Tier 1 Donation - Single Bag Recovery Vow Coffee

Tasting Notes: Creamy Chocolate. Cranberry, Clean

Processing: Washed

Please welcome Todos Santos from Huehuetenango, Guatemala!  Defined Coffee's first fresh-crop offering of the year from the highlands has been brought to us by their good friends at Little Guatemala Importers, based in Morganton, NC.

Christian and his wife started Little Guatemala together in hopes of bringing the rich culture of Guatemala to their local community through the use of roasting and importing specialty coffee in addition to importing other goods like Guatemalan chocolate and other novelties.  Their property also boasts an indoor soccer complex to help train and bring together their local community! 

This coffee is the product of the hard working producers like Hector, Faustino, and a handful of others. This multi-producer blend from the Highlands of Huehuetenango boasts notes of fresh cherries, cranberries, and caramel apples, with a creamy chocolate mouthfeel and an incredibly clean finish.  It’s what makes Guatemalan coffees some of our favorites year over year.

Tasting Notes: Stonefruit, Crisp Acidity, Pastrylike

Processing: Fully Washed

Last season Defined featured the naturally processed lot of this coffee.  This year, the washed lot is simply spectacular.  As soon as this sample hit the cupping table they knew they had something special.  Defined's friend Kenny, of Higa Coffee Importers helped them secure this coffee.  Kenny works extensively in Rwanda and Burundi purchasing and exporting coffee to the States, and he does an excellent job at it.

The Businde washing station is situated in the Kayanza province of Burundi, situated at 1750 MASL.  This washing station serves over 650 smallholder producers, helping them wash and clean (process) their cherries.  The station also facilitates bringing these coffees to specialty buyers, where in other circumstances these smallholder farmers might not be able to get access to the specialty market, forcing them to sell for less money to the unstable commodity market, where their coffees wouldn’t be as appreciated.  

This particular lot is 100% female produced, which is super exciting!  In a part of the world where women don’t often get the credit they deserve, the Businde station empowers these ladies and their coffee is pure evidence of that.  The Businde station also pays higher wages to their farmers; about 60% higher than the local market comparatively.

Grab a bag today and experience the notes of fresh stonefruit, crisp acidity (think ripe peaches and fresh nectarine) with a pastrylike finish. 

Tasting Notes: Dark Chocolate, Stone Fruit, Floral

Processing: Washed

Decaffination Process: Ethyl Acetate (EA) / Sugarcane

Welcome back, the famous Decaf Amigos!  This is the same delicious decaf Defined has featured in seasons past, just a fresh crop iteration.  This is also simply a version of the awesome Amigos del Huila coffee they have also previously featured, simply having been decaffeinated using the Ethyl Acetate (also known as Sugarcane) process.  Below is a note from the importing partner, Shared Source on the EA/Sugarcane decaffeination process:

"Once we purchase the individual parchment lots, we dry mill them in Valle de Cauca and then send them to Manizales, Colombia, for in-country decaffeination as quickly as possible using the sugar process decaffeination method. First, sugarcane molasses is fermented to create ethanol, and then mixed with acetic acid to create Ethyl Acetate (EA). The coffee is steamed, which opens the pores and allows for the extraction of caffeine molecules. From there, it’s placed into an ethyl acetate solution where it bonds to the salts of chlorogenic acid inside the beans. When the coffee is fully saturated, the solution is drained and refilled until 97% or more of the caffeine is removed. Sugarcane is widely available in Colombia, and the decaffeination plant- Descafecol- gets their sugarcane from farms in the town of Palmira in the Valle del Cauca Department, west of Huila."

This iteration of the Amigos Decaf is made up of coffees from all around the Department of Huila, Colombia with contributions from the following producers:  Yon Freddy Hernandez, David Orozco, Osvar Ultengo, Wilmar Muñoz, Yamid & Edilma Quinayas, Martin Ramos, Alberto Osorio, Alber Caldón, Cristian Pajoy, Harold Pajoy, Didier Pajoy, Erick Pajoy, and Elias Pajoy.

These producers are all extremely diligent in their processing of cherry down to parchment, and then ensuring the even drying of parchment to create an excellent  product to be prepared for decaffeination.

Shared Source purchased this coffee in its parchment form directly from smallholder farmers in and around the Department of Huila Colombia, paying far above market price for this coffee.  They then facilitated the dry milling and decaffeination process and prepared the coffee for export.  Much thanks to Shared Source Green Coffee Agency.

Is your coffee certified organic?

While Defined Coffee currently has some organic offerings they do not advertise as such. The term “organic” in the specialty coffee industry does not always have to do with quality, and is often just a matter of a farmer's ability to pay a premium to receive the certification. Many farmers who focus on quality that we work with in fact do farm their coffee organically and responsibly, though they don’t possess the funds to receive such a certification. Unfortunately it’s a lot more complicated and convoluted than organic = good.

We focus on selecting the best possible quality coffee rather than selecting based on a certification.

Why do you only offer single origin coffees?

Defined Coffee who we source our coffee from believes each coffee possesses it's own unique characteristics. They all possess a slightly different solubility when roasted, leading to different levels of extraction. Roast level directly dictates solubility and extraction levels, which is why they tend to avoid blending coffees of different origins. They prefer to highlight each coffees individual characteristics.  

However, from time to time, they will offer what is referred to as a bulk regional blend. This is coffee from multiple producers within the same region.

Are your coffees Fair-Trade Certified?

All of our coffees are purchased WELL ABOVE the current Fair-Trade minimum prices. Direct relationships and quality mean more to us than the certification by a third-party. While we have purchased coffees that are certified Fair-Trade, we do not necessarily seek out this certification or advertise as such.

We ship our coffee Monday-Friday. Orders placed after 12pm on Friday will ship the following Monday.

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