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Has Blog

the blog of Stephen Leighton

New Coffees

New coffees and new coffee experiences on http://www.hasbean.co.uk

Carlos gets a new depulper, thanks to you?

Last year we had an amazing new coffee, one that blew my mind how good it was. So much so I nearly gave up my house and all my worldly possessions to get it.

I first got to meet a guy called Carlos at my Costa Rican exporter’s office on the last day of my time in Costa Rica last year. He arrived around 10 minuets after I had cupped the first table of coffees, where I had found one lot that was making me sing. It just had to be his.

Here ensued the worst negotiation for buying coffee ever. I start “How much do you want?” He replies “How much do you like it?” I reply “A lot” he replies “I’d like a lot then please” to which I replied “OK”. Luckily at this point a grown up from the exporters stepped in and made sure I didn’t give Carlos my house and my car and my pension plan, and agreed a price that rewarded Carlos more than he had ever gotten before and left me with a home to return to.

Back then this coffee was just called Carlos Arietta, as this is all we knew about it.

This year on my return visit I got to spend some time with the family, stop for some lunch hang out and ask lots of questions. There is the mill first of all called Arbar. At Arbar which is very close to the house they have drying tables and a small nursery. They don’t have a deplulper, but more about this later. This is new, as before they would just sell their coffee to the local coop so have no interaction with the coffee.

Also on this years visit, we have build on the relationship, not only getting the Finca Oasis (I found out the name finally) but also we bought his other farms coffee called El Manatial.

You may notice that this coffee is priced differently. Our normal nicely rounded down prices are not there. This years coffee should sell for £7.50 (we negotiated a small price drop this year as we bought everything from both farms, and this works out thats theres some economies of scale compared to the £10.00 of last year). But were charging £7.88. Well this is so we (by we I mean you) can buy Carlos and his family a depulper for next years harvest. So he doesn’t have to pay someone to pulp it, and can get more and more control of his amazing coffee, and improve quality even more.

You can go see what your generosity has bought as I leant the money to Carlos as I promised you would pay it back at the in the photos below (I hope your good for it).

So drink amazing coffee, and feel good that your making someones life happier in every cup.

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3FE / Has Bean Collaboration coffee

For a long time we have wanted to do something special with another coffee roaster.

I think there is lots to learn from working together, rather than apart. Theres a few special roasters we have approached and never been able to agree how it would work or how we can make sure we all get what we want from it. But it helps when you own 50% of a another roasting company to make it happen, as its easier to over come issues (and hopefully show the world that it can be done and we should do more of this). So when we approached Colin in Dublin he shared the vision.

So I am very pleased and very excited to announce our first time ever collaboration between 3FE (3rd floor espresso) of Dublin, Ireland and little old Has Bean.

So whats the plan ? Well Roland one of our roasters here will be going to Dublin to roast the El Salvador Finca La Ilusion honey that we had a couple of weeks ago (for just 7 days, that is no longer available on Has Bean) with Simon who is one of the 3FE roasting team.The rest of this honey La Ilusion is an exclusive from now on for 3FE.

Monica who is part of the 3FE roasting team is coming to spend the Day with Gary in Stafford, and they will roast the La ilusion Natural selection that has not been on the website. This will then be a Has Bean Exclusive going forwards.

All of this is all happening on the 24th of September. We hope that both roasters learn and enjoy working and collaborating with each other. Both will be bagged in each of the roasters bags and its a great chance to try 3FE coffee here in the UK where they do not normally supply.

To buy this You HAVE to pre order and can do so here . The orders will be posted out as soon as possible after the 25th and will be posted using royal mail postal service. You will receive 250g beans of each the natural and honey. 500g of one of the most delicious coffees, a previous cup of excellence winning farm and a coffee used by a previous world barista championship winner. Also a coffee we worked with for many years until 2012, and we are very pleased to welcome it back.

Just for your info the natural might be available on the site in the future but you will never get the chance this year to try them both together. I think this is something fun and exciting to do with these amazing coffees, and a great chance to try them both together, with two different roasters.

Farm:La Ilusión
Farmer:Juan Jose Ernesto Menéndez Argüello
City:Santa Ana, Santa Ana
Region:Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range
Country:El Salvador
Farm Size:3.5
Coffee growing area:3.5
Altitude:1750-1850
Variety:Bourbón
Processing System:Yellow honey & Sun-dried

Honey Process

In the cup I get a delicious fresh pink lemonade mixed with pineapple and an amazing honey like mouthfeel that dominates. Its a coffee to sit back and savour and enjoy.

Natural Process
In the cup there is the biggest hit of spicy liquorice I have ever tasted, but there is also an underlying sweetness. So, think in terms of those liquorice pipes with the sugar 100s and 1000s on them and you’re in the right place. The aftertaste is pure tinned strawberry This coffee is complex, deep, interesting, and super rare.

To get your hands on this little gem take a look here

Jabberwocky reborn

Today we are proud to refresh and reborn Jabberwocky, one of our most successful blends

With teeth that bite and jaws that snap, its a bight in your face espresso blend with a kick in its tail.

Following on from all the new espresso blends, it was time to turn our attention to the the long lost De Lujo blend. De Lujo was a blend of bright and sweet coffees; citrus loveliness at a more reasonable price than, say, the Kicker espresso blend (which was the CoE blend replacement).

Like the Kicker, this blend should challenge the palate and not be an easy option, needing hard work to get the best from it. Get it wrong and it will have claws that catch and jaws that bite, but your rewards for taming this blend shall be plentiful.

Why Jabberwocky? For those who don’t know, it’s a famous Lewis Carroll poem from ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It has always been my favourite poem.

The verse just seems to fit this blend perfectly and as with all of the new blends, it offers a personal link. The poem was written in the home of Lewis Carroll’s parents just outside Sunderland, and I am a huge Sunderland football fan. It all seemed too much of a coincidence, so the blend was born.

This is a fruity, challenging, bright citrus acidity based blend with a sweet kick at the end.

40% Costa Rica Finca Don Mayo Bella Vista
40% Nicaragua Escondida Washed Caturra
20% Rwanda Kigoma Washed Red Bourbon

 
You can buy it here

 

Guest Blend Subscription 2014

Last years Guest Blend Subscription went down rather well.

But it was lots of work energy and money to make it all happen, and I didn’t want to do more of the same.

So we decided that it might be fun to involve some of the amazing coffee shops we work with and share with you their bespoke blends we create for their stores. This gives you the unique chance to brew from coffee shops around the UK (and maybe further) in the comfort of your own kitchen.

At the beginning of each month we will send you the guest espresso from our 2014 range (a total of 12 x 250g bags, 1 each month). You will be the first to see the new and exciting blend, and will be sent you the day before release.

Non of these coffees will appear in an in my mug subscription it is only for this subscription and the single bags

This subscription will only be open while the Acidity Squirrel is available, after this you will only be able to buy them by the bag. This order will mean you will get Acidity Squirrel straight away as the first bag you receive of your subscription

This will represent a minimum saving on the £90 it would cost if they are all £6 of 20%, what are you waiting for !

There are some Rules to buying this subscription

THIS SHOULD ONLY BE ORDERED ON ITS OWN, NOT WITH OTHER ITEMS.
AVAILABLE BEANS ONLY.
SHIPPING IS ROYAL MAIL REGARDLESS OF METHOD CHOSEN AND IS A ONE OFF CHARGE ONLY. ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE SENT ON THE 1st OF EACH MONTH

Rules over get ordering here

The cost of hearing

Last week saw the arrival of my delivery of coffee from Bolivia. Bolivia is a special place for me, somewhere I have visited more than any other non european country, and somewhere I love the coffee and love the people.

I have a very long blog post in me about Bolivia (I plan to lock myself in a room for two days over christmas to sort it), and I’ll go into detail there, but on the trip in August I found out that last year I bought about 2% of the entire coffee production from Bolivia in 2012. Now we don’t buy that much coffee (were are a remarkably small coffee roastery) so 2% is incredible.

But whats more incredible (and disturbing) is how the coffee industry in Bolivia is disappearing, and being eroded (again for my long blog post).

So anyway back on topic, for a couple of years (this is the third) we have been stocking a coffee called Finca David Vilca. Finca just means farm in Spanish, and David Vilca means well the man David Vilca. Its quite normal for the farms to be so small or so unidentified that they don’t have names in Bolivia and in particualr around Caranarvi. When visaiting for the first time I asked David what the farm was called, and that was it, its cute and its kind of stuck.

So the first couple of years I didn’t think David was so interested in my visits, when ever I spoke to him he either ignored me, or just looked at me strangely and grunted. Now my spanish is awful so I guessed this was my rubbish pronunciation or he just didn’t like me. But his coffee is so amazing I didn’t care if he never spoke as long as he keeps the quality of the cup up.

But in the back of my mind I want everyone too like me, so on the drive up to the farm this year, I asked the exporter if this was normal. Blushing he tells me that the last two year he explained to David why I was visiting, but his hearing is not so good and Davids didnt know why I was there.

His hearing got damaged from years of mining, and he had no idea who this crazy guy was walking around his farm. But last year after I had left he asked why I had come for a second year and who trhe heck I was.

They had told him what we had been doing with his coffee, and how much we love what he does. Inspired and embarrased he asked the exporter what he could do for us for next years visit.

We had just agreed with some other local producers to do some different processes and they told him about this. So he decided under his own steam to do some unique lots for us with a Natural and Honey (I have never seen Honey or Natural Bolivians this was so exciting). But not any old Natural he wanted to give us a farm lot and a mill lot. David has never ever done any processing himself, always rellyed on the mill, so this is amazing, and real progress.

This years visit was so so different, he welcomed me into his home, his wife insisted on giving us a snack and a drink, and the whole family came to see me (his daughter, son in law and granddaughter), and showed me these different processing lots.

The visit was amazing, they wouldn’t let us leave, night came and they were still keen to show us everything about the farm (and I if the truth be known I didn’t want to leave either). But eventually we did and on the drive home I asked why David didn’t have any hearing aids to help him hear (much shouting had gone on the farm that day).

The exporter began to tell me they gave him some money for the hearing aids a few years ago, but it got spent on a satellite dish to keep his wife happy (its a long way from any entertainment or any anything) so I can kind of understand.

So I suggested that we pay for them but the exporter gives the money to the hearing clinic. It seemed like a good idea, but David does not want the money from me, so I had a better idea, why not from you ?

I worked out that on the Washed lot we buy from him it would be an extra 44p a kilo, so instead of £5.00 for a 250g bag its £5.11 and someone can hear again. David liked this idea as much as we did, so…..

Over to you………..

David Vilca Caturra Washed