If you’re one of our existing subscribers or customers, or if you’re one of our partner roasters, then you will most likely already know a little bit about the selection process that we employ to put together our delicious monthly coffee boxes. But if you’re unfamiliar with our ways of working, then this post will give you a more detailed insight into how we work.
Let it be said: Putting together our monthly coffee box is no easy task and we take great pride in our commitment to the highest quality possible. Since day one we made it our mission to seek out nothing but the most delicious and outspoken coffees from the world’s most exciting roasters and to deliver our monthly coffee boxes to our customers in the fastest and most beautiful way possible.
Of course we could go down the easy route and just pick three roasters every month and blindly trust them to deliver their coffees to us, but then we’d not only be cheating ourselves but also our customers. Making sure that each and every single coffee goes through a strict selection process is what earned us a place is BBC Good Food’s list of ‘8 must have gadgets to make great coffee’.
Let us walk you through how we source and select our monthly selection of coffees.
Step 1: Calling out to all amazing coffee roasters
Every month we send out a newsletter to our network of global coffee roasters and invite them to send us samples of their freshest and most exquisite coffees to be included in our next blind-tasting session. Although our focus is on European roasters, we sometimes also like to include coffees from American, Asian or Australian roasters just to offer that extra layer of exclusivity and diversity.
In some other cases, we directly reach out to new roasters who we are interested in working with or vice versa.
Our list of existing coffee roasting partners includes more than 70 of the world’s most renowned and respected names but also a handful of exciting new startups who made an impact on us with their outstanding quality.
Every roaster who is interested in having his or her coffee included in our blind-tasting sessions then submits two to three bags of his or her finest and most delicious coffees in their original 250g bags.
Step 2: Coding and arranging our samples by origin
One of the most important steps is to code each sample and arrange the coffees by origin, and where necessary, by processing method.
We take 50g from each coffee, put it in a clear ziploc bag and give it a code. This will ensure that none of our tasters know which coffees they’re cupping. In addition, we arrange the coffees by origin, starting with Central and South American coffees, followed by Africans and finishing with any other origins that may have been included such as Indonesia or Papua New Guinea.
The participating roasters and their coffees are only revealed to our team once the blind-tasting session has been completed and we’re discussing each coffee to pick our three winners.
Step 3: Hosting our blind-tasting sessions
Our monthly blind-tasting sessions usually take place in one of two locations in Amsterdam. Both Bocca and Coffee Company Oosterdok are perfectly equipped specialty coffee bars that offer an ideal environment in which to run cuppings and discuss the monthly offering of coffees from different roasters.
The number of participants varies depending on availability but usually includes core members such as Kim Staalman, Sam Keff, Viola Lüdemann, Julia Kuin, Keng Pereira and Benjamin Richardson.
Each tasting team member has a wealth of experience in working with coffee, a refined palate and a perfect understanding of the types of coffee we are after: outspoken, fresh and gorgeous single origin coffees that truly represent the finest beans out there.
Each coffee sample is prepared with 13g of freshly ground coffee, using freshly boiled water at 93° and offered in two separate 256ml cups. Extraction time before breaking the crust is 4 minutes.
We use two different scoring sheets depending on the location. At Coffee Company we use our own scoring sheets that are modeled on Boot Coffee’s SCAE cupping sheets, and at Bocca we use their own cupping sheet.
What we look for in particular is: unique flavours, character, freshness, balance and excellent development.
Our sessions usually take between 1 – 2 hours, including the post-tasting discussion that results in us picking our three winning coffees.
Step 4: Picking our winners
Each team member picks his or her top three coffees prior to the reveal. This ensures that no one ends up picking a particular coffee because it was roasted by a more renowned roaster. Next, we discuss each coffee in turn, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses and any outstanding characteristics that may have made it a real winner or loser.
If more than one of the top three winning coffees came from the same roaster, we make sure to make a selection of coffees that still allows us to work with three individual great roasters and working closely with each one by providing detailed feedback to ensure each coffee that we feature is the best we can find.
Any coffee or roaster that is not picked for our box will be provided with a detailed summary of the feedback from our session in an effort to offer as much transparency as possible. Not making it through our tasting session does not mean that one cannot submit more samples in the future, but it means that at that very point in time the coffees didn’t meet our strict requirements or taste ideals.
Step 5: Preparing our roasters for their feature
We host our blind-tasting sessions more than one month ahead of the planned shipping date for that particular coffee box. This means that each roaster has plenty of time to perfect the roast profile for his coffee and allows us to properly promote each coffee box edition across all our channels.
So far we have been fortunate enough to work with some of the most amazing coffee roasters out there and our strict commitment to quality continues to ensure that we can offer a coffee box unlike any other.
What some of our roasters say about us:
Joshua Tarlo, Origin Coffee: “We’re thrilled to be included in one of the tasting boxes by The Coffeevine. It’s amazing to think that one of our coffees is going out to so many happy coffee lovers across Europe.”
Ralf Rüller, The Barn: “We’re big fans of The Coffeevine. Their passion and love for coffee is unrivaled and their boxes are real gems. When can we be featured again?”
Eileen Hassi Rinaldi, Ritual Coffee: “There is simply no better European coffee subscription service than The Coffeevine. They are so meticulous about how they work and select their coffees, and as a result I know that my coffees will be handled with the greatest care and end up in the company of other amazing roasters.”
Justin and Jerad Morrison, Sightglass Coffee: “We are excited to be working with The Coffeevine and in turn, for people throughout Europe to have the opportunity to experience Sightglass Coffee firsthand.”
Joanna Alm, Drop Coffee: “I just love the packaging. It’s so elegant and minimalistic. And the way the coffees are presented truly makes it all about the quality and the hard work of the farmer and the roaster. I love The Coffeevine!”
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
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