INTRODUCING OUR SPECIALTY INSTANT COFFEE
Specialty Coffee Is an Opportunity for Change
With coffee pricing being as low as in the 1960ies, there is no way a conventional coffee farmer can survive or have a meaningful motivation to produce good coffee. The only way forward is Specialty Coffee. We work very closely with each of our coffee growers and they can rely on our commitment and fair pricing.
As much as we engage with the community at source, we do the same in our communities that enjoy our coffees: You. We train our staff on a weekly basis in techniques, knowledge but also in beanology classes - so they feel comfortable sharing our farm stories with you. Bringing across the differences in flavour, mouthfeel, body or brewing is just as important as being inclusive and having a great experience whilst enjoying your coffee. When we looked around for new angles of making Specialty Coffee more available, we looked closer at what is happening in the market of more ready to drink or convenience if you will.
The Convenience Market
There has been a lot of noise recently in making Specialty Coffee available in capsules. The thing with capsules is though that they create waste and, to be very honest, we never really liked the taste of them.
Not everybody has the equipment at hand in any situation when you desire a cup of great coffee. For instance when traveling on a train or airplane; in a business meeting or on a camping trip.
Instant Coffee attracted us because there is little waste thanks to compostable packaging. All you need is a cup and hot water. When it is produced according to Specialty Coffee Standards and in a way that it preserves all precious flavours, it can taste very good.
"We let so many people around the office try and honestly, nobody believed it was instant coffee... We were very surprised how it tasted"
- Ales Pospisil, European Coffee Trip Co-founder
Our Specialty Instant: DAMBI UDDO NATURAL
Our new edition of Specialty Instant is made from a fresh crop of our exclusive Ethiopian natural: Dambi Uddo. Grown in prestine forest of the Guji Highlands, this coffee has all you want from a high quality Ethiopian Coffee. The natural processing way is environmental friendly - it uses next to no water and does not leave any pollution in it. Picked at the ripest point and dried on raised African beds, you can ensure a maximum of flavours in you cup.
When three years ago the Ethiopian government changed its laws and allowed smaller estates to export directly, we saw an opportunity to change our sourcing in Ethiopia. We connected with two farms and entered exclusive relationships with Mohamed Ali and Dambi Uddo. Which allows us to contribute more, commit in terms of volumes and pricing and to build a deeper and more meaningful partnership. Our green coffees are the base for all of our work. We therefore regard our farm relationships as the key ingredient of our work. Sharing our coffees and their stories with you in as many ways as possible is the result of our passion that starts at the source.
BREWING RECOMMENDATION
We recommend brewing our Specialty Instant Coffee at a lower temperature, around 75-80°C, and to let your coffee cool a little so it becomes really sweet. If you compare it to a hand brew you can see by the colour that the Instant Brew is a bit darker, which means the coffee ratio is more condensed. We would say the taste experience is more like a long black than a filter brew. Our Specialty Instant is in no way a replacement for a hand brew. However, it is a sweet, clean tasting coffee that by far exceeds any experience we have ever had with regular instant coffee - or even low grade coffee for that matter, so we highly recommend it.
A whole sachet has the right amount to use for 2 cups of 5oz / 160ml coffees. The lower acidity means it takes milk well, but we think it’s most delicious without.
New environmental friendly packaging
Instant coffee has a longer shelf life, but our Specialty Instant Coffee comes in compostable packaging. This environmental friendly packaging means it won’t leave any waste behind, however it does mean time is limited. The decomposing of sachet starts after 6 months, so we only produce small batches. This way you know the beans are always roasted and processed as freshly as possible and you can trust that you are using a product that is environmental friendly.
Each box contains 5 sachets for you to enjoy. The box is a beautifully crafted flip-top box which makes it easy to carry in your hand luggage, bag, or pocket. Plus it looks real cute!
THE PROCESS BEHIND OUR SPECIALTY INSTANT COFFEE
We have been searching for a while to find a partner to produce our Specialty Instant Coffee. When we met Voilà, we felt that their way of production and their ethics complemented our own values and beliefs.
The secret to produce our specialty grade instant coffee lies in brewing high-quality coffee to Specialty Coffee standards, then carefully freeze-drying it. Our partner discovered that the perfect extraction for the process was to brew with a recipe similar to filter/drip, which fits excellent with our lighter roast profiles. As a result of this you can taste all the flavours of the fields and the unique terroir of each farm, even after the freeze-drying process. Light roasts mean there’s no room for error, and we work hard to develop roast profiles and source quality beans necessary to present these flavours.
We have an exclusive agreement with Voilá in Europe.
