We designed this roast to create a coffee that surprises you with every sip. Something that’s sweet, something that’s bright, something that’s complex, really.

Gloria Esperanza Mejia is the owner of a small farm called Las Palmas, in the Copan region of Honduras. Gloria, her husband and her daughter all live on the farm and do most of the farm work themselves. Despite having no agronomy training or experience producing coffee, Gloria was forced to take over management of the farm in 2011, after her husband severely injured his back and was no longer able to work. Shortly after she took over management, the farm was decimated by coffee leaf rust. Due to the disease, for two years running, Gloria wasn’t able to produce one exportable bag from her harvest and was very close to giving up on coffee. In the 2016/17 Harvest, Gloria decided to join the Falcon Specialty Agronomy Project, which meant Simon and the Aruco technical team visited Las Palmas on a weekly basis to coordinate picking at the farm. In conjunction with Gloria and Aruca, we made an 8 bag washed lot, and 1 bag of black honey, which totals around 50% of Gloria’s annual total production. Since the advice and training Gloria received, her coffee has risen a staggering 9 points - up to 87 based on SCAA cup scoring - and she is receiving 167% more for her coffee. Now Gloria is producing a variety of coffees through different processes at the mill including red and yellow honey coffees. Gloria is also no, in turn, teaching producers around her about organic farming and how to prepare organic fertiliser where on her farm she has given space that the growers use together to create organic fertiliser The producers will receive about 70% of the FOB price for their micro-lots. This year the harvest for all producers was extremely difficult with increased rains during the harvest and a lack of pickers meaning a large amount of coffee was lost from either falling to the ground or swelling and splitting on the tree.All the processing for the ML’s takes place at the Aruco mill to centralise and have greater control over the process to create consistent procedures but also to reduce the risk on the producer. The mill is also at 800masl which gives a drier more stable climate to dry the coffee compared to up at the farms where the weather can be less predictable. The coffee will be delivered to the mill where they assess the cherry (take Brix) and decide on the process for the coffees depending on space and what the producer has done already. The coffee is floated and washed after this it is then placed in a barrel for 24 hours to ferment. After this, the coffee is then pulped and taken to the raised beds where it is laid and not turned for 1 1/2 days. After this, it is then turned hourly and dries for between 15 -20 days weather depending on where it is turned hourly.

Complex

Common is a roastery founded in 2018, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our wee team are dedicated to roasting damn good coffee while making a positive impact. We have stripped away the jargon, added some colour and decided to do some good along the way. 

We stick to the fundamentals and offer four flavour led roast’s: Strong, Sweet, Bright, & Complex. Plus decaf, shhhhh. 

By leading with flavour profiles we wish to make good coffee simple & easy to understand. Find the flavour you like and leave the rest to us! We will source fresh coffee’s throughout the year that fit our flavour descriptors and then ensure they are roasted to the highest of standards showcasing each beans unique characteristics and resulting in a damn good cup of coffee.

Common Coffee

We designed this roast for everyone who thinks the caffeine hit will be a bit too much. We’ve all been to that point before, so no judgement.

Decaf

We designed this roast to create a coffee that’s rounded and balanced. It’s easy to drink and can be enjoyed any time of the day, black or with a splash of milk.

Situated on the border of Sul De Minas and the Cerrado sits the mountainous region of ILicnea with farms rising from 1100 – 1320 masl before the land falls away into the expanse of the cerrado. The area is made up of 6 communities. This beautiful area is blessed with a micro climate that provides conditions for producing unique and intriguing coffees. The region’s soil is known as cambisolo where the rock is still turning to soil, this places its own unique stress on the plants and the maturation on the cherry. Prior the growers here really struggled with the winds that ravaged the crops, through inquisition and help they have put in systems and planted to trees to help minimise the effect of the wind. The region is still relatively new in terms of knowledge about it as coffees were previously sold under the names of other regions until recently. Now, these farms are being recognised for the unique coffees they produce in relation to the region & Brazil. Edelvanio Pereira is a coffee grower born in Tres Pontas. He has been working in coffee production for 32 years in Ilicínea. His son-in-law, Zeliomar, is passionate about coffee and is skilled at cultivating and preparing the best coffee on their 10 ha farm. They work together all year round in the crops taking all the steps of the process of coffee growing. During the harvest, they hire 3 or 4 people for one month to help hand pick the beans. They always keep an eye on the patio and on the mechanical dryer to ensure a clean even drying of the coffee for between 8 - 14 days. If having to use the mechanical drier due to space issues they will make sure they keep the temperature below 40 degrees. All the family lives on the farm, on the right side of Ilicínea Cliffs. They also sell some of their coffee roasted in Belo Horizonte as well to help add value to their coffee and find alternative revenue streams. 

Careful consideration went into this coffee with how it paired with alternative milk. Things that we consider are the region, varietal and roasting process to ensure the coffee will taste damn good with the different kinds of milk. This coffee is not only well developed to achieve sweetness but also to ensure the sugars work with amino acids to create a less acidic coffee.  

Sweet

We designed this roast to create a coffee that sparkles on your tongue. It’s juicy, acidic and something that makes you crave more.

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 established in 2004. This station was born out of a need for more space as the membership grew and volumes of cherry being delivered becoming too much for the capacity of the Nano Challa station alone. There are now over 600 members split between the two sites situated in the Ethiopian highlands in a natural forest, This success and growth originate from the fortunes Nano Challa being were boosted in 2010 when they were chosen to be part of the Technoserve Coffee Initiative alongside other remote farming communities in Jimma, which was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Technoserve provided technical assistance and training to producer groups and helps coordinate agronomists and business advisors to help improve coffee quality, assist in the management of debt, reinvestment and the fair distribution of funds to each coop member. The impact of the initiative was huge, as it helped coops like Nano Challa transition from natural processing to washed, via the building of washing stations. These allowed them to completely change the market and quality they had access too and the premiums of Grade 1 Ethiopian Specialty Coffees. 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 depulped 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 the shade, before being sun-dried for approximately 10 days on raised African drying beds.

Bright

We designed this blend to create a coffee that has no surprises. It’s everything you need to get you going in the morning and pick you up in the afternoon. 

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Common Coffee

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Coffee items

Bright

Complex

Decaf

Strong

Sweet