, Timor-Leste is one of the world’s youngest countries. As the country finds sta-bility, the development of the agriculture sector is rapidly becoming an important pillar for the structural transforma-tion of the country’s economy. Timor-Leste currently faces enormous economic upheaval, as its oil reserves begin to run dry.

Cherry from Koileki is collected daily and processed at the Atsabe wet mill in Baboe Kraik, situated at 1800MASL. Drying takes three weeks after 15 to 18 hours of fermentation across a combination of Colombia, Timor-Leste , and African style beds, before being moved to fully shade dried for 3 weeks in Railaco, at much lower altitudes.

Koileki

Producers: El Fénix Community Wet Mill and Farm

El Fénix is our latest direct trade farm relationship coffee owned by Raw Material green coffee.

Acquired by Raw Material in 2016, the El Fénix farm is located in the eastern municipality of Quindío, Colombia in Calarcá. It faces west toward the Cauca Valley and the central mountain range. The farm has ideal climate conditions with a strong sun reflection off the valley and an average rainfall 2.275 mm a year, in addition to natural spring falls which provide water for the farm’s needs.

As well as being a rare variety producing farm, El Fénix is also home to a developing a community wet mill for producers in the area. The project was crowdfunded to help fund the construction of the mill, which when complete will provide the region’s farmers with greater control over their coffee quality, and control over their income through a fixed price payment system. Investment in this kind of accessible infrastructure is one of the necessary steps to make good on the promise of development through trade.

El Fenix

The Union No4

Buriso Amaje

Bwenda

Bugoye

Cordillera De Fuego

San Carlos

Fazenda Selado

Juanambu

Elvis Rafael

Haru

Coatitlan

Tapir Andino

Fazenda Salto has been a family of coffee producers for many generations, Dr Fabio who is now retired from the medical profession is head of the family. His two sons Andre & Juca oversee the running of the farm. The farm has a staff of 35 employees many of which live and grew up on the farm and go on to work there when they have finished school. The farm also has a small roastery which is run by Anita the daughter of Dr Fabio.

The coffee is harvested mechanically during the harvest and it is only the young new fresh plants that must be harvested manually not to damage the trees. The farm is well equipped large patios, 8 rotational driers and 8 static boxes. In line with Brazilian law 20% of the farm is protected to help maintain the natural environment.

Once this Yellow Bourbon is harvested it is then placed in static boxes where the coffee is dried with a combination of cold and warm air. The coffee is initially left in these boxes for 12 hours as a pre-fermentation with no airflow after this cold air is then blown through the cherry for 4 days. After this it is then switched to warm air where the coffee is dried for a further 3 days to 15%. For the final drying phase, the coffee is switched every 12 hours between warm & cold air until it reaches 11% moisture.

Fazenda Salto

Coffee was introduced to Araku in the early 1900’s from neighbouring Pamuleru Valley, and in 2007, Small and Marginal Tribal Farmers Mutually Aided Cooperative Society, a coffee farmer cooperative formed with assistance from The Naandi Foundation.

A state-of-the-art Coffee Processing Unit was set up in Araku, fully equipped with latest machinery such as coffee pulpers. Naandi in association with Araku Originals Private Limited, a connected for-profit social enterprise, is also the first in the country to receive global accreditation as a Speciality Coffee Association Premier Training Campus offering courses on green coffee, barista skills, brewing, and roasting, along with authorized SCA trainers.

Coffee for this Region is chosen when the cherry is a deep crimson red by the 550 farmers that contribute to the Paderu Mandal. Dried on a mixture of raised beds and solar mechanical facilities, cherries are covered at night with fine cloth to protect from any additional moisture.

Araku

Rocko Mountain Reserve represents the hard work and dedication from the people that live and grow coffee in the Bogale woreda neighbourhood, they utilise 10.1 hectares of semi-forest land dedicated to coffee under the shade of native trees such as Acacia and Cardia Africa.

The community deliver their cherries to the central drying station in Yirgacheffe town where our partner in the area Siz Agro is collecting and processing the lots since 2017. in the area the guys at Siz agro have invested in one farm and 8 washing stations to try to improve quality and traceability where single communities can vertically integrate in the supply chain.

Siz Agro has been pre-financing farmers communities during the off season to help them improve their production and picking, with the help of a team of agronomists that are based locally all year around to advise on improvements required to achieve the best possible results.

Rocko Mountain

For six generations, the Aguilar family has produced coffee on the shade-rich land on the north-eastern slope of the San Salvador Volcano, with a direct view over the capital city of San Salvador. The estates cover nearly 160 hectares at altitudes ranging from 1,250 to 1,700 meters (4,100 to 5,577 feet), the top of the farm being unusually high for El Salvador and lending to great coffee growing potential.

Las Mercedes and sister estate Santa Maria are surrounded by 100 hectares of nature reserve designated as a part of the Meso-American Biological Corridor, including a remarkable ‘mini rainforest’ with a noticeable temperature drop as you reach the very highest coffee areas. Given the importance of the preservation of the forest, the Aguilar family, in conjunction with a local NGO, have two park rangers that look after the protected natural forest year-round.

Las Mercedes

Nyeri County has cool temperatures and fertile central highlands, lying between the Eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the Eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the Western slopes of Mt. Kenya. The combination of fertile soil, seasonal rainfall and high altitude provide the ideal climate for coffees characterised by high acidity, full body and ripe fruit flavours. Most coffees from Nyeri develop and mature slowly producing extra hard beans. This quality is also evident in the cup.

This coffee has undergone a traditional fully washed process. Ripe coffee cherries are carefully selected and floated in clean water to remove any immature or poor quality cherries, which float to the top of the tank. These top cherries are then pulped to remove the cherry fruit and fermented in fresh river water for 4-6 days to break down the remaining sugary mucilage. The parchment coffee is washed with clean water in grading channels, and then dried on raised African beds for 3-5 weeks (depending on ambient climatic conditions).

Ruarai AA

Fazenda Barreiro was started by Joaquim Bernardes da Costa Junqueira, "the Sesmeiro", on December 11, 1820, where he takes possession of an extensive land area that had just received a civil sentence issued by the order of King João VI, King of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. In Brazil, the Sesmeiro is the person that receives land from a King's grant for the purposes of creating local employment and "efficient" farm production.

A few years later, Dom Joaquin settled definitively with his family on the fertile slopes of the Serra de São Domingos where he founded the "Fazenda do Barreiro". From that moment his descendants, after successive shares, colonized and founded most of the farms located in this fertile region. Coronel Agostinho da Costa Junqueira, son of the Sesmeiro and founder of the city of Poças de Caldas (a beautiful city with gardens, natural springs and thermal baths many times visited -and enjoyed- by Nelson, Eleni and his family). At the end of the 19th century the Junqueira family began the first coffee plantations in the lands of Fazenda do Barreiro, aware of the qualities of soil, climate and altitude favorable to its cultivation. Fazenda Barreiro is still owned by the descendants of Colonel Agostinho. His great-grandson Francisco Otávio Lotufo, has dedicated the farm to the production of specialty coffees, cattle breeding and eucalyptus plantation. Nelson and Eleni visited the farm in March of 2018 and had a grand tour by Don Francisco, Owner-manager.

Fazenda Barreiro

This coffee is part of the Akawa project. An initiative with our sister company Supremo to build stable and fair supply chains in Burundi. The project finances the UTZ certification of the washing stations, 11 so far, so that the premiums on all coffee sold from the washing stations can be used to train farmers in good management practices. A flat price is paid upfront to the mill prior to harvest, meaning that the farmers receive all of the money for their cherry upfront and without negotiation, something which is not common at all in Burundi.

Strict quality control measures are enforced in the cherry drop off, something which the farmers are happy to work with given the payment mechanism, and throughout the chain.

Rubirizi washing station processes the coffee of 833 farmers who live in the surrounding area, with a yearly processing capacity of 370 MT of green coffee. The producers in this region grow bourbon, with the rich volcanic soil of the region providing near optimal conditions for the plant. Rubirizi is home to 200 traditional drying beds, and with an average temperature of 18 degrees Celsius the coffee dries slowly to ensure longevity and quality in the cup.

Coaltown Coffee Roasters

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Coaltown Coffee Roasters

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Coffee Roasts

Anthracite №2

Black Gold №3

Candle Light №1

Fazenda Barreiro

Fazenda Salto

Kisinga

Las Mercedes

Rocko Mountain

Ruarai AA

Rubirizi

The Union No4

Coffee archive

Araku

Bugoye

Buriso Amaje

Bwenda

Coatitlan

Cordillera De Fuego

El Fenix

Elvis Rafael

Fazenda Pantano

Fazenda Selado

Genji Chala

Haru

Izuba

Jenkin Jones Decaf

Juanambu

Koileki

San Carlos

Tapir Andino

Union San Pedro

New Coffee Review