Just over twenty years ago, I started a three-year Bachelor of Science degree at Lancaster University, a stone’s throw north of Manchester. Consequently, the largest city in the north of England played a crucial role in my journey from teenager to young adult. It’s where I went to see many live bands for the first time, where my friends and I would escape when Lancaster felt too small and where one of my first boyfriends lived.
In later years, I still very much connected with the city and loved its edgy vibe, proud openeness to the LGBTQIA+ community and its everlasting impact on music. Unfortunately, I’ve not been back in a long time and cannot judge how its nascant specialty coffee culture has evolved since the early days with Takk and Grindsmith but it’s clear that something exciting is brewing.
At the forefront of this movement is Blossom Coffee, a highly regarded specialty coffee roaster founded in 2020 by Joshua Clark. Purely a wholesale roaster, Blossom is laser focused on sourcing the most outstanding coffees it can find and roasting them to perfection on its Loring S35. We first featured Blossom back in 2022 with a delicious Costa Rican coffee from La Rosa.
Now, Blossom is making its Coffeevine comeback with an outstanding natural-processed Ethiopian coffee from Shoondhisa. This coffee was produced by the king of Guji, Ture Waji, who runs various processing stations in Guji state and who is known for his super clean, balanced and delicious coffees.
As someone who has a weakspot for natural Ethiopians, something that my boyfriend Michal certainly shares, this coffee really stood out to me on the cupping table the other week. It’s got a lovely aroma that reminds you of spiced wine while in the cup profile you’ll find stewed strawberries, dark chocolate and peach.
When we put our boxes together, it’s important to showcase a breadth of styles, origins, varietals and processing methods. This natural Ethiopian coffee highlights what is great about Blossom’s work. They find the sweet spot in each coffee that they pick and thus allow us to discover unprecedented flavours in our coffee.
Blossom is also a proud member of 1% for the Planet and does its utmost to employ transparent sourcing policies that offer a clear picture of how much they pay their farmers. It’s a real pleasure to have them back on board for one of our boxes.
To receive this outstanding coffee and its companions for the January 2024 Coffeevine box with European roasters, visit our shop to see all available box options. Pre-orders close on 15.01.2024 / Ships globally on 22.01.2024
