Coffee beans, why I choose what I choose

When I started Bass Notes Coffee three years ago I wanted to serve products that had as much traceability as possible. I was able to achieve through my coffee bean choices and to adopt my, up until now USP of using a single origin coffee bean. Through careful selection I was able to carry this through to my tea and drinking chocolate offerings too.

Recently I've had to adapt to the ever changing green bean coffee market. For the last couple of years I have served a single origin coffee bean farmed by a cooperative of female farmers in Colombia. When my roaster's stocks of this were getting low I then switched to a single origin from Rwanda. Stocks of this have since run out so I have changed once more to my roaster's blend, therefore removing the single origin USP from my coffee offering.

The beans that make up the blend change throughout they year, currently it is a blend of beans from three different countries; Burundi, Colombia and Guatemala and it tastes great, really great.

At the time of writing, my roaster has eight different coffees to choose from. They are from different countries, grown at different heights, processed in different ways and all roasted to perfection.

The eight different coffees currently available at Baristocracy Coffee Roasters

These coffees won't suit all tastes though and that's where I have to use my best judgement as to what will appeal to most of my customers. 80% of the coffee drinks that I sell are with milk, latte or flat white for example so the bean I choose has to work with milk and provide my customers with a satisfying coffee flavour hit. Some of the beans I select from don't and aren't intended to work with milk, like the Burundi anaerobic (not the Burundi used in the blend which has undergone a washed process) as it is quite floral, delicious as an espresso or pour over but could give the impression that my milk is off.

Coffee is going through a tough time at the moment, climate change is making farming this natural, agricultural fruit ever more challenging which is why costs are rising. The specialty coffee industry is a resourceful and innovative one though. New processing methods are appearing all of the time as are new varietals of coffee bean as producers try and grow fruit that will withstand the ever increasing threats of disease, floods and draughts.

If we want to be able to drink delicious coffee for years to come, that has been cared for throughout the process of farmer to cup, then I urge you to buy your coffee beans from independent coffee shops or roasters and your coffee drinks from small businesses such as mine. The specialty sector of the coffee industry supports and invests in farmers, their crops, processing techniques and pays these heroes of the coffee industry an income that allows them to have a decent quality of life and provide for their families.