Low Acid Coffee Sampler Pack

Country: Mexico
Producer: Ek Balam Productores del Jaguar S.C. DE R. L. de C.V
Altitude: 950-1650 Meters
Cultivar: Various
Process: Fully washed
Certification: Organic & Non-GMO

Country: Guatemala
Producer: Organic Los Volcanes
Altitude: 1300-1500 Meters
Cultivar: Various
Process: Fully washed
Certification: Organic & Non-GMO

Country: Indonesia
Producer: Sara Ate Cooperative
Altitude: 1200-1600 Meters
Cultivar: Various
Process: Fully washed
Certification: Organic, Non-GMO & Fair Trade

Ek-Balam - Ek-Balam Productores del Jaguar S.C. DE R. L. de C.V. (Ek-Balam) was formed in 2019 with 399 members. The vast majority of producers have indigenous roots and continue to speak a native language. Nearly one third of these growers are women who depend on income from coffee to support their families. They cultivate coffee on farms that average just a few acres in size, small enough for each producer to process their own coffee with their own micro-mill. Ek-Balam provides crucial support to small producers. In particular, the association has helped producers gain access to credit and certifications. Investments for basic infrastructure needs, like road improvements, establishing local warehouses, and operating a dry-mill facility are all coordinated through Ek-Balam, which ensures traceability and quality control throughout the post-harvest process. Their collective efforts have established higher prices and more producer income to support best agricultural practices and improve livelihoods.

Organic Los Volcanes - Most look to western Guatemala for coffee, but there is something exciting to offer from the heart of the country. Organic Los Volcanes is sourced from several different organic certified cooperatives located in the less traveled department of Alta Verapaz, north of the city of Coban. The region has thousands of indigenous communities where coffee has been cultivated for generations on small farms that average 3 acres in size. Producers process their harvest with their own micro-mill, which allows for meticulous care in cherry selection, depulping, fermenting, and drying the coffee. They have also organized themselves into cooperatives to overcome the obstacles they face in a rugged and isolated region of Guatemala. The cooperatives provide centralized warehouses to store dried parchment until it is time to move the coffee across the country along rough roads to Guatemala City where the coffee is prepared for export. Through cooperatives, the producers have combined their efforts to gain technical assistance for managing their farms with the best organic practices and learned new strategies to protect their farms from the impact of climate change and focus on strategies to improve quality. Using materials, like coffee pulp, to make organic fertilizers has helped reduce the transportation costs associated with purchasing fertilizer from afar, and at the same time, creates an abundant source of fertilizer that ensures better yields and quality.

Sara Ate Cooperative - Tradition runs deep in the Takengon highlands of the Aceh province, a growing region acclaimed among coffee experts for its cup profiles and classic Indonesian style of coffee cultivation and processing. This lot was cultivated and harvested by members of the Sara Ate Cooperative, which was founded in 2011. The cooperative has more than 500 members with farms that average less than 3 acres in size. Producers belong to the Gayonese ethnic group and maintain a traditional village lifestyle. A large percentage of the producers are women who rely on coffee income to support their families. Each producer carefully sorts their harvested cherries before depulping and fermenting overnight with small micro-mills. Then the coffee is washed and laid out on patios to shed the excess water from the parchment covered beans. Next the coffee takes a detour from the conventional path of processing in other origins, wherein, the coffee parchment is removed while the coffee still has a high moisture content. This wet-hulling process, called Giling Basah in the Indonesian language, leaves the coffee bean exposed while drying on patios to a moisture percentage acceptable for export. This Indonesian processing method gives the bean its unique bluish hue and the hallmark Indonesian profile. With Indonesian coffees, half the battle is overcoming logistical challenges like rugged roads and unpredictable torrents of rain. Sara Ate Cooperative takes on an important role of organizing local warehouses and transportation so farmers can overcome these challenges and swiftly bring the coffee to the international market, ensuring greater earnings from direct trade relationships.