Discovery Series: Unique Coffees with Uncommon origins

Wild Fiji

Coffee may have once been planted in Viti Levu and Vanua Levu Islands in Fiji, but currently it isn’t formally cultivated. As a result, you can taste the wildness of this organic Arabica coffee picked by local farmers. It has some chocolatey notes, almost Robusta-like to the nose, and hints of floralness and acidity. 

Racemosa S. Africa

Racemosa is an extremely rare species of coffee endemic to South Africa, as well as Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It is unusual for a number of reasons. For one, it’s grown at altitudes of no more than 600 MASL (meters above sea level), whereas most Arabica coffee is cultivated at 1000 MASL or more. Another thing that makes this species of coffee unique is that it is naturally low in caffeine! However, the most immediately noticeable difference between Arabica coffee and Racemosa coffee is the bean size: Racemosa beans are teeny tiny! They also have a unique flavor that we have never experienced with any other coffees we have tried before. It’s very floral and fruity, almost reminiscent of a pink peppercorn or Timut peppercorn.

Venezuela Tachira

This Arabica coffee from Venezuela has potential for greatness. Venezuelan coffee doesn’t often reach American markets, for various reasons; as soon as we found some Venezuelan green coffee we knew we had to roast it to see what it would be like. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get much information about the coffee growers from the Tachira region of Venezuela (which borders northern Colombia). This coffee in particular has bold chocolatey notes that are pleasing as an espresso as well as in drip form. 

Jack Murat - Australia

In our search for coffee from around the world, we came across Australia as a coffee-growing country. The northeastern part of the state of Queensland falls within the Coffee Belt, which is the series of latitudes that coffee is mainly known to be produced. As such, it has the right volcanic soil, elevation, and weather conditions to produce spectacular coffee. We were lucky enough to be able to purchase a small amount of green coffee from Jack Murat, a well-known coffee grower and roaster out of North Queensland, Australia. The natural process used to dry the coffee results in a sweet, berry-forward cup. 

Ethiopia - Gesha

We had never seen a gesha variety grown in Ethiopia before, so when this one from the Gori Gesha part of Ethiopia appeared on our radar we had to try it. Fruity and complex, this light roast is great as a pour-over or drip cofee. 

California - Geisha

FRINJ coffee supplied us with a small amount of one of their washed geisha varieties grown in the hills of Santa Barbara, California. Having never tried a coffee grown in the continental United States, we were impressed by the strawberry and brown sugar notes we tasted in this cup.