June Roasters Choice - An eruption of flavour from Mt. Kerinci
Indonesia Kerinci - Anaerobic Natural
It's June and to celebrate summer being almost here we're bringing back one of the G.O.A.T's! Last year our honey processed Kerinci flew out the door as people were blown away by the deep spicy flavours synonymous with this region. This year we're bringing you its bigger bolder sibling to knock your socks clean off ready for your sliders in the sun.
Indonesia Kerinci - Process and Harvest
The 320 members of the Koerintji Barokah Bersama Cooperative live and farm on a plateau that sits at the foot of Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra. Mount Kerinci is one of the many volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometer horseshoe-shaped series of 452 volcanoes that are part of an almost constant dance of eruptions and plate movements. Mount Kerinci’s historic eruptions have assured that the surrounding area is lush and verdant thanks to the deep supply of fertile volcanic soil.
With this Anaerobic Natural lot, coffee is first floated and separated by density before being laid on raised beds where workers remove underripes, overripes and damaged cherry. Then, ripe cherry is collected again and sealed in airtight, 20kg plastic bags that are stored in a cool, dry location (with temperatures between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius) for 7 days.
After 7 days, cherry is again laid on raised beds to dry. The beds are located in domes that protect the coffee from rain or harsh sunlight. The parchment will dry here for around 20 to 23 days. When dry, the coffee is milled and sorted by hand.
Farmers receive fair prices for their cherry and have a fixed buyer for their cherries. The coop's profit at the end of the year is either invested in infrastructure to improve quality or is shared with the producers. Farmers also receive technical support and seedlings for shade trees for on and around the farm.
Chipp Coffee Co. Roastery Update
This month in the roastery has been pretty steady away. We've taken a bit of a step back from trying to do a million things at once and gone back to the core principles of Chipp; exceptional coffee accessible for everyone. We've updated our Brazil coffee this month from 'Mantiqeira Mountains' to 'Fazenda Nunes'. This is still everything you all love about our coffee from Brazil and it's still being supplied by the wonderful Tash at Sucafina however this utilises are more traditional 'Natural' process to give a silkier mouthfeel and a deeper flavour.
If you were a fan of our Rwenzori from the end of last year, yes that Rwenzori that our friend Bryan used to compete in the coffee masters competition this year, the very last of it has just been added in to our Value Blend! So if you're looking for that juicy Ugandan flavour, along with many other fancy delights, grab your Value Blend while the getting is good!
Our head roaster Mathew, has spent the entire month of May in Taiwan the lucky bastard. While he was there he sampled all the specialty coffee he could find and took part in a top level latte art class, so if you see him behind the counter in Kapow! Thorntons Arcade make sure you test him with your crazy design ideas. This does mean that Mr Chipp himself climbed down from his metaphorical ivory tower to get back behind the roaster for the month of May personally roasting all your coffee. So make sure to say "Thank you Mr Chipp" whenever you take a swig.
Since you all can't seem to control yourselves, we have been the busiest we've ever been! This means that we have brought in another new team member, Sam, to help meet your crazy demands. We've worked with Sam for over four years now as part of our carbon neutral commitments delivering our coffee all over the city centre via bike! He's now packing up your beans and delivering them; what a good egg ey?!
If you've been in Leeds on a Friday and seen a bike messenger seemingly defying physics with the amount of boxes he's pulling behind him, chances are you've already come across Sam and his cheery face. Lets all give him a warm welcome to the Chipp family.
In the south, our good friend and invaluable team member Mo, visited the Intuit Head Office to deliver a coffee brewing workshop for their entire staff. Mo taught them all things coffee, traceability and sustainability, common errors people make when brewing, the differences between origins and process and how to get the best out of your coffee regardless of how you're making your water brown.
If you work in an office and can't get enough of the delicious Chipp beans get in touch! We can supply your office with fresh beans on demand and we're more than happy to discuss any corporate gifting, brewing classes with you and your staff and any corporate events you think we'd be a great fit for.
Finally and most excitingly... WE GOT A COSTCO CARD!! While this doesn't impact you as the customer in any way we are very excited by this and have already got very carried away filling the roastery with things we definitely don't need.
What We're Listening To
This month is a little bit different than the last few, we're bringing you a podcast recommendation and this one is a doozy! Let me introduce you to The Magnus Archives.
For those that don't know, The Magnus Archives is an audio drama created by the incredible team over at Rusty Quill. Rusty Quill have created other game changing podcasts such as We're Alive and bring others like Malevolent and Deviser straight to your earholes.
The Magnus Archives is a fictional supernatural horror audio drama that follows a small team investigating and categorising supernatural statements and phenomenon from around the world. What starts off as a seemingly unrelated series of unsettling stories soon becomes an interlinked web of horrors that will leave you with chills going down your spine and a face of disgust at the terror you're listening to.
To top it all off the whole series is available now and there is a total of 200 episodes to sink your teeth in to. What starts as a slow burn soon turns in to a story you can't put down and constantly keeps you guessing at what's coming next. You can find The Magnus Archives anywhere you get your podcasts including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.