our coffees
This crowd pleasing coffee from Guatemala is named for the country’s national tree, the Ceiba. In early Mayan and Mesoamerican cultures, the Ceiba symbolized the connection between land and sky. The Ceiba lot from Huehuetenango is a community coffee, investing in sustainable sourcing to benefit a large group of producers. The cup profile boasts a rich floral and berry aroma and is full of chocolate, lemon, and raspberry, with a creamy body thanks to the specific Huehuetenango terroir.
The sourcing partner for Ceiba, Unitrade Coffee, maintains a close connection with producers and is active in improving regional coffee infrastructure. After the leaf rust epidemic several years ago, Huehuetenango is still recovering and Unitrade’s support of producers has been crucial to keeping family farms in operation. Coffee from the mountain communities around Huehuetenango is specifically selected for its fruity profile.
Huehuetenango is located in the rocky Western highlands of Guatemala bordering Mexico. Thanks to the elevation and varied microclimates of this mountainous region, coffee from Huehuetenango is well known worldwide for its bright and crisp acidity.
Huehuetenango lies in the Los Cuchumatanes mountain range, the highest point of which is known as “La Torre,” which reaches almost 3800 meters above sea level. Of the three non-volcanic coffee growing regions of Guatemala, Huehuetenango is the highest and driest under cultivation. Thanks to the dry, hot winds that blow into the mountains from Mexico’s Tehuantepec plain, the region is protected from frost, allowing coffee in Huehuetenango to be cultivated up to 2000 meters. The cool, crisp winds from the Cuchumatanes help moderate the temperature, which ranges from 20 to 24 degrees Celsius.
Named for Ethiopia’s national tree, the Acacia Core Coffee comes from smallholder farmers in the Yirgacheffe and Guji regions. The sweet, fruity profile is selected to represent the classic flavors of some of Ethiopia’s best recognized coffee producing regions. This Core coffee reflects the work of whole communities, and the Ethiopia Acacia Washed is produced by the smallholder farmers who characterize the coffee production landscape of Ethiopia.
In these southern regions of Ethiopia farmers pick coffee selectively, harvesting only ripe cherries individually by hand. Pickers rotate among the trees every eight to ten days, choosing only the cherries which are at peak ripeness. Coffee is depulped and washed by hand in cement canals at community washing stations. After fermenting in water to loosen the mucilage, wooden paddles are used to fully wash the coffee. Coffee is then placed on raised beds to dry in the sun.
Guji is a zone in the Oromia Region of southern Ethiopia. Like many of the country’s coffee growing regions, the culture of the Guji Zone varies from district to district and speaks to the diversity of people who cultivate coffee. More small washing stations are being built in Guji to respond to the demand for improvements in processing to fully capture the range of attributes found in Ethiopian coffee. The zone’s principal fresh water source is the Ganale Dorya river, which also acts as the boundary line with the neighboring Bale zone to the east.
Literally translated as “Land of Many Springs,” Yirgacheffe, the birthplace of coffee, has the ideal topography, elevation, and water sources to produce and process exceptional coffees. Coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe are typically multi-generational small-scale landholders, sometimes farming only a few hectares. Most coffees in Yirgacheffe are sold as cherry to centralized washing stations that help further separate flavor profiles.
This light, fruity washed bean is a perfect way to welcome the warmer weather and longer days. Its notes of peach tea and caramel are light on the palette making it easy to drink at any time of day. We love this coffee brewed in any method and know its subtle flavours will be welcome in all of your cups!
Paubrasil is named for Brazil’s national tree and exemplifies the consistent quality created by Brazil’s seasoned farmers, who use all available technologies to advance production by growing coffees that offer balanced, smooth profiles, despite changing environmental conditions.
Each container of this coffee is traceable back to the farm(s) where it was grown through a QR code linking to an online profile compiled prior to shipping the coffee. Coffees certified with the Designation of Origin are grown on farms in an area encompassing 55 municipalities that produce coffees with a unique identity, resulting from the combination of climate, soil, terrain, elevation, and the “know-how” of producers.
Paubrasil’s contributing producers belong to one of nine cooperatives or six associations affiliated with the Cerrado Coffee Growers Federation, have signed a statement of good practices in accordance with Brazilian labor laws, and store coffee in accredited warehouses post-harvest.
The Cerrado Mineiro region is a world-recognized, high-quality coffee producing origin and became the first Protected Geographical Indication in Brazil in 2005, with full Designation of Origin in 2013. A strong characteristic of this region is its well-defined seasons—a hot, wet summer is followed by a pleasantly dry winter. The dry climate during harvest eliminates potential problems with humidity during the drying process.
Minas Gerais is Brazil’s principal agricultural state, and the Cerrado is home to many of the country’s celebrated coffee estates, with expertise in planting, harvesting, drying, and sorting. We love Cerrado coffees for their big body, rich chocolate notes, and velvety texture when pulled as espresso.
This bean offers delicious notes of semi sweet chocolate, graham cracker, and apple.
A decaf bean that actually tastes good!
Dating back to the 1970s, the Fazenda Primavera farm is located in the municipality of Angelândia, Minas Gerais. The region sits at the transition between biomes, with land and vegetation characteristic of both the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado.
Environmental sustainability has always been integral to the farm’s operations, incorporating production techniques to minimize environmental damage. A power plant on the farm recycles water used in de-pulping to produce energy for the farm, and coffee pulp is composted for use as natural fertilizer.
Primavera’s agility in responding to new agricultural research and technology and to new trends in consumer preference is one of the main reasons we love this farm. For example, microlots are dried on raised beds, coffee is intercropped with shade trees on specially selected plots of the property, Honey processing eliminates the use of water, and coffee is evaluated constantly to find the best cup profiles. Primavera continues to keep an eye to the future, striving to lead the way for Brazilian specialty coffee.
This lot from Fazenda Primavera has been decaffeinated by Swiss Water, leaving it caffeine free but still full of chocolatey rich goodness. We love it for espresso, though it can easily be used in any brewing process. Its notes of honey, citrus, and cacao make it actually delicious, we promise!
This isn’t a regular Dark Roast, it’s a cool Dark Roast.
Our ode to dark roast is a little bit smoky, a lot a bit tasty, and has all the integrity and flavour you’ve come to expect from a Good Grief coffee. A blend of seasonal beans, the Dark Roast will satisfy drinkers without leaving the bitterness of a traditional French Roast behind. It’s perfectly balanced notes of molasses, baking spice, and caramel make it suitable for both filter coffee and espresso, and everything in between. Although roasted a bit darker than our standard coffee, the nuance of the beans still shines through giving the drinker a delicious mouthful of caffeinated goodness, sip after sip.
