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the blog of Stephen Leighton

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New Coffee Update

Hello you lovely people, Steve here with an update on a few new coffees that have gone onto the website over the last 2 weeks but unfortunately I haven’t found time to shout about.

It’s been a bit of a funny couple of weeks, lots of travelling for me mixed with super naff weather in the UK and then our water + electricity supplies trying to make friends : ( we’ve been doing our very best at Hasbean Towers to carry on as normal despite the challenges that have been thrown at us, but unfortunately I did slip a little letting you know about the most delicious new things to hit the website : ( BUT here we are! So let’s get on with the tasty…

Hilda Pacha Washed Caturra
Zamora – Chinchipe, Ecuador
Brown sugar, toffee, watermelon
In the cup this super sweet coffee reminds me of brown sugar and toffee, with a green apple and watermelon aftertaste.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/ecuador-hilda-pacha-washed-caturra
£9.00 for 250g, £34.20 for 1kg.

Fazenda Inglaterra Pulped Natural Bourbon
Minas Gerais, Brazil
White sugar, Scottish tablet, walnut
In the cup expect white sugar sweetness that changes to Scottish tablet as it cools, there’s a red fruit acidity and walnut on the finish (for those of you wondering what Scottish tablet is – a medium-hard, sugary fudge style tasty treat)
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/brazil-fazenda-inglaterra-pulped-natural-bourbon
£6.00 for 250g, £33.00 for 1kg

Fazenda Inglaterra Natural
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Baker’s chocolate, date, pecan
In the cup expect bitter baker’s chocolate, with hints of date, muscovado sugar and pecan nut. Look out for the thick and gloopy mouthfeel too.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/brazil-fazenda-inglaterra-natural
£7.00 for 250g, £26.60 for 1kg

Finca La Soledad Cold Fermentation Washed Catuai
Acatenango, Guatemala
Single cream, peach, orange
In the cup this coffee is like the other La Soledad, but brighter sharper and crisper. Expect single cream with a light syrup sweetness but a finish of peach, orange and green apple.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-finca-la-soledad-cold-ferment-washed-catuai
£7.50 for 250g, £28.50 for 1kg

Finca La Soledad Washed
Acatenango, Guatemala
Single cream, light syrup, white grape
In the cup this coffee is all about mouthfeel. Single cream with a light syrup sweetness with a white grape acidity and finish.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-finca-la-soledad-washed
£6.50 for 250g, £24.70 for 1kg

Finca Alaska Natural Bourbon
Apaneca-Ilamatepec, El Salvador
Raspberry jelly, creamy, sponge cake
In the cup this distinct coffee is a lot like a bowl of Auntie’s trifle. Raspberry jelly, creamy finish, hint of booze, a sponge sweetness and a complex fruit acidity. Party time!
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/el-salvador-finca-alaska-natural-bourbon
£10.00 for 250g, £38.00 for 1kg

Don Carlos Washed Caturra
Bolinda, Caranavi, Bolivia
Mars Bar, tinned peaches
In the cup a Mars a day helps you work, rest, and drink coffee! There’s a Mars Bar mix of chocolate, nougat and caramel which is finished off with soft yellow fruit – think tinned peaches.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/bolivia-don-carlos-washed-caturra
£7.00 for 250g, £26.60 for 1kg

Tana Toraja Kalosi Washed Peaberry
Pango Pango-Perindingan, Indonesia
Rambutan, cacao, elderflower
In the cup this is a bit of a confusing coffee as it’s a mix of both sweet and savory. Rambutan, cacao and delicate elderflower all compete in this unique cup.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/sulawesi-tana-toraja-kalosi-washed-peaberry
£7.50 for 250g, £28.50 for 1kg

New Black Blend – Black Beauty!
50% Brazil Fazenda Inglaterra Natural Selection
25% Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama Pulped Natural Canario
25% Guatemala El Limon Natural Caturra
Dried fruit, brown sugar, fruit cake, almond, chocolate
In the cup this is a Dundee Cake! There’s the dried fruit and brown sugar of fruit cake, but also that subtle nutty almond edge. It’s got a shoulder of chocolate on the aftertaste too, but first and foremost it’s liquid cake!
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/black-beauty
£6.00 for 250g, £22.80 for 1kg

As a special Stevey treat and to start saying sorry for the lack of updates, how about 10% off all the above coffees? But only for a short time, because I can only be so nice! Place an order between now and 23:59 hrs on Tuesday the 13th of March + enter the discount code “hasblog” into the discount code box and click apply, it’ll knock 10% off all the above delicious delights : )

Water, water, everywhere. And all the (fuse) boards did shrink

Hello and good evening from a very soggy Hasbean Towers everyone.

It is with a heavy heart that I come to you with some very sad news, I don’t think we’re going to be able to roast any coffee tomorrow : (

I popped into the roastery this evening and was met with a scene that I certainly wasn’t expecting, it appears a water pipe has burst = / on its own that would have been fine and fixable, but it has burst all over the fuse board and various other electrical things so there’s no power and everything is rather soaked.

We have a wonderful plumber and awesome electrician getting to us first thing tomorrow morning to do all they can to help, but as of right now I’m not sure what they’re going to tell me when they’ve seen what I’ve seen.

Because of the damage I do not think we are going to be able to roast any coffee on Monday the 5th of March. If we can get things sorted tomorrow, we will. If we can roast coffee tomorrow, we will.

All orders that don’t have coffee on them will go out as normal (as long as we can get power to the computers) but any orders with coffee on them will probably be delayed until Tuesday, March 6th at the earliest.

I’m so, so sorry for the delay that this is going to cause. We’ll process + ship every single order that we can as soon as we can, I promise. I was so happy that I thought we’d fought off the bad weather last week, but it appears to have waited for us to leave then snuck in over the weekend to cause mischief.

Please keep an eye on Twitter (@hasbean), Facebook (@hasbeancoffee) and Instagram (@hasbean) for updates, or email us at orders@hasbean.co.uk if you have any questions – I’ll do my best to keep you all in the loop.

Lots of love from a soggy Staffordshire coffee roaster,

Steve

UK Weather Warning

As you may have seen in the news (or outside your window if you’re in the United Kingdom!) there’s currently quite a bit of bad weather around. Storm Emma is rolling in and meeting the “Beast from the East” to = a lot of weather warnings all across the country and 1 very cold, windy and white UK .

I wanted to update you on how things are going here in Stafford – it’s business as usual for us! We’re all here at the roastery doing our usual Hasbeany things so if you’ve placed an order, we’re on it! If you’re thinking of placing an order, do it! We’re here! Thankfully we are based on an industrial estate with a major haulier and their trucks do a very good job of clearing the roads for us and, as of right now, Stafford has not been hit too badly by the weather. For sure it’s pretty cold and white out there, but we’ve got coffee to roast!

However – I’d like you to take a moment to think of your postie or local DPD driver…it can not be nice or easy to be in their shoes with the weather like this and so I ask you to please be patient where delivery is concerned. We’re doing all we can to keep things running as normal and I know Royal Mail + DPD are doing the same, but that’s no easy task when there are severe weather warnings across a lot of the country.

Between us we’ll do our very best to get your order to you as soon as possible, but there might be some delays because of the weather.

For updates on delivery services in the UK please check the following websites…

Royal Mail: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12556

DPD: http://www.dpd.co.uk/content/products_services/uk_issues.jsp#issue0

DPD are also keeping customers updated about their deliveries via tracking notifications so please keep an eye on your emails, text messages and/or Your DPD app for up to date news on your delivery direct from DPD.

If you have any questions about ordering or deliveries please get in touch with us at orders@hasbean.co.uk and we’ll do all we can to help.

I hope you’re wrapped up safe + warm, not too far away from a tasty + delicious coffee : )

New Coffee Monday!

Hi everyone! It’s a new coffee kinda Monday! As I mentioned last week it’s a really exciting time of year for me (to be totally honest I’m generally excited for most of the year!) as I have a lot of new coffees to share with you all! Here’s a quick summary of all the new tasty + delicious coffees that have just gone live at hasbean.co.uk

El Salvador Finca San José Washed Red Bourbon
Cherry truffle, big body, red wine
In the cup I want you to imagine a cherry truffle chocolate that’s been drenched in red wine. This big bodied, well structured and balanced coffee finishes with milk chocolate and a gentle sherry like kick.​
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/el-salvador-finca-san-jose-washed-red-bourbon
£6.50 for 250g, £24.70 for 1kg.

El Salvador Finca San José Washed Amarangia Bourbon
Kit Kat, caramel, orange
In the cup this takes like someone took a Kit Kat chocolate bar and mashed it up with a pink wafer. In the mid palate expect carmel and high sweetness that finishes with pink grapefruit and oranges.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/el-salvador-finca-san-jose-washed-amarangia-bourbon
£7.00 for 250g, £26.60 for 1kg.

El Salvador Finca San José Washed Elefante
Golden sugar, champagne, peach
In the cup a golden sugar like sweetness meets champagne in the most unlikely of pairings. The peach acidity and brown sugar sweetness runs through the aftertaste.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/el-salvador-finca-san-jose-washed-elefante
£9.00 for 250g, £34.20 for 1kg.

Red Rum (new Red blend!)
40% El Salvador Finca Alaska Washed Bourbon
30% Kenya Kiriga Estate AB Washed
30% Guatemala El Limon Washed Caturra
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/red-rum
£6.00 for 250g, £22.80 for 1kg.

Rwanda Buf Nyarasiza Washed Red Bourbon
Passionfruit, apricot, panna cotta
In the cup this passionfruit creamy coffee also has apricot and hints of mango, it’s pretty much a tropical fruit panna cotta. The mouthfeel on this is really huge, but remains smooth and silky throughout.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/rwanda-buf-nyarasiza-washed-red-bourbon
£7.50 for 250g, £28.50 for 1kg.

Costa Rica Don Mayo Finca Bella Vista Yellow Honey Caturra
Single cream, red grape, milk chocolate
In the cup I want you to think single cream meeting sweet red grapes. As it cools you’ll find milk chocolate and a thick but silky mouthfeel.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/costa-rica-don-mayo-finca-bella-vista-yellow-honey-caturra
£6.50 for 250g, £24.70 for 1kg.

New Coffees!

Hi hi hello there folks!

Yes I know I normally post on social media when I have some new coffees to share with you but to be totally honest I’ve got so many on the way that I’m not sure I want to fill your newsfeeds with that many individual tweets, FB posts and Instagrams! So I’ve decided that I’m going to try and focus the releases into small batches where a couple of coffees will go on at once and then I’m going to do a blog post (just like this!) letting you know about all the new tasty and delicious things.

“OK shhh now Steve stop telling me about telling me things and how about you let me know about these new coffees that I came here to find out about?!”

Yeah yeah alright! I just like to chat sometimes so – heeeeey good lookin’ (that’s me!) whaaaaaat ya got cookin’…

5 coffees from Beto @ El Limon in Guatemala! And a naturally processed Canario from Fazenda de Cachoeira in Brazil I’ve got a big folder of pictures and videos from my recent visit to El Limon that I’m working to get up on Flickr for you to all enjoy, have selected some of my favourites as the product images for the new El Limons : )

Guatemala El Limon Natural Pacamara
Papaya, floral, blackcurrant
In the cup this is a sweet papaya blended up with a bunch of geraniums! At the start of the sip there’s papaya, then a twist towards floral and I’m going to be specific here – geranium, finally finishing off with blackberry. As it cools you can also expect to see a little black tea starting to appear, a delicious, layered and really interesting cup.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-el-limon-natural-pacamara
£9.00 for 250, £34.20 for 1kg

Guatemala El Limon Washed Pacamara
Orange mousse, blackcurrant
In the cup this coffee is super creamy and smooth, think orange mousse and a blackcurrant aftertaste that goes on and on.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-el-limon-washed-pacamara
£7.00 for 250g, £26.60 for 1kg

Guatemala El Limon Natural Caturra
Sultana, papaya, glacé cherry
In the cup think black tea with sultanas floating in it, shall we call it sulTEAna?! Then comes the acidity of papaya and glacé cherry, a really complex and interesting coffee.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-el-limon-natural-caturra
£6.50 for 250g, £24.70 for 1kg

Guatemala El Limon Black Honey x Natural
Marzipan, fig, hazelnut
In the cup this super sweet and complex cup immediately hits you with Marzipan, which is closely followed by something else sweet and delicious, fig! There’s then a really rather delicious hazelnut finish that is long and true.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-el-limon-black-honey-x-natural
£7.00 for 250g, £26.60 for 1kg

Guatemala El Limon Washed Pache
Yoghurt, lemon rind, dark chocolate
In the cup this reminds me of Greek yoghurt and lemon rind but the finish does a right turn into dark chocolate and delicate allspice.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/guatemala-el-limon-washed-pache
£8.00 for 250g, £30.40 for 1kg

Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama Natural Canario
Cacao nibs, treacle toffee, peanut
In the cup this cup make me think of cacao nibs covered in treacle toffee. Its chewy mouthfeel finishes with a pleasant peanut crunch.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/brazil-fazenda-cachoeira-da-grama-natural-canario
£6.50 for 250g, £24.70 for 1kg

Finca Argentina Update 2018

Want to check out my Flickr images ? You can see them here!

So I’ve been back just over a week, and thought it was a good time to go through my Central America trip. The trip was lots of fun (if not a little ruined by KLM losing my luggage that they still cant find. Traveling for two weeks without any of your belongings is challenging and not so much fun. My advice if you travel and value your luggage dont fly KLM.

Anyway bitterness out the way I thought I would take this opportunity to give you an update and share some of my photos of my trip. The first stop on the trip is Finca Argentina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ale has become a super close friend, and a very important partner for us in El Salvador. He has also become a barometer for whats happening in the country. Finca Argentina back in the day was producing 700-800 bags at its peak. Admittedly this was commercial production, not necessarily looking for quality, looking for yield. But in recent years the harvest has been up and down, as high as 400 and as low as 80. This year its low and somewhere between 150 – 200 bags. Lots of this is down to leaf rust in the area, climate change (yes mr trump its real) and wind and replanting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year San Jorge was looking tired and not very healthy, and n our visit Ale decided he was going to replant. So we fixed him up with some Yellow pacamara seed from our friends in Nicaragua and they have now been planted. The plot looks very exciting and I cant wait until 2022 for the first full harvest. We may have a small amount (like a kilo or two) to try this year from the varietal garden, but its a waiting game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the waiting game we have coming sooner is the SL 28 plants. A couple of years ago I managed to get my hands on some parchment from Kenya (I got it myself) and managed to get it to Ale to plant. This is a small plot, but we hope in th next could of years to have some to sell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of work has gone into the farm, more organising, more security, more replanting just generally more. I never like to praise Ale, but he has done a good job this year, and I hope in the coming years we can see that yield and cup quality grow some.

But while we wait, Ale has ideas and experiments and here is a video of a watering system he came up with for the yellow pacamara

I also asked for Ale to explain Whats a Petite ? As always he doesn’t follow the script, but its still interesting.

I took a load of photos as normal (around 2500 this whole trip) and picked out some of my favourites and uploaded them to Flickr, you can see them here