Our thoughts when buying competition style coffee - It’s all about checking boxes, or maybe not?
When we buy competition style coffees we often refer to checking boxes, also a commonly used phrase when scoring points in barista competitions where the barista wants to check as many boxes they can on the scoresheet. There are a few boxes that we want a coffee to check when we decide to bring competition style coffee into our boxes and ultimately, to our competitions coffee subscription.
Whenwe talk about these boxes they could refer to taste, variety, altitude, producer, story, rewards or uniqueness. Of course, we could go the easy route and pick a high altitude gesha with a super cool process from a world-famous producer, preferably from an origin that people are aware of. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we get our hands on coffees that are perfect in taste, climate where it’s grown but maybe lack the fatuousness of being from Panama and Colombia - with that said, we are thrilled to release the coffee for the competition subscription of July.
We give you a double fermented and then washed Sidra variety from Ecuador from the farm named Saint Gertrudis.
Jose Luis Eguiguren is the third generation producer at Hacienda Santa Gertrudis and is making a transition from regular coffee to specialty and is now making a 100% commitment to make this farm one of the best farms in the world, focused solely on specialty coffee.
”I was first introduced to this producer and their coffee by World Brewers Cup champ Douzi from China and also Norwegian Brewers Cup champ Ole. I hadn’t tasted a Sidra from Ecuador and was stunned by its complexity and how delicious it was.”
- Alexander Ruas
At first sip we get sweet caramel, stone fruits like peach and plums and in the second sip and overall taste experience we are overwhelmed by orange and tangerines. This is truly the perfect competition style coffee, and we are so incredible honored and happy to be able to work closely with Jose Luis Eguiguren and the team at Hacienda Santa Gertrudis.
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Coffee: Ecuador Saint Gertrudis Double Fermented Washed Sidra
Taste description: Sweet caramel, stone fruits like peach and plums, orange and tangerine.
Always fresh: This item contains 100 grams divided into 2 x 50 grams of whole beans roasted, packed and shipped on demand for maximum freshness.
Story: Hacienda Santa Gertrudis has been in the family for over one hundred years, located south of the Ecuadorian Andes in the buffer zone of the Podocarpus National Park and just a few minutes away from Vilcabamba, a world famous location for its pleasant weather and longevity of it's inhabitants.
Luis Emilio Eguiguren was the first to plant coffee in Hacienda Santa Gertrudis back in 1954. His son Luis Hernan Eguiguren grew up watching his father tend to the lands, and soon assumed this challenge. In these days, the sole production was focused on commercial coffee. Today, Jose Luis Eguiguren, the third generation of coffee producer at Hacienda Santa Gertrudis is focused solely on specialty coffee.
The entire Hacienda sits on 60 hectares of land, of which 9 are currently planted with coffee. The varieties planted include Sidra, Gesha, SL28, Typica Mejorado, Yellow Catuai and Caturra.
By turning the focus to specialty coffee since 2019, Jose Luis has been successful in connecting with likeminded coffee professionals who want to share the narrative of specialty coffee in their markets. Forward is proud to be one of the few distribution partners working with Hacienda Santa Gertrudis on an international level.
Santa Gertrudis is a fully equipped wet and dry mill, able to process it's own coffee production as well as provide support and opportunity to neighboring coffee producers. Jose Luis has supported the connection of many highly talented coffee producers who are focused on intentional coffees and regenerative agricultural practices. This support has resulted in increased economic stability throughout the local community nearby Vilcabamba and beyond.
