Equator has the honor of collaborating with Chef Thomas Keller and his team on his popular namesake espresso blend, TK Espresso, which can be enjoyed in all of Chef Keller’s properties, including the busy Bouchon Bakeries and flagship restaurants, The French Laundry and Per Se, among others.
Each bag sold benefits the Ment'or BKB Foundation: a nonprofit foundation that aims to educate and inspire excellence in young culinary professionals in America through grants and scholarship opportunities.
A foundation of milk chocolate and caramel with background notes of sweet citrus and cherry.
Roast Level
LightMed LtMedMed DarkDark
Origin Story
Ismael Hassen Aredo (Ethiopia)
Multiple producers (Kenya)
Las Rosas Women's Group (Colombia)
This edition of TK Espresso features a stunning coffee from Kayon Mountain Estate in Southern Guji, Ethiopia. Farm owner Ismael Hassen Aredo not only cultivates 300 hectares of his own coffee, but also processes the coffee of 140 nearby smallholder farmers. In a region where precious metal mines compete for labor, Ismael offers higher wages to ensure skilled workers return each season. This coffee was processed using the natural method—dried with the cherry intact—yielding a vibrant, fruit-forward cup that still preserves the delicate floral notes characteristic of Ethiopian beans.
Next, TK Espresso features a sparkling wet-process coffee from Kenya. This processing method, also known as the washed method, is more involved than dry processing. After harvesting, the skin of the coffee berry is removed, and the pulp-covered seeds are placed in fermentation tanks for a day or two. The loosened fruit mucilage is then washed off the beans using fresh water before being laid out on raised screen beds to dry in the sun. The flavor profile of this Kenyan coffee brings bright, sweet citrus notes, which beautifully complement the berry-like character of the dry-processed Ethiopian coffee.
Another washed-process lot from Colombia, grown by a group of women farmers in the Huila region, brings depth and body to TK Espresso, rounding out the blend’s more fruit-forward and nuanced components. These producers are members of the Asociación de Mujeres Cafeteras del Occidente del Huila, which leads the Las Rosas Women’s Coffee Project—a collaborative initiative that promotes economic prosperity, social empowerment, and coffee quality for its members.
Altitude
5,250 -7,380 feet
Variety
Heirloom, SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Caturra, Castillo
Processing
Natural, Washed
Why We Love This Coffee
Equator has the honor of collaborating with Chef Thomas Keller and his team to revise his popular namesake espresso blend, "TK Espresso". This espresso blend is served at Chef Keller’s restaurants and bakeries, including Bouchon Bakery and his fine dining restaurants The French Laundry and Per Se.
TK Espresso is more than the sum of its parts, together the coffees in this blend create a shot of espresso that is chocolaty with flavors of roasted nuts, sweet citrus and cherry. As in the past, we have worked with Chef Keller to develop a flavor profile that is rich and complex, one that can stand on its own but also tastes great in milk. We find that TK Espresso tastes particularly good in cappuccinos and caffè lattes, where the flavors sweeten somewhat, and the fruit character emerges, especially in the aroma.
While there are many variables that contribute to dialing in espresso, here are the parameters that have been yielding the best results in our lab:
1:2.1 coffee to water ratio in 26-28 seconds.
Sustainably Sourced
Good Coffee, Better Planet
$1 from every 12oz bag of TK Espresso sold ($2 for 2lb bags, $3 for 5lb bags) is donated directly to Ment'or BKB Foundation: nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring culinary excellence in young professionals and preserving the traditions and quality of cuisine in America.
This organization uses grants and scholarship opportunities to build a sustainable and diverse community of young American professionals that are knowledgeable and confident in their career pursuits and will be life-long ambassadors of quality and excellence in the world of gastronomy.
Sustainably Sourced