It’s that time of the year again when shops, streets and trees are lit up, people wear their most colourful winter clothes and Christmas markets pop up all over Europe, serving steaming mugs of mulled wine and delicious cinnamon cookies. In the mornings we brew a steaming cuppa Joe and stand by the living room window watching the sun slowly creep up the sky, the trees dropping all but their last stubborn leaves and people cycling down the street wearing their most colourful winter garments.
As we approach the last month of 2017, we have also taken a moment to reflect upon this exciting year, review the moments that made us happy and the ones that made us doubt ourselves. Here at The Coffeevine lots of things have changed and will continue changing as we enter the new year 2018 but one thing will always remain the same: our outstanding selection of gorgeous coffees from the world’s most exciting roasters. December will certainly be no different and we’re excited to welcome back three old friends who have all been featured before but haven’t had an appearance in our coffee box in a long time and certainly never together in this constellation.
Please note: there is an adjusted order period and shipping date for our December ’17 box. See below for more details.
#1: Origin Coffee Roasters
While many of the UK’s leading coffee roasters are located in the capital, there is a handful of people who decided to set up shop in more rural areas where they are free from the noise and stress of the big city. Origin Coffee Roasters from Cornwall are one such example, although they are present in the capital with a number of cafés.
Founded by Tom Sobey and run by an incredibly talented team of people that includes, amongst others, Dan Fellows who won the 2016 UK Barista Champion ship, Origin Coffee Roasters are one of those standout roasters that you can always rely on to deliver outstanding quality.
We first worked with them many months ago and recently reached out to them to team up for a second feature. They were as excited we were by the prospect of sharing one of their exquisite coffees with our customers all over the world. During our recent blind cupping session we had a total of five potential candidates from Origin on our table but the winner was their Muwa AA from Kenya.
The coffee hails from somewhat of a rarity in Kenya’s specialty coffee production. The farm, called Muwa Estate, is run by Mercy Wambui who oversees the production of 6.000 trees spread over 6 hectares alongside a few other farms in the local area and 98% of their coffee trees are of the SL28 varietal, which is odd because Kenyan producers most often have a mix of varietals to protect their trees fromthe risk of diseases that are common occurances in mono-varietals farms.
Offering delicious notes of sweet jam, candied orange and a vibrant acidity, this coffee will be a real crowd pleaser.
Our selected coffee from Origin Coffee Roasters:
Kenya
Muwa AA, Nyeri
1.680masl
SL28 & Baitan – Washed
Filter & Espresso
#2: The Barn
Our second roaster to provide an outstanding coffee for our December ’17 box is Berlin’s The Barn. Ralf Rüller is probably one of the most iconic roasters in Europe and has been at the forefront of the German specialty coffee scene for many years. Ralf got a lot of his inspiration from Nordic roasters like Tim Wendelboe and Koppi, who we closely workes with on sourcing some of his outstanding coffees, and rather than strictly enforcing light or medium roasts, each coffee gets its very unique roast profile that brings out the very best flavours.
Ralf is a true friend and long time supporter of The Coffeevine and it’s always an honour to have The Barn in our midst. Since we transitioned to our current coffee box format we have not had a chance to feature The Barn and we’re excited to finally include them again in one of our boxes, this time with an incredible Honduran coffee from Finca El Diamante.
This coffee hails from a relatively unknown region of Honduras called Intibuca. It’s in the eastern part of the country where coffee production is still relatively underdeveloped. For The Barn this is a new adventure but one that a lot of potential since the coffees they’ve tasted so far, including this one, have been real standouts. Here at The Coffeevine we love Honduran coffees for their rich flavours, creamy bodies and surprising complexity.
We’re excited to feature this unique coffee roasted by one of Germany’s most skilled roasters in our December ’17 box.
Our selected coffee from The Barn:
Honduras
El Diamante, Intibuca
1.700masl
Catuai – Washed
Filter & Espresso
#3: Da Matteo
Sweden is one of Europe’s most sophisticated coffee nations, even coining the term ‘fika’ to mean everything from catching up to taking a break, as long as coffee is involved. This Nordic country sports a few roasters who have become global icons of the Nordic roasting style, including Drop, Koppi and Per Nordby, all of whom have been featured in our coffee box at some point in the past.
Da Matteo from Gothenburg should certainly not be missed out in this list. What initially started as an Italian espresso bar in 1995, hence the name, has since morphed into one of Sweden’s most respected and decorated specialty coffee roasties. Its baristas have taken home the Swedish Barista Championship three times in total and most recently Da Matteo launched its very own certification called ‘Truly Special’. This is awarded to very unique coffees that reach a certain score in five categories defined by Da Matteo themselves: ecology, ecomony, social, quality and taste. Only coffees from farms that have been personally visited by Da Matteo or their importers and that reach a certain score will get this certification.
Luckily the coffee we chose for our final box of this year meets those requirements and we’re extremely excited to be sharing such an amazing coffee with you this December. It comes from producer Victor Barrera who is amongst one of the first growers to replace his caturra trees with tabi trees that are much more resiliant and produce much better coffees in the conditions on this farm.
The coffee is incredibly smooth and sweet and will give your tastebuds a proper tingle.
Our selected coffee from Da Matteo:
Colombia
Finca El Tesoro, Palestina
1.750masl
Tabi – Washed
Filter & Espresso
DON’T MISS OUT ON THIS DELICIOUS COLLECTION OF BEAUTIFUL COFFEES
Can you think of a better way to bring 2017 to a close than with a fine selection of coffees to keep you company during the holidays? Preorder our December ’17 box until 10-12 / Ships globally on 15-12.
