Global Coffee Updates: October 2020
By Oliver Stormshak
Owner, Green Coffee Buyer, and Roast Master
October is already here and the weather in the Pacific Northwest is starting to cool off. So much of what we enjoy in the fall like corn mazes, visits to the pumpkin patch, and trick or treating with our families might not happen this year, but at least we have dynamic coffees to enjoy and some fun seasonal bevy's in cafes! Each month we like to keep everyone abreast of what we are roasting, what is on the way to the roaster, what is quickly running out, and a quick check-in with what is happening at the farm level with our coffee farmers.
Colombia
Wow, we have already had some amazing coffees in October and we are only a few days in. I hope you had the chance to pick up a bag of Clinton Ossa Micro 14 or 15; these two lots were just totally stunning. As of today, I'm pretty sure Clinton Ossa 15 is my favorite coffee of the year! Right after they sold out, we released a new crop San Sebastian Reserva, which in my opinion, is the perfect Fall coffee with its crisp, chocolatey, caramel, and apple notes--yum.
In the cupping lab this month we have been tasting pre-shipment lots from our Colombian producers pretty much non-stop. These coffees that we are selecting now will be on the menu in the winter through to the early part of 2021. We have some great coffees coming from some of our favorite farmers like Lucas Melo, Clinton Ossa, and Amparo Pajoy. We'll also be introducing you to new farmers from Inza and Nariño.
In Colombia, the "main" harvest is now over. Most Colombian farmers harvest year-round except for Lucas Melo. All of these coffees are moving from the farms to the coast in preparation for export.
Lucas, Clinton, and Amparo's coffee will be in the final round of the International Cup of Excellence. I'm really proud of them, they are some of my favorite farmers who have worked so hard and they deserve the success they are receiving.
Ethiopia
This month we have two new Ethiopian offerings for everyone. The first, Hambela Natural Lot 215, is already in the lineup and it's our first from Guji, a region the staff of Olympia Coffee has been asking me to feature for years now. On the washed coffee side of our line up, the Sidama Union's Buna Boka is almost sold out, at which point we'll return to our normal stomping grounds of Gedeb with Banko. The upcoming lot is from the small neighborhood of Banko Gotiti and we sourced this in partnership with quality-focused exporter & producer METAD.
On the shipping side, we've had some major delays. I would say that about half of our annual purchases from Ethiopia are still not in the United States, but for the first time this year at least everything is on its way to us.
El Salvador
It's El Salvador season in the cafes of Olympia Coffee! We have a strong steady supply of El Salvador deliciousness. Our Sweetheart feature is now La Palma! La Palma in Chalatenango in the small town where we have built a strong sourcing program with small-scale independent coffee farmers as part of our effort to provide a higher quality of life. No program does this better than our Sweetheart program. Sweetheart features coffees that cup at 86-87--still high-end specialty grade, but not the knockout amazing coffees we feature as micro-lots. Micro lots are big dollars, but also much rarer and more elusive for most farmers. Often micro-lots represent less than 10% of what a farmer will produce each year. Sweetheart level quality is more common, in the 30-40% range of what the average farmer in this program produces. By purchasing these, we can add a much bigger impact on the quality of life with the increase in volumes for these farmers.
Right now, we have the SL 34 series from the Ariz Family. Both Washed and Honey processes are on the menu, but only for a very short period of time as these small lots are selling quickly! By the end of the month, we will also have a chance to release the Pacamara Micro Lot from Benjamin Garcia of La Palma Program and maybe hit the top shelf coffee from the Ariz Family: their SL 28.
Guatemala
In October, we move from our larger size purchase under our El Templo Huehuetenango program to, for the first time, single producers of indigenous backgrounds. First up is Marta Mejia. Marta's coffee is fruity and delicious with unique horchata-like spice. This coffee is really unique and I think you'll love it! Our purchase from her totals 23 bags. It's pretty much unheard of to have an unblended lot from this area of Guatemala.
All of our Guatemalan coffees are now in the USA, and as of today, we begin planning for a unique year where we likely will not be able to visit Guatemala for their upcoming January - March 2021 harvest.
Kenya
We're cruising along with our micro-lots from Kenya. All of them come from the Gitwe Cooperative's washing stations: Karatu, Kibiru, and Karinga. As of today, we are serving up the Karatu AA Micro Lot 16 and by mid-October, we will be roasting Karatu Peaberry Micro Lot 16. We'll be moving along through Kenyan coffees for another couple of months at least.
We have some pretty huge developments happening in Kenya this month that I'm really excited to talk about, but I think I have to keep quiet about for a little while longer publicly. I will say that it is something that we have been working on for a few years now that seems to be finally coming to fruition. We can't wait to share.
Also, remember that the harvest comes a little bit earlier in Kenya and we expect some of the first outturns to start up in November. Keep tuned for more developments!
Burundi
Burundi selections for the year are now over. We were able to source some of our lots from our favorite hills of Mikuba and Gitwe. I'm also proud to announce that the construction of Long Miles Coffee's 3rd washing station, called Ninga, has commenced. While we don't source from Ninga currently it's awesome to see our producers grow.
Concerning upcoming offerings, we are still on schedule for December or January arrivals of Burundi yumminess.
Peru
Seems like the vast majority of the harvest is over in the Cusco area where our new project called Espiritu Wari is taking place. Our first round of pre-ship samples should hopefully come to our cupping table in late October so we can hit our December arrival on to the menus.
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