A few days ago, Michal and I came back from a long overdue holiday to Mexico where we usually spend Christmas and New Year’s with my family. It was so good to be in the sun, to let the soul dangle for a few weeks and to soak up some much needed family energy. Now back in tempramental Holland, I’m excited to kick off a new year with many things to look forward to, including the upcoming 10-year anniversary of The Coffeevine.
But first, we need to ship the January 2024 Coffeevine box (imminent) and present to you the line up of the upcoming February 2024 Coffeevine edition that will feature an adventurous selection of fine coffees from various great roasters.
Disclaimer: The Global selection for February won’t include two coffees like it usually does. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a suitable coffee to join our Mexican roaster Jiribilla in this edition so there’s only one coffee to choose from. Luckily, we have a pretty epic GEMS limited edition release that is sure to tickle your fancy. Let’s dive in.
EUROPEAN ROASTERS FOR FEBRUARY
Casino Mocca from Budapest
Many years ago, when I was just getting started with The Coffeevine, I visited Budapest and I was blown away by its nascant specialty coffee culture at the time. Like Warsaw, it was already further ahead in establishing its third wave coffee scene than my hometown of Amsterdam and one of the most important local roasters to emerge from this scene is Casino Mocca.
The company was founded around the same time as The Coffeevine by two friends who had no experience in coffee and no external investors. Lajos Horváth and Zoltán Kis simply wanted to transform an industry that they had gotten to know from the inside out as Barista Championship competitors. They might have seemed like oddballs but they had all the right goods to start a highly successful roastery, which massively influenced the Hungarian specialty coffee world.
We have had the honour to work with Casino Mocca on various occasions and are thrilled to have them back in one of our boxes in February, this time with an unusual natural processed Kenyan coffee from Pearless Estate. Located in Nyeri at 1.400 – 1.600 meters above sealevel, Pearless Estate is known for producing highly refined natural processed coffees using the local SL28 & SL34 varieties that result in a fresh and sweet cup with notes of rhubarb, strawberry and a mellow finish.
Available with separate profiles for filter and espresso
Don Gallo from Valencia
Valencia is a beautiful city south of Barcelona that has a beautiful coast and lots of culture to boot. When I was there a year ago, I took some time to explore the local specialty coffee scene and found a few exciting roasters and cafés that were doing great things. I even hosted a public cupping at one! Though I didn’t visit Don Gallo on that occasion, this boutique roastery that was founded by Enrique and Ana Cobo is an old friend of The Coffeevine.
We featured Don Gallo back in February of 2018 and have kept our eyes on this boutique outfit since. They want to make their coffee fun and accessible without being pigeonholed by anyone. We’re looking forward to having them in the upcoming February 2024 Coffeevine box with a really delicious red-honey Costa Rican coffee from Matinilla Fancy, a farm in the Central Valley. We usually have honeys or naturals from this country and this one is a great example of those Costa Rican coffees. Expect a clean and well-balanced cup with notes of milk cholocate, hazelnut and cinnamon.
Available with a single profile for filter and espresso
Uncommon from Amsterdam
The third roaster in February is from our own hometown of Amsterdam. I’ve known Josh Cotton and Clay Tobin for many years and we became good friends long before they started their own roastery, Common Greens, which later became Uncommon. They run one of the best specialty coffee bars in town and consistently roast outstanding coffees from a small range of origins. A few weeks ago, I saw Josh and he asked if we could look into a fresh partnership and I loved the sound of it.
For Uncommon’s latest Coffeevine feature, they will roast a super delicious washed Kenyan coffee from Karinga, a wet mill located in Kiambu Country. Kenya is known for its very characteristic coffees that usually have a very pronounced cup profile. This Kenyan coffee is no different and perfectly showcases why Kenyan coffees are so extraordinary. Expect a vibrant cup profile with notes of red berries, cherry and rooibos.
Available with separate profiles for filter and espresso
GLOBAL ROASTER FOR FEBRUARY
Jiribilla from Mexico City
As mentioned above, we only found one suitable Global roaster for our February edition despite our best efforts to potentially introduce more up and coming roasters from Latin America but from the samples submitted for our cupping, it was only Jiribilla that really blew us away.
Jiribilla is a small roaster that was founded nearly a decade ago by Yarismeth Barrientos and Carlos De la Torre. They wanted to prove to the world that being a roaster from a coffee producing country is a real opportunity because you can engage in direct trade with small producers without the need to ship coffee across the world. I experienced this unique proximity several times myself while travelling in Mexico and visiting coffee farms in Oaxaca.
For their debut, Jiribilla will be roasting a really exquisite red-honey processed coffee from Finca Los Amigos in Veracruz. This is the first time ever that we’re presenting a coffee from this Mexican state and it’s a great chance for me to show you more of my home country’s finest coffees. Expect notes of yellow flowers, yellow apple, caramel, tangerine and guava. Quite a mouthful!
Available with a filter roast.
GEMS #15
Goldkind from Marchtrenk
For the 15th GEMS edition we’re teaming up with our first Austrian roaster in years. Goldkind from the small town of Marchtrenk near the city of Linz is a relatively young roaster that was the natural evolution of an already highly successful coffee importing business.
Founded by Uschi Zimmermann and her family, Panama Varietals began trading some of the finest Panamanian coffees and selling them to mainly European roasters. After some years, Uschi wanted to do more to present these fine coffees and so they began to roast under the name Goldkind, which is German for something very precious.
We first got acquainted with Goldkind a few years ago and have kept in touch with them ever since to find the perfect coffee for a GEMS feature, which includes only the most exquisite micro and competition lots we can get. For this particular edition, we’ll be offering a stunning washed Chicho Gallo from famed producers Finca Hartmann. Expect an elegant cup with a bouquet of strawberries and vanilla followed by remarkably pronounced florals in the aftertaste.
Available with a filter roast.
We bring you one step closer to the world’s best roasters.
You can choose between our European, Global and GEMS boxes or simply order the entire selection in our brand new ‘total package’ box. Find out more on the product pages or view our shop to see all options.
You can order this selection until 15.02.2024 / All February 2024 boxes will ship on 20.02.2024
