As we release this year’s harvest from the wonderful A’xola Cooperative in Huehuetenango as our current “Community Espresso” it’s only fitting to talk a little bit more about the idea behind this slot on our offer and the coffees that take up this ever important space.
Our coffee offering is very much about showcasing delicious in-season coffees whilst sharing the stories of their producers and their incredibly hard work and determination that goes into making it possible to enjoy them in our cups. Sitting nicely next to our trusty House Espresso mainstay from San Lorenzo, our Community Espresso brings in a bit variety and the coffees featured in this slot change 3 times per year.
Featuring coffee from 3 producing countries - Peru, Guatemala and Mexico, we aim to source these coffees from the same groups and communities year after year, whilst putting forward the great work that goes into producing coffee as part of a community within a certain region. Rooted in faith in cooperation, the key element linking all these collectives is the aim to improve livelihoods for their communities through quality coffee production whilst caring for the environment.
These lots are typically composed of coffees processed at each grower's own farms and consolidated together to market and sell under the group's or locality banner. The coffees contributed are the core of their growers' production and growers will often contribute a considerable portion of their harvest to these lots. Meaning they might not be the absolute highest scoring or the most exclusive but they do reliably meet physical and sensorial quality control and demonstrate distinctive regional flavour profiles. They also account for larger volumes of what we purchase for our offering. And as such they hold huge significance in terms of supporting livelihoods and returning value. As we always strive for our coffee buying to have a positive impact, valuing these coffees appropriately is incredibly important to maximise producers' profits and benefit wider communities.
Our community espresso celebrates the hard work of these producer groups whilst bringing you a flavour profile suited for consistently classy espresso based drinks – black and with milk. Expect a coating creamy body, milk chocolate and just the right amount of subtle fruit notes characteristic of the coffee’s origin to liven up the cup.
We're delighted to welcome this coffee from the A'xola Cooperative back again for the third season running. With its super creamy body, milk chocolate and nutty profile this one is the perfect coffee for our Community Espresso slot. You can learn more A’xola here.
