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2 episodes with has bean
6 episodes with has bean
6 episodes with has bean
EPISODE 3 – Joan Collins, Live Music and The Decline of the Christmas Record. (with special guest Jamie Summerfield)Hi and welcome to episode 3 of the podcast that hopes to combine coffee, conversation and comedy with interesting topics, A Couple of Drips.Reporter, music journalist, social media guru, now turned singer-songwriter, there isn't much that today's guest, Jamie Summerfield, can't turn his hand to. In this episode, we ruminate on what happened to proper Christmas songs, how Jamie wrote one of his own, how much we miss live music, and during our ‘claim to fame' section, we find out why Joan Collins thought he was a bit shifty. Jamie has also been kind enough to give us a sneak preview of his new single, Christmas Eve, to be released on 4th December and because it's nearly Christmas, we have a small but silly mockumentary, into the creative process of making the record.We'd love to hear your comments about things you'd like us to discuss in future episodes, guests you'd like to see and, of course, coffees you'd like us to try.Here are the links to most of the things we mentioned in the episode:Darkwoods Panama (today's coffee)Has Bean (coffee)Pact (coffee)A Little Bit of Stone (Stone's community hub)Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas AlbumPhil Spectre's Christmas AlbumBob Dylan's Christmas AlbumThe Flaming Lips' Christmas Album + FilmIndie Midlands (Jamie's music reviews)Bitter Sweet Symphonies (more of Jamie's reviews)The Space Between The Notes (Jamie's music PR site)Christmas Eve by Jamie Summerfield (Jamie's Christmas Single)Jamie's TwitterCleanfeed (high quality web audio for broadcasting)If you'd like to get in touch with us, our email is coupleofdrips@gmail.comIf you like what you hear, and you can afford it, why not buy us a coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/coupleofdripsWe hope you enjoy the show and we'll be posting the next episode really soon. Have a great day and stay safe! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas blend now, would it?! Now in its TWELFTH (!) year of Christmas blends here at Has Bean, this is our take on the perfect espresso to enjoy at this wonderful festive time of year. This blend can only be roasted throughout the month of December. Some fella in a red suit (no, not me!) said so, so make sure to enjoy it while you can! 50% El Salvador Finca Alaska Washed Bourbon 30% Guatemala El Limon Washed Pache 20% El Salvador Finca La Ilusion Natural Bourbon In the cup you get an insight into my Christmas: dark chocolate, dried fruit, boozy and orange peel. Yes that's the Steve Leighton Christmas in coffee descriptors!
It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas blend now, would it?! Now in its TWELFTH (!) year of Christmas blends here at Has Bean, this is our take on the perfect espresso to enjoy at this wonderful festive time of year. This blend can only be roasted throughout the month of December. Some fella in a red suit (no, not me!) said so, so make sure to enjoy it while you can! 50% El Salvador Finca Alaska Washed Bourbon 30% Guatemala El Limon Washed Pache 20% El Salvador Finca La Ilusion Natural Bourbon In the cup you get an insight into my Christmas: dark chocolate, dried fruit, boozy and orange peel. Yes that's the Steve Leighton Christmas in coffee descriptors!
The story of Has Bean and Finca Limoncillo has been told many a time but it's 1 I really love to share, so much of where we are today has come from this relationship and I'm super proud of everything that's happened in the past + amazingly excited for where we can go in the future. We first bought this coffee back in 2007 and back then it was as part of a buying group, I loved it from the first time I cupped it and it was a coffee I just had to get. It was only after the auction closed that I found out it was owned by a family in Nicaragua who are good friends and probably the only people I know from the whole country! The following year I visited the farm with our importers and spent the whole trip begging them to bring the coffee in for us, eventually they caved in (possibly just to stop me pestering them!) and kindly did it. This setup worked well for a couple of years, but we received notice a couple of years ago that the importers were not going to be buying the coffee any more, for reasons other than the cup quality. This led to some frantic phone calls and some thorough searching of the back of the sofa for loose change to fund buying 12 months' worth of coffee all at once. There were many many obstacles in the way of doing this deal, but we were lucky that we were able to pull everything together in a very short amount of time. The upside of all this is that we now work directly with Limoncillo instead of going via anyone else, and it's a relationship I'm super happy to have. This coffee has gone from 1 off Cup of Excellence buy to a long-term relationship. The farm is located in Matagalpa and is huge, at 171 hectares it's an amazing location and boasts 9 waterfalls within the farm. It's owned by the Mieresch family; as I have already said, they're good friends, and they're also well-respected producers in Nicaragua. They're known for their experimental processing, varietal work, and exceptional coffee. The fact that the family are friends helps us drill down into the details of what they do for the people who work for them, and the information continues to prove to me that good people grow good coffee. On the farm, the family: Pay their staff 30% more than what is typical minimum wage. Provide free housing, for 60 families, on their farms. Provide free electricity and running water for their homes. Provide free food for all workers. Provide free day care facilities for families to use. Provide free healthcare facilities on the farms. Employ on-site teachers who educate the staff and teach other skills, such as pottery and weaving. The goal is to help staff diversify their skills. The teachers are also paid twice the wages they would receive in the cities. The coffees we receive from Limoncillo are fantastic and they come from a fantastic relationship, Erwin has visited Stafford many times and it's always a pleasure to have him around. Last time he was here he ended up at a Weird Beard tap takeover in Manchester talking to 2 Weird Beards about crazy brewing / coffee farming ideas! A coffee from Finca Limoncillo (the Funky Red Pacamara) is used in 2 of their beers, Black Perle and Double Perle, mighty delicious beers! In the cup this coffee makes me think of a toffee apple, on the front end there's sweet sticky caramel which turns into juicy green apple with a hint of white grape. Country: Nicaragua Municipality: Yasica Norte Region: Matagalpa Farm Name: Limoncillo Farmer: Dr Erwin Mierisch Farm Size: 171 Manzanas Hectares Coffee growing area: 109 Hectares Harvest Months: December - February Diurnal Temperature Cycle: Avg High 28C, Low 20C Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l. Varietal: Caturra Processing system: Washed GPS coordinates: N13 2.9569 W85 49.9756
The story of Has Bean and Finca Limoncillo has been told many a time but it's 1 I really love to share, so much of where we are today has come from this relationship and I'm super proud of everything that's happened in the past + amazingly excited for where we can go in the future. We first bought this coffee back in 2007 and back then it was as part of a buying group, I loved it from the first time I cupped it and it was a coffee I just had to get. It was only after the auction closed that I found out it was owned by a family in Nicaragua who are good friends and probably the only people I know from the whole country! The following year I visited the farm with our importers and spent the whole trip begging them to bring the coffee in for us, eventually they caved in (possibly just to stop me pestering them!) and kindly did it. This setup worked well for a couple of years, but we received notice a couple of years ago that the importers were not going to be buying the coffee any more, for reasons other than the cup quality. This led to some frantic phone calls and some thorough searching of the back of the sofa for loose change to fund buying 12 months' worth of coffee all at once. There were many many obstacles in the way of doing this deal, but we were lucky that we were able to pull everything together in a very short amount of time. The upside of all this is that we now work directly with Limoncillo instead of going via anyone else, and it's a relationship I'm super happy to have. This coffee has gone from 1 off Cup of Excellence buy to a long-term relationship. The farm is located in Matagalpa and is huge, at 171 hectares it's an amazing location and boasts 9 waterfalls within the farm. It's owned by the Mieresch family; as I have already said, they're good friends, and they're also well-respected producers in Nicaragua. They're known for their experimental processing, varietal work, and exceptional coffee. The fact that the family are friends helps us drill down into the details of what they do for the people who work for them, and the information continues to prove to me that good people grow good coffee. On the farm, the family: Pay their staff 30% more than what is typical minimum wage. Provide free housing, for 60 families, on their farms. Provide free electricity and running water for their homes. Provide free food for all workers. Provide free day care facilities for families to use. Provide free healthcare facilities on the farms. Employ on-site teachers who educate the staff and teach other skills, such as pottery and weaving. The goal is to help staff diversify their skills. The teachers are also paid twice the wages they would receive in the cities. The coffees we receive from Limoncillo are fantastic and they come from a fantastic relationship, Erwin has visited Stafford many times and it's always a pleasure to have him around. Last time he was here he ended up at a Weird Beard tap takeover in Manchester talking to 2 Weird Beards about crazy brewing / coffee farming ideas! A coffee from Finca Limoncillo (the Funky Red Pacamara) is used in 2 of their beers, Black Perle and Double Perle, mighty delicious beers! In the cup this coffee makes me think of a toffee apple, on the front end there’s sweet sticky caramel which turns into juicy green apple with a hint of white grape. Country: Nicaragua Municipality: Yasica Norte Region: Matagalpa Farm Name: Limoncillo Farmer: Dr Erwin Mierisch Farm Size: 171 Manzanas Hectares Coffee growing area: 109 Hectares Harvest Months: December - February Diurnal Temperature Cycle: Avg High 28C, Low 20C Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l. Varietal: Caturra Processing system: Washed GPS coordinates: N13 2.9569 W85 49.9756
This is a coffee grown by the amazing Gillio Francesa Ferraro, a mature guy whom I met on my trip to Costa Rica a couple of years ago. We have a rule at Has Bean that if you're over 40 you can be a character (under 40 and a character just makes you weird). Well, Gillio is the perfect example of a character. The first thing he said to me was that my belly looked as if I ate too much, and that I should lose some weight. I was in the midst of exercising and dieting; his brutal honesty was refreshing, if not a little quirky. The thing that made me smile was that he was driving an old Jeep that was falling apart (he told me it was from the '60s). The best part was that the engine was a Dorman engine built in Stafford, UK. My father-in-law and two brothers-in-law all work at the factory, and it was amazing to be in a foreign location and see something so linked to home. You might have looked at the name of this coffee and thought, "oof! Steve that's a bit of a long one!" but I actually cut it down a little from what it could have been, there's only so much space! Costa Rica I'm sure you can guess is the country and then Zarcero is the micro-region/canton of Costa Rica that the coffee comes from. There could then have been Finca La Casa which is the name of the farm and Gillio Francesca Ferraro is, as we've already discussed, the amazing fella that grows the coffee. Yellow honey is the processing method which is a variant of the pulped natural process, then finally Caturra is the varietal of the coffee. Take a deep breath and say it with me now...Costa Rica Finca La Casa Zarcero Gillio Francesca Ferraro Yellow Honey Caturra! This is not your typical Costa Rican coffee. Forget all that has come before; this is a unique cup. It's a Caturra coffee, and is grown at an altitude of 1,700 metres above sea level. Gillio has 2 farms in Costa Rica, this one is called Finca La Casa (which just means 'farm at home') and can be found in the Western Valley area of Zarcero. The land around his house is rugged and difficult to farm. Gillio manages to get the very best out of it by working the land every day, even at the age of 83. I hope I'm half as active as he is when I get to that age! In the cup this is very sweet and very fruity, think raspberries coated in gooey caramel. There's a delicate satsuma acidity throughout the cup, and it finishes with with a hint of black tea. Country: Costa Rica Region: West Valley Province: Alajuela Micro-region: Zarcero Farm: Finca La Casa Producer name: Gillio Francesa Ferraro Farm size: 2 Hectares Altitude: 1,700 m.a.s.l. Production: 150 bags/year Varietal: Caturra Workers: 20 harvest pickers, 4-5 farm workers, 2 mill workers Pulping: Penagos technology from Colombia – Fully Washed Mechanical elimination of mucilage Drying: 100% “Yellow honey” process on African beds
This is a coffee grown by the amazing Gillio Francesa Ferraro, a mature guy whom I met on my trip to Costa Rica a couple of years ago. We have a rule at Has Bean that if you're over 40 you can be a character (under 40 and a character just makes you weird). Well, Gillio is the perfect example of a character. The first thing he said to me was that my belly looked as if I ate too much, and that I should lose some weight. I was in the midst of exercising and dieting; his brutal honesty was refreshing, if not a little quirky. The thing that made me smile was that he was driving an old Jeep that was falling apart (he told me it was from the '60s). The best part was that the engine was a Dorman engine built in Stafford, UK. My father-in-law and two brothers-in-law all work at the factory, and it was amazing to be in a foreign location and see something so linked to home. You might have looked at the name of this coffee and thought, "oof! Steve that's a bit of a long one!" but I actually cut it down a little from what it could have been, there's only so much space! Costa Rica I'm sure you can guess is the country and then Zarcero is the micro-region/canton of Costa Rica that the coffee comes from. There could then have been Finca La Casa which is the name of the farm and Gillio Francesca Ferraro is, as we've already discussed, the amazing fella that grows the coffee. Yellow honey is the processing method which is a variant of the pulped natural process, then finally Caturra is the varietal of the coffee. Take a deep breath and say it with me now...Costa Rica Finca La Casa Zarcero Gillio Francesca Ferraro Yellow Honey Caturra! This is not your typical Costa Rican coffee. Forget all that has come before; this is a unique cup. It's a Caturra coffee, and is grown at an altitude of 1,700 metres above sea level. Gillio has 2 farms in Costa Rica, this one is called Finca La Casa (which just means 'farm at home') and can be found in the Western Valley area of Zarcero. The land around his house is rugged and difficult to farm. Gillio manages to get the very best out of it by working the land every day, even at the age of 83. I hope I'm half as active as he is when I get to that age! In the cup this is very sweet and very fruity, think raspberries coated in gooey caramel. There’s a delicate satsuma acidity throughout the cup, and it finishes with with a hint of black tea. Country: Costa Rica Region: West Valley Province: Alajuela Micro-region: Zarcero Farm: Finca La Casa Producer name: Gillio Francesa Ferraro Farm size: 2 Hectares Altitude: 1,700 m.a.s.l. Production: 150 bags/year Varietal: Caturra Workers: 20 harvest pickers, 4-5 farm workers, 2 mill workers Pulping: Penagos technology from Colombia – Fully Washed Mechanical elimination of mucilage Drying: 100% “Yellow honey” process on African beds
In this episode we are continuing having fun with Stephen Leighton from Has Bean -- one of the pioneers of specialty coffee in Europe and also one of the pioneers of coffee videos on YouTube. How does it feel to make your first videos? How does it help your brand and whether it helps all the time. Also in this episode I will ask Stephen how would he start a coffee company if he would not have Has Bean. Interestingly his answer is not what we are accustomed to.
A coffee I first fell in love with waaaaaaay back in 2007 makes a super-welcome return to the Has Bean family. Everyone please welcome back FINCA ALASKA! Finca Alaska is located just one hour from Santa Ana city on the north west slopes of the Santa Ana volcano, which is one of the most amazing coffee growing areas in El Salvador. It is owned by Ernesto Mednez of La Ilusion fame or, as we like to call him, Neto! This is a name you should be familiar with by now, because I think you know how much I love the coffee this amazing man grows. I often get asked what my favourite coffee of all time is and I will never say exactly (although my friends know the true answer), but I always narrow it to three coffees; one of them is definitely from Neto. This is a coffee that we first saw back in 2007 (check out 2007 Steve and Neto in the main picture!) and I was desperate to have a long-term relationship with the grower. Due to some politics and miscommunication, it slipped through our fingers. The following year we bought coffee from La Ilusion but it always felt like there was a piece of the jigsaw missing. I managed to get my hands on Finca Alaska four years later in 2011, and now another four years later in 2015 I've done it again. I will do my best to not let it be four years until we see Finca Alaska again, I promise! In the cup you're going to think you've melted down a bar of Galaxy chocolate, super smooth andcreamy and dreamy milk chocolate everywhere! There's also a generous handful of hazelnuts with a delicious soft peach acidity on the finish
A coffee I first fell in love with waaaaaaay back in 2007 makes a super-welcome return to the Has Bean family. Everyone please welcome back FINCA ALASKA! Finca Alaska is located just one hour from Santa Ana city on the north west slopes of the Santa Ana volcano, which is one of the most amazing coffee growing areas in El Salvador. It is owned by Ernesto Mednez of La Ilusion fame or, as we like to call him, Neto! This is a name you should be familiar with by now, because I think you know how much I love the coffee this amazing man grows. I often get asked what my favourite coffee of all time is and I will never say exactly (although my friends know the true answer), but I always narrow it to three coffees; one of them is definitely from Neto. This is a coffee that we first saw back in 2007 (check out 2007 Steve and Neto in the main picture!) and I was desperate to have a long-term relationship with the grower. Due to some politics and miscommunication, it slipped through our fingers. The following year we bought coffee from La Ilusion but it always felt like there was a piece of the jigsaw missing. I managed to get my hands on Finca Alaska four years later in 2011, and now another four years later in 2015 I've done it again. I will do my best to not let it be four years until we see Finca Alaska again, I promise! In the cup you're going to think you've melted down a bar of Galaxy chocolate, super smooth andcreamy and dreamy milk chocolate everywhere! There's also a generous handful of hazelnuts with a delicious soft peach acidity on the finish
Well, well, well...what do we have here? Might it be a world-exclusive coffee only available at Has Bean? I think we might! This coffee is from a farm we're supporting for the ninth (!) year, and it's one that I am very proud to be working with and linked with; the owner is my very good friend, Stephen Hurst. I'll let Stephen Hurst tell you the story of how he came to own ‘Inglaterra': “Maybe it had always been an idea in the back of my mind... so a couple of years ago when some friends in Brazil mentioned that a small coffee farm was for sale, I had a look. The farm's name (Fazenda Toca Da Onca) meant ‘hiding place of a small wildcat'. The locals now call the farm ‘Inglaterra'. The previous owners had abandoned Toca Da Onca/Inglaterra; we had to start again, almost from scratch. Some surviving coffee trees were pruned right back and the coffee that you are now drinking is that re-growth from the original, old trees. Information for the coffee people: the varietals are Icatu, Acaia and Catuai. In future I expect coffee cherry varietals to become as well known as wine grape varietals, and to a much wider audience. The farm is located near the lovely spa town of Pocos De Caldas in the coffee growing heartlands of Brazil's Minas Gerais state. The farm's elevation is 950–1300 meters, and it has rich soil. It's on the edge of an ancient caldera/ super volcano whose outline can be seen on satellite images. 50% of the farm is virgin Mata Atlantica forest, and it will stay that way as long as I own it. I am replanting some areas with the help of my local friends Gabriel and Cristiano, without whose assistance this project would never had started”. Back to me! We think the Bourbon varietal probably originated on the island of Bourbon, or perhaps in Ethiopia. It's a varietal with many sub-varietals. It's at high risk from pests and diseases and is decidedly average in terms of yield, but the cup profile tends to be anything but average. It hasvery close links to the SL28, Typica and Caturra varietals.In the right environment, because of its low yield, Bourbon tends to produce a very high quality cup (there is evidence that the lower the yield isthe higher the quality will be, becausethe plant can use its energy more efficiently). I don't think it is a coincidence that my top three coffees of all time have been from the Bourbon varietal. For a little more information about the Bourbon varietal make sure to have a look at the varietal section of our articles here. In the cup this is like a melted bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Whole Nut. It's super-balanced and absolutely rammed full of milk chocolate with a nutty hazelnut edge, there's also a silky mouthfeelthat really reminds me of melted milk chocolate. Country: Brazil Region: Minas Gerias City: Poços de Caldas Farm: Fazenda Inglaterra Farmer: Stephen Hurst Farm size: 10 hectares Coffee growing area: 5 hectares Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l. Varietal: Bourbon Processing system: Pulped Natural
Well, well, well...what do we have here? Might it be a world-exclusive coffee only available at Has Bean? I think we might! This coffee is from a farm we're supporting for the ninth (!) year, and it's one that I am very proud to be working with and linked with; the owner is my very good friend, Stephen Hurst. I’ll let Stephen Hurst tell you the story of how he came to own ‘Inglaterra': “Maybe it had always been an idea in the back of my mind... so a couple of years ago when some friends in Brazil mentioned that a small coffee farm was for sale, I had a look. The farm's name (Fazenda Toca Da Onca) meant ‘hiding place of a small wildcat’. The locals now call the farm ‘Inglaterra’. The previous owners had abandoned Toca Da Onca/Inglaterra; we had to start again, almost from scratch. Some surviving coffee trees were pruned right back and the coffee that you are now drinking is that re-growth from the original, old trees. Information for the coffee people: the varietals are Icatu, Acaia and Catuai. In future I expect coffee cherry varietals to become as well known as wine grape varietals, and to a much wider audience. The farm is located near the lovely spa town of Pocos De Caldas in the coffee growing heartlands of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. The farm’s elevation is 950–1300 meters, and it has rich soil. It's on the edge of an ancient caldera/ super volcano whose outline can be seen on satellite images. 50% of the farm is virgin Mata Atlantica forest, and it will stay that way as long as I own it. I am replanting some areas with the help of my local friends Gabriel and Cristiano, without whose assistance this project would never had started”. Back to me! We think the Bourbon varietal probably originated on the island of Bourbon, or perhaps in Ethiopia. It's a varietal with many sub-varietals. It's at high risk from pests and diseases and is decidedly average in terms of yield, but the cup profile tends to be anything but average. It hasvery close links to the SL28, Typica and Caturra varietals.In the right environment, because of its low yield, Bourbon tends to produce a very high quality cup (there is evidence that the lower the yield isthe higher the quality will be, becausethe plant can use its energy more efficiently). I don’t think it is a coincidence that my top three coffees of all time have been from the Bourbon varietal. For a little more information about the Bourbon varietal make sure to have a look at the varietal section of our articles here. In the cup this is like a melted bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Whole Nut. It's super-balanced and absolutely rammed full of milk chocolate with a nutty hazelnut edge, there's also a silky mouthfeelthat really reminds me of melted milk chocolate. Country: Brazil Region: Minas Gerias City: Poços de Caldas Farm: Fazenda Inglaterra Farmer: Stephen Hurst Farm size: 10 hectares Coffee growing area: 5 hectares Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l. Varietal: Bourbon Processing system: Pulped Natural
In this episode I will interview Ryan O'Rourke about how he prepared to start a coffee roasting company. Ryan is starting Ironclad Coffee Roasters in Richmond, Virginia. In this episode, Ryan talks in detail about how he selected his production roaster, how he goes about buying green coffee and selecting an importer, his portfolio and pricing policy. The AHA! moment for Ryan came through getting to know Has Bean and its coffee subscription service. Ryan also mentions his virtual mentor Stephen Leighton , CEO of Has Bean. We have a short chat about the advantages and complications of connecting a cafe with a roastery. Ryan reveals why he decided to start his venture in Richmond and we talk about his competition: Lamplighter Roasting Company, Blancharts. We finish with Stephen Leighton and his amazing strategy for keeping coffee fun and avoiding snobbery. Enjoy and do not forget to leave us reviews.
We first bought this coffee back in 2007 in a buying group. I loved it from the first time I cupped it, and it was one I had to get. It was only after the auction closed that I found out it was owned by a family in Nicaragua who are probably the only people I know from the country, and are good friends. The following year I visited the farm with our importers and spent the whole trip begging them to bring it in for us. Eventually they caved in and kindly did this for us. This has worked well for a couple of years. But we received a notice a couple of years ago that the importers were not going to be buying the coffee any more for reasons other than the cup quality. This led to some frantic phone calls and some thorough searching of the back of the sofa for the loose change to fund buying 12 months' worth of coffee in one go. Many obstacles were in the way of doing this deal, but we were lucky that we were able to pull all the strings together with so little time. So the upside of all of this is that now Limoncillo is part of our direct buying program and I see it as a symbol of how Has Bean's buying has developed, and how we are developing as a roastery. This coffee has come from Cup of Excellence, to long term relationship, to a direct trade relationship. The farm is located in Matagalpa and is a huge 171 hectares. It's an amazing location with 9 waterfalls within the farm. It's owned by the Mieresch family; as I have already said they are good friends, but they're also well respected producers in Nicaragua. They're known for their experimental processing, varietal work, and exceptional coffee. The fact that the family are friends helps us drill down into the details of what they do for the people who work for them, and continues to prove to me that good people grow good coffee. The employers: Pay their staff 30% more than what is typical minimum wage Provide free housing for 60 families on their farms Provide free electricity and running water for their homes Provide free food for all workers Have free day care facilities for families to use Provide free health care facilities on the farms Employ on-site teachers who educate their staff and teach other skills such as pottery and weaving. The goal is to help staff diversify their skills. The teachers are also paid twice the wages they would receive in the cities. I'm pleased to say that in the cup it's very similar to previous years and remains as amazing as it's ever been, one of the most consistent cups we buy. The best way I could describe this coffee is that it's like eating a toffee apple. At the front you get the sweetness of caramel with a big sticky mouthfeel, then it turns into the juiciness of green apple acidity that cleans the mouth and refreshes the palate. Then the finish: you get the two flavours mixing together to give you a balanced and complex coffee. Farm: El Limoncillo Farmer: Dr Erwin Mierisch Region: Matagalpa Farm Size: 171.00 hectares Coffee growing area: 109.00 hectares Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l. Varietal: Caturra Processing System: Washed and sun dried Coordinates N13 2.9569 W85 49.9756
We first bought this coffee back in 2007 in a buying group. I loved it from the first time I cupped it, and it was one I had to get. It was only after the auction closed that I found out it was owned by a family in Nicaragua who are probably the only people I know from the country, and are good friends. The following year I visited the farm with our importers and spent the whole trip begging them to bring it in for us. Eventually they caved in and kindly did this for us. This has worked well for a couple of years. But we received a notice a couple of years ago that the importers were not going to be buying the coffee any more for reasons other than the cup quality. This led to some frantic phone calls and some thorough searching of the back of the sofa for the loose change to fund buying 12 months' worth of coffee in one go. Many obstacles were in the way of doing this deal, but we were lucky that we were able to pull all the strings together with so little time. So the upside of all of this is that now Limoncillo is part of our direct buying program and I see it as a symbol of how Has Bean's buying has developed, and how we are developing as a roastery. This coffee has come from Cup of Excellence, to long term relationship, to a direct trade relationship. The farm is located in Matagalpa and is a huge 171 hectares. It's an amazing location with 9 waterfalls within the farm. It's owned by the Mieresch family; as I have already said they are good friends, but they're also well respected producers in Nicaragua. They're known for their experimental processing, varietal work, and exceptional coffee. The fact that the family are friends helps us drill down into the details of what they do for the people who work for them, and continues to prove to me that good people grow good coffee. The employers: Pay their staff 30% more than what is typical minimum wage Provide free housing for 60 families on their farms Provide free electricity and running water for their homes Provide free food for all workers Have free day care facilities for families to use Provide free health care facilities on the farms Employ on-site teachers who educate their staff and teach other skills such as pottery and weaving. The goal is to help staff diversify their skills. The teachers are also paid twice the wages they would receive in the cities. I'm pleased to say that in the cup it's very similar to previous years and remains as amazing as it's ever been, one of the most consistent cups we buy. The best way I could describe this coffee is that it's like eating a toffee apple. At the front you get the sweetness of caramel with a big sticky mouthfeel, then it turns into the juiciness of green apple acidity that cleans the mouth and refreshes the palate. Then the finish: you get the two flavours mixing together to give you a balanced and complex coffee. Farm: El Limoncillo Farmer: Dr Erwin Mierisch Region: Matagalpa Farm Size: 171.00 hectares Coffee growing area: 109.00 hectares Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l. Varietal: Caturra Processing System: Washed and sun dried Coordinates N13 2.9569 W85 49.9756
This is the second video from the talks given in Asia (Busan, Shanghai and Taipei). Stephen Leighton is the owner of Has Bean coffee and also one of the co founders of the Tamper Tantrum platform. Stephen talks about his love for Bolivia but how thew specialty coffee market there is in decline. But there are positive signs for the future.
This is the second video from the talks given in Asia (Busan, Shanghai and Taipei). Stephen Leighton is the owner of Has Bean coffee and also one of the co founders of the Tamper Tantrum platform. Stephen talks about his love for Bolivia but how thew specialty coffee market there is in decline. But there are positive signs for the future.
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