What you are tasting
To someone encountering our coffees for the first time, it can be daunting to confront shelves of coffees from different parts of the world. The array of flavor descriptions we use to describe each coffee begs the question: What makes these coffees taste the way they do?
Our whole approach to coffee relies on the uniqueness of single origin coffees. “Single origin” is a broad term to differentiate a single-source coffee from a blend of coffees from several sources. The definition of single origin varies from country to country (maybe the topic of a future post!), but the implication is that a single origin coffee is from the smallest geographic distribution possible. Single origin coffees are compelling because their small footprint means they are expressive of a uniqueness of place. In wine, the word terroir is used to encompass geographical inputs and how that is translated into the glass. The term is completely analogous in coffee, as it is a botanical product endowed with a sense of place, the taste of soil, the sun and the rainfall.
Varietal characteristic often plays a significant role in what is experienced in the cup. Coffeea arabica is the species of coffee we are solely concerned with. A clear analog is wine varietal, where Chardonnay and Cabernet fall within Vitis vinifera, but express different phenotypes from a shared genetic backbone. Varietal as it relates to coffee is most often similar to Old World wines; certain varietals thrive in areas where others flounder. For example, you can count on a Côtes du Rhône to contain some combination of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and other red grape varietals, just as you can expect a Kenyan coffee to be composed of some combination of SL28 and SL34, or one of the other, because these are the varietals with a proven track record in that area. Origin characteristic usually trumps varietal characteristic, but there are often cases where varietal characteristic outweighs origin characteristic. For example, you can compare two 100% Pacamara coffees from different countries and clearly see how this varietal overwhelms traits lent by origin.
The flavor and quality of coffee are not only geographical and botanical, but also affected greatly by human inputs. Cultivation practices to ensure plant health and yield, such as pruning, intercropping, and shading, influence the coffee while it is still on the tree. Once the coffee is picked from the tree, all of the subsequent processes are subtractive: flavor and quality cannot be improved, only preserved. Ripe cherry selection by hand picking is the first step in preserving quality. For washed coffees, immediate pulping on clean equipment and careful fermenting and washing preserve the delicate complexities of aromatics and acidity, as well as cup clarity and cleanliness. After washing, the coffee is dried carefully to an even moisture level, ensuring the stability and resilience of the coffee. The seed is then hulled, then sorted by size and density so the finished green coffee is homogenous and free of defect. Again, these processes can only preserve the flavor and quality that is there.
Roasting is another human input that can only preserve the quality and flavor of coffee. Our coffee buying practices dictate our approach to roasting. The deeper that coffee is roasted, the more origin varietal and origin characteristic is masked by roast flavor, essentially hiding what the individual coffee has to offer. This works for coffees of poor quality, but we directly source unique coffees that are perfectly expressive of origin and varietal, and free of defect, so we roast to let the coffees speak for themselves. Our goal is balance, and to dutifully showcase the efforts of the people that are really responsible for our remarkable coffees: the producers.
So, why do these coffees taste the way they do? It’s the combination of origin, varietal, and the tremendous care and effort of many, many people along the way.
