From Hambela in Guji, this coffee is from one of three washing stations owned by Mekuria Mergia. The station buys from around 500 farmers, each of whom register with their kids so that the washing station can in turn help supply school materials etc for the children. The farmers have, on average, around 1-2 hectares with some 1200 trees per hectare with each tree yielding around 2-3kgs.

Once harvested and hand-sorted, the cherries are laid out on drying tables a few cms deep. After around a week, they lay them 6-10cms deep and are covered at the hottest times of the day and again at night to protect from frost. Drying naturals at these altitudes can take around 20 days.

Naturally processed coffees from Ethiopia seem to have a cult following. We receive more emails through the year asking about their release than perhaps any other coffee. So, we’re pleased to bring you our first of the year, and it’s just as ‘fermenty’ and funky as you’d like it to be. Watch our video for a few more details on it.

Hambela Wamena

Specialty Coffee Roasters with 3 bars in South and East Belfast

Root & Branch Coffee

Gahizi, Rwanda

Telma Machado, Brazil

Santa Fe, Mexico

Say hello to our latest decaffeinated offering, Chevere, from the Cauca region of Colombia. When we first cupped this coffee, we were amazed at how much it didn’t resemble a regular decaf coffee. This is such a complex coffee, with a smooth milk chocolate body, paired with an interesting nougat sweetness, it’s a winner.

The decaffeination process of this coffee is often described as the ’natural process’. This sugarcane process uses ethyl-acetate as a selective solvent to remove caffeine from the green coffee, this is a naturally occurring organic compound produced by the fermentation of fruits. By using the ethyl-acetate produced by the sugarcane industry, the decaffeination process is conducted locally and in country, ensuring the reducing of the carbon footprint of the coffee.

Coffee farming in this region of Colombia is represented by the ASCAFE association, who represent 3700 producer families across the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño, Cesar, Cundinamarca, Tolima, and Huila. The goal of this association is to consolidate the links between farmers through the sharing of good agricultural practices so that they achieve greater economic independence. Their horizon for 2025 is to be able to change the overly productivity agricultural model in southern Colombia for a more sustainable model, more respectful of their land by also fighting against illicit coca plantations. Here at Root and Branch, we love that we get to support projects such as this!

Chevere (Decaf), Colombia

We are delighted to have a natural Burundi back on our shelves, especially one as interesting as Cibitoke. Through choosing this coffee as one of our subscription coffees for this month, we have the great opportunity to promote an independent producer. Coffee production in Burundi has grown rapidly, and has today put 55% of the population into employment. It is essential for the welfare and increased living standards of Burundians. However, 95% of the sector belongs to two big players. We have chosen to showcase Cibitoke, as it comes from Sehe, a washing station owned by Salum, the only Burundian producer to have his own farms and washing stations.

Salum’s farm is located in Mbirizi, and is also one of the largest in the country with 7000 trees. It’s four washing stations are all located between 1700 and 2100 meters above sea level, where he works with more than 8700 farmers. Alongside paying a significantly higher price for his cherries, Salum has also created his own transport company to control the delivery of his coffees from the washing station to the port.

We think natural Burundis are some of the most interesting coffees out there, and often offer something different to other African naturals. With a complex sweetness, mixed with a beautiful tropical acidity, we found Cibitoke to be reminiscent of drinking a glass of orange wine, or a refreshingly light IPA. It’s a funky one for sure, one that’ll keep you interested throughout each brew.

Cibitoke, Burundi

We’re sure that for many of our subscribers, this may perhaps the first Mexican coffee you have ever tasted. It certainly was for Finley and Philippa. And they were very much pleasantly surprised! This is another complex coffee. A full-bodied coffee, we loved the subtle acidity of Tenejapa, paired with deep and juicy notes of blackberry, cherry, and plum. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this one.

With another interesting coffee, comes another interesting producer we have the opportunity to partner with. Jesus Salazar, of Cafeologo, developed a coffee growing project in Chiapas in 2012, involving the Mayan communities. He works directly with 140 micro-producers, who vitiate high quality coffee, and also accompanies them on the more technical side of the processes.

This coffee is from a micro-lot called Benefecio Comunitario Sibactel, in the Tenejapa region. The Mayan inhabitants who live there belong to the Tseltal community, one that is extremely reserved in nature. After building a climate of trust between himself and these farmers, Jesus encouraged them to follow selective harvesting, allowing a vast improvement in the quality of the coffees being produced. Much more than a coffee partner, Jesus and his team take part in various community festivals, as well as helping the people manage a variety of issues they often face, such as access to water.

Tenejapa, Mexico

Process: Extended Fermentation

Our latest coffees to our menu are from our friend and coffee producer Juan Saldarriaga in Bolivar, Antioquia (Colombia). Juan has a couple of farms and El Encanto is his biggest and highest farm. It is here that he has the most diverse range of varietals, from Tabi, to Caturra, to Bourbon, to Geisha. At each point of experimenting with varietals, he’s extremely conscientious about understanding which crop grows best at which altitude and in what conditions. From there he will plant in greater volumes and is now seeing great success with arising from his diligence.

El Encanto #8 is a Castillo and Colombia variety and after harvest, has undergone an extended fermentation preparation. Juan is now taking full control of the production as he’s just built his own dry mill, enabling him to stand over the quality of the coffee from seed to shipping container.

In the cup, El Encanto is particularly boozy but is reminiscent of Eton Mess with sugary and sticky sweetness too. Philippa loves this natural and is generally just a massive fan of Juan’s coffees anyway. This coffee is a do-it-all coffee and will make a great filter coffee as well as a heavy bodied syrupy espresso.

El Encanto #8, Colombia

Farmed by Jaime Ariza and produced by Juan Saldarriaga, this is the third time we’ve had La Virgen on our menu. Its first outing in Belfast was a refreshing grapefruit and citrus explosion, with the second being our cask conditioned Christmas coffee in 2019. This lot from Jaime and Juan is all cherry, red berries and florals. Grown at over 2000m, which is unusually high for Antioquia, Jaime’s 34 hectare farm is home to a good many varietals, with this lot comprised of Caturra and scoring a high 88.75 with us.

We particularly enjoyed this on filter and the bright strawberry notes and more delicate hibiscus make for a delicious Colombian coffee which we could drink every morning of the week.

La Virgen #3, Colombia

We’re back with another delicious washed Colombian coffee for you this month. And another incredible cooperative project in support of our growers! Say hello to El Triunfo.

Hailing from central Huila, a department in southern Colombia, this coffee is from a farm and producer that are a member of Coocentral, a cooperative in central Huila. This cooperative is involved in a variety of smallholder projects in collaboration with our green coffee distributor, Nordic Approach, to help improve the quality of the coffee and the daily systems for the producers. Such projects include technical assistance, follow up, and training with the growers, who receive 100% of the premium paid above the current and daily purchasing prices. The livelihoods of the growers and their communities are also taken into consideration within such projects. Through Coocentral, around $2.8 million has been spent on social programs since 2005, for homes, university education, and health care. From support in building infrastructure on farms, to natural disaster insurance, we’re delighted that we can be of some support to such projects in southern Colombia.

In the cup, we’re a fan of the structured balance of the acidity from the citrus and blackcurrant notes, paired beautifully with the deep, juicy sweetness from the cherry and brown sugar vibes. Any Colombian coffees we’ve released of late have always been a hit with the team in the roastery, our friends in Portview, and customers far and wide. We hope you enjoy El Triunfo as much as these previous releases. We think you will. It’s a real winner.

El Triunfo #1

We have no doubt in our minds that the return of Saints & Scholars will be a more than welcome one. We’ve never received more emails or questions regarding a coffee since it left our shelves! And what a return this is. Our new Saints & Scholars returns as an organic washed coffee from the Sidama region of Ethiopia. Hunkute has been a stable classic over the years, and is always super popular. When on the hunt for our latest version of Saints and Scholars, we always aim for a solid and interesting coffee, one that is approachable and works well in milk, but also holds a complexity. Hunkute is all of these things.

This coffee hails from Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, a cooperative that supports more than 50 washing stations with technical support and finance. Our new Saints and Scholars is one of them, and among our favourite cooperative washing stations in Ethiopia. Hunkute is located in the Wonsho district, close to Yirgalem town in Sidama - one of Simon’s all time favourite regions for coffee! Expect an intensely floral and balanced coffee with this one. Will dense layers of florals, grilled stone fruit and a beautiful citrus acidity, this is a washed Ethiopian at its best. Three cheers for the return of Saints and Scholars!

Saints & Scholars

There’s something about a juicy Kenyan coffee that is always such a treat to brew, and Ruarai #097 AA has proved no different. A Kikuyu name translating to ‘a place of rocks’, Ruarai shares its name with the rocks of the river which flows down along the washing station. The washing station in question, Ruarai Factory, collects cherries from about 600 smallholders, with an average of 0.4 hectares of coffees. Their total production is about 280 tons of cherries per year. Fermentation of the coffees is done with fresh river water from the Ruarai river.. hence the namesake coffee you find in this month’s subscription!

Ruarai Factory (washing station) is part of the Ruthaka Farmers Cooperative Society, located in Nyeri in Central Kenya. This region is known for coffees with intense, complex, and flavour-dense cup profiles. To contract a Kenyan coffee, we have to be blown away by what we taste in the cupping bowl. What we loved most about Ruarai #097 AA was the balance of the dense layers of flavour. A delicious juicy body paired with a lingering finish of red berries, plum and hibiscus, this coffee is everything we love about a Kenyan coffee.

Ruarai #097 AA

If we do say so ourselves, we do Ethiopians pretty darn well. Especially washed Ethiopians. And Gotiti Ranger is no exception to this. Like we’ve said before, for a coffee to make the subscription box, it really has to jump out at us on the cupping table, and the complexity of this coffee acted as said standout. With such complexity and balance, however, Gotiti does not lose it’s balance in the cup. At the top, there is almost a sour cherry note, yet the mouthfeel is smooth and syrupy, with a lovely florality on the end. When we say this is a complex coffee, we have no doubt you’ll find something new you love about this coffee on each brew!

Bordering Guji towards the south, Banko Gotiti (the washing station) is located 1980m above sea level, and is well known for its heavy and intense floral, stonefruit driven character coffees. This washing station buys cherries from approximately 783 farmers all located in the area. Their farms are on average 2 hectares in size, and sit between 1950m and 2100m above sea level. Well processed coffees from this area have often been universal favourites on our cupping table, and we’re excited to get it out our roastery doors and into your cups!

Gotiti Ranger #1

We’re welcoming another natural Brazilian from the Café Delas project, farmed by a producer who just so happens to be friends with our beloved Telma. Let us introduce you to Isaltina, our latest espresso offering. This coffee is everything we love about a Brazilian coffee, it’s smooth and mellow, with deep chocolate notes in the cup. At the top, there exists a beautiful white grape acidity which leaves a lovely light finish to your brew. If there’s a family member or a friend you’re looking to introduce into the world of specialty coffee, this is an ideal coffee to start with! Balanced, yet with a slight complexity, Isaltina is a treat both black and through milk.

Alongside Telma, Isaltina is a producer within the Café Delas project. In Portuguese, ‘Café Delas’ translates to ‘Her Coffee’, and if I were to use one word to describe this project, it would be empowerment. This project finds its roots in the notion that positive impacts within communities and families will flow from women who are provided with improved access to resources, required knowledge, and an equal voice. It’s a privilege for us here at Root & Branch to continue to support farmers such as Isaltina through projects like Café Delas. We believe community and sustainability go hand in hand, and this specialty coffee community cannot continue to be sustainable if the gender gap does not cease to exist. We’re thankful for such projects that work to close this gap.

Root & Branch Coffee

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Root & Branch Coffee

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Served in Coffee Shops

Coffee Roasts

Chevere (Decaf), Colombia

El Encanto #8, Colombia

El Triunfo #1

Gotiti Ranger #1

Isaltina, Brazil

La Virgen #3, Colombia

Ruarai #097 AA

Saints & Scholars

Coffee archive

Cibitoke, Burundi

Gahizi, Rwanda

Hambela Wamena

Santa Fe, Mexico

Telma Machado, Brazil

Tenejapa, Mexico

New Coffee Review