Only a few days ago we shipped our November ’16 coffee box to coffee-hungry customers all over the world, and already we’re preparing the next edition that, once again, will be another one you don’t want to miss.
We’re extremely proud to welcome three great roasters to our December ’16 box, one of which is the latest incarnation from two time Dutch Barista Champion and world finalist Lex Wenneker. The second roaster is an old favourite of ours who hasn’t been featured in almost two years but is eager to make a return, Drop Coffee. And finally, we’re thrilled to work with our first Japanese roaster, Kyoto’s Weekenders Coffee, one of the country’s finest.
In addition, we’re teaming up with Berlin-based start up Naked Beans, makers of lush, vegan and coffee-based body scrubs. Each box will contain one sample of one of their expertly crafted products to help you keep that shine throughout these cold winter months.
#1: Friedhats
The name might be confusing but as we found out recently, Friedhats is an anagram of Headfirst, Lex Wenneker’s first coffee roastery that he operated with former business partner and friend Jonatan Scheeper until 2015. That same year, Lex went on to win his first Dutch Barista Championship title and following some disagreements with an external investor in Headfirst, him and Jonatan decided to close up shop and focus on getting Lex into the World Championship finals.
Indeed, Lex spent most of 2015 and 2016 preparing for his second attempt at winning the coveted trophy, securing his second consecutive Dutch title and coming in sixth place at this year’s World Barista Championship in Dublin. An outstanding achievement!
Friedhats, which only opened its doors a few days ago, is his new venture with close friend Dylan Sedgewick, who also accompanied him on his journey to Dublin and previously worked with Lex and Jonatan at Headfirst. While it’s purely a roastery, Friedhats has already been making waves with its innovative packaging, funky logo and truly exquisite coffees. One of which we’re extremely proud to feature in our upcoming December ’16 box.
Our selected coffee from Friedhats:
Colombia, Las Margaritas
Cauca, 1.750masl
Yellow Bourbon – washed
Filter & Espresso
Order now
#2: Drop Coffee
To most coffee enthusiasts, this Swedish superstar doesn’t need much of an introduction. Drop Coffee, founded in Stockholm in 2009 by the charismatic Joanna Alm and former partner Erik Rosendahl, is the pinnacle of Sweden’s renowned specialty coffee scene, and continues to produce more outstanding coffees every year.
Following the departure of Erik Rosendahl, Has Bean’s founder Steven Leighton became a shareholder in Drop, adding this stellar business to his growing portfolio of rosteries to which Dublin’s 3FE already belongs. Joanna, who only just turned 30, has won numerous awards for her outstanding roasting skills and she is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest female roasters.
We’re incredibly proud to welcome her back to one of our boxes with a spectacular Kenya, Kamwangi peaberry that literally blew everyone away during our most recent blind-tasting session.
Our selected coffee from Drop Coffee:
Kenya, Kamwangi PB
Kirinyaga, 1.800masl
SL28 & SL34 – washed
Omniroast
Order now
#3: Weekenders Coffee
The first ever roaster from Japan to make an appearance in one of our boxes is also one of the country’s finest. Located in the beautiful city of Kyoto, Weekenders Coffee has been at the forefront of Japan’s exciting homegrown coffee roasting talent and provides local coffee shops in Kyoto, Osaka and further with its range of delicious coffees.
Founded in 2005 by Masahiro Kaneko, Weekenders Coffee stands for brightness and freshness, employing a rather unusally light roast profile for most of its coffees. We even got a chance to meet the team and parttake in a live cupping of their own, other Japanese and foreign roasters while on a visit to Kyoto last month, and got a first hand taste of the exquisite quality of the coffees roasted by Masahiro.
These days, roasting takes place in the original outlet while a new, tiny and extremely well hidden café at the back of a carpark in central Kyoto is now their main drawcard for coffee-hungry tourists and locals alike.
It’s with great honour that we welcome our Japanese friends to our December ’16 box in what will be their debut in any non-Japanese coffee box.
Our selected coffees from Weekenders Coffee:
Ethiopia, Wote
Yirgacheffe, 1.800masl
Mixed heirloom – washed
Filter
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Ethiopia, Aricha
Yirgacheffe, 1.950 – 2.100masl
Mixed heirloom – natural
Espresso
Order now
Don’t miss out on our upcoming coffee boxes!
Every month, we feature three spectacular coffees from the likes of: La Cabra, Drop Coffee, The Barn, Koppi, The Coffee Collective, Tim Wendelboe and more.
“An absolute must-have for making great coffee” – BBC GOOD FOOD
