Finca Filadelfia
This year I went to Guatemala to participate in the annual Cup of Excellence that was held at Anacafe in Guatemala city. This was great fun and we tasted loads of tasty coffee, it’s always...
View ArticleCosta Rica, February 2014
Each year I travel to Costa Rica to cup with our exporting partners and visit the farms that we buy from, a trip that this spring resulted in a full container of delicious coffee which just landed in...
View ArticleBurundi Cup of Excellence 2014
I’ve just returned from Bujumbura where I’ve again had the pleasure of serving on the International jury for their COE. This was my second time on the Burundi jury, I was also at their first...
View ArticleBrazil 2014: Part 1
Our Brazil container lands in the UK today, so since the coffees that I selected in October are now here, I thought it’d be a good time to get the blogpost out about my trip! The largest coffee...
View ArticleBrazil 2014: Part 2
The other exporter I wanted to catch up with was Bourbon Coffee in Pocos de Caldas, a group I’ve known from back in my Mercanta days. With the owners also in Japan at the SCAJ show, hosting and...
View ArticleCosta Rica COE and Herbazu 2015
Costa Rica is always one of my favourite trips in the year, and this time I was able to add on a week of Cup of Excellence judging to my itinerary. Spending days immersing yourself in the profiles and...
View ArticleWest Valley, Costa Rica 2015
VISTA AL VALLE One of the best things about Costa Rica is how close together everything is. Distances between farms and mills are small, so you can spend less time bumping around on treacherous roads...
View ArticleNicaragua, March 2013
It’s the dry season in Nicaragua, and as we drove from the airport the smell of burning grass filled the warm air. Once into coffee mill country, I was a bit troubled to be passing some large exporters...
View ArticleHonduras, March 2013
I was really looking forward to cupping a wide selection of Honduran coffees again, after the COE last year I’ve been very impressed by the range of flavours this country produces. They still struggle...
View ArticleLos Rabanales, February 2014
One of the new farms we’re working with this year is Los Rabanales, one of few farms left in close proximity to Guatemala City. Sitting on the porch at the farm house and hearing the heavy traffic from...
View ArticleTarrazu, Costa Rica 2015
Unlike in the West Valley, the flowering in Tarrazu was in full swing. As we drove up into the coffee country, the hillsides looked as if they had been sprinkled with powdered sugar, some trees being...
View ArticleOur Brazilian Arrivals
Our container of Brazils is just about to set sail for London, and in anticipation it seems a good time to write a little about my buying trip a few weeks back. Cupping at our exporters offices is...
View ArticleColombian Coffees
This October I finally had the chance to go back to Colombia to catch up with our exporters, after their having visited us in London for the last couple of years. I’d already locked in a few coffees I...
View ArticleHuila Best Cup 2016
The landscape in Huila Left: View from inside one of the buses that transported us from Neiva to Pitalito and back. A 5-6 hour drive over treacherous mountainous roads. Right:There are agricultural...
View ArticleJuliana Armelin: how to start a coffee farm
Last year, while on my annual buying trip in Brazil, I came across a couple of coffees that were new to me but instantly caught my attention. At the time I didn’t realise they were from a brand new...
View ArticleCosta Rica 2016
This February I was lucky enough to be heading to Costa Rica courtesy of Square Mile for my first origin trip. As you can imagine, excitement was high as I flew out from London. Arriving at the...
View ArticleHuila, Colombia. Los Lagos farm visit
The other day I wrote about my trip to Huila and the event I participated in. It was incredible to be able to join the auction and judge the coffees that were available, but this was only half of my...
View ArticleHuila, Colombia. El Mirador farm visit
El Mirador The day after visiting Los Lagos we headed to El Mirador, which is managed by Elkin Guzman who is a schooled agronomist: Elkin is strongly affiliated with Banexport as one of its...
View ArticleSaveur du Kivu and Muungano, DRC
I struggle to know where to begin when it comes to talking about the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Muungano coffee that we’re soon to release for the 2nd year in a row. I could start by...
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