Ethiopia Danche Marcelo
$ 24.00
Gettin' wild, but without gettin' too funky. We're kicking off 2023 Ethiopias at Huck with something a bit different from our friends at Snap!
Ethiopia's the birthplace of coffee, with unparalleled genetic diversity, plus unique terroir and processing that can produce super floral, citric washed coffees and the cleanest, juiciest, most berry- and tropical-forward naturals. We look forward to these coffees every year, and we're still looking forward to adding those to the roast lineup!
And Snap Coffees, a quality-focused exporter and washing station operator, has been a longtime partner for us at Huck. We've featured coffees from Snap's two washing stations in the kebele of Worka Chelbesa - the eponymous Worka Chelbesa station, plus the newer Danche station - for most of the last 5+ years, and coffees from within the Snap network often make up at least some, and sometimes all, of our flagship Phantom Limb Blend.
Over the past couple years, Snap has given its washing station managers the opportunity to experiment a bit with processing, and deviate a bit from the traditional washed and natural profiles. In this case Marcelo, one of the employees at Danche, pioneered a weird take on the washed process, keeping the coffee in-cherry, but in a sealed, cool environment, for 5 full days before undergoing a more typical washed process. Risky, but it works.
Earlier this year, we spent some time with Snap in Addis Adaba, tasting dozens of coffees from throughout their network. When we came across this one, it was "wow, wtf is this Amanuel?, we gotta have it" at first sip. And we were tasting samples blind, so even better that it came from a station we've bought from for years.
This one's combines what we love in both the best washed and natural Ethiopias - citrus and florality, plus bigger fruit and body - without some some of the funky wine, pushing vinegar, that we sometimes taste in super-long fermentations. We're tasting bright and juicy berry lemonade, honey, watermelon, and lavender florals in this banger - not our typical start to Ethiopia season, but we're very much into it!
*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
*washing station photos courtesy Snap Coffees.
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Costa Rica Santa Maria
$ 19.50
Santa Maria is back, and we're excited to have both Cooperativa de Caficultores de Dota (CoopeDota) specifically, and Central American coffees generally, back in the roastery! 2023 is the seventh harvest roasting up tasty goodness from CoopeDota and farmers in the village of Santa Maria, and this year's Santa Maria is among the best we've roasted.
We're always excited to roast the goods from CoopeDota because the coffee is tasty, and the group has always been a sustainability leader in Costa Rica. In 2011 the cooperative produced the world's first certified carbon-neutral coffee, and is known for its work to reduce both its carbon and water footprints. CoopeDota washes all of its coffees using an Eco-Pulper - a machine that uses significantly less water to remove the coffee's fruit and mucilage from the bean. While it's not necessary with this machine, the cooperative does give its microlots a chance to ferment before washing, which tends to boost complexity.
2023 Santa Maria has a lot going for it - milk-friendly hazelnut and pie crust flavors, balanced green apple and citrus brightness, and a touch of stone fruit. It's a crowd-pleaser, perfect for kicking off the long-awaited Central season here at Huck!
*** for roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
Guatemala Monte de Oro
$ 21.00
Monte de Oro is back with the sweetness, adding a punch of natural-process fruitiness to our Central American coffees.
Finca Monte de Oro is Huck's other Guatemala sourcing relationship, and while we do put a lot of focus on the AProCafé Association, there's no shortage of other great coffee in the country. We started sourcing coffee from Mario 7 years ago after being introduced by a mutual friend, and from day one his innovative approach to processing has set his coffees apart.
Mario has traditionally produced both honey-processed and natural coffees, and until two years ago, we had always roasted either the honey process or a blend of natural and honey together. Over the past couple years though, due to some weird climatic variances towards the end of the 2022 harvest period,and the fact that honeys are just very labor-intensive, the farm has decided to focus its efforts on the full natural process. The coffee’s delicious, and we’re on board.
A big shoutout to Mario for experimenting and sharing knowledge with us on his farm. Mario and his team at Monte de Oro sweat all the details when it comes to picking, fermenting, and drying his coffee, and they’ve been happy to share the details with us. We in turn have shared some of that knowledge with other partners like AProCafé, so Mario’s coffee isn’t just excellent, but it helps create a rising tide for all the coffee we buy and roast from Guatemala.
2023 Monte de Oro is big, sweet, fruity, and balanced, all at the same time. We’re tasting jammy red grape, citrus, and chocolate cake in this year's crop, and are stoked to have the goods from Mario back at our roastery
*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
Pictured: Leonel Montufar, Mario Alarcon, Freddy Alquijay, and Otto Montufar; Diana Alarcon
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India Hulikere
$ 20.00
India’s been producing coffee longer than any country besides Ethiopia and Yemen, but this is HUCK’s first go at roasting coffee from the world’s most populous country!
Hulikere is one of three Indian coffees we’re roasting this year, and while we’re saving the other two more-exotic offerings for special release, this honey-processed coffee is sweet, balanced, and approachable.
The Indian coffee industry is largely based around the Robusta coffee species, and is perhaps best-known for the Monsoon Malabar process. While we’re not completely close-minded about Robusta, it’s a different species than Arabica, and we haven’t found one that tastes good enough for us to roast, at least so far. And Monsoon Malabar is a process of intentionally aging coffee in a humid environment. It’s an acquired taste, to put it politely, and it’s a taste we’re not planning on acquiring.
That being said, there are plenty of producers producing - and pushing - specialty Arabica coffee in India, including Shreedev Hulikere, his family farm Hulikere Estate, and their environmentally-focused producer group, KaadKaapi. KaadKaapi is a group that uses specialty coffee production as both an income source and land use to protect animal habitats and migration corridors that might otherwise be jeopardized by development or clear-cut agriculture. Hulikere and the other farms in KaadKaapi sacrifice productivity for extremely dense shade cover, an occasional elephant-trampled coffee shrub or two, and it’s not uncommon to see tigers or their prey amongst the coffee trees.
While most of the credit undoubtedly goes to Hulikere and the growers in India themselves, kudos to David Stallings and the team at Osito Coffee, too. Without David’s interest in seeking out Indian coffee, getting to know the producers over the years, and importing their first Indian coffees to the US this year, we definitely would not have tasted these coffees and been able to roast them here at Huck.
As far as Hulikere goes, sweetness, approachability, and low acidity are the name of the game in this honey-processed coffee. We definitely skew towards some fruitiness and brightness in even our more approachable offerings, so if you’re looking for something a bit different than typical Huck, this will be our least fruity and least acidic coffee this year. We’ll roast up some brightness and berries in other Indias, but we’re tasting just a hint of raisin in Hulikere, with cocoa powder, almond, and honey graham front and center.
*** for roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
Photos of Shreedev Hulikere and Hulikere Estate courtesy David Stallings, Osito Coffee.
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