Guatemala Don Zabala Microlot
$ 22.00
Over the past several years, the AProCafé Atitlán growers association in Guatemala has been a bedrock of our coffee lineup. These growers produce our Atitlán Aprocafé coffee, which we love dearly (and is super tasty this year), but we've worked on some other projects with the cooperative so that we can grow together.
One of the cornerstones of that collaboration has been a single farmer microlot program. We’ve had the pleasure of roasting coffee from individual farmers in the group for the past 8 years, paying a premium for these coffees and coordinating the buying for a few other roasters in the United States. This year, our first single farm lot comes from Carlos Zabala. Carlos is one of the funniest producers we know, and this year his coffee was among our favorites amongst the full AProCafé association.
Every year we use a portion of proceeds from our holiday blend to support AProCafé, and three years ago, we used some of those funds to help the group build raised drying beds. The hope is that by slowing down drying, the coffee will stay fresh, longer. In Carlos’ case though, drying beds weren’t only a quality measure; they were a necessity. Following a major earthquake off the coast of Guatemala a few years ago and heavy rain and erosion, part of Carlos’ drying patio essentially fell off the side of the mountain. No joke. Now, Carlos uses his remaining patio to dry his second-tier coffee (floaters removed during the washing process and some early + late season pickings), and uses the drying beds for all of his top-level coffees.
Don Zabala leads off Aprocafé microlot season, and this year’s lot is packed with bright, clean fruit and creamy sweetness. dried apricot and lemon-like brightness, a hint of mango, complemented by sweet nougat and snickerdoodle cookie. Delicious coffee, dried on raised beds you helped purchase with Sister Winter, and grown by one of our favorite farmers.
*** 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. ***
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El Salvador Productores Cafénor
$ 20.00
Cafénor is relatively new sourcing for Huck, but back for year two, and we hope for the long haul!
Cafénor is the brainchild of Alejandro Valiente, and after spending some time with Alejandro and the Cafénor team this past February, we're hooked. Alejandro grew up producing coffee, and after cutting his teeth setting up Central America operations for a larger multinational exporter, he returned home with the goal of doing things right. He's a true believer in the push for more environmentally- and economically-sustainable coffee, and Cafénor puts carbon neutrality and farmer payments first and foremost in its coffee mission.
Cafénor works with a dedicated group of growers in the Metapan area year-after-year, coordinating group purchases of farming inputs and equipment, and aiming to deliver 80-85% of the final export price directly to the farmer. Millers and exporters (including the fair ones!) usually absorb a significantly larger cut of the export price. Moreover, Cafénor is fully carbon neutral, and the mill - where the team both processes and dries cherry from certain growers, and mills dried coffee for export, runs entirely on solar and wind power. It definitely does take the team a bit longer to mill coffee for export, given the limitations of a self-contained operation with limited electric supply, but it's a price they're willing to pay for the bigger picture.
Here at Huck, there’s no question that we love fruity, bright, complex coffees. But we also appreciate coffee that just tastes like good coffee, and that’s where this washed lot from the Productores (producers) de Cafénor hits. Sweet, straight-forward, no surprises. Just a damn good, pleasant Central American coffee, and one of theless-fruity coffee in our single origin lineup right now. There’s a touch of yellow apple and citrus there, but milk-friendly nougat, chocolate wafer, and toasted almond flavors are the stars of the cup here.
Beyond this washed lot from the group, we’re also looking forward to a fruitier, honey-processed Pacamara, but all in due time. With Productores Cafénor, we’re here to enjoy some straightforward, but delicious coffee from sustainably-minded folks.
*** 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: Alejandro Valiente
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Ethiopia Majoo Natural
$ 23.00
New name, but kinda a returning fave!
Majoo Natural is a spin on a coffee we’ve loved over the past few years, from Sookoo Coffee and the Raro Nansebo washing station in Guji! We’ve been roasting delicious naturals from Raro Nansebo for several seasons now, and some years, we get the chance to try some community-specific coffees. This year, we loved the coffee from farmers in the small village of Majoo!
Over the past several years, Sookoo Coffee has gained well-earned notoriety for producing some of Ethiopia's best naturals. Sookoo means gold in the Guji region's Afaan Oromo language, and Sookoo Coffee focuses on naturals in the Guji region. While Sookoo did produce its first washed coffees this most recent harvest, the main focus remains on naturals: coffee dried in its fruit. And that focus pays off.
Raro Nansebo is Sookoo's second station, and we've been roasting its coffee since the 2019-2020 harvest. After making a name for themselves with the Odo Shakisso station a bit further west in Guji, Sookoo expanded into the Guji Uraga area, building the Raro Nansebo station and working with smallholder farmers in the surrounding area. After roasting a community-specific lot from Dooddissi a few years ago, this is our second chance to roast the goods from an individual village, Majoo.
Big fruit is the big draw in most naturals, and the florality we love in washed Ethiopias often gets masked by the berries. In the best cases though - which seems to be the norm for Raro Nansebo - floral aromatics get to join the fruit punch. This year we're tasting blackberry, heady florals, sugar cookie, and touch of lime and honeydew melon to join the Majoo berry party.
*** for roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions ***
Pictured: Ture Waji at Raro Nansebo Station, courtesy Atlantic Specialty Coffee
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Ethiopia Musa Abalulesa
$ 23.00
Floral, bright, and refreshing, we love washed Ethiopian coffee, and while we had a bit of an atypically-processed outlier with Danche Marcelo, we’re stoked to get into more typical, but no less awesome washed Ethiopian flavors with Musa Abalulesa.
While most of our Ethiopian coffee comes from the South (Yirgacheffe, greater Gedeo, and Guji), Western Ethiopia also produces some amazing coffee, and we’re excited to bring some Western Ethiopian coffee back into the Huc fold. Musa and his brothers, Mustefa and Gugu, farm coffee together near the town of Agaro, and while this is the first time we’ve roasted coffee from Musa, a few years ago we served up a delicious natural from Mustefa, and the family consistently produces great coffee.
The Abalulesa family might have one of the most unique coffee origin stories in Ethiopia, with farm roots in revolution. Abalulesa, Musa's father, spent the 1970s as a guerilla leader, fighting against the Derg, Ethiopia's brutal dictatorship at the time, and hid out in the mountains and forests around Agaro. When the Derg finally fell, the family was granted some of the forest Abalulesa called home, as a form of reparations and reconciliation.
The Abalulesas first made a name for themselves as seed producers, selecting and preparing new seed stock for farmers in the area and government seed banks. But, after preparing their father’s former forest hideout for coffee production, the family has shifted some of its focus to coffee farming over the past decade or so, and clearly, the attention to detail required for seed production has also paid dividends in the coffee.
Musa’s coffee was one of our favorite washed coffees among everything we tasted out of Ethiopia this past harvest, and now that we’re roasting it in Denver, we’re tasting lemondrop candy, refined sugar, florals, and white grape. Bright, crisp, and delicious!
*** for roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions ***
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