Coffee Story
Fundación Agraria y Ambiental Para el Desarrollo Sostentible (FUDAM) is a 300-member association of organic-certified (and Rainforest Alliance–certified) growers that was founded in the year 2000 by just seven producers who shared a vision of sustainable agriculture as well as environmental protection and development. This group of smallholders lives in and around the small municipality of La Unión in Nariño.

FUDAM’s membership believes firmly in the principles of sustainability that drove them to band together in the first place. When asked recently why the group continues to farm organically despite mounting pressure to rely on chemical inputs, the association’s leadership explained, “This is just how we live, these are our values and our way of life.”

This lot comprises coffees from 12 member farms, all of whose land is between 1700–2100 meters. The farmers pick their coffee during the day and depulp it in the afternoon, typically fermenting the lots for 16–24 hours dry. The coffees are generally washed two or three times before being dried either in small “casa elbas,” mechanical dryers, or parabolic dryers. The mechanical drying takes between 25–40 hours, while the other drying structures can take up to 15 days.

FUDAM

JBC Coffee Roasters is a family-owned roastery located in vibrant Madison, Wisconsin. Our vision is simple: let the coffee lead the way. Whether trekking up precarious mountain roads in a pick-up truck or slurping and sniffing our way to amazing coffee in the cupping lab, it is always in the endless pursuit of finding the best and most unique coffees available. Cheers.

JBC Coffee Roasters

Coffee producer Luis Pedro Zelaya has four generations of Guatemalan coffee culture pulsing through his veins. His reputation for producing world-class coffees is drawn from his ability to implement precise farm management and post-harvest processing decisions. The process starts at the Zelaya’s family farm, Hacienda Carmona, where plant nutrition, pruning, and pest management are superb, resulting in a selection of exquisite coffee cherries. At Bella Vista (the location of the wet and dry-mills) Luis Pedro and his team meticulously process fully traceable lots by harvest date, location, variety, and altitude. Coffee is depulped, fermented, and washed in a traditional process that has been perfected over the last 100 years. Then, the coffee is gradually dried in a controlled environment designed to protect cup quality. Raised drying beds and sensor-controlled airflow permit a more uniform drying process and an additional opportunity for hand sorting parchment as it dries. The same focus on sorting and quality control is.

Bella Carmona

SOPACDI is an organization made up of 5,600 coffee farmers, roughly 20 percent of whom are women, located near Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Members represent several different ethnic groups and they are all smallholder farmers (with fewer than 2 hectares of farmland on average) who deliver ripe coffee cherry to SOPACDI through the organization’s 10 collection subgroups. Joachim Munganga, a farmer himself, founded SOPACDI in 2003 by restoring a washing station in the area, providing service and market access to growers living in these extremely remote highlands. Before SOPACDI, farmers had no means to transport coffee to the markets and instead were forced to simply barter their coffee locally for food, clothing, and necessities.

Birambo Village

A blend of Africa, South, and Central America coffees designed to satisfy varying palates. Our Rock the House blend is an every day, easy drinking coffee for just about any coffee drinker.

Rock the House

Even among the legendary coffee growers of Ethiopia, Moplaco’s Heleanna Georgalis and her father, Yiannis, stand out. Moplaco was founded in 1972 by Yiannis, a third generation coffee professional who moved from Greece to Dire Dawa, Harrar during WWII.  When Yiannis passed away from a heart attack, he passed the Moplaco legacy on to his daughter, Heleanna, who has taken the reins with gusto. Heleanna returned to Ethiopia to continue the legacy of coffee in her family, taking over the family land and continuing to grow and improve both the family business and Ethiopian coffee as a whole. Heleanna is known for her love of experimentation and willingness to take risks in order to create a transcendent cup of coffee. Her farming and processing practices are the absolute gold standard, diverse and honed over time. This particular coffee is a result of her “Kenya process,” which was inspired by the dry fermentation practices she witnessed in Kenya in order to preserve water. Motivated by the same concern, Heleanna’s Kenya process coffees are depulped, then fermented in cement tanks for 36 hours.

Bensa Segera

San Sebastian

Named for the way espresso “twists” as it streams from the spout of a portafilter, our Twisted Espresso blend is crafted to marry the chocolate and caramel notes of a classic espresso roast with the bright fruit notes of newer wave espressos.

Twisted V.5

Birambo Village Espresso

Decaf Royal Select

Located in the southern foothills of Mount Kenya, the area surrounding the Karani factory is ideal for producing some of the finest Kenya coffee. Farmers here typically harvest around 250 coffee trees on half-acre plots of rich red volcanic soil and deliver cherry to the Karani factory, one of 11 factories managed by the Kabare Farmers’ Cooperative Society. The Karani factory only accepts the ripest cherries and additional hand sorting and floating removes less dense and damaged beans before the coffee is depulped, fermented, and washed. After the coffee is washed, it is soaked in fresh water long enough to solidify that hallmark Kenya profile. The coffee is then dried on raised beds, carefully constructed to ensure proper air flow and temperature control for optimal drying. During milling, the green beans are sorted for screen size and graded according to size and shape. 

Karani

This coffee is sourced from METAD Agricultural Development PLC, a third generation family-owned business with a rich history in Ethiopia. After World War II, the Ethiopian Emperor awarded Muluemebet Emiru, the first African female pilot and family matriarch, with land in the Guji and Sidama zones. This land would become the Hambela Coffee Estate that is owned and operated by METAD. METAD has strengthened the local community with employment opportunities, including a workforce that is over seventy percent women; educational opportunities, including a state-of-the-art elementary school with more than four hundred students; and healthcare for employees. METAD was also first to partner with Grounds for Health to implement a successful cervical cancer screening program for women within coffee growing communities. METAD provides technical assistance and shares modern farming equipment with other local farmers and operates the first and only private state-of-the-art SCAA certified coffee quality control lab in Africa, used to train both domestic and international coffee professionals.

Benti Nenqa #209

Decaf

Coffee had been in Jose Alfonso Rodriguez’s family since he was a child. Founded 39 years ago, Finca Talquezalar is a 21 hectare farm located in La Palma, Chalatenango. Jose Alfonso learned coffee-farming from his father and had been working with coffee full-time for 15 years. His goal was to continue improving the cup quality of his coffee and experiment with unique growing and processing techniques while simultaneously continuing the coffee-farming traditions passed on by his father. While visiting the farm, Jose shared with us that all the farm workers and their families live on the farm. They were told as long as they were good stewards and tended the farm they could live there for free.

Talquezalar

Perched high up in the southern foothills of Mount Kenya on rich red volcanic soil, the growing areas surrounding the Karimikui factory are prime for producing some of the best Kenya coffee. Smallholder farmers delivering coffee cherry to the Karimikui factory typically cultivate around 250 coffee trees on roughly half-acre plots. The factory is part of the Rungeto Farmers’ Cooperative Society, a quality focused cooperative with a reputation for amazing, traceable coffee. At the Karimikui factory, only the ripest cherries are delivered and additional hand sorting and floating are conducted to ensure only the best coffee is processed. After the coffee is washed, it is soaked in fresh water to solidify the hallmark Kenyan profile. The coffee is then dried on raised beds, which are carefully constructed to ensure proper air flow and temperature control. This meticulous attention to detail translates to a beautiful espresso from Kenya with bright raspberry, wisteria, and dark chocolate notes.

Karimikui

Historically one of the most coveted coffees in all of Western Ethiopia, Nano Challa membership did such an amazing job with production and processing over the last decade that the tremendous premiums they were receiving caused their membership to swell to a level that pushed their capacity as far as it could go. This year, they opened a new facility called Nano Genji (see this sister lot coffee also for sale at JBC!) a few miles away with brand new Penagos equipment along with dozens of drying beds to accommodate their growing membership. With 630 members between the two washing stations, they’re looking forward to continued growth and success.

Part of the larger Agaro region in Jimma, Nano Challa was once a USAID’s Technoserve project, which focused on improving African coffee farmers’ lives by helping them get better prices for their coffee.

Our friends at Red Fox Coffee Merchants were proud to have the right to first selection in this region, and the results of that opportunity are clear on the cupping table with this new offering. Nano Challa brings an intense, lively sweetness like and a sparkling, champagne-like finish, a testament to the work put into these coffees during growing, picking, processing, and beyond.

Nano Challa #6

Introducing this award-winning coffee. This special coffee was the #2 coffee in the Los Naranjos Competition of 2020. It is a beautiful cup that is exceptionally unique. Gilma Munoz owns the farm Miraflores, where she grows Caturra, Colombia, and Castillo varieties. A member of the Asociacion Los Naranjos, Gilma is part of a tight-knit group of growers surrounding the town of San Agustin, Huila, Colombia. Despite the small size of the farms-2.5 hectares or less on average with fewer than 12,000 coffee trees-the coffees coming from Los Naranjos have consistently been some of the best and brightest out of Colombia each year. The overall philosophy of Los Naranjos growers is that anything that improves the lot for one producer can improve the lots of all. They readily share information to improve the cup quality of all growers. Relying on a combination of modern technology, along with the traditional and sustainable methods of farming that have been passed down for generations, Los Naranjos growers are really pushing the boundaries of taste and cup quality further each year.

Miraflores

This beautiful coffee is grown by Angel Benigno Capa Chama and Maria Carmen Cogitambo Lojan who also cultivate lemons, oranges, bananas, papaya, yuca and corn on their 50-acre farm Reina de la Asuncion. Angel and Maria’s focus is quality, leading them to finish 10th place in the 2018 Best of Loja coffee competition and gain recognition in the specialty coffee world as quality-focused growers. They meticulously hand pick ripe cherries which are then cleaned with water and floated to remove less dense and damaged beans. They then depulp, ferment, wash and dry the coffee on raised beds all at the farm level. The coffee is then stored in grainpro until it is ready for milling and export.

Reina De La Asuncion

This coffee comes from grower Abera Gole and is part of an innovative single producer project in Ethiopia. Initiated in 2012, the single producer project identifies “model” growers able to produce high quality cups who are willing to meet rigorous processing standards and welcome frequent farm visits. In exchange, coffee producers earn higher quality premiums. The popularity of this program has led to increased participation and the opportunity to showcase single growers in a country that produces amazing coffee but has not often, thus far, showcased individual growers. It is an exciting trend leading to increased traceability and even higher standards of quality in the birthplace of coffee with a higher return for growers.

Abera Gole grows coffee on his 10-acre farm located in the south-eastern corner of the Gedeo Zone, an area known for growing some of the best coffee on the globe. Ripe cherries for this naturally processed coffee were carefully hand sorted and floated (to remove less dense beans) before drying on raised beds for 10 to 15 days. The beds are carefully constructed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control.

Halo Bariti Natural

Introducing our new Addis Katema Ethiopia. This coffee comes from grower Zelelu Ararso and is part of an innovative single producer project in Ethiopia. Initiated in 2012, the single producer project identifies “model” growers able to produce high quality cups who are willing to meet rigorous processing standards and welcome frequent farm visits. In exchange, coffee producers earn higher quality premiums. The popularity of this program has led to increased participation and the opportunity to showcase single growers in a country that produces amazing coffee but has not often, thus far, showcased individual growers. It is an exciting trend leading to increased traceability and even higher standards of quality in the birthplace of coffee.  This coffee is processed at the Addis Katema Cooperative located in the Wenago district of the Gedeo Zone within the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region of Ethiopia. 

Addis Katema

Eulogia Carrillo Julca harvested and processed this micro-lot on her 7.5-acre farm located near the community of San Ignacio in the Cajamarca region. She has her own micro-mill where carefully harvested cherries are depulped, fermented, washed to remove the mucilage, and then gently dried on raised beds over a period of 21 days. With the help of Aroma del Valle, a cooperative where she is a member, she has been able to successfully produce micro-lots that are gaining international recognition. Aroma del Valle is an organization established to assist small producers access the specialty coffee market. With more than 50 years of experience cultivating coffee, Eulogia has become an inspiration for other producers who also want to sell coffee in the specialty coffee market. Eulogia and other members of Aroma del Valle are also currently focused on family gardens to cultivate food for their own households. Eulogia has incorporated fruit trees and other species of hardwood that serve as another source of income and as shade to protect the coffee.

La Coipa

Grown on a 19 hectare farm called Finca Angamaza by Angel Capa Carrion, this Ecuador coffee is simply stunning with tasting and aroma notes of strawberry, magnolia, and white grape. This coffee was fermented for 36 hours and after washing, it was dried for 8 to 10 days on raised beds. Angel began producing coffee around 8 years ago and his focus on specialty coffee has allowed him to garner much higher prices for his lots. His goal is to connect with buyers who value and appreciate his dedication to high quality coffees.

Angamaza

Finca San Antonio lies within the highlands of San Marcos, a land that is prime for coffee growing due to its rich volcanic soil. Producer Francisco Javier Gonzalez had been growing coffee for 65 years on his farm that is named after his beloved father. As he ages, his children and grandchildren have started helping with farm management. The coffee is dried on concrete patios and covered with nylon at night to protect it from rain and dew. Despite many years in the coffee industry, it wasn’t until recently that Francisco started to sell his coffee in the specialty market.
He is grateful for this transition as it has allowed him to increase farm profitability, upgrade and renovate fermentation tanks, and keep the family tradition going. Francisco is likewise thankful that coffee has allowed him to maintain and support his children for many years.

San Antonio

From our friends at Cafe Imports, comes our Harimau Tiger Sumatra. From small holder farmers in the Aceh region of Northern Sumatra, this wet-hulled Sumatra coffee offers a sweeter, cleaner profile than a typical Mandehling. This coffee boasts a nice balance of sweetness (think molasses, plum, and cinnamon graham cracker) to complement the earth notes that are common to coffees of this region. Careful attention is paid to the uniformity of the prep in these lots, offering a higher cup quality than is typical from the region. A high-quality, fruit-forward cup for lovers of classic Sumatra coffees.

Harimau Tiger

Want to support women in coffee? This is the perfect microlot coffee for you. Roxana Rangel Granda started producing coffee in 2013 on her 13-acre farm Rayo del Sol (Sunbeam.) She has her own micro-mill where carefully harvested cherries are fermented for 24 hours, then floated to remove less dense or damaged coffee before depulping. After depulping, the beans (still covered in mucilage) are fermented for another 36 hours and then washed to remove the remaining mucilage. The coffee is then dried on covered raised beds for around 25 days. With the help of Aroma del Valle, a organization established to help growers access the specialty coffee market, Roxana has quickly gained recognition in the specialty market and it is easy to see why. This special coffee is very flowery and sweet. Notes from the JBC cupping team include cherry, cranberry, bubblegum, peach, jolly rancher, red grape, and floral. Definitely a must try for coffee drinkers who enjoy the florality and sweetness of a really lovely Peru coffee.

Rayo Del Sol

Every once in a while, certain coffees come along that simply wow you. At Cafe Imports, these coffees become Aces. According to Cafe Imports, “Aces (coffees)…are vehicles for empowering people and revolutionizing the coffee quality experience.”
 
Out of Cafe Imports Aces program comes our Las Juntas Colombia which boasts a juicy body with winey fruit acidity and tasting and aroma notes of rich chocolate, berries, and flowers. This Pink Bourbon coffee is grown by Diever Galindez. Like his fellow Asociación de Los Naranjos members, Diever grows  fewer than 12,000 trees, but these growers consistently produce some of best and brightest coffees on the cupping table, year after year. The farmers also have a very close kinship. The overall philosophy among Los Naranjos is that anything that improves the lot for one producer can improve the lot for all.

Las Juntas

We’re excited to bring this new offering from Huatusco, Veracruz in Mexico, a coffee region unique in many ways. Just like high elevations yield slower cherry maturation due to cooler weather and less oxygen, Huatusco pushes the northern edge of the tropics, where cooler, slightly wetter weather and long, colder nights produce the same effect. Slower cherry maturation results in a higher cup value, creating sweeter and more complex coffees. This coffee is a great example of a stellar Mexican cup. Consisting of Bourbon and Garnica varietals, this coffee boasts tasting notes of cranberry, creme brulee, and candied almonds and easily makes our must-try list. Enjoy!

Jose Cienfuegos

This coffee is from the FUDAM Association, a 300-member association of organic-certified and Rainforest Alliance certified growers. Founded in 2000 by just seven producers who shared a vision of sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship, FUDAM is comprised of smallholder farmers living in and around the small municipality of La Union in Narino. Growers pick their coffee during the day and depulp in the afternoon, typically fermenting the lots for 16 to 24 hours. The coffees are then generally washed two or three times before being dried in small “casa elbas” or parabolic dryers. This particular lot is lovely with tasting and aroma notes of orange, cocoa, and apricot marmalade.

La Union

New export rules in Ethiopia have recently opened the door for Ethiopian coffee suppliers to offer direct lots from their washing stations. Mijane Woresa, who has worked in coffee for more than 30 years, owns and operates the Hartume Washing Station and his Halo Hartume is sourced from 400 farmers who cultivate coffee on small plots and deliver their cherry directly to the washing station. As a family-owned business, Mijane and his sons work diligently on social impact projects that will improve the communities where they source coffee. They have invested in more localized cherry collection sites to reduce transportation costs for small farmers and have contributed to road construction projects that make travel in the area safer. They have also invested in school infrastructure projects and equipment for children to play sports. They continue to show a commitment to quality coffee and their community. This lot is pretty special with aroma and tasting notes of lavender, pear, and key lime pie.

Halo Hartume

Monte Alban is a 1,000 year old Zapotec ruin in southern Mexico that is surrounded by mountainous coffee farms. One of the earliest Meso-American great urban centers of the classical period, Monte Alban housed the advanced ancient Zapotec culture that made many developments in astronomy, writing, and even medicine. After their mysterious abandonment of the site post 600 AD, the area was used by other groups, including the Mixtec, who recognized the site as spiritually significant. Today, a sense of magic still resonates from Monte Alban and the past and present are joined through culture, artifacts, and delicious coffee. Coffee growers in the region have been producing coffee for more than three generations. We purchased this coffee from Caravela coffee, who is working with farmers to help them certify their farms and add value to their product. What stood out to JBC was not only the rich history of Monte Alban but the beautiful cup the farmers have managed to produce this year. Tasting notes of cranberry, almond, and honey abound in this winey and lovely cup.

Monte Alban

This naturally processed microlot hails from Beneficio San Diego, one of the most modern and largest coffee mills in Costa Rica. Established in 1888, Beneficio San Diego specializes in the Tarrazu and Tres Rios areas and takes pride in its innovative spirit in coffee milling and processing. The mill is constantly striving to further quality standards while working with producers to improve quality and sustainability at the farm level. This particular microlot comes from the Tarrazu region. Located in the country’s highlands, the Tarrazu region is considered the nursery of Costa Rican coffees. Farms here are an average of 3 hectares and this unique naturally processed coffee is produced by a community of smallholder farmers delivering their ripe cherry to San Diego.

San Diego Natural

Costa Rica is a well-known and beloved coffee producing destination that many coffee lovers know firsthand. But perhaps more unknown, is the struggles that Costa Rica currently faces as a coffee producing country. One distinct challenge is the shrinking number of next generation coffee producers. That is why cases like Roberto Fabrizzio Marín Jiménez are so important. Fabrizzio is one of those rare next generation farmers who inherited his father’s 30-acre farm Las Gravilias. Since a teenager, Fabrizzio was passionate about coffee farming. Fabrizzio’s father, Roberto Marín Piedra, was a bit of a superstar among Costa Rican producers, so naturally it is no surprise that Fabrizzio shares his father’s passion. This passion leads to an abundance of care at the farm level where Fabrizzio has made investments in diversity of shade cover and found organic solutions to treat his plants in the face of climate change and disease control. Fabrizzio has his coffee processed at Beneficio Orgánico de AFAORCA where he delivers harvested ripe cherries to be processed using state-of-the-art environmentally friendly equipment. At AFAORCA, Fabrizzio’s cherry is floated to remove damaged and less dense coffee, depulped, then mechanically washed with an eco-friendly demucilager, and then dried on patios and raised beds. The result is a beautiful cup of Costa Rica coffee that demonstrates the care that is taken at the farm and processing level.

Las Gravilias

Founded in 1975, Buna Boka is one of the primary cooperatives of the Sidama Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union, one of Ethiopia’s best-known exporting bodies. The Sidama union is comprised of 53 coffee cooperatives and over 80,000 member households. Sidama has one of the most robust cooperative unions in the country with 53 member cooperatives. The formation of cooperative unions allowed farmer’s voting power and higher farm returns, while also giving them much easier and more affordable access to organic certifications. There are 1069 farmer members in Buna Boka, who average a single hectare of coffee cultivation each. The coffees, including this lot, tend to be very floral and cake-y sweet. This particular lot from Buna Boka boasts aroma and tasting notes of lemon-lime, jasmine, and toffee.

Buna Boka #1

A blend of Africa, South, and Central America coffees designed to satisfy varying palates. Our Rock the House blend is an every day, easy drinking coffee for just about any coffee drinker.

BODY: SATINY
ACIDITY: JUICY/PLUMP
CERTIFICATIONS: CERTIFIED ORGANIC, FAIR TRADE
REGION: AFRICA. SOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICA.

Rock The House

Named for the way espresso “twists” as it streams from the spout of a portafilter, our Twisted Espresso blend is crafted to marry the chocolate and caramel notes of a classic espresso roast with the bright fruit notes of newer wave espressos.

BODY: FULL & SYRUPY
ACIDITY: MELLOW
REGION: SOUTH/CENTRAL AMERICA AND AFRICA

Twisted V.6

BODY: LIGHT
ACIDITY: MELLOW
PRODUCER: SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
VARIETAL(S): VARIOUS
GROWING ELEVATION: 1300+ METERS
PROCESSING: ETHYL ACETATE DECAF
REGION: HUILA, COLOMBIA

JBC Coffee Roasters

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JBC Coffee Roasters

🇺🇸 United States

Coffee Roasts

Addis Katema

Angamaza

Benti Nenqa #209

Buna Boka #1

Decaf Colombia

Decaf Royal Select

Halo Bariti Natural

Halo Hartume

Harimau Tiger

Jose Cienfuegos

La Coipa

La Union

Las Gravilias

Las Juntas

Monte Alban

Rayo Del Sol

Reina De La Asuncion

Rock The House

Rock the House

San Antonio

San Diego Natural

Twisted V.6

Coffee archive

Bella Carmona

Bensa Segera

Birambo Village

Birambo Village Espresso

Decaf

FUDAM

Karani

Karimikui

Miraflores

Nano Challa #6

San Sebastian

Talquezalar

Twisted V.5

New Coffee Review