This is a coffee of great complexity, with cupping notes observed by SCAA cuppers that included: great body, zest, almond, walnut, honey, caramel, sweet citrus, star fruit, floral aromas and chocolate. We buy this amazing coffee from the Ipanema Estate Premier Cru programme. It set out to produce the highest scoring coffees in the world and the micro lots they are making score consistently in the 90's, a rare achievement for any coffee from anywhere. This current batch is made on the Fazenda Rio Verde farm on the Ipanema estate. This unique lot is processed using the ‘natural’ sun-dried method, although they also produce fine coffee by the ‘wet’ method. Sun drying ensures the sweetest flavours. Enjoyable made using any method it arguably makes the best espresso coffee of any origin. It can be blended with our lighter roast version of this coffee 'Espirito de Sol' to add nuance and for personalising your perfect espresso blend. One thing very few people argue with is that you have the best coffee for making espresso in the world however you blend it. Our 2kg batch roaster ensures it is to perfection for espresso giving a sweet, syrupy cup with lots of interesting nuances, a full-bodied, intense liquor with fruity cocoa notes that linger on the palate. Artisan roasted in our 2kg micro-coffee roaster. Rio Verde is in the Mantiqueira Mountains, translated as the Crying Mountains.
This fully washed coffee was grown on 'La Esperanza' farm owned and worked by Gerardo Carvajal in the Bruselas, Huila region of Colombia, 1,600 meters above sea level. In this darkly roasted form, its complex character is described as having: notes of stonefruit, plum, toffee apple, brown sugar, dark chocolate and hazelnut. La Esperanza achieves some of the highest premiums for it and arguably Colombia's finest coffee. Artisan roasted in our 2kg micro-coffee roaster.
This is one of our most popular dark roast coffees. It has a very appealing bittersweet, fine, dark chocolate like character. Other cupping notes noticed are brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, toffee apple, sweet tobacco. We buy from different plantations according to the best quality available and only from those scoring 88 and above according to the SCAA cupping criteria.
If you give this coffee to someone without telling them it's decaffeinated you will always be greeted with the same look of astonishment when they find out! Firstly because we apply the same criteria for excellence to the coffee we choose to decaffeinate as we do to all of our Grand Cru coffees. Expect flavours of dark chocolate, raisin, plum, liquorice, malt, black cherry and tobacco. Secondly, the method of decaffeination is designed to remove only the caffeine and not the precious flavour compounds that give coffee its character. The Mountain Water Process involves immersing the coffee beans in water to extract the 99.9% of the caffeine. No chemicals are used, and a filtering process allows the beans to maintain their characteristic flavour. The Mountain Water Decaf process uses clear, pure water from the glaciers of the Pico de Orizaba Mountains in Mexico, although often the coffee we choose is not in itself Mexican. This dark roast makes a phenomenally good espresso or base for a latt� and cappuccino.
This blend is adjusted to maintain a constant character according to availability. Cupping notes include dark chocolate, spice, nutmeg, malt, black cherry, nut, molasses, liquorice, plum, sweet tobacco and treacle toffee. It is the most popular darkly roasted coffee in our range. Although often firstly bought for its name, it becomes the once bitten forever smitten favourite of those that drink it!
