CB: El Salvador El Carmen, PNG AAAK, Kenya Kirinyaga
Cold Brew Bold Profile | Medium-dark roast
Tasting Notes: Molasses, Baking Chocolate, Rich
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
This blend is a combination of three stellar coffees that can easily stand on their own as single origins: the chocolatey El Carmen from western El Salvador grown by Fernando Alfaro & family; the complex coffee from the AAAK Co-op in Papua New Guinea, and the dynamic Kenyan lot from the Kiranyaga washing station, run by David Waweru and Justus Njanja, pictured front.
FINCA EL CARMEN, EL SALVADOR
This coffee was grown by the Alfaro family on El Carmen Estate in western El Salvador, deep in the Apaneca-Llamatepec mountain range. El Carmen was founded in the middle of the 19th century by Antonio José Alfaro, and it’s been passed down for four generations. It’s now being run by Fernando Alfaro.
AAAK COOPERATIVE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
The AAK Cooperative is a group of 64 communities from across the Highlands region of Papua New Guinea, a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia. Those 64 communities represent 64 different ‘house-lines’, single-family villages each with languages and traditions uniquely their own. What they have in common is a pidgin called Tok Pisin, and membership in the AAK Cooperative. AAK stands for Apo, Angra and Kange – the word for ‘Unity’ in the three major local languages.
KENYA KIRINYAGA
This dynamic Kenyan coffee comes from the Kirinyaga region, just south of Mount Kenya. It’s a collection of coffees from the Rungeto and Baragwi coffee cooperatives, and was processed at both the Kairu and Kii factories, or washing stations. The Baragwi Farmer Cooperative Society was registered 70 years ago in 1953, and is now the largest cooperative in Kenya - both in the volume of coffee they produce, and also the number of members. Baragwi runs 12 factories for processing all of the coffee that they purchase from their 16,892 members across the Kirinyaga region. This lot was processed at a mill called Kairu, and approximately 1,500 smallholder farmers contributed. The Rungeto Co-op is much newer than Baragwi, having been formed in 1997. Today it has approximately 850 members who process, or turn their coffee fruit into the dried seed that we roast, at their Kii Factory at the foot of Mt. Kenya, and dry the coffee on rasied beds under full sun.
Fernando Alfaro
Kii Coffee Factory
David Waweru and Justus Njanja, Baragwi Factory Manager and Senior Factory Manager
Coffee being washed, Kii Coffee Factory
Aerial view of coffee drying
TRACEABILITY
COUNTRY
El Salvador, PNG, Kenya
REGION
Ahuachapan, Highlands, Kirinyaga
IMPORTER
Mercanta, Crop to Cup, Interamerican
PRODUCER
Fernando Alfaro, AAAK Co-op, Rungeto & Baragwi Co-ops
MILL / WASHING STATION
On farms & at wet mills (in Kenya)
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1300 - 1900 meters
DID YOU KNOW
The first recorded coffee blend was the Mocha Java, dating back to the 1600s. The word "mocha" doesn't actually mean that the blend tastes like chocolate (although, it definitely can!) - it actually refers to the port of Moka in Yemen, where unroasted African coffees were loaded onto ships to eventually be brought to Europe to be roasted. On the way there, ships regularly stopped at the island of Java in Indonesia to pick up more coffee: that coffee was mixed together with the African coffees already on board, and were then sold as one coffee blend! Nowadays, though the spelling has changed, roasters still choose a fruitier African coffee to blend with a more earthy coffee from Indonesia, and name that blend Mocha Java.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$3.98, $4.23, $5.71
Price paid by Driftaway
$2.61, $2.29
Free on Board price
Not available
Farm Gate price
$1.69, $2.03, $1.67
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.49, $1.83, $1.47
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
The El Salvador Ahuachapan coffee travelled 3,337 miles, the PNG Highlands coffee travelled 9,062 miles and the Kenya Kirinyaga coffee travelled 7,311 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Brooklyn.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THESE COFFEES FOR THE BLEND?
This blend is a combination of three stellar coffees that can easily stand on their own as single origins: the chocolatey El Carmen from western El Salvador grown by Fernando Alfaro & family; the complex coffee from the AAAK Co-op in Papua New Guinea, and the dynamic Kenyan lot from the Kiranyaga washing station, run by David Waweru and Justus Njanja.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
86.5, 85.25, 88
/100
86.5, 85.25, 88
SCAA Cupping Score
3, 3, 1 x 69k, 60k, 60k
Bags purchased
1 year
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2022)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from March 25 to April 19 in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week at our roastery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each cupping is conducted by James M. and Ian T. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Anthony and Torie, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.