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Colombia Excelso

Colombia is the second-largest producer of coffee in the world and the largest producer of washed and Arabica coffees. It’s well known for the high quality of its coffee, and about half of its exports come to the United States. Annually, Colombia exports approximately 12.5 million bags and consumes 2 million bags internally.

Colombia only produces washed Arabica coffee. There are three primary varieties grown in Colombia, and the coffee is referred to by the region in which it is grown.

“Excelso” is a grading term for exportable coffee from Colombia, not related to variety or cupping profile. EP (European Preparation) specifies that the raw beans are all hand sorted to remove any defective beans and foreign material.

Excelso coffee beans are large, but slightly smaller than Supremo coffee beans. Excelso beans are a screen size of 15-16, versus Supremo beans, which are sized on screen 17. Colombian coffee is graded before shipment according to bean size. Supremo and Excelso coffee beans can be harvested from the same tree, but they are sorted by size. Excelso accounts for the greatest volume of coffee exported from Colombia.

Excelso beans are harvest from a variety of regions (here shown with their capital cities), including;

• Antioquia, Medellin (18% of total production)
• Tolima, Ibague
• Caldas, Manizales (29% of total production)
• Valle del Cauca, Cali (13% of total production)
• Huila, Neiva (5% of total production)
• Cauca, Popayan (4% of total production)
• Santander, Bucaramanga

Cupping Notes

Citrusy flavor, medium-bodied, rich acidity with a clean and sweet aftertaste.

Ethiopia Harrar

Historically, Ethiopia has been recognized as the birthplace of coffee. Located in the horn of Africa, it’s bordered by Somalia to the southeast, Djibouti to the east, Kenya to the south, Sudan to the east and Eritrea to the northeast.

Ethiopia occupies the high plateau region between the Nile plains of the Sudan and Eritrea and is one of the largest countries in Africa, with an area of over 1.13 million square kilometers. It has a rugged topography with altitudes ranging from around 100 meters below sea-level, in the Danakil Depression, to 4,600 meters above sea-level in the Semien Mountains.

The Harrar region lies in Ethiopia’s Eastern Highlands. As one of the main growing regions in Ethiopia, Harrar has a reputation for producing distinctive wild-varietal Arabica. Once picked, the coffee can go through a variety of milling processes. Harrar beans are usually natural-processed coffees, which produces the distinct berry notes the region is most recognized for.

Ethiopia Harrar can have a strong, dry edge, winey to fruit-like acidity, rich aroma and a heavy body. In the best from Harrar, one can observe an intense aroma of blueberries or blackberries.

Cupping Notes

Fruit, raisin, blueberry, vanilla; medium acidity, smooth body.

Peru Norandino

In Peru, the bulk of production comes from small farms owned and managed by indigenous people who follow organic farm management practice attuned to their cultural connection with the land. Producers typically cultivate coffee on just a few acres of land intercropped with shade trees, bananas, corn, and beans. They carefully harvest and sort cherries before depulping, fermenting, washing, and drying the coffee using their own micro-mills. Simultaneously, cooperatives carry out activities that often go unnoticed but are crucial for small producers. These cooperatives are often divided into smaller locally run organizations, larger regional organizations, and even larger umbrella organizations.

Grower
Cooperativa Agrícola de Servicios Múltiples Norandino (Norandino) | 7000 members
Altitude
1100 – 1700 masl
Variety
Caturra, Bourbon, Catuai, Pache, Villa Sarchi, and Catimor
Soil
Clay minerals
Region
Piura, Amazonas, Cajamarca, and San Martin regions, Peru
Process
Fully washed and dried in the sun
Harvest
April – September
Certification
Fair Trade | Organic

Cupping Notes

medium-bodied, rich acidity with a clean and sweet aftertaste.

Brazil Fazenda Dutra

Fazenda Dutra is a family run and owned coffee farm in São João do Manhuaçu, 300 kilometers inland from the east cost of Brazil. In the 1950s, Jose Dutra Sobrinho inherited a 1-hectare coffee farm that he worked and developed for more than 40 years.

He embraced the 1986 price crisis as a moment to “work even harder” and intensify his passion for coffee, and he continued to purchase land and expand the farm. In September 1999, Jose passed away and left the farm to his sons Walter Cesar Dutra and Ednilson Alves Dutra, who take very seriously their responsibility to their family and their father’s legacy.

They have invested in their coffee education, including attending Illy’s Coffee University, and equipped with new knowledge they have participated in competitions, won more than 80 prizes and continue to improve the quality of their coffee. Fazenda Dutra´s coffee trees are interwoven with avocado trees, and the remaining acreage is both preserved native forest and cultivated eucalyptus, which is used during the harvest period and in drying machines.

The farm has 50 full-time employees, employs an additional 250 workers in the off season and provides 600 jobs during the harvest period. The full-time team includes Leonardo Rodrigues, a Q Grader in charge of the farm’s Quality program.

Cupping Notes

Fruit, Caramel, vanilla; medium acidity, smooth body.

Sumatra Aceh Gayo

In Sumatra, Ketaira is a women-owned and women-managed coffee cooperative on the Aceh province. Ketaira has 567 farmer members from seven villages in the Bener Meriah districts.

group has 18 women in leadership roles — a chairwoman and business manager, a secretary and collector, a treasurer, a chair supervisor, two member supervisors, four collectors and eight delegates.

Café Femenino

Ketaira is also part of Café Femenino, a supply chain/framework with the radical idea of giving women farmers credit for their crucial roles in the coffee industry. Traditionally, Café Femenino operates as a women-only program inside of mixed-gender cooperatives; Ketaira is an exception, in that the co-op is entirely comprised of women.

The Café Femenino Foundation, a nonprofit established alongside the Café Femenino program in 2004, provides grants to the program’s farmers to help them enhance their lives and the lives of their families and communities. Ketaira has used grant money from the Foundation to provide leadership and financial training courses to its members, as well as to build a community center above their wet mill. The center functions as a safe space where the women can gather, learn new skills and organize.

Cupping Notes

Milk chocolate, caramel, berries, nuts; balanced and creamy.

Colombia Decaf

Colombia is the second-largest producer of coffee in the world and the largest producer of washed and Arabica coffees. It’s well known for the high quality of its coffee, and about half of its exports come to the United States. Annually, Colombia exports approximately 12.5 million bags and consumes 2 million bags internally.

Colombia only produces washed Arabica coffee. There are three primary varieties grown in Colombia, and the coffee is referred to by the region in which it is grown.

“Excelso” is a grading term for exportable coffee from Colombia, not related to variety or cupping profile. EP (European Preparation) specifies that the raw beans are all hand sorted to remove any defective beans and foreign material.

Excelso coffee beans are large, but slightly smaller than Supremo coffee beans. Excelso beans are a screen size of 15-16, versus Supremo beans, which are sized on screen 17. Colombian coffee is graded before shipment according to bean size. Supremo and Excelso coffee beans can be harvested from the same tree, but they are sorted by size. Excelso accounts for the greatest volume of coffee exported from Colombia.

Excelso beans are harvest from a variety of regions (here shown with their capital cities), including;

• Antioquia, Medellin (18% of total production)
• Tolima, Ibague
• Caldas, Manizales (29% of total production)
• Valle del Cauca, Cali (13% of total production)
• Huila, Neiva (5% of total production)
• Cauca, Popayan (4% of total production)
• Santander, Bucaramanga

Cupping Notes

Citrusy flavor, medium-bodied, rich acidity with a clean and sweet aftertaste.