I am typing this on what is hopefully the last day of an almost unbearable heat wave that has turned Central Europe into a sweltering furnace. The average temperature has been a sizzling 36C, hotter than in Barcelona.

That has put Michal and I before the terrible dilemma of having to choose between turning on the air co during the day to protect our brains from overheating and consequently making global warming worse or simply accepting this as an inconvenient side effect of modern technology.

In any case, these temperatures did not keep me from doing my monthly cupping to choose the three best tasting coffees for my coffee subscription service’s September ’20 box. Admittedly, I let the coffees cool a bit more than usual but what I can promise you is that this next edition is just another example of three incredibly good roasters sharing some of their finest coffees with the world.

I know I always say the same thing but what can I do if all of my coffees are so good? After all, people keep calling The Coffeevine the best coffee subscription in Europe.

But enough of that. Let’s meet the roasters and their coffees.

Gringo Coffee Roasters

This is our first Swedish roaster of 2020 and a particularly awesome one too. Founded by Johan Ekstedt in 2018, Gringo is based in the city of Gothenburg where many of the country’s best roasters are located. I’m thinking of Per Nordby, Da Matteo and Morgon Coffee Roasters, of course.

In a previous life, Johan was the co-founder of Johan and Nyström as the name suggests. This was one of the first specialty coffee roasters in all of Sweden and significantly impacted the development of the third wave coffee scene in this country.

One particular thing that really sets Gringo apart is the fact that since 2017, Johan and his team own and run their own coffee farm in Colombia in an effort to better understand how coffee growing really works, to learn about the different challenges that coffee farmers face and to find ways to improve the process.

It’s a real honour to have such a legendary coffee personality in our midst in September. For this box, Johan will be roasting for us a spectacular Pink Bourbon from Colombia that is full of crisp and sparkling acidity from an incredibly clean cup. A real standout for me.

Plot Coffee Roasting

While Swedish roasters have largely been absent from our 2020 coffee boxes, UK roasters have been unusually present. I mean, I love British roasters and the incredible passion and skills they bring to the table and I think secretly, I am trying to feature as many of them as possible before the UK truly and finally leaves the EU at the end of this year.

I am, therefore, especially excited to introduce you to a brand new UK roaster who is making his debut in September. Plot Coffee Roasting from Southeast London was personally recommended to me by one of my ambassadors, @amsterdani who told me that one of the best coffees he had had all year was from this roaster.

Founded by Matthew Orchard, Plot is a passion project that puts producers left right and centre of all of its operations by telling their story through visuals and their coffees. For the September box, Plot’s Lydia Rice will roast a gorgeous natural Ethiopian coffee from Bale Mountain for us. It’s sweet, it’s juicy and delicate at the same time.

Mokuska

I first came across Mokuska when I was in Stuttgart for a trade fair in February and I had a few hours to kill before my flight back to Amsterdam. I popped into the city to have lunch and a coffee and as I sat there, two lovely ladies came out from the office because they had recognised me and were very excited that I was there.

That started off my wonderful friendship with Mokuska, which was founded by Stefan Dachale. I learned that the name itself means little squirrel in Hungarian because Stefan once observed that people who drink a lot of coffee behave like hectic rodents. Yet the German word, kleines Eichhörnchen, would have been a tongue twister for all non-native speakers so his girlfriend at the time, who was Hungarian, suggested to use her language’s word. And there you have it.

Mokuska is the first roaster from this part of Germany who will get a place in our box and I’m very excited to share Stefan’s absolutely delicious honey-processed Red Bourbon coffee from Rwanda in September. It’s got a berry-like juiciness and a delicate sweetness that makes it perfectly balanced.

Are you keen to get your hands on these outstanding coffees? Then subscribe today to receive this box in September.

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Whether you love filter coffee or prefer espresso, I’ve got you covered. I carefully choose all of my monthly single-origin coffees to create a unique coffee experience for my subscribers. Every box is completely unique, just like our farmers, roasters and customers. To find out what it’s all about, you’ll simply have to subscribe yourself.

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