Origin of the Month
Our monthly coffee selections!
Learn about our monthly coffee selections! Every 30 days we bring in a new exotic origin and a new premium origin every quarter.
Origin of the Month
Sumatra Koperasi Organic Gayo G1 TP
In choosing the origin of the month for January 2025, Dawn and I looked back at the previous origins and realized that out of all 49 origins of the month we have brought you, only one other was grown in Sumatra.
This Sumatran coffee is very much different than the Mandheling we brought you before because it was grown in a different region of Sumatra (Aceh Tengah) and the body is not as bold. This coffee
was grown on the Wagiman and Yasmin farms. Both farms are dedicated to organic farming and only use natural fertilizers; coffee husks and cow manure, to ensure fertility and longevity of their soil and quality of the coffees they produce.
The Sumatran coffee grading systems ranges from Grade 1 (G1) to Grade 6 (G6), Grade 1 being the highest. The TP designation in the name indicates that the lot was triple picked. This means that the
lot was hand sorted and inspected three times, and less than five defects were found each time. The G1 TP designation is the highest grade that Sumatran lots can be given.
The varietals in this lot are Gayo 1 and Gayo 2. The origin of these varietals is not well-documented, but most experts believe that Gayo 1 is a form of the Timor varietal and Gayo 2 is like the Timor and Bourbon varietals. This coffee was grown at elevations between 4500 and 4600 feet above sea level on small farms. There are many coffee farms scattered throughout Sumatra and all of them are between 1.2 and 6 acres. The size of the farms and their remoteness would seem to make bringing the harvest to market difficult, but, thankfully, all the farms are supported by a long-standing network of collectors, processors, traders, and exporters.
Sumatran coffees have a long and colorful history that dates to the 1600s, when the Dutch East India Company first brought the plants to the island.
This is a great coffee that you are sure to savor. The aroma piques interest and comforts the senses, setting high expectations. The body of this coffee is earthy and smooth, easily drinkable, and leaves a wonderful after taste that lingers. Those of us with more discerning palates may detect notes of Dark Chocolate, Tobacco, Brown Sugar, Green Tea and Plum. This coffee earned a cup score of 85.75.
Origin of the Quarter Q1 2025
Kenya ab lenana plus
Kenya shares a border with Ethiopia, where coffee was first discovered by Kaldi and his goats sometime around the year 850. One might think that coffee trees would be native to Kenya as well. That is not the case though. Interestingly, it was French missionaries who brought coffee trees to Kenya in 1893, more than a century after Kaldi made his world changing discovery.
Kenyan coffees have long been held in high regard for their quality and consistency. Meticulous farming on more than 600,000 smallholder farms, excellent management at washing stations, and the organization of Farmer Cooperative Societies (FCS), all contribute to Kenyan coffee excellence.
This AB Lenana Plus comes to us through FCS’s in the Kenyan counties of Murang’a, Kiambu, and Kirinyaga. It has won awards as both a light roast and a dark roast. We went with the lighter roast to bring out as much of the flavors as possible. This coffee is named after Point Lenana, one of the peaks of Mt. Kenya. This lot consists of SL-28, SL-34, and Ruiri-11 cultivars grown by local producers. Mt. Kenya is an extinct volcano and as such, the soil is deep red and black and rich in organic matter.
Perfect soil and high elevations (4900 to 6200 feet above sea level), combine wonderfully to produce coffees of superior quality.
This is a washed process coffee. Workers hand pick ripe cherries in the morning and take them to wet-mills, where they are spread on patios for sorting. At the wet-mills, the de-pulpers use clean
water to remove the outer fruit of the cherries, after which, the beans sink into fermentation tanks where they stay overnight while the mucilage breaks down.
The following day, managers check the tanks and decide to continue processing based on how the beans “feel”. The beans are then sorted by density and left to sun-dry in raised beds until they reach a moisture level of 10-12%.
Kenyan coffees are renowned world-wide for bold, fruity flavors and this is one you simply cannot miss. It is medium-bodied, full of flavor and very satisfying and earned a cup-score of 86. While
savoring a cup, you may detect hints of dark chocolate, caramel, citrus and black currant.