I don’t think anyone necessarily sets out to build the biggest specialty coffee roastery in their country. If it does happen, it’s because the universe wanted it this way. Of course, a few market factors have to be given for this to happen. One thing that might help is a relatively small home market. Say, for example, Latvia. That is where Kalve Coffee is based and Kalve is one of three great European roasters who are featured in this month’s Coffeevine box.
We first worked with Kalve back in 2022 and they happened to be our first roaster from this Baltic nation at the time. Though it had only been in business for a few years back then, Kalve was already a big player in the region with a serious roasting operation, various cafés and a strong B2B game. Since then, Kalve has grown exponentially while keeping a focus on sustainability and tapping into interesting markets. Last year, they opened their first coffee shop outside of Latvia, in Düsseldorf, Germany to be precise.
Founders Gatis Zemanis, Raimonds Selga and Janis Andersons have also been attracting very talented people to the team, people like Janis Podnis who is a three time Latvian barista champion and Coffee Masters London winner. Most recently, Kalve also became a certified B Corp and it does its very best to act as a zero-waste champion where possible.
When Janis reached out to me a few months ago to suggest a re-run of our popular 2022 collab, I didn’t need to be asked twice. Kalve sent over some super tasty coffees for us to cup during the most recent selection process and the vote unianimously went for the delicious people-pleasing washed Peruvian coffee from El Zorzal.
If you’ve been following us a bit lately, then you might have seen a fair share of Peruvian coffees making an appearance in our Coffeevine boxes recently. That’s because Peruvian coffees are just super exciting and fresh. Compared to what was available in Peru a few years ago, the latest crops are truly outstanding. This particular lot was produced by a young coffee grower by the name of Aladino Perez whose farm is located in Alto Shimanilla. Peru is one of the Andean countries that enjoys a fantastic variety in its geography with the highlands being particularly well suited to produce outstanding specialty coffees.
This coffee is really well-balanced, a bit fruity and a bit nutty. Basically like me haha.
To receive this excellent coffee along with our other European picks from Create and Replica, order our your box from our shop now.
Pre-orders close on 15.07.2024 / Ships globally on 22.07.2024
