Holiday Blend

STORY

This year our seasonal Holiday Blend is inspired by a beautifully floral-toned coffee from Ethiopia. This washed process lot was produced by the cooperative Biftu Gudina, which is located within the Agaro district in Western Ethiopia. Established only six years ago and consisting of less than 150 members, Biftu Gudina is young and tiny by Ethiopia standards. Aspiring to produce high quality coffee, but surrounded by larger, better funded cooperatives, Biftu Gudina struggled to create an identity early on. With aid from international NGO Technoserve however, Biftu Gudina’s quality has increased considerably with the construction of a centrally located washing station and drying beds, along with gravel roads for ease of access. Before the co-op and washing station were established, farmers had to walk their cherries over five miles down a muddy road to the nearest town. During the lengthy walk the coffee cherries would often ferment, resulting in poor quality and low prices. 

To round out the blend and build complexity we added two coffees from Central America, one from El Salvador and the other from Guatemala. The El Salvador coffee is a natural processed lot and gives the blend just the right amount of fruit presence. It was produced by Mauricio “Moe” Salaverria, whose coffees consistently place well in coffee competitions such as Cup of Excellence. In this year’s El Salvador Cup of Excellence, one of his farms known as Himalaya, received another award! The fully-washed Guatemala coffee comes from smallholder producers in the remote San Pedro Necta municipality, in Huehuetenango. It gives the blend body and an underlying brown sugar sweetness that complements the other floral and fruity components beautifully. 

This complex coffee is sure to compliment after dinner desserts and inspire many brisk mornings this holiday season. We will feature this coffee throughout November and December, to keep you going throughout the holiday season.