coffee origins – Torelli Coffee

TORELLI SPECIALITY
COFFEE ORIGINS

“A blend of coffee is like a symphony played by an orchestra”

The Magic Behind Your Cup Starts Here

Torelli represents quality without compromise. In the search and selection of coffee beans, our buyers search the world to ensure that growers monitor key elements, meet the requirements of the bean varieties, whilst balancing both environmental and social awareness.

Of all the types grown globally, Arabica and Robusta form the main bean varieties and are those prized for use by Torelli Coffee.

Arabica are undoubtedly the finest coffees, but it is important for them to contain the correct acidity in order to obtain refreshing flavour characteristics. Robusta is used in the blending process as it enhances the fragrant Arabica by providing body and increased caffeine to the finished product qualities.

Speciality Coffee

The term ‘Specialty coffee’ or ‘Gourmet Coffee’ is used to refer to coffee that is graded 80 points or above on a 100 point scale by a certified coffee taster (SCAA) or by a licensed Q Grader(CQI).
Specialty coffees are coffees at their peak and are different to other coffee because specialty coffee has been grown at the perfect altitude, at the correct time of year, in the best soil, and then picked at just the right time. All this translates into some of the most exciting and tasty coffee in the world.

HISTORY
Speciality coffee has existed for a long time, in one form or another. We tend to think of speciality coffee as being a new trend, yet even as far back as the early 1900s, discerning customers like the Hotel du Crillon in Paris specified that their coffee was to be bought from select micro-lots on specific farms in certain regions of Guatemala. The term “specialty coffee” was first used in the 1970s in the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, just a few years after the opening of the first Starbucks store. Thanks to stores like Starbucks and Peet’s, coffee went from a modern convenience to a drinking experience. Since then, improvements in agricultural, roasting and brewing technology, and an increased demand for high-quality coffee have put speciality coffee in the hands of coffee lovers across the globe.

COFFEE GRADING
Green coffee is graded via visual inspection and cupping. Visual inspection involves taking a 350g sample of green coffee beans and counting defective beans. Defects can be Primary (e.g. black beans, sour beans) or Secondary (e.g. broken beans). For a coffee to qualify as “speciality”, it must have zero Primary defects and less than five Secondary defects. Cupping involves roasting the coffee and brewing simply with hot water, and relies on the skill of the taster to assign scores to each of the coffee’s attributes, such the acidity, body, flavour and aroma.

SUMMARY

Speciality coffee is defined as any coffee that scores above 80 points on a 100 point scale.

Typically, speciality coffee is grown at high altitudes, with much care and attention from the farmer. From there, it is sold at a premium to coffee traders, or direct to roasters.

The roasters then create custom profiles for each coffee, enhancing and highlighting their natural flavours.

Baristas then use the carefully grown and roasted coffee to produce quality beverages, often with high precision and specialised equipment.

COSTA RICA

Description
Coope Dota are based in Santa Maria De Dota Tarrazu, an area that now supplies 46% of the coffee from Costa Rica. The small holder farmers they represent produce a number of microlots within the cooperative, the structure of which is designed to be able to isolate high scoring coffees and process through a separate micro mill.

BRAZILIAN CERRADO

Description
Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world. With such diversity, the range of coffee that it produces is vast – from small holder farms to vast estates. Soils, regional climate and temperatures make great growing conditions. However, Brazil lacks altitude – a factor normally considered crucial for creating the very best flavours expected from Arabica coffee and much of the coffee is grown at or below 1000m above sea level. Whilst Brazils are often not seen as high acidity coffees, they more than make up for it with comforting chocolate praline profiles, and are often the coffees that exactly hit peoples expectations of what coffee should be.

COLOMBIA EXCELSO

Description
Colombia is a country of great diversity, both geographically, culturally, and linguistically – it boasts over 68 ethnic languages as well as Spanish and even English in one of the archipelagos. Its land stretches from the Amazon Rainforest to the highlands of the Andes mountains, and was once the worlds largest producer of washed coffees, from three main geographical areas trisected by the Andes mountain range. This leads to two key harvest times in the country, with fresh coffee available all year. The varietals and farmers will change throughout the year, the work being done by the mills and our QC lab to ensure consistency in the cup. This offering is from the Tolima department, central-west of the country and bordered by Huila and Cundinamarca.

ETHIOPIA AYELE TULU

Description
Ayele Tulu Washing Station is located in the Bona Zuria district of the Sidamo region, 106km from Hawassa, the nearest major city. Bona Zuria borders the Oromia region to the south, Hula to the west, Bursa to the north west, Arbegona to the north and Bensa to the east. Ayele Tulu Washing Station is situated at 2,190 masl, making it one of the highest altitude washing stations in the whole of Ethiopia.

BRAZILIAN YELLOW BOURBAN

Description
Baixadao is located in the Mantiqueira de Minas – one of the most award-winning regions in Brazil. In 2011 it applied for recognition as a Geographic Indication (IG), in the Modality Indication of Origin (PGI) for its worldwide reputation for producing speciality coffees with a high quality and unique profile. This is due to be finally granted in full this year.
This coffee is grown on the Baixadao farm (awarded the highest ever Cup of Excellence score in any country in 2015), owned by Sebastião Afonso Da Silva of the Afonso family, who along with his son, also take care of Santa Izabel, Santa Terezhina, Santa Martina, and Sao Sebastiao farms.

NICARAGUA SANTA MARIA NATURAL

Description
Santa Maria is one of seven estates that reach across Jinotega and Matagalpa and are owned by Victor Robelo as part of the Las Nubes group.
Originally bought in the late nineties after the cessation of action by the Contras, the farms were planted with his fathers’ favourite varietals, Yellow Catuai and Caturra.
The Santa Maria farm itself produces mainly Caturra, and is focused on producing high quality lots with new processing methods.