I’m beyond excited to introduce the Recruitment Holiday Blend, featuring coffees from our incredible new partners at Unblended! I first met some of the team from Unblended in 2023 and was blown away by the relationships they were forging with young farmers, the processing techniques featured and the overall quality of coffees they had exported from Colombia. Read on to learn why this partnership is such a big deal and what makes this coffee so special.
Unblended Coffee started as the MBA graduation project of Lucas Cuadros. The idea was simple but powerful: involve coffee producers directly in the marketing of their coffees and ecommerce & retail sales will grow. While the concept has changed, the idea is still there.
Soon joined by his sister, Sofia, they asked: How can a coffee producer's name become their brand? In that journey they found that younger coffee farmers were better partners, and then it clicked. In the pursuit of trying to make it work, they found their life’s calling.
Unblended aims to solve root issues with the supply chain, one of which is to make coffee farming an exciting career path for young people, and building brand awareness around their work. Here’s where the Unblended philosophy becomes inspiring: Young aspiring coffee farmers are connected with mentors who are experienced in processing innovations, creation of exclusive coffees, financing, as well as traceability and logistics. This investment in value-add processes at the front end of the supply chain creates more equity and opportunities for the next generation of coffee producers. In a country where the average age of coffee farmers is 55-60, Unblended seeks to empower young producers to make innovations that allow them to stand out from the more commercialized coffee markets. The future of coffee is dependent on new generations to continue the hard work, and Unblended is committed to providing inspiration and guidance for those that are passionate about continuing and expanding upon the coffee growing traditions of Colombia.
Unblended Coffee started as the MBA graduation project of Lucas Cuadros. The idea was simple but powerful: involve coffee producers directly in the marketing of their coffees and ecommerce & retail sales will grow. While the concept has changed, the idea is still there.
Soon joined by his sister, Sofia, they asked: How can a coffee producer's name become their brand? In that journey they found that younger coffee farmers were better partners, and then it clicked. In the pursuit of trying to make it work, they found their life’s calling.
Unblended aims to solve root issues with the supply chain, one of which is to make coffee farming an exciting career path for young people, and building brand awareness around their work. Here’s where the Unblended philosophy becomes inspiring: Young aspiring coffee farmers are connected with mentors who are experienced in processing innovations, creation of exclusive coffees, financing, as well as traceability and logistics. This investment in value-add processes at the front end of the supply chain creates more equity and opportunities for the next generation of coffee producers. In a country where the average age of coffee farmers is 55-60, Unblended seeks to empower young producers to make innovations that allow them to stand out from the more commercialized coffee markets. The future of coffee is dependent on new generations to continue the hard work, and Unblended is committed to providing inspiration and guidance for those that are passionate about continuing and expanding upon the coffee growing traditions of Colombia.
Recruitment Holiday Blend
The Recruitment lot is part of Unblended’s Young Producer Program, a project for recruiting young producers who have chosen coffee farming as a passion and career. In participating in this community lot, young producers are paired with a mentor to gain valuable experience and feedback. This new knowledge affords them greater opportunities to offer and market their own single-origin lots in the future. The Recruitment lot includes washed and honeyed coffees and makes up 80% of the holiday blend The other 20% of this Holiday blend is a cinnamon co-ferment by farmer and mentor, Sebastian Ramirez.
A fourth generation coffee farmer and true master of experimental processing, Sebastian is always pushing the boundaries of specialty coffee. For the Cinnamon co-ferment, ripe Caturra is hand-picked and sorted, where 95% are fully ripe. The coffee first goes through an anaerobic fermentation with CO2 injection and temperature monitoring for 120 hours. Later, coffee is depulped and placed in tanks for a 120-hour dry fermentation with cinnamon chips. Once ready, coffee is dried in open patios at a controlled temperature of 40 degrees celsius, with a second phase drying in shade lasting around 5 days.
This coffee is spicy and sweet, the perfect companion for a chilly winter morning, or night!
