One of the joys of the world of coffee is that it never stands still. Producers are always experimenting with new varieties and new production methods, and while the vast majority of these experiments may come to nothing, occasionally they can produce a real gem like the Telia lot.
The lot comes from one of our all time favourite coffee producers, Antonio ”˜Toño’ Barrantes Zuniga from Herbazu in Costa Rica, and he’s been planting experimental varieties on his and his siblings’ farms for years. These small plots, as they come into maturation, can offer extraordinary taste profiles, such as this Ethiopia 47 from Toño’s Telia farm.
Little is known for certain about this particular variety, though it’s most likely an Ethiopian heirloom coffee brought in by Costa Rican researchers and agronomists some years ago.
Finding it on the cupping table back in February was one of those moments where you both laugh and scratch your head in wonder, and I knew instantly that Square Mile needed to buy the one lone bag available of this unusual bean.
Through round after round of blind cupping it stood out on the table, with its herbal, eucalyptal and almost savory notes. I was trying to imagine what it would be like after more rest, knowing it would be a few months till I could ship it and get it to the roastery. It’s impossible to predict how a coffee like that will develop, but I know the potential of it was so interesting and so much fun, I wanted it regardless of how it would mature.
We’re absolutely thrilled to finally be able to roast and develop this coffee here in our London roastery, and, with such a limited amount available, we’ve decided to do something a little bit different with it and make this a coffee that will only be available through cafes that we supply.
If you want to know where the nearest cafe that serves Square Mile coffee is just check out our Where to drink our coffee page. We’ll be releasing Telia to cafes next week, so expect to see it popping up on menus soon after that.
We’ll also be posting another blog post about Telia soon, this time from our Head Roaster Tom. He’ll be talking about the journey of taking this coffee from green bean to bag, and telling you what it tastes like now.
