Coutume Café from Paris | in our November ’19 coffee box

November 1, 2019

Coutume Café from Paris | in our November ’19 coffee box

November 1, 2019

The pioneers from the French capital are back in one of our coffee boxes after a three-year absence. They will roast for us a gorgeous coffee from Colombia.

The winter months have officially arrived. In the last few days, I’ve seen Christmas lights being put up in the streets, mulled wine being offered at bars and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas’ starting to blast out of speakers everywhere. I mean, this woman can literally just kick back and relax with her feet up all year and wait for this short period when it’s either her or Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ battling it out on the airwaves. $$$$$

Luckily, I don’t listen to the radio at home and instead, put on my favourite songs when I brew delicious coffees for me and my partner. I am particularly excited about the forthcoming November coffee box and its contents because it will bring together two old friends of the Vine and one newcomer who will roast a super yummy selection of coffee for us. The first roaster from this box that I’d like to introduce to you is Coutume Café from Paris.

Founded in Paris back in 2010 by Australian native Tom Clarke and his French business partner Antoine Nétien, Coutume was at the forefront of what became Paris’ exciting specialty coffee scene. At the time, specialty coffee was considered a curiosity by most people but it didn’t stop the dedicated team from pursuing its mission of sourcing and serving delicious coffees from select producers across the world.

During my most recent live q&a on Instagram, I spoke with Caroline Noirbusson who is the current Wholesale Manager at Coutume and I got to ask her a few questions about the state of their business today and the excellent coffee from Finca La Esperanza in Colombia that they will roast for our November ’19 coffee box.

Alex Kitain: What has been the most significant development at Coutume in the last year?

Caroline Noirbusson: We opened five shops in Paris within six months from July to December 2018. That was definitely a huge challenge for all of us.

AK: What does your personal day to day look like?

CN: I’m the Wholesale Manager of Coutume. I take care of all of our professional clients, let them taste of our latest arrivals, help them if they need assistance, advice or training on the coffees or with any of the machines. At the same time, I’m the green buyer as well, so it’s a lot of cupping and travelling around the world to find the best coffees for us and our clients.

It can also happen that I end up roasting if the head roaster needs a hand. So my days are not all the same. Every day is different and you never know what the next day will bring. That’s really exciting to me.

AK: How did you decide to buy your first lot from Jamer Ordonez? What was it about his coffees that you loved so much and how has his coffee evolved since that first purchase?

CN: I met Jamer Ordonez back in 2017 for the “Best of Huila” competition organised by InConexus. During the competition, his coffee landed in the Top 10. It was so sweet and juicy, showing skilful work on the fermentation and the drying processes, something that can be a bit tricky in Colombia sometimes. Jamer is a young and motivated producer, the quality is always there and our clients love it!

AK: What makes this particular harvest such a stand out?

CN: Jamer is a coffee passionate, like his father before. He graduated in agriculture and is well-aware of the impact of climate change and the challenges this brings to producers. One of the things he’d done is to install beehives to help pollinate his plantations. He analyzes the soil and rigorously controls the fermentation of all of his lots. Therefore, his coffee is really clean, juicy and super sweet.

We are super excited to have Coutume back in one of our boxes after an almost 3-year absence. Don’t miss out on this outstanding coffee that will be featured alongside hand-picked coffees from Ernst Kaffeeröster and Frukt as part of our forthcoming November ’19 coffee box.