Sourcing
We travel far and wide to source our beans, currently at least 16 countries, and following the seasons, allowing access to the crème of the crop. But, there are degrees to which we’ll not go for our coffee beans: Namely above latitude N 23.5 or below latitude S 23.5
We do source the finest Arabica beans hand-picked from trees in the richest soil at the highest altitude, run by the fairest farms. But we won’t stoop a centimeter below and altitude of 1,300 metres. All of which is to say, there’s great skill in selecting the right beans, what we don’t bring to market is as important as what we do. As our master blender says ‘you can make good coffee taste bad but you can never make bad coffee taste good’
Roasting and Blending
All our beans are carefully roasted in Bewley’s, Northern Cross, according to their origin and and whether they are for Espresso or Filter.
We long roast our coffee beans for espresso, we roast for 18 to 20 minutes (any longer and you are baking the beans) before blending.
Typical filter coffees are roasted for 6 to 8 minutes at much higher temperatures to allow their unique and delicate flavours to shine through. Once roasted, they are air-cooled and ground (depending on specification) and then packed straight away to ensure optimum freshness. Our filter coffee is varied to offer flavours suitable for all palates.
The Art of Cupping
Since the characteristics of the green coffee bean can change from the time it is imported until the time it is roasted, our master roaster conducts regular 'cuppings' or tasting’s, in which the bean's smell, taste and 'feel’ is assessed.
Each coffee is tested for acidity, flavour and body. Small batches are roasted, ground and smelled for aroma, then tasted twice in rapid succession. Cupping is an art among professional roasters – very similar to professional wine tasters,it takes years to refine your technique and palate and the ability to sense the intricacies of the coffees.
