Firstly, let me put any long time Alfrún fans minds at ease! This blend is every bit as delicious, I think even more so, and aims to continue on the flavour profile you know and love! The new name is purely to draw a line under Alfrún and make room for something we hope you will all love just as much!
Since taking the reigns in the roastery, one of my main objectives was to put together a more cohesive coffee program, sourced through coffee importers who are out there trying to make a difference at source, whether that be through social projects in growing regions, supply chain transparency or even CIC and non-for-profit organisations.
An importer whom I have written about here most often is Raw Material. They are a community interest company, meaning that all profits go back to the farming communities they work with.
When it came to choosing coffees for this season's blend, I decided to look at what options Raw Material had to replace the Guatemalan half. Luckily, at the time I needed to contract coffees, Raw Material decided to come down to Munich to do a public cupping for roasters showcasing the fresh harvests from Mexico and Rwanda.
Those of you who have been buying the Alfrún Blend will know that it has always been 40-50% Rwandan, specifically from the Rugali washing station (pictured above) in Nyamasheke, for the past few years. This year's harvest from Rugali was even more complex and delicious than the previous year, so that was a no brainer for half of the blend.
Amongst the Mexican coffees was a community lot from the SIPRO (Sierra Productora de Cafe) association in Chiapas (pictured above). A coffee that held many of the traits we enjoyed from our previous Guatemalan coffee, nutty, sweet, silky body but with a more refined citric note, that goes more in a tangerine orange direction! This isn't a huge surprise, given that Amatenango borders Huehuetenango in Guatemala, where our previous coffee came from (the header image is taken from Amatenango, facing towards Guatemala). This was clearly what we needed for the blend!
We hope you all love it and look forward to hearing your feedback!
All images ©Raw Material