Here at The Coffeevine, we’re always on the hunt for exciting new roasters and totally unique coffees and given how challenging it is to have three of those every month, we never give up the chase even in those difficult months when many roasters are expecting new arrivals. For our forthcoming May ’19 coffee box, we have managed to score three very special coffees for you.
During our monthly cupping last week, my tasters and I had a chance to taste a number of different submissions from various roasters and following a thorough deliberation, we chose three coffees that don’t just go perfectly well together, they also have distinct characteristics that really distinguish them on paper. In addition, we’re excited to welcome two new coffee roasters to our family of partners and feature an old friend again who made its debut back in 2017.
Keep on reading to find out what we picked out for you in May and don’t forget to preorder your box well in time to avoid missing out.
Kiss The Hippo:
Our first newcomer of the month is Richmond based coffee roaster Kiss The Hippo, a relatively new coffee brand that was only established in 2018. Yet, despite its young age, Kiss The Hippo has already made great strides towards establishing itself as one of the UK’s most exciting and ambitious roasters. In fact, the team was recently joined by the 2018 UK Barista Champion and friend of the Vine Josh Tarlo who we first met while he was in charge of coffee at Origin Coffee roasters.
This year, Kiss The Hippo’s wholesale manager Paul Ross took home the UK’s top trophy, adding another accolade to its fast-growing list of awards. However, while the guys and girls working at Kiss The Hippo might be incredibly ambitious, they also have a really impressive track-record with regards to their engagement with various charities. In fact, the coffee that we chose for our May ’19 coffee box, an outstanding washed Kenyan coffee from Tano Ndogo, is part of Kiss The Hippo’s commitment towards helping Kenyan students have access to clean water.
With regards to the flavour profile, expect a mindboggling taste of passion fruit with a sparkling mouthfeel and a slightly savoury after taste. This is definitely one of the most exciting Kenyan coffees we’ve ever tasted and it will be a real pleasure to feature this coffee in our forthcoming box.
Shokunin:
Every now and again you come across a coffee professional who is so obsessed with every aspect of the product that you might think he or she is writing an academic paper about the subject. Jelle van Rossum of Shokunin and Stielman Koffie is one such person. Jelle became obsessed with specialty coffee around the same time that I started The Coffeevine and since then, I’ve seen him progress with an astonishing determination and thirst for knowledge.
After spending a significant amount of time working at local Rotterdam coffee pioneer Man Met Bril, Jelle took over Stielman Koffie, a brand that hadn’t realised its full potential and he continues to run his experimental coffee brand Shokunin. The latter is a boundary-bending project that tries to shine the light on all parts of the coffee production process in which every link in the supply chain is based on unique craftsmanship. Shokunin is the Japanese word for ‘artisan’ but it cannot be translated as simply as that. As is the case with many art forms in Japan, the master also has a social obligation that carries great weight with it.
In our forthcoming May ’19 coffee box, Jelle will be making his debut with a gorgeous natural-processed coffee from a brand new origin that we haven’t featured before, Myanmar. I still remember first hearing about some isolated specialty coffee projects happening in this southeast Asian nation a few years ago and since then I’ve been desperately waiting for an opportunity to come by that would allow us to include a Burmese coffee in our box. Get ready to experience a thick and sweet coffee with notes of banana, candied orange and sticky toffee.
Sloane:
Based in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, Sloane Coffee was founded in 2017 by local coffee aficionado Teodora Pitis. That same year, she and her team made their Coffeevine debut with a lovely coffee from El Salvador and in May of this year, they will be returning to our coffee box with a super exciting Ethiopian coffee that has two unique characteristics that distinguish it from any other Ethiopian coffee we have featured before.
One, it is a honey-processed coffee, something that is incredibly rare for Ethiopia where most coffees are washed and some natural. Second, it consists of two very specific varieties, namely the Certo and Wolisho varieties, again something that is very rare for this origin where most coffees consist of mixed heirloom varieties. When I bumped into Teodora at this year’s London Coffee Festival, she pressed some samples into my hands and said: ‘These are some really exciting coffees that you just HAVE to try.”
Sure enough, I put them on the cupping table last week and this honey-processed coffee from Qore just really stood out. It has some of the classic characteristics of a washed Ethiopian coffee with the addition of an additional layer of sweetness and depth.
