July Roasters Choice - Take a gander at this Uganda!
Uganda Rwenzori - Natural Process
July has arrived and with it comes a new Prime Minister but more importantly a new monthly coffee; the Rwenzori! This one is very special to us as our good friend Bryan used last years harvest to smash the competition in the UK Coffee Masters and placed ninth in the whole country! So if you won't take our word, the word of Bryan or the word of Coffee Masters you'll just have to buy a box for yourself and try it to see what all the fuss was about won't you.
Uganda Rwenzori - Process and Harvest
Although this coffee couldn't be made possible without the individual farmers meticulously cultivating and harvesting their crops, it would feel wrong not to mention the incredible work of Agri Evolve. This bunch of lovely folk, are the masterminds who helped to bring all these amazing farmers together and reshape the agriculture business in Uganda as a whole.
Focussing on benefitting farmers, their families and communities, the company has built up an insane network of 20,000 registered smallholder farmers with a dedicated full time staff of 80 team members which has made them the largest employer in the region! They work with the farmers in this amazing region on a daily, face-to-face basis to build strong connections, engage with local communities, improve rural livelihoods and support efficient supply chains.
Our wonderful Rwenzori begins its journey between the months of March and May, when 300 - 500 smallholder farmers bring their cherries to an Agri Evolve buying station where they are paid more than a fair price to ensure they can keep producing top notch beans. All these deliveries are transported to a central washing station for processing.
To make this specific lot of the hot brown you know and love, the defective cherries were removed using float tanks, then dried on raised beds for a whole two weeks to soak up that beautiful Rwenzori Mountain sun.
It's not always sunny in Uganda however, this year the team at Agri did what they did best by stepping in to help with the drying after a crazy influx of rain was impacting the drying process. The team were quick to implement a machine drying station to help control the unseasonal amount of moisture and ensure the coffee still dried correctly and on time so you lucky lot don't have to wait a second longer than necessary to drink this wonderful brew.
Chipp Coffee Co. Roastery Update.
This month has been a busy one! We had a big refit in the roastery so now we can bring even more amazing beans your way.
We've already brought you one new coffee in June, our wonderful COMSA, which is a lovely washed coffee from Honduras. It's got big bold flavours of Honey, Caramac and Tunnocks Wafer and works like a dream on espresso so go on treat yourself to something a bit different if you haven't already tried it.
We also expanded our team even more! If you've been around for a while you'll know we're besties with the dudes over at Kapow! which allows us to basically poach their amazing staff to do our bidding on a whim. With that, everyone say hi to Fin! Fin is one of the key components at Kapow! Thorntons Arcade who keeps the lights on, the shelves stocked and the sweet sweet beans flowing so we decided to send him out in to the world with a big bag of goodies to spread the amazing word of Chipp to coffee shops far and wide. So keep an eye out hopefully soon you will be seeing Leo all across the country!
What We're Listening To
This month we've basically had a playlist on repeat because the big boss man himself, Mr Chipp, is getting married! Zach has been meticulously curating a playlist for his big day all month and to be fair to him, it's a banger. So instead of giving you a single recommendation I thought this month we could introduce you to some funky jams that may have slipped under your radar.
Our first is 'The Showfa - Emmanuel' a funky little number full of funk and samba influences. It's got some serious groove to it with bright brass, gospel choirs and crazy samba percussion. If you need a feel good track to get you moving this is a must.
The second is 'Kingo Hamada - Crystal Dolphin' another funky jam but this time from Japan! Japan has a really cool funk scene and has a really identifiable sound that makes it stand out from other areas of the world. The back end of this song has also been used in more TikToks and Reels than we can keep count of so you've most likely heard this and not even known it! Check it out, it's almost impossible to not have a little dance.