Over the past year, CRS has collaborated with private-sector allies to bring the fully traceable single-origin lots below to market. Presented in alphabetical order, by country and roaster.
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COLOMBIA
The Colombia lots listed here come from participants in our Borderlands Coffee Project in Nariño, and are brought to you by roasters who are participating in our Advisory Council there. The baseline survey for our Borderlands project showed that in 2012, only 2 percent of growers in Nariño were selling their coffee collectively and only 4 percent had ever earned quality premiums. We have worked with our industry partners in Nariño to change that by creating financial incentives for farmer organization and quality-based differentiation. The results have been impressive—this is the third straight year participants have sold coffee directly to U.S. specialty buyers for price premiums—and delicious.
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COUNTER CULTURE COFFEE
est. 1995
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COMMUNITY LOTS
Cueva de los Llanos (SOLD OUT)
Buesaco, Nariño
1900-2100 m
Caturra
A single-varietal Caturra lot that represents the hard work and dedication to lot separation of five smallholder growers in the storied Buesaco region of Nariño. The sensory wizards at Counter Culture say, “This lot is vibrant with notes of milk chocolate, grape, and almond.”
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Kuichi (SOLD OUT)
Samaniego, Nariño
1700-1800 m
Castillo, Caturra, Colombia
This is the first Counter Culture offering from the village of La Esmeralda in the municipality of Samaniego—a region where coffee and coca drive the economy, and where conflict has conspired to keep buyers like Counter Culture at bay in recent years. This lot represents the hard work of 22 growers; Counter Culture says it has “sweet notes of caramel, red apple, and cherry.”
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Urcunina (SOLD OUT)
La Florida, Nariño
1800-1950 m
Caturra
This year’s offering is the second consecutive Caturra varietal lot the association has produced for Counter Culture, which sees a consistent profile emerging: “Notes of caramel and dried fruit with a creamy mouthfeel.”
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Decaf Urcunina
La Florida, Nariño
1800-1950 m
Castillo and Caturra
A decaffeinated version of the Urcunina with a different varietal composition and a slightly different profile: “Notes of dried fruit, toffee, and sweet spices.”
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SINGLE-FARM LOTS
Ana Lucía Pinta (SOLD OUT)
Finca El Encanto
2071 m
Caturra
Buesaco
On her 4 hectares (a shade under 10 acres) in the renowned coffee-growing community of Buesaco, Ana Lucía Pinta has been quietly producing coffee of exceptional quality for years. Since 2012, we have been working to help connect growers like Ana Lucía with buyers like Counter Culture who are committed to separating the most exceptional lots and making them available to their customers. Counter Culture calls this single-varietal lot “sweet and crisp, with lingering notes of clementine and cane sugar—emphasized by a clean and juicy mouthfeel.”
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For more information on Counter Culture’s work with CRS on the Borderlands project, click here.
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INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE
est. 1995
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Fidencio Chamorro and Friends (SOLD OUT)
Finca La Loma
1900-1975 m
Alto de Aranda, Linares
Castillo and Colombia
Fidencio Chamorro is a young coffee farmer and community leader in the municipality of Linares in the western highlands of Nariño. This is the third straight year that Intelligentsia has purchased Fidencio’s coffee, and the first time they have blended it with coffee from his neighbors. It seems to be getting better every year. Last year Intelli raved about the coffee’s irrepressible sweetness. This year its profile evokes the culinary experience of a county fair: “This season’s harvest offers flavors like cherry cola, apple fritter, and lemon zest.”
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Read the full Intelligentsia’s coffee bio for the Fidencio Chamorro lot here.
To hear from Fidencio about his work with Intelligentsia in his own words, watch this:
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STUMPTOWN COFFEE
est. 1999
Colombia Nariño Borderlands (SOLD OUT)
La Florida and Samaniego
Caturra, Colombia and Castillo
In 2015, Stumptown purchased coffee from Borderlands participants for the third straight year, including a mix of single-farm and community lots. This lot is a blend of two single-farm lots grown by women with the same name—one from Nelsi Julieth Mirama of La Florida and another from Nelcy Rocío Villota in Samaniego—and a community lot from the El Salado village where Nelcy is a community leader. Stumptown’s tasting notes say: “Red fruit and dark chocolate notes are up front, with the creamy, viscous body rounding out the honey-heavy mouthfeel.”
Read more about Stumptown’s involvement in the Borderlands Coffee Project here.
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The DRC lots listed here come from participants in our Kahawa Bora Kivu Ya project in Eastern Congo, where we have teamed up with our friends at the Eastern Congo Initiative to help bring some of the country’s extraordinary coffees to market.
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STARBUCKS
est. 1971
Starbucks Reserve: Eastern D.R. Congo Lake Kivu (COMING SOON!)
Kivu
This Starbucks Reserve lot is the first the company has ever sourced from the DRC. Its marketing team says it better than we could ever hope to with this summary: “The 4,000 smallholder farmers of the Lake Kivu region have persevered amid staggering adversity to deliver this exceptional heirloom Bourbon varietal. In the cup, fruit and spice complexities unite with tea notes—a remarkable flavor befitting an inspiring story of great strength.”
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