Ethiopia Hunkute

Bokasso, a very popular Ethiopian single origin espresso, had a wonderful run. Many enjoyed this espresso which worked beautifully both black or with milk. For those who misses this espresso, do not fret. We present to you another new coffee from Ethiopia - Hunkute. 

Similar to Bokasso, Hunkute is a cooperative located in one of the higher locations in Sidamo in the south of Ethiopia, consisting of around 1700 smallholder farm members. The producers of this cooperative grow coffee together with other crops such as maize and papaya. Harvested cherries are brought to the local washing station where their pickings are hand sorted to remove overripes and unripes. The high altitudes and low temperatures where these coffees are grown results in a very intense and bright coffee.

The coffee is organically grown by default (but not certified), as the farmers do not use chemicals or artificial fertilizer due to little problems with coffee pests and diseases. Coming from the same region in Sidama, Hunkute has some slight resemblance to Bokasso in its taste profile, but there is an added layer of complexity which gives it more “adventurous” feel.

The cup profile is citric with aromatic jasmine notes. Delicate apricots and peaches with underlying floral tones. Slim mouthfeel with bergamot finish. This is a sweet yet complex espresso. Available immediately from our retail rack.

• Cooperative: Hunkute
• Zone: Dale, Sidama 
• Woreda/Local municipality: Wonsho
• Altitude: 1900-2000 masl
• Varietals: Local heirloom varietals, Sidama type 
• Processing: Pulped, soaked in water and dried on raised beds

National Day Pop Up

This Friday, we have prepared a little special treat for you as we round up more local crafters to join us for a day of national celebration. Come prepared for loads of super delicious pastries and bakes from Kek, including more new offerings from Batterworks’ new expanded space. If tote bags are your thing, you cannot miss these ridiculously beautiful handcrafted bags from Wicked Totes, it’s one of a kind!

So come down in red and white, stars and crescent, have a cup of joe. Let’s make a date and celebrate National Day with a blast!

Introducing Four Chairs

Returning from our Colombian origin trip, we are excited to roll out our new seasonal espresso blend, Four Chairs. For those who are wondering why we name it “Four Chairs”, you will have to drop by Nylon to find out why. This new seasonal blend is probably one of the most “adventurous” espresso we have created so far. Since we started Nylon 15 months ago, the components of our El Primero seasonal espresso blend have been refreshed several times but the taste profiles did not change drastically. However, with the intention of creating something different with the fresh crops of coffees from Nicaragua and El Salvador, we thought it is time for a new name for this coffee.

The components of the Four Chairs seasonal espresso blend are:

• 40% Finca El Zarzal, El Salvador
• 40% Finca Mama Mina, Nicaragua 
• 20% Finca Limoncillo, Nicaragua

These coffees are the results of our origin trip to El Salvador and Nicaragua back in February this year. It was a wonderful experience to visit Finca El Zarzal off the slopes of an active volcano and the owner, Ben Argueta, has been hard at work with a brand new cupping lab above the dry mill. The Nicaraguan coffees come from 2 different farms owned by the Mierisch family, whom we visited as well. Fincas Mierisch is well-recognised as one of the most forward thinking producers in Nicaragua, with a strong focus on quality control in the processing of their coffees. This is the second year we are buying directly from Finca El Zarzal and Fincas Mierisch. We are grateful for their support in working with us via this direct trade relationship.

Four Chairs is not only a blend of coffees from different countries, but also a mix of different bean varietals and processing methods. We wanted to create something exciting and different, so in this blend, there is 20% of Finca Limoncillo, which is a bean varietal known as Javanica. This is quite a rare varietal not much is known about it except that it is related to the Typica and Geisha varietals due to its elongated bean shape. If you are interested to read more about Javanica, Erwin has a very interesting story about how this coffee came about to its family farms. This coffee is a pulp-natural processed coffee, a method of processing coffee that involves the removal of the skin from the coffee but instead of fermenting and removing the mucilage (as usually done so in a washed process coffee), the coffee is dried with the mucilage (all or some) attached to the parchment layer. Generally, pulp natural coffees tend to add more body to the cup profile. This is our first attempt of using a pulp natural processed coffee in our espresso blend. We feel it adds an interesting dimension to the cup profile, giving it a little more “oomph” in body and complexity. When you have a sip of the Four Chair espresso, expect hints of dark cherries, dried fruits and hazelnuts. It is a cup with a rounded acidity, pleasing sweetness and a gentle mouthfeel. Look out for the black tea finish that lingers for quite a while.

Swing by Nylon to try our new Four Chairs or grab a bag home to pull some shots now. The retail price for a 300g bag is $18.50.

Ethiopia Bokasso & Burundi Dusangirijambo

Hot on the heels of Kecho Tirtira launched last week, we are very excited to be rolling out not one but two more African coffees!

First up, Bokasso from Ethiopia Sidama region. Love at first whiff, this is how we would describe the first time we pulled an espresso shot of this new coffee. Overwhelmed by the bouquet of floral notes from the cup, we can’t stop tasting this espresso.

Sidama is famous for its clean, floral, and citric washed coffees and “high quality” sundried with genuine and unique red berry flavors. The Sidama zone covers a large area with very different growing conditions. You can find highland areas of forest coffees in remote places as well as dense production in the well-known areas like Aleto, Wondo, Darra, and Dale. There are currently about 50 Cooperatives in Sidama with a total of 90,000 members. Natural sundried coffees are common, but the majority of the coffee is washed. There are mainly small family plots of both recently planted trees of improved varietals and traditional old varieties. The variety is called Sidamo type. Organic fertilizer is common, pruning less common. All the cooperatives in Ethiopia belong to a Union, in this case the Sidamo Union, that sell and export the coffee. They also take care of dry milling and grading before export.

This is a really special espresso. Expect loads and loads of candy sweetness complemented by a delicate citrus acidity that is balanced so nicely by the juiciness of berries and black tea. You will come back for more.

• Cooperative: Bokasso
• Zone: Dale, Sidama
• Woreda/Local municipality: Wonsho
• Altitude: About 2000 masl
• Varietals: Ethiopian Heirloom. Improved varietals and native coffee of forest origin
• transferred to family smallholder plots and gardens. In this case referred to as Sidamo type
• Processing: Pulped and wet fermented, graded in washing channels, soaked in water and sundried.
• Drying: Sun dried 10 – 15 days on African drying beds on hessian cloths.
• Coffees are covered in plastic during midday and at night.

Our 2nd coffee is for filter brew. From a country not as well-known as Ethiopia, but still produces some excellent coffees in our opinion.

Burundi is a small landlocked country bordering Rwanda in the north, Tanzania to the southeast and Lake Tanganyika and Congo to the west. The country have about 10 million citizens, where of 600,000 is coffee farmers. Coffee and tea is the two main export commodities. 

Even though Burundi started with coffee production generations ago, it is only in recent years (2008) that the washing stations/mills opened the possibility of direct contracts to target the specialty coffee market. This makes it easier to separate and select the finest coffees. With volcanic soils, a rainfall of 1300 mm per annum, the growing conditions are good. To increase yield, the farmers need soil treatment, and working with proper organic fertilizer such as compost can more than double the average yield from 2kg to 5 kg per tree. The predominant variety is Bourbon and the coffee is mainly cultivated at altitudes from 1300 – 2000 meters above sea level.

The coffee we brought in is from a relatively new cooperative in the Kayanza area. The 2011 season was their first year of production, but the management has for years worked at some of the most prestigious coffee washing stations in the area.

In the cup, we tasted stonefruit acidity reminiscent of juicy red plums and raspberries. A balanced cup that gives a good mouthfeel on every sip on top of a pleasant sweetness. Look out for the floral notes at the end - we tasted rosehips and hibiscus, which makes this cup stands out from the others we cupped.

• Washing station: Dusangirijambo
• Cooperative: Karinzi Coffee
• Region: Kayanza
• Commune/Local municipality: Karinzi
• Altitude: Located at 1650 – 2000 masl
• Producers: About 400 smallholders. 
• Varietals: Different traditional types of Bourbon
• Production: Pulped with mechanical mucilage removal and washed, soaked over night
• in water and, skin dried under shade with intense parchment hand-sorting before sundried
• on African beds.
• Drying: Skin dried and sorted under shade for 1 day. Sundried 14 – 20 days on African
• drying beds on nylex. Covered in plastic or shade nets during midday and at night.

9MCM The Local Upmarket

Come Saturday 8 June, we will uproot ourselves from Everton Park to 9 Muthuraman Chetty Road, where we will join 13 other merchants to showcase our crafts, gourmet and wares at 9MCM The Local Upmarket. Expect good food, tipples and shopping to start your perfect Saturday, from 11am to 6pm.

During this event, we will also be offering a special bundle of the Kalita Kantan drippers (incredibly easy to use disposable brewers) + a cup of freshly brewed Long Black for $9 (usual $11.50).

See you there!