Tell us briefly about what you do now in Dutch Colony and how long have you been in the company?
I have been with the company for six (6) months now. I'm an apprentice coffee roaster and a training support for DCC😁
Is this current position a promotion and what was the position you started with (if this is a promotion) and how long did you get to your current position?
I would say that the position I'm currently holding is an upgrade for myself in terms of learning as compared to my previous position. Being at the front of house churning out food and drinks for the consumers for years, I got curious of what goes behind the scenes especially roasting of coffees.
What do you like about working here?
Being given lots of opportunities, working together with the team, learn, unlearn and relearn from the experts within the team 😘
Your favourite coffee in DCC and method of preparation?
I do not have any favourites when it comes to coffee 😅 I drink anything that is palatable, any coffees with 'Wow' factors are always a plus point 😊 I go for spros in the morning and filter in the afternoon, flights when I go for QC rounds to our retail outlets 😊
What is specialty coffee to you?
Not just coffees scoring 80 points and above, but also the whole process from the farm to the cup. Also, something that got me realise that this is something I want to do for living, something that makes me want to learn more about it.
What is something many do not know of you? (Can be coffee related or not.)
I love languages. I speak English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Bahasa. And I'm half Indonesian!
Where do you see yourself 5 years from today in the company?
I see myself growing with the company and I see myself travelling around the globe for coffee. I mean, coffee brings you to places, right?
Thank you Siew Hui and we look forward to be tasting all of your roast in time to come. Onwards with Dutch!
Thank you for having me on this edition of Our People Series! Now I need to get back to roasting some beans.
Note: Article content is provided by Siew Hui and edited by Suhaimie Sukiman for clarity and length of article.
]]>In our first "Our People Series: Speaking with ______________", we spoke to our Outlets Manager, Clyde Lozano.
Tell us briefly about what you do now in Dutch Colony and how long have you been in the company?
I joined Dutch Colony in March of 2020, to be exact prior to circuit breaker 😀 and I think I was destined to be part of Dutch Familia. (laughter).
Is this current position a promotion and what was the position you started with (if this is a promotion) and how long did you get to your current position?
I started as a Head Barista in Training at our Fusionopolis outlet and also had experience to be at UE Square outlet for a short stint before heading back to Fusionopolis outlet due to covid restrictions. At the same time, I had the opportunity to actually experience being with front of house and being part of the Kitchen team during the circuit breaker period.
I was then assigned to be the Head Barista at Frankel Avenue outlet together with my then-Lead Head Barista Aryanee. We led and managed the outlet during the resumption of dining-in during the pandemic and I was part of team until May of 2021.
In May 2021, I spearheaded the opening team with my then-Lead Barista Dhia for New Tech Park outlet together with Head Chef Elaine. This was the first time I had the opportunity to build a team from ground up and solely managed an outlet as a Head Barista independently, where I applied what I’ve learned and at the same time learned to lead a wonderful team.
Recently, in a newly-created position, I was promoted as Outlets Manager to manage both Frankel Avenue outlet and Our Tampines Hub (OTH) outlet, which collectively, make up the East District.
It took me at least two years from where I started with the company to be where I am now and I am grateful to all the people who trusted in me and believed in me in the process.
Oh wow, what a journey it has been for you. So what do you like about working here?
It’s a good place to learn, be it in operation or in the back end capacity. To be honest there are plenty of resources for learning and you just need the drive and the passion to learn and to absorb what you can while you are going through the process.
Your favourite coffee in DCC and method of preparation?
Nothing in particular but I would say a Black and White flight coffee, which is a pair of espresso and cappuccino of the same origin/blend, is my go-to drink.
What is specialty coffee to you?
To me specialty coffee is being able to provide quality coffee that at the same time being able to connect and educate the customer about the coffee that we are serving. What are the flavours to expect when they drink, what was the processing method used, etc. It also reflects the bean to cup experience to all the individuals involved in the process.
What is something many do not know of you? (Can be coffee related or not.)
I don’t keep secrets. I am an open book but I guess it is not coffee related. Hmmmm, I also have a fear of Dolls/Mannequins and Lightning, but not Thunder.😬
Where do you see yourself five years from today in the company?
I would like to experience competing in the national stage and being able to share that experience to the team and hopefully inspiring them that everything is possible with the right attitude and patience.
Thank you Clyde and we wish you nothing but the best for your future endeavours. Onwards with Dutch!
Thank you for having me on this first edition of Our People Series!
Note: Article content is provided by Clyde Lozano and edited by Suhaimie Sukiman for clarity and length of article.
]]>What is Anaerobic Processed Coffees?
Anaerobic Natural is a process where coffee cherries are prepared using fermentation cans. In this process, ripe cherries are placed in sealed cans that are pressurized from CO2 buildup, and then remaining pressure and oxygen are let out using release valves. This additional pressure forces the juices and sugars into the bean. The cherries are then dried to the desired level (11%) in about 30 days in mini ‘Greenhouses’ raised beds or directly under the sun.
Through this process, we purchased two African lots from Kenya and Ethiopia and what sensational coffees they are!
Kisii Masimba has a myriad of flavours that is palate teasing, overtones of blackcurrants pastilles when hot which turns into peaches and sweet lime when cooled and well balanced, it will definitely not be the last you see us having this available again in our roastery.
Worka is our first Ethiopian coffee processed via the anaerobic natural processed and by the taste of it, this won't be our last. Packed with loads of overripe fruit sweetness, unique combination of langsat (or lanzones) fruit with an interesting finish of nashi pear and sencha tea and definitely one of the sweetest ever that we have purchased and roasted.
What is Carbonic Maceration Processed Coffees?
In carbonic maceration, cherries are fermented anaerobically for up to 48 hours. During this stage, intra-cellular fermentation takes place in insulated stainless steel containers in which CO2 is pumped in. Tannins present in the outer layer of the coffee cherry skin referentially migrates into the fermenting coffee cherries inner layer, adding new dimension of flavours often found in great wines. The cherries are then spread out to dry in a special green-house, dried to achieve a 12% moisture level which usually takes between 20-25 days, depending on the weather and raked daily to achieve an even drying.The Boloven Plateau in Soth Laos is the most favourable region for coffee cultivation in the country. The region boasts high elevations (up to 1,350 masl), rich volcanic soils, and a moderate climate with plentiful sunshine, rainfall and a low risk of frost. The gentle slopes of the plateau negate many of the farming challenges posed by more mountainous and varied terrain. This is not only our first purchase of coffees that is process through the carbonic maceration method but also our first origin purchase from Laos.
Yet, here we are today. We see things are improving around us, slowly but surely is the name of the game. Seeing the emergence of some form of normality, even those small things that we took for granted in the past, is already making us feel so exhilarated while holding on to the hope and prayer for better things to come. We persevere. We grow. We become stronger.
As we celebrate our 9th anniversary today, we looked back and celebrate the years, the moments, the milestones, and the sacrifices while withstanding the test of time to emerge stronger and better. We gained strengths from the belief and dreams of our founders and the people around us. We survived not because we want to but because we needed to. The theme “Emergence” feels proper to signify the year where we are coming back together again - stronger, resilient, and better than before. Against all odds, we persevere and grow again, new beginnings and a brighter future.
Like all our past years anniversaries and to celebrate this milestone, we have prepared our seasonal Anniversary blend, which is available storewide in the hopper and whole bean in the retail bag. Combining an equal parts blend of two new (and fresh) crop arrival from Panama and Ethiopia, our roaster duo have been working tirelessly behind the scene to have this beautiful blend available for launch.
The first 50% blend component is from Panama, perched in the cloud-forests of Chiriquí and nestled between Volcán Barú, the tallest point in Panama, and the Panama-Costa Rican border, sits Finca Santa Teresa (FST) mighty 237-acres estate, in a stunning forest at 1400-1900m above sea level. This Batista lot is a classic and one of the first grown in FST, way back in 2009.
The final 50% component is from Ethiopia, located in Oromia, Guji. Started by a close-knit Ethiopian coffee-producing family, Sookoo produces and exports high-quality coffee from some of the most well-known regions in the world. Currently, the company is led by Ture Ware and manages washing stations in both Uraga and Shaakkisso Woredas. For this particular coffee, 23 smallholder individual farmers have contributed to the lot; typically growing coffee in conjunction with raising livestock.
From the sourcing to all the roast R&D and the constant feedbacks from everyone else before deciding on the current formulation to brings the crowd flavours of fruit parfaits, golden kiwi, butter cookie and milk tea! A delicious coffee to enjoy while we are emerging to a better tomorrow.
Thank you again for being part of our journey and for your love and support. Thank you too for always supporting your #localbusiness.
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First and foremost, if you are new to the Roaster's Choice Subscription (RCS), do read more about this it here. We are excited yet again to launch a new coffee this month, with exclusive sneak preview privileges going first to our RCS subscribers before they were officially launched in our own stores and online shop!
February's Roaster Choice coffee was roasted on the 2nd Monday of this month and shipped out the following day. As you are reading this blog piece, our subscribers may have already finished up their first bag of this delicious coffee.
In this series of Dutch Colony's 'The Colonial Reserve' or TCR collection #013 is a delicious single origin microlot grown by Rafael Amaya and his son in Finca La Virginia. This is a fully washed Pink Bourbon varietal that goes through an extended fermentation process and it is one out of two coffee that we have sourced through Cofinet, from this amazing producer who is also widely known in the municipality of Huila to be very progressive with his approach of experimenting with new farming and processing techniques!
This pink bourbon varietal is harvested following a strict ripeness criteria, exposed to a long dry fermentation of 40 hours with the pulp on and 60 more hours after being pulped. Afterwards it is dried on raised beds for 14 days to ideal moisture content. When we were first sample roasting the pre-shipment sample (PSS) and cupping them the next day, we were enjoying loads of kiwi, pink wine and sweet chocolate which have now translated to beautiful roses, raisins and cardamom. Enjoying this cup!
A little bit more about Pink Bourbon varietal...
The Bourbon varietal was first introduced in the 1700s by French missionaries, who planted this varietal on Bourbon Island in the Indian ocean. This island is known as Reunion today. Bourbon varietal was then commercially grown in Brazil in the 1800s, where it spread throughout the Latin America, commonly producing the red or yellow bourbon varietal. The pink bourbon is a cross-bred of the red and yellow varietal, getting its name as the ripe cross-bred cherries carries hues of pink instead.
From Timana, Colombia to Singapore, TCR #013 is only made possible through the story of relationship, coffee and people. This is a coffee that Brew Moments and Inspiring Relationships.
]]>Through this journey, The Nutcracker, our Christmas blend, was conceived and celebrated its 8th edition in December 2021. We also successfully planned, R&D and launched limited edition blends in the likes of Katapult and Anniversary, exciting the audience with each new launch. Even with three signature house blends now and another three special editions, it seems there is still a gap to be filled, as though something else was missing in the big piece of jigsaw puzzle!
With four major ethnic celebration in Singapore and only one signature blend created for celebrating Christmas, they knew what was suppose to be done. After much deliberation, the team gathered, brainstormed and agreed that there should be a new espresso blend with each major festive celebrations and give glad tidings for the likes of Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali. A coffee to be enjoyed by the coffee loving people of multi-races and languages Singapore. The team working on a new blend for the city that loves to (make it themselves and) drink it.
We named it Festive. A signature espresso blend to accompany you in all of major public holidays in Singapore; in celebrating everything that are joyous and colourful.
So, who are these two handsome Colombians? Let us introduce you to them, so fine they are that if they are both Olympic athletes, they are sure going back home with a winning medals each.
Jairo Arcila of Finca Santa Monica is a delicious single origin grown by Jairo Arcila at Finca Santa Monica. Jairo Arcila is a third generation coffee farmer in Quindio, Colombia. Married to Luz Helena Salazar, they have two children together: Carlos and Felipe Arcila, who are also the co-founders of Cofinet where these amazing coffees are sourced from. A natural extended fermentation coffee, this is also our first purchase from this amazing producer.
This 100% Castillo coffee was exposed to a dry anaerobic fermentation of 30 hours. Later the coffee was placed on raised beds until 20% moisture content was achieved. Then the coffee was placed inside grain pro bags again for 80 hours and at this stage, fermentation is driven by natural yeast. Finally the coffee was left to dry on raised beds to 10.5% moisture content.
Jairo started growing coffees 35 years ago when his father got very sick and could not manage his farm anymore. After a few years, Jairo managed to purchase his own land and continues growing coffee until today.
Leonid Ramirez from Finca La Cortina de Hierro is our first purchase from the Ramirez family. This 100% Variedad Colombia coffee was carefully hand-picked in order to use only the ripest cherries. These cherries were later fermented for 48 hours (aerobic) with the pulp on and placed on raised beds for 14 days until ideal moisture content was achieved.
This coffee, together with the Jairo Arcila Finca Santa Monica, is a collaborative effort with our friends at Cofinet. The team there handles much of the processing, working with Leonid in offering advice on improving farming practices and managing the exportation of the coffees to us, against all odds with the pandemic lurking and delayed shipping freights everywhere. We are glad with this partnership as much as we are glad to be able to offer fine colombian coffees for everyone here.
Both these microlots was first served in May 2021, during the soft opening of our latest Dutch Colony shop in New Tech Park, for espresso based beverages and remains until today as the crowd favourite for its balanced sweetness and vibrant acidity. It was never made available on the shelves until a few days ago and seeing how popular it is, quickly becoming two of our fastest selling single origins online thus far, we are encouraged to continue sourcing coffees from both Jairo Arcila and Leonid Ramirez in seasons to come.
From Genova and Amennia, Quindio, Colombia to Singapore, both these delicious coffees that you are about to enjoy is only made possible through the story of relationship, coffee and people. This is a coffee that Brew Moments and Inspiring Relationships.
]]>We have an amazing line up of espresso single origin coffees and blends to try this month, in fact we have too many available in our web-shop, so much so that our roasters duo, Nazrul & Suhaimie, have decided to pick two must-buy from the lot. Hear what they have to say.
Every year, we strive to source, cup and purchase the best tasting Brazilian coffees out there -mainly for the purpose of meeting our requirements in ensuring we have enough of our award winning Dutch blend to supply to Singapore and beyond.
With only 200 bags available for the world from this harvest and 62 bags available for Singapore (psstt we have 60 out of this 62), your palate will surely be teased with a widely fruity Brazil that is delicious enough on its own. We will probably have this available for the next 12 weeks or less, so snap them up soon.
To manage the estate, Sergio has adopted the ‘zero crop’ management system. This means that each season, Sergio separates 2 hectares of his crop for pruning and rest, allowing the trees to return stronger for the next crop. Not only does this improve the productivity of Sergio’s trees, but this also means Sergio can lower his production costs, as a smaller team is needed to manage the state. From this method, Sergio is now able to produce 40 bags from a single hectare.
For processing, coffee from Sítio Pinhalzinho is produced using the Natural method. Coffee cherry is picked when at its most ripe, before being taken to Sítio Pinhalzinho’s patios. Here, cherry is first sorted defined into lots by variety and day of picking. Next, the cherries are sorted, removing any under or over ripes. Once complete, the coffee cherry is evenly spread over the patios, helping to create optimum drying conditions. Once a moisture content of 12% or lower is recorded, dried cherry is collected and transported to the mill. Here, the coffee is milled of its cherry, before being prepped for export.
On the cupping table, we picked up tasting notes of delicious fresh cherries, pomegranate and praline. These nuances translate into a syrupy texture espresso of plums, hazelnut and cocoa while the milk beverage reminds one of sweet butterscotch, cherry pie and almond milk. Delicious!
Katapult is a product that showcase the ability of our roasting team to create a seasonal product that is so good and we will be proud to have. Expect exciting components in our Katapult, as the crops change according to the harvest cycles and seasonality of the origins. Yes, just like Singapore’s favourite King Of Fruit (the durians), coffees have seasonal cycles too and depending on which part of the equator line they sit in and grow, we can have the Ethiopians only available in our warehouse between June to October (they are harvested usually 3 to 4 months earlier then the warehouse arrival date) or the Brazilians only in late October and the Panama towards the end of the year entering into January and February.
For Katapult #010 that we are launching in June as espresso based coffees in the shop, we use fresh coffees from Colombia and Indonesia, a blend of two mouth-watering fully-washed La Primavera and natural West Java Papandayan, that tastes like a blackforest cake, lychee and molasses in your palate.
Since the launch of Katapult in March 2016, we have reached 'numero dieci' or number 10 and it is never in our nature to shy away from a Katapult that will get the palate all excited yet overwhelmed with flavours and #010 promises the same!
West Java Papandayan is no stranger to Dutch Colony, having first introducing it in 2017 and it quickly became a crowd favourite. Ever since, we have always been sourcing from the same farm yearly and the coffee has gotten better each time.
In this blend, we relish and rub our hands in glee as we anticipate the 'explosion in partnership' of Papandayan together with the La Primavera from Colombia, that recently featured as our Roaster's Choice coffee subscription program for the month of April. Those who knows your coffee will know that these are two heavyweights of an origin and how they will compliment each other both as an espresso and a flat white will be beyond the imagination.
They are in our shop grinder hopper for the whole of June or until stock runs out! (and they will be flying off fast!).
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In the month of March 2021, we celebrated the one year anniversary of our coffee subscription model online. Subscribed. To Great Coffee Forever movement, in the past 12 months, has garnered 159 loyal subscribers who all received their coffees through the subscription model. This milestone definitely is the heartbeat to us sourcing even more delicious coffees for the future to serve this purpose!
We have also been in self-reflection mode; looking back at the good, the bad and the ugly. The ultimate question have always been this, ‘How do we source and provide even greater coffee for our subscribers?’ The main purpose of this subscription model is to always ensure that our Gift Subscribers are getting the first dig to new coffees before launching and/or to enjoy exclusive coffees that is unique to its terroir in terms of varietal, processing methods or simply small in its production size.
Hence in April 2021, we introduced the Roaster’s Choice Subscription (RCS) model for both Ongoing and Prepaid option. This model is a monthly coffee subscription plan without having the trouble to decide on what coffee to get. All the selections of coffee, only single origins, are roasted for either filter or Omni roasting style, and is perfect for those who enjoy preparing their coffee as a manual pour-over, plunging it through the French Press or like our Coffee Roaster, running it as a lighter roast espresso based beverage!
Getting on any of the plans are easy. For Roaster’s Choice Ongoing Subscription, simply choose the number of bags you need and leave the coffee selection to us. Your subscription will recur monthly and you have the flexibility to pause and stop the subscription anytime.
For Roaster’s Choice Prepaid Subscription, choose the number of duration you want to stay on (3-month or 6-month), the number of bags you need and we will take care the rest. With the commitment to prepay and to stay through out the duration, you will enjoy not only a better a better deal, but also perks like complimentary dining vouchers to our retail shops, to name a few.
The Roaster's Choice Subscription (RCS) subscribers will receive unique and seasonal single origin coffee, thoughtfully curated and roasted by our roaster just for subscribers on this plan only, that allows you to experience different coffee throughout the year. You will have access to different varietals and different variety of processing methods that allow one to get the full 'coffee professional’ experience. We do not provide grinding option at this point simply to maintain the quality on these beautiful coffees that will come to you.
While generally most of our coffee will be in 250g bag, we may introduce you to higher-valued coffee, such as Gesha varietal or super nano-lot coffee, that may come in a smaller packaging. All these coffees will either be exclusive only to our subscribers or as a pre-launch and availability in the shop or online will be only a few weeks or months after you have receive them and brewing away.
Coffee for this subscription plan will be roasted on the second Monday of the month and shipped out the following day. This will allow us to better source delicious coffee, to manage our roasting schedule and consolidate all of the subscribers to enjoy these unique coffee in a single batch roast.
This special lot from Monpi coffee is made entirely from smallholder farms from Jiwaka Province and takes its name from the community in which it is grown. The regions high altitudes and fertile lands not only help to provide the optimum setting for coffee growing, but also microclimate like conditions that give lots from Arufa their unique characteristics. Sitting in the shadow of Mount Bangeta, the land is filled with winding waterways that help distribute much-needed volcanic nutrients throughout the soil.
Traditionally, these very remote regions of Papua New Guinea are difficult to traverse, meaning many producers have to carry their crop over long distances to receive factory door prices. Fortunately for communities in Arufa, the region benefits from good road access, allowing producers access to Monpi’s mill.
Land in Papua New Guinea is still to this day conventionally owned, with plantations in Arufa managed by smallholder farmers; averaging just 2 hectares. Coffee is inter-cropped with other produce to increase soil humus (decaying plant matter that increases retention of moisture and nutrients), fertility and shade. Crops include; plantain, bananas, yams, sweet potato, cabbage and other traditional foods. Although a variety of other produce is grown, coffee cultivation is often the primary means of income; with other produce grown and livestock reared only for personal consumption. This makes coffee an important cash crop, as most farmers in the Jiwaka Province will grow coffee for income.
Today, coffee is a major industry for Papua New Guinea with the country currently exporting around 1 million bags of coffee every year; involving more than 2.5 million people (nearly half of the total population). Our purchase of just a pallet of 10 bags this year is really just a small splash in the vast ocean but with increase awareness and education about great tasting coffees available in Papua New Guinea, we are positive that we will find a heightened appreciation of Papua New Guinea locally so to inspire us to continue searching and chasing for that cup of perfection in this land that is also well known for its existence of endangered wildlife such as bird of paradise, tree kangaroos, Horne bills, peacocks and parrots!
Monpi Arufa is only our third ever coffee purchase from Papua New Guinea in the last 8 years, having previously introduced the Virgin Mountain and Arokara, but definitely one of the most delicious coffee of our time. This coffee was first introduced to our month of May 2021 Roaster’s Choice Subscription subscribers and is now available for a very short time, while stock last. Come and have a taste of Papua New Guinea!
]]>There was so many delicious coffees introduced during our Anniversary month of March stretching into April and we hope you managed to try them all. For now, let's explore what month of May have in-store for us.
This gem of a microlot of the Caturra and Colombia varietal is produced by Hugo Sepulveda from Urrao, Antioquia. Over the course of two days, each day’s pulped cherries are added to a fermentation tank with the previous days’ pickings. In this method of ‘extended’ fermentation, each consecutive batch raises the ph level (i.e. makes more alkaline) of the fermentation tank, permitting longer fermentation times that will produce a fruit-forward cup but without the acetic acid produced by bacteria at a low ph. In this way, the producer is able to maintain the correct ph level and avoid very low ph levels during processing that can lead to over-fermentation and vinegary qualities. In addition to giving more control over ph levels also gives more control over yeast and bacteria activity. Interestingly, the practice is common with small farmers throughout Antioquia and Huila, who often have two or three day fermentation as their farms are so small that one day’s picking is often not sufficient to make up an entire lot. Don Hugo works with these traditional methods, but puts extra attention into making sure every step is perfectly executed.
Finca La Primavera is a very small farm even by local standards at only 1.5 ha. This only means that Hugo has had to work extra hard throughout his life to make the farm as productive as possible. This hasn’t stopped him from smiling, however! Don Hugo receives you with a smile every single time you visit, and that smile tends never to fade away throughout your stay at la Primavera. As an original member of the Pavón group, Don Hugo has been crucial in helping Pablo Emilio Montoya (the group’s leader) keep the group cohesive and working together. Hugo is famous amongst his neighbours for the attention he puts into both cultivation and processing so as to ensure his crop receives the best placement possible on the market.
Planting of coffee started on Fazenda Milano in the year 1999 with 200ha planted each year from 1999 to 2001, totalling 600ha during this first phase. At that time, the current land owner was the sole user of the farm. The new producer, Olam took over the plantation in 2012. After entering this agricultural partnership agreement, Olam planted another 1,200ha of coffee from 2012 to 2016, taking the total planted area to the 1800ha as stipulated in the agreement. Today the farm is the largest coffee farm in Bahia state, certified under 4C, UTZ and RFA since 2017, with the highest distinction of sustainable practices in Brazil from Rainforest Alliance (November 2018).
This is our maiden purchase from the Milano Estate too. From the same coffee importer that brought you the delicious Bravinhos Danilo Barbosa, we re-indulge you to a good, classic Brazilian flavour notes of Milk Chocolates, Caramelised Nuts & Dried Fruits.
Perched in the cloud-forests of Chiriquí and nestled between Volcán Barú, the tallest point in Panama, and the Panama-Costa Rican border, sits Finca Santa Teresa (FST) mighty 237-acres estate, in a stunning forest at 1400-1900m above sea level.
FST produce a range of premium specialty coffees, including Gesha, Caturra, Catuai and Pacamara varietals, and service multiple processes. Their Gesha varietal is a regular finalist in the Best of Panama competition, with more than a dozen awards in the last decade.The terroir that the farm sits on – rich volcanic soils, high altitude, weather systems driven by the Pacific and Atlantic and a series of ridges and valleys – drives coffee redolent of honeysuckle, lychee and strawberries.
This lot undergoes the traditional washed method where the cherries are sorted straight after picking and then placed into water floatation tanks. Pulping process begins where the flesh of the fruit is mechanically removed from the bean, leaving the mucilage layer intact. These are then placed into another larger water tank where fermentation occurs. The coffees are then washed again and lay to dry on raised bed under the dry altitude sun. Such hard work put in to create a unique sweetness along with high-altitude acidity, we are proud to be supporting and buying from this farm since 2014. You should be too!
Award winning and internationally acclaimed blend, Dutch blend is balanced, nuanced and produced a delicious cup which is highly recommended for espresso based beverages. Designed to bridge the gap between the flavours of comfort (Brazil) and exoticness (Ethiopian), Dutch Blend allows a consumer new to the specialty coffee world to cross over without feeling the culture shock on the palate.
This latest edition of 2021 will be a palate teaser with the process of Aerobic Natural from Brazil giving the impression that one is drinking a Natural processed Ethiopian, and the cleanest and juiciest of Ethiopian that we have ever encountered. Fruity yet not sour, chocolaty yet not bitter and a good mouthfeel that is 'not at your face' kind of body or profile. Enough said, please enjoy!
In this 2nd edition of Midnight Run, we have selected the delicious single origin from Finca Nueva Esperanza, a farm inherited by Alan Moreno in 2010 which have gained traction since 2015 and well noted for their excellence and as an example of ‘best practices’ for specialty coffee in Mexico.
Going through a special and unique non-chemical process uses clear pure waters from the highest mountain in Mexico, the Pico de Orizaba, known as Citlatepetl in the local indigenous language. The process works by immersing the green beans in water to extract the caffeine content. The water preserves the soluble flavour components of the green beans, helping to protect the original characteristics of the coffee. The Mountain Water Process is patented and is also Organically and Kosher certified.
So there you have it, three very different coffees that suit the mood and palate at different occasion or parts of the day. If you, like all of us in Dutch Colony is a espresso fanatic, start your day with a Dutch Blend espresso as a perk me up coffee, refreshen yourself with the Panama espresso as a lift me up coffee after lunch and the Midnight Run as your night cap, the decaffeinated espresso option keeping you happy with no risk of a sleepless night. Don't say we never 'jio'.
Having been operating and running coffee workshops since the existence of the company in 2013, KCA was formed in 2017 to bring focus in its mission. Over the years it has evolved with more workstations to accommodate bigger groups, as well as projects with schools to provide students with opportunities to pick up new skills.
However, In 2020, the onset of Circuit Breaker sees all activities in the academy suspended to adhere to safety protocols that were enforced to curb the spread of Covid-19. We had to scramble, adapt, and think of ways to spread our love and knowledge of coffee to everyone. Zoom, online workshops and coffee tutorial became a thing and by the end of what was a hard year for us, we managed to spread our passion and love for everything coffee to 387 students and participants! What a feat.
As we step into 2021, the new year brings back new hope, a New Beginning. Having celebrated the New Year a few weeks back, we now quickly prepare ourselves for the Chinese New Year. Known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year symbolises the beginning of Spring, the start of a new season, and new life. As the saying goes, “Spring has Sprung”, we are also looking to be a part of the festivities.
This season shows how important it is to build and maintain relationships with one another more than ever. Chinese New Year, like any other festival, sees the gathering of families and friends over reunion dinners, drinks, fun and laughter to bring together, to honour and commemorate the relationships and bonds forged among one another. With that being said, we wish to build more relations with all, through our love of coffee.
For two weeks, from 8 February to 22 February, we are giving out a 14%+14% discount on three of our big boy workshops: Fundamentals of a Barista, Pour Your Hearts Out & Deja Brew Techniques.
If you are an aspiring home barista with an espresso machine, the Fundamentals of a Barista would be the perfect one for you. It covers everything you need to know about using coffee grinders, espresso machine, basic understanding, different café menu espresso beverages, and of course, pulling espresso shots and frothing of milk.
For latte art enthusiasts, come join us for a two-hour session of our Pour Your Hearts Out workshop. In these two hours, we will go through the theory and technique of free pouring and perfecting the art of Hearts.
And lastly, our Deja Brew Techniques workshop, caters for those home brewers who seek out to perfect their coffee brewing techniques, and bring out the best flavours from your coffee. In here, we will discuss about the basic parameters, as well as other factors that can influence, and affect your cup of brewed coffee, be it V60s, French Press, Aeropress, Kalita, and possibly the Syphon even!
In view of festivities and celebration, we would love to open our doors and invite you into our academy, to learn, to appreciate and to understand all things specialty coffee. Simply apply discount code “KCACNY” to enjoy 14+14 (28%) discount when carting out your purchase!
As we put hands together and interlaced our fingers, we would like to wish you “Gong Xi Fa Cai”, not only in good wealth, but also in good knowledge of coffee.
]]>This January, we introduce (and re-introduced) three new single origins from Brazil and Guatemala; The Brazil Bravinhos Danilo Barbosa, Guatemala Finca El Regalito and Guatemala Finca Santa Isabel.
With this coffee, there are two ‘1st’. Our first buying an Aerobic Natural Brazilian and also our first purchasing coffee from the innovative Danilo Barbosa. Danilo is the owner and manager. His first harvest was in year 1979-1980 crops and the success led him to develop the activity and growth of the explored area, acquirement of new farms and introduction of new harvest technologies. Nowadays the producer counts with 490 hectares of coffee plantation, which are carefully assisted by him, his son and the quality control team. The producer is associated with cooperatives which, in many ways provide information on the coffee market, quality, and courses.
We were informed that there are less than 100 bags of this specially processed coffee that was produced in the Bravinhos farm and boy are we glad to be able to snag up 30 out of this 100 bag lots this harvest. Truly a Brazilian to savour.
Coffee from the farm of Santa Isabel is no stranger to Dutch Colony and to some of you, having bought them each time that they are made available to us. Roasting this coffee in the Singapore inaugural roasting competition in October 2019, placed our roasting team 4th position against other exotic and smaller lots coffee that was used in the same competition.
Don Luis and his son - also named Luis (nicknamed ‘Wicho’), manage the farm as general and agricultural manager, respectively. Now Luis IV (5 years old), Wicho’s son and Luis’ grandchild, spends his school holidays at the farm, much as his father did when he was young.
We are happy to again work with the father & son Luis duo and their crop this 2020, featuring it as 1/3 part of our Nutcracker blend launched as part of our festive coffees and now introducing it as a tasty single origin filter. Hurry as we don't see this coffee being available past first quarter of 2021!
Arturo Villatoro’s family has produced coffee for generations. From a young age Arturo watched and worked alongside his grandfather (Pedro), and then his father (Jacinto), on their farm in La Libertad Huehuetenango. This deep exposure to the full growing process provided Arturo with insight into the art of coffee production, and fuelled the enthusiasm that still drives his desire to produce the ingredients of a fantastic cup today.
Having discovered his love for plantations and passion for growing great coffee at an early age, Arturo has since dedicated his life to producing quality beans. Arturo first acquired his own estate, El Regalito, with his wife and family 20 years ago. The farm lies in Aldea Hoja Blanca, 80km west of Huehuetenango, one of the key coffee-growing regions in Guatemala. Coffee is the only crop grown, with the other 120+ hectares remaining as forest. Arturo sees El Regalito as a blessing and believes that without God’s help he never would have been able to acquire the farm; hence the name El Regalito which translates as ‘The little gift’ in English.
Enjoy this brand new month of January along with all the new coffees that we have to offer. There are even more exciting line ups this February, so keep a lookout for them. To better coffees this 2021!
Quoting Scott Rao, a coffee roasting consultant and coffee book author, "The Loring is the best-in-class recirculation hot air roaster ever made" and so we started roasting with the best roasting machine ever made since November 2020 but the excruciating pain to wait for its assembly and commissioning took us a long 9 months when the pandemic hit and many of the businesses were impacted. Yes it was like the duration of carrying a child in a womb and here is our story:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and to get this baby up and running, we lost count the million number of steps we took to reach this milestone! Despite the challenges, from the decision making, the financial commitment, the logistic, to the commissioning, and not forgetting the entire pandemic restriction that has delayed the process, we are grateful and blessed to see where we are today and happy to see that we are ready to start roasting on this new roasting machine. God is good indeed!
We always have a worry on the back of our mind when a roaster, just like other equipments, start to give problem with the wear and tear and requires downtime for maintenance work. We don't have the luxury to run the production on other machine onsite. Along the line of having another machine to support as part of the disaster recovery plan and also as part of our production, quality and business growth strategy, we recall it was only some time in mid 2019 that we decided to add a new roasting machine and we are glad we made the right decision to go with Loring Smart Roast.
Loring has been very supportive from the beginning, answering every questions we have, advising us in the process and a visit to their facility in Santa Rosa, California in late 2019, walking through their facility and getting more information about their product, service, and their people, convinced us that this is the right company that we want to work with for our new roasting machine, a Loring S35 Kestrel.
The Loring S35 Kestrel reinvented how coffee roasting was done and with the patented technology that eliminates smoke during the roasting process, it provides 80% fuel-savings and reduction of greenhouse gases in every roast, compared to conventional roasters.
The pandemic definitely delayed the commissioning of this roaster from the initial plan, from the time we received the delivery in February 2020, with uncertainties and worries about the impact of the pandemic to our team and our business, to recently when the business re-opened with option to get this machine commissioned remotely. We are glad we pushed through as a team during this period of time, with everyone in the team chipping in their help, their expertise, their experience, and we are grateful with Loring’s regional partner who patiently guided us through the commissioning process, remotely and patiently.
From putting it all together, bolts and nuts, wiring cables and bear hugging heavy parts that probably weighed half a tons to powering it up and making sure it works, the activities, although tedious, keep everyone high spirited, bonded and excited with every piece of the big puzzle come to place.
We are happy to see what we are seeing so far, and from the initial roasting, we know we are getting a little of wake up call on what this roasting machine can deliver from quality perspective, so if you are noticing the coffee tasting much better at our shop, don’t be surprised. We anticipate a lot of future write up about all the roast profiles we can get out of this roaster but for now, do enjoy the coffee that this machine produces.
Nutcracker version 007 promises to live up to the expectations of its predecessors.
By taking inspiration from the traditional flavours of festive season, this year’s blend combines three great microlot coffees, a Latin American-based blend, with an African twist. Together reminding one of flavours of everything festive with sprinkles of chocolate-berries and toffenut in milk, and sweet citrus fruits, grapes and juicy red plums in black.
]]>First established in December 2014, the idea of 'The Nutcracker' was designed and conceptualised for Dutch Colony to have her first festive blend. We were unsure as to what will make the blend but speaking to the roasting team of the business, we had a head start. It should carry the flavours of the season and with that we start working and ever since then, have never looked back!
Quoting Veronica Phua, a level 10 Burppler who wrote in the internet in 2014, "A festive blend that features notes of sweet peppercorn, raisins, figs, walnut and baker's chocolate. This resulted in an intense, complex tasting cappuccino that sat well with me." Upon its inaugural launch, we saw how it was well received, how quickly it moved out of the shelves and it was in so much demand that we remembered extending its availability well into the month of January 2015. Ever since that, The Nutcracker have been made available every month of December.
Today, we have the 7th edition of this delicious festive blend and along with it, specially curated single origins that made up the 'Winter Edition' coffees, originally introduced in year 2014 as the 'Flavors of Xmas'.
Let us take a closer look at all these delicious coffees:
Nutcracker version 007 promises to live up to the expectations of its predecessors.
By taking inspiration from the traditional flavours of festive season, this year’s blend combines three great microlot coffees, a Latin American-based blend, with an African twist. Together reminding one of flavours of everything festive with sprinkles of chocolate-berries and toffenut in milk, and sweet citrus fruits, grapes and juicy red plums in black.
Sourcing for great single origins this year prove to be challenging with the pandemic lurking around. The impact was felt globally within the coffee supply chain, from disruption of labour - which affected how coffee cherries are picked and processed, to the slowing down of inland cargo pick-up and sea freight schedule delays. With the planning of the festive coffees starting as early as June this year, our roasting team have to create a few variation, formulation and permutation of a selected few coffees in order to have a guaranteed finish product, in case some of the coffees failing to reach in time. Originally there were 2 coffees that were part of the plans and a delay in shipping meant we had to go with our Plan B & C, equally good nonetheless.
Sincerely from our heart to your palate, we hope version 007 of this delicious festive blend will pull the strings of your hearts.
The El Nazareth from El Salvador so delicious both as an espresso based and filter that we tweaked the roasting profile to serve the dual brewing purpose. So you can buy a bag home and run it both as an espresso/flat white or brew them up in your favourite brewing methods.
Finca Zacatin from Colombia offers two very premium varietal in the SL28 and Gesha. Located in the mountainous terrain and temperate climates of southwest Antioquia, Finca Zacatin has the perfect climate for producing excellent quality coffee.
Initially started as a small side project, Eduardo, who is the 3rd generation of the Fernandez family who owns the farm, acquired a selection of unusual beans from around the globe, hoping to produce and sample their special nature. Today, Eduardo’s small side project has flourished into a large scale operation, producing fields of Gesha, Pink Bourbon, SL 28 and Tabi varieties.
Both the Nutcracker and the El Salvador Finca El Nazareth will be available in all our retail shops' main & 2nd coffee grinder from the 1st of December onwards, being served as your espresso-based choice of beverages. Both coffees will also be made available in 300gm and 250gm retail bags respectively, online and store-wide for all the home barista to take home or as a gift exchange with your coffee enthusiast buddies.
Not to be missed too, and in a very limited quantities, will be SL28 and Gesha varietals from Finca Zacatin. Both are coming in collectible 150gm cans with designer labels inspired and created by our own multi-talented Business Development Manager, Zuhaimi. Great as a gift or a treat for yourself!
It has been a challenging year indeed, but we all have been good this 2020! From all of us at Dutch Colony Coffee Co., we wish you a great holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Be jolly and be safe!
]]>Chuck your passport as we will only be needing a hand grinder, a pouring kettle and your favourite brewing device! Fasten your seat belt and let the travel begin!
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The Musasa Dukunde Kawa cooperative has three washing stations lying high in Rwanda’s rugged northwest. Nkara – the cooperative’s third washing station - was built by the co-op in 2007 with profits earned from their first two washing stations, Ruli & Mblima and a bank loan. The washing station lies at 1,800 metres above sea level and serves farmers within the Ruli Sector of Rwanda’s Northern Province.
The level of care that Musasa Dukunde Kawa Nkara takes over the processing is impressive. Cherries are hand-picked only when fully ripe and then pulped that same evening using a mechanical pulper that divides the beans into three grades by weight.
After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight (for around 12 hours) and then graded again using flotation channels that sort the coffee by weight (the heaviest – or A1 – usually being the best). The wet parchment is then soaked in water for between 18 and 24 hours to stabilise moisture content.
This is Dutch Colony first purchase of Musasa Dukunde of Rwanda and with such a crystal clear flavours that have both clarity and sweetness, it will definitely not be the last you see us having this available again in our roastery.
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On the most Southern tip of Mexico in the remote region of Soconusco, sits Teddy’s mighty 400-hectare estate. Purchased in 2009, today the San Antonio estate is characterised by its sustainable focus and trend-setting standards for Mexican specialty coffee.Bordering Guatemala, Soconusco is wedged between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
This unique location provides a great challenge for coffee farming at San Antonio. With annual rain full averaging 4300mm and humidity typically range between 85% and 99%, fermenting and drying coffee cherry without the presence of bacteria and fungus can be difficult. Not only does the climate offer a constant struggle, in 2013, San Antonio was also hard hit by coffee leaf rust, meaning the farm had to be completely renewed, leaving Teddy starting from scratch. Seven years on and with the help of Teddy’s team of experts, San Antonio is once again producing some great coffees.
What that got us attracted into purchasing one pallet of Teddy’s coffee is not just the flavour notes but also his primary focus for the San Antonio farm. His commitment to sustainability, for both the environment and the wellbeing of his staffs, of which he hires 100 employees during the low season and 450 in the high season. Regular investment in infrastructure means that Teddy is always looking to better both his crop and the work environment for his team.
San Antonio’s work with Fundación C.a.F.E has meant that all staff now has access to learning materials, helping improve the literacy rate of the migrating pickers who often travel north from Guatemala for work. Workers also receive wages above Mexico’s established minimum wage, with a bonus structure set to reward productivity. The end result is the beautiful cup of coffee now sitting warm in your hand. From Mexico with Love.
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Rio Claro has been in Heleno Bachião Dolivo’s family for three generations. Heleno’s grandfather, Arcanjo Bachião, came from Italy along with a relative, Guerino Bacchion. They settled in Paraguaçu city, Minas Gerais, and began working for several years, saving up money little by little to buy good farming land. After several years, they had saved enough to purchase a plot of land near the town of Nova Resende that the locals advised would be very good for coffee. Arcajo called the family, told them to come over, and they all began working the land together.
Heleno’s father, Ricardo Bachião, was a truly great coffee producer. He was born on the farm and learned to cultivate coffee from childhood. When he finally took control of the family farm, he had little access to technology, yet he would consistently produce 800 to 1,000 bags of coffee every year. His abilities as a farmer became renowned, and he was even elected as the Mayor of Nova Resende in 1978, though he unfortunately passed away shortly afterward.
The name "Rio Claro" means "Clear River" and is simply named after the neighbourhood where the small farm is located. This is common in Brazil in small properties (Sítios), where farms take their names from regions or other local features. Rio Claro is the perfect location for quality coffee production. Located in one of Brazil’s most renowned coffee growing regions (Minas Gerais), the farm benefits from an elevation of just over 1,100 metres above sea level. The natural potential of the land is met by Heleno’s commitment to producing the best quality coffee that he can.
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Try Em' out before purchasing?
All the three single origins listed above are also available in all our retail outlets as filter brew of the month this October and so if you are keen to have a taste of them first before making a plunge to purchase a bag (or all three), make your way down and speak to our Barista before making the choice.
With the great range of the tasting notes from these three coffees, we are sure there will be something for everyone at home.
"If we are good now, how can we be better?"
"How do we bring our coffee to the masses, without compromising on quality?"
"What is something out of convenience that we will 'buy and drink it' ourselves?"
"Can it be truly convenient without having the need to invest in an additional equipment or small tool + accessories?"
And the ultimate question of all questions, "Capsules, Freeze-Dried Instants or Drip Bags?" Unanimously, everyone on the roastery agrees to the Drip Bag.
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Our single drip coffee bag is conceptualised with the intention to allow everyone to have access and to brew specialty coffee grade beverages practically anywhere and without having the need to be lugging around with fragile coffee brewing vessel or expensive equipments.
Selected single origins are roasted fresh and as soon as it peaks, grounded on the same day, nitrogen-flushed and seal-packed individually, allowing us to lock all the good flavours together. This action also helps to retain the freshness and changes the game on the perception of convenience and/or instant coffee.
Each box contains 10 single-drip-coffee bags. Quick and convenient without compromising on quality or flavour, now everyone can become like your favourite barista in Dutch Colony and what you need is just a mug and hot water. Recipes are also provided on each individual bag, thus buying a box and giving it out as little surprises to your unassuming 'caffeine addicted' specialty coffee friends and relatives will indeed be a treat.
A few months earlier, in one of our own research and development work, we worked with a few single origins in the like of the Haru Suke from Ethiopia as well as the Fazenda Passeio from Brazil. From the initial work, where grams of coffee per pack is determined, grind size discussed and the level of nitrogen to be flushed in each individual packs is locked in as the overall recipe, we were also getting feedbacks from over 100 individuals and wholesale partners. Many of them agrees that using a fruity origin from Ethiopia creates such a ever-lasting experience on their palate and was definitely a conversation starter. With that, in our first drip bag production series, we went with our Ethiopian star of the moment, the Yirgacheffe Aricha.
This exceptional Natural coffee was dry milled and exported by Primrose, PLC. The coffee was grown by smallholder farmers living around the kabele (town) of Aricha in Gedeo County, Yirgacheffe region. Most contributing farmers own less than a hectare of land, and they grow coffee simply as a backyard cash crop. Expect notes of Mixed Berries, Candied Grape and Dried Apricots.
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Single Steeped Tea Bag - Colonial Earl Grey
Not wanting to deprive our tea loving customers of their 'equal rights' to specialty convenience, we have also decided to create a convenience tea pack to launch together with the coffees. Nitrogen flushed and seal packed individually allowed us to lock all the good flavours together. This action also helps to retain the freshness of each bagged tea and a good introduction to our range of selected teas, starting with our best selling tea - the Colonial Earl Grey.
Our single steeped tea bag is also conceptualised with the same intention in mind as our coffee drip bags; to allow everyone to have access and make specialty cafe inspired beverages at the comfort of practically anywhere. Each box contains 10 single drip tea bags. Quick and convenient without compromising on quality or flavour, what you need is just a mug and hot water. A drop of hot milk to taste won’t hurt either.
Dutch Colony’s exquisite range of Fine Select Teas have each been personally selected by Sharyn Johnston of Australian Tea Masters. Sharyn founded Australian Tea Masters in 2011 as its director, and is a specialist business executive with over 25 years of global training experience. Her passion is to educate people about tea in general but she focus more on specialty tea including the history of tea. Australian Tea Masters is the leading organisation for tea training and tea education in Australasia.
Dutch Colony carries an extensive range of high quality, full-leaf black, semi-fermented, green and white teas, as well as herbals and fruit infusions. Many of the teas are imported direct from tea gardens and estates regularly to ensure freshness. We carry the same passion and philosophy of searching for great tasting products to our non-coffee selections and source only the unique, artisanal and distinct non-coffee alternatives that both ourselves and our customers will enjoy and appreciate.
In June, our team in the roastery was rubbing their hands in glee, upon receiving confirmation that both the Colombian and Ethiopian coffees were loaded up in the containers, leaving from origin and on their way to Singapore port. Boy, they sure were excited with this news. The team has been analysing, cupping pre-harvest and pre-shipping samples, working hard on roast profiles and brewing parameters, work tasks that usually get done in-lieu while anticipating the arrival of new coffees.
First up, from the Americas, we have the lovely Colombian. There is never a year that past us by without buying any good Colombians and luckily enough, there are always aplenty of fruity, sweet and complex Colombians for everyone due to their two season of harvest. From the first harvest, a period between October - January of 2019/2020, we welcome a beautiful micro-lot:
Having owned the neighbouring farm of Finca Las Mercedes since the 1960s, Alfonso Guerra purchased Finca La Loma in 2005 with aim of further expanding their business. Today, the Guerra family farms are now primarily managed by Alfonso's son, Juan Carlos, and his grandchildren. This means that five generations of the Guerra family have tended the lands of Cuidad Bolivar.
Not the easiest of coffee to roast, the roasting team has worked very closely together, carefully profiling the roast to allow the delicate flavours of this this coffee to shine, with a clarity rarely found in a natural processed coffee.
Next up, from the origin that always makes us feel like little children again, the Ethiopian, we have the lovely Yirgacheffe Aricha. This is an origin close to our hearts, one that we uses too many of in a year, in our award winning Dutch Blend, as a single origin espresso, in our filter offerings in the retail shops, in single origin batch brews as well in coffees dedicated to as to our wholesale partners, domestic and international.
What is there not to love, this coffee that is universally referred to as the birthplace of coffees, the 'mother-dough' of all doughs and initially consumed by Kaldi and all human beings as a fruit has always pulled the strings of consumer hearts with its fruity explosion, aromatic florals and its elegant tea-like quality. In search of these same qualities and flavours profile, we started cupping since late February/March 2020 and delighted as they get un-loaded out off the containers in Singapore port. From this Ethiopia harvest, we introduce you:
This exceptional Natural coffee was dry milled and exported by Primrose, PLC. The coffee was grown by smallholder farmers living around the kabele (town) of Aricha in Gedeo County, Yirgacheffe region. Most contributing farmers own less than a hectare of land, and they grow coffee simply as a backyard cash crop. Coffee will usually be interspersed with other subsistence crops, such as sweet potato, mangos and avocados, but there are no other primary cash crops grown in the region.
Our exporter is a stakeholder in the supplier washing station and works directly with them to control for quality and cultural practices on the farm. Income from coffee is important but minimal for most farmers due to the small size of their farms. As such, inputs are minimal – most coffee grown in the region is 100% organic, though not certified, as farmers simply don’t have the money to apply chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides.
Primrose ensures that there are agricultural officers who work closely with each farmer to ensure the fertility of the farm land. In fact, soon the wet mill and surrounding farmers will also be RFA and UTZ certified. Primrose and the Aricha mill pay more than the market price for a kilogram of red cherry, and those farmers that bring quality red cherry are paid a cash incentive, ensuring higher-than-average overall quality. Coffee is selectively handpicked before being delivered to the mill collection points, usually within 5 km of the producers’ homes.
Great care is taken upon delivery to separate out any overripe, underripe or damaged beans before consolidating with other lots for the road to the wet mill. At least once a day, the collected coffee cherry is delivered to the mill, where it is floated and then delivered to dry on raised beds. Here, it will be thinly spread and regularly turned over the course of several weeks, or until it reaches 12% humidity according to the moisture metre.
Both coffees are already available in our retail stores as well our online shop and the good news is, we have about 500kg of the La Loma and 1600kg of the Aricha greens available and this will be two coffees that we should see throughout the remainder of 2020. Enjoy them while they last.
Psssttt... Keep a lookout for coffees from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama coming your way too in Q4 of 2020!
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Hi, my name is Ahmad Zuhaimi and my friends call me Zu. Seven years ago, I started off as a part-time Barista to managing the now-defunct PasarBella outlet as Head Barista and now I am the business development manager for Dutch Colony’s wholesale department. This is my story in sailing through the pandemic and what I have learned to adjust in this unprecedented time to ensure business to continue and our wholesale partners are being taken care of.
Many of you know and may have visited our facility at Defu Lane. This facility houses our roastery and academy and this is also where our wholesale and finance operation department are based at. When I am not visiting our wholesale partners before the COVID-19 pandemic started, this is the facility that I spent most of my time at to strategise the next business plan, to work out partnership and collaboration with our existing wholesale partners, to present our products through tasting with our potential new partners, to connect with our team from the roastery, academy, and QC team and, believe it or not, to analyse our wholesale P&L and financials.
I always believe in face-to-face interaction with our wholesale partners. Hence, before all the restriction measures were in place, a regular visit to our wholesale partners to discuss issues, challenges, and support they needed were always my routine. I believe this is what set us apart from the rest in the industry, where we focus on relationship and partnership as a two-way traffic.
When the country moved to lockdown (or Circuit Breaker as we call it here in Singapore) in April of 2020, many restrictive measures were put in place, many non-essentials businesses were forced to suspend their business and many essentials business might or might not able to operate depending on certain criteria. Staying on top of the regulations and requirements become the priority to understand what we could or could not do with our business. We are grateful that we could still operate the business, with certain restrictions on both retail and wholesale business and changes were inevitable to ensure we met all the requirements.
While, as company, we were adjusting our operation according to the new set of requirements, my first priority was to stay connected with our wholesale partners to understand their situation and how their business was impacted. Importantly, to understand what support they needed during this unprecedented time to ensure they could carry on with their business.
With some of our wholesale partners decided to shut their business during the lockdown it was definitely negatively impacting our business and with some partners who were running at a much scaled-down operation due to the unpredictable business volume, this made it even harder for them to estimate the quantity of coffee they needed to purchase from us while keeping the coffee reasonably fresh on their shelf. One of the quick decisions I made was to allow some flexibility in their ordering schedule and to allow a lower ordering quantity to allow our wholesale partners to manage their need on day by day basis while they are going through this uncertainty.
From the bigger perspective, the business downturn of wholesale partners indeed impacting our overall business, like it or not. However, this crisis hit everyone and indeed we were in this together and I believe that keeping a positive mindset is crucial during this crisis and importantly, what can I do to ensure we can ride this crisis through.
While many traditional businesses that requires physical activities and face-to-face interaction have slowed down, the pandemic has presented new opportunities. With all the restrictions and social distancing measures, the only way to continue our business is to further capitalising on our online and delivery presence. The blessing is we have put a solid groundwork on our online shop in the last year or so. We spent tremendous of time and energy to build the infrastructures and improving the flow and when the restrictions opened up opportunities for more online opportunities, we simply put our focus and energy to it. From the internal team perspective, I am proud to have an agile team who adapt quick to new changes. With wholesale business has slowed down, training and event are literally suspended, I transitioned the team responsibilities to support the online business.
We are not perfect, but we are learning, continue to fine-tune our online business and it has grown significantly during this pandemic period. The restrictions during the lockdown have not only increased our existing online customer spending per order but we also gained new online customers, either new or offline-to-online conversion.
With all the safe distancing, the Work From Home requirements, and restriction on number of people in our facility, we have to change the way we interact with our team and our wholesale partners. Although email and Whatsapp messaging are the norm, but we are now transitioning to have more video conference tools that allow us to still have a virtual face-to-face interaction. We continue maintaining the close relationship with our wholesale partners through video conference tools as this allows both parties to understand and identify any challenges in the business and it allow us to have more interaction and to come together to devise solutions on the business.
With work-load was scaled down and restricted, I also took this opportunity to stay productive by working with our wholesale partners to develop unique products that are curating for, for example stay home packages or gift care packages that they are producing for their customers and where our products are one of the elements.
While I mentioned that our training and event are literally suspended, my team and I use this time to think outside the box and to explore different approach to the business. We brainstormed for ideas, we revisited again ideas on the back-burner and relaunch them in the current situation. Several ideas in the work include virtual training, brewing techniques videos, online marketing plan, and improving customer relationship through social media interaction.
Through these challenges, I am happy that we as a company we manage the business running, maintaining the team intact, without putting risk to their income that they really need. There are still many things to be done and there are more uncertain things in the near-future that we still have to strive through. With Singapore is stepping out from the lockdown through 3 stages of re-opening, the question remain on how and when the business can go back to normal.
The new normal will be different. I, my team and company as a whole, will continue to work hard to ensure we can provide the support needed to our existing wholesale partners, to allow them to get into the motion to ramp up their business within their capacity and to provide the uncompromising support they needed, one way or another. Indeed it is a difficult time for all of us and we can only do better when we stand united and support each other.
I hope this perspective of mine allow you to see what we can do as a company. Do connect with me to discuss idea or if you think there is a role I can play to help grow your business.
Do stay safe and stay healthy. Like all difficult situations, this too shall pass!
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The list goes on and on...
]]>With the changes and new implementation of stricter guidelines, we made a mad scramble to stock up on more disposable cups and packagings like our lives depends on it. During pre-Covid-19 years, 80% of our revenue generated are from dining-in consumers. At the same time too, we have never engaged into any delivery platforms so stocks of disposable packaging can at times stretches a few months before replenishment is needed. By the 7th of April, circumstances changed!
You see, we applied for and received approval to remain in business as an essential service and in doing so, we have to abide to a smaller team daily and selling all our food and beverages in paper cups and paper lunch boxes and soup bowls. Like almost everyone else in this industry, we enter into the unknown (though cautiously and with much hesitation) world of 3rd party food delivery platforms too as historically, only 20% of our business were takeaway customers. As we pledge to keep all our full time employees in the payroll during this difficult time, we have to remodel the business and cannot simply leverage on the 20% takeaway customers of the past. Broadening the horizons means working with these 3rd party delivery platforms and soon enough, new business challenges unfold itself for us to manage.
Everything about specialty coffee is special and different from the commercial ones - from flavours down to beverage sizes, the former is something that has since become a dilemma for our Barista in this 'new norm' context. We do not do Small, Medium and Large but rather we are happy to make you a delicious 5oz (150ml) espresso-based milk beverage in a branded ceramic cup with a nice weight to it, and if you do need a 'large', we have the 8oz (240ml) option in-house too. With a single well-extracted-espresso shot in the 5oz (double shot for the 8oz), we are able to keep every serving of coffee balanced with a good harmony of espresso to creamy frothed milk. What can go wrong if we do it to-go in a disposable cup? Everything. Everything that can go wrong, have been going wrong!
The complimenting industry to the specialty coffee business are designed with the commercial coffee business as the mainstream. This means that ready paper cups on the shelves are of a standard size of the small (8oz), medium (10oz) and large (20oz). We can have the option of customising the size that comes with a hefty price and probably a minimum manufacturing quantity that will last a lifetime or choose a template that is close enough, and in this case using their 'small' for our 5oz beverages (150ml in a 240ml paper cup) and their 'medium' for our 8oz beverages (240ml in a 300ml paper cup).
To preserve the same high quality taste that one experienced in any of our shops is to re-train our barista to ensure the same volume discipline is practised in the disposable paper cup; pouring into the paper cups to 2/3 fill and explaining to every customers on why we do so. The pouring & explaining practise continue but unfortunately, explaining it to the customer who orders via the delivery platforms has to come to a halt and this is where nightmare begins....
The list goes on and on.
This article by no means to spite the critics. Our job is to provide the coffee education in explaining why our coffee is made a certain way, and this is a task that is almost impossible when our coffees are ordered, delivered, served and consumed through a delivery platform. As we also judge a product with our eyes before tasting it, it is just natural to think that the vendor has shortchanged us when a product comes not filled to the brim. That is why plating is so important and getting the right ceramic vessels in accordance for the beverage volume served for dining in customers becomes a priority.
Unfortunately, when limited to the disposable cups that comes from commercial manufacturer, we are not able to source for the correct cup sizes that compliments our beverages. Neither is going against our beverage recipe and simply taking the easier way out of filling the cup up to the brim with topped up milk is a choice that we are willing to take.
Where do we meet at a centre point that is a win-win for both our customers expectations vs what our Barista are trained to do? Why do we need to meet in the centre at the first place, compromising our quality as a result? Countless hours of brainstorming with the leads in our business even come down to a proposal of taking out all the hot beverages off the menu from the delivery platforms, an option that send chills to our spine as coffee roasters and crafters of specialty coffees. If we cannot live up to our own expectations and demands from the discerning palate of our consumers, it is so difficult to lift that milk jug to pour out our hearts and souls into the cups. Thankfully enough, it was not the option we took as consistently too the feedbacks that we received from those who received their coffees via the delivery platforms validated what we do best.
So where do we take it from here? We will continue crafting and brewing our coffees the way it should be, and get ourselves ready to receive questions from first time customers on why the beverages are not to what they have expected to be. We have barista/s behind our social media platforms who speaks the language and will passionately guide these customers to what the coffee are, how it should be drunk and what they should order in the future to avoid having the same experience. After all, a 30ml or so single-shot Espresso travelling in a paper cup for 30 mins to your home is not an ideal beverage of quality that you want to pay for, it is not a beverage quality that we like to serve anyway.
And yes, we will continue taking the question and patiently replying that Caramel Macchiato and Espresso Machiato is as different as chalk and cheese!
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It was first introduced as part of Christmas blend, 'The Nutcracker', in late November of 2019 and we are excited to have it now as a single origin, although enough only for about 5-6 roast. This eventually also means that if the demand is great, we will run out of this coffee as early as mid-June 2020!
Originating from the hidden villages of Pa-O, Shan state of Myanmar, most of these coffees are grown in the valley of mist-shrouded mountains where only the finest red and ripe cherries are picked and purchased from individual farmers, many of whom have only a few trees in their backyard. These farmers are cared for, integrate well with the community and fed with knowledge in managing farms, controlling quality and even brewing and tasting their own coffees, strange but rarely practised in some coffee farms around the world.
It is our first coffee purchase from the origin of Myanmar but with it exhibiting beautiful tasting notes that are usually rare coming from an Asia origin, it will definitely not be the last. Hear what some of our team members have to say about this hidden gem, after tasting it for the first time:
With tasting notes that is described as dried apricot, brown spice, tamarind, kyoho grape and rum & raisin, you know you just have to get your hand on a bag or two of this limited run coffee.
To the home brewing enthusiasts, below information is for you to geek out on the coffee. Enjoy!
Farm: | Pa-O Tribe |
Washing Station Owner: | Behind the Leaf Coffee |
Varietal(s): | Mixed Heirlooms |
Processing: | Anaerobic Dried Natural |
Altitude: | 1370-1500 metres above sea level |
Owner: | Various smallholder farmers |
Region: | Pa-O, Shan State |
Country: | Myanmar |
Brew it like Dutch Colony:
Filter
1:16 ratio of coffee to water, medium grind, 88-90 degrees celcius water, first pour to bloom at 2x the coffee weight (i.e 15gm of coffee so pour 30gm of water to bloom for 30 secs) and 3 equal long pour to reach the desired ratio with a total brewing time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Best to be enjoyed as the beverage slightly cools!
Espresso
1:2 ratio of coffee to water, packing about 24gm of coffee (we use a 22gm VST basket) and extracting 48gm of espresso out, between 22 to 25 seconds. For milk beverages, we cut it a little faster, getting close to a 1:1.5 ratio.
This only lead to one explanation; there are an increasing number of cafe customers who are opting for non-caffeinated beverages, delicious ones like what you frequently see in our shop menu. Rather then allowing you to start grunting on how this lockdown, stay-at-home order or Circuit Breaker measures are making it harder to visit our shops, we are putting the ingredients online so that you can purchase them and make it at home.
Golden Turmeric Latte
Warm and earthy, our glories Golden Turmeric Latte is a rich blend of organic ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and, of course, turmeric. Not only it is totally delicious, it is also incredible good for you.
Known as a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, turmeric is believed to boosts levels of the brain's hormones, lowers the risk of heart disease, and might help prevent cancer, Alzheimer's and depression.
What are you waiting for? Fill your cup with golden sunshine and raise a toast to your health (and taste buds), today!
Suggested Recipe to make our Turmeric Oat Latte:
Organic Chai Tea Syrup
Unlike any other syrup, the Organic Chai Tea Syrup is an infusion of whole spices and spice extracts which have been brewed in proprietary urns using secret recipe.
Quick and simple to use, this product is a baristas favourite. Full of uncompromising real spice flavour, Chai Me Organic Chai Tea syrup delivers the most delicious chai latte.
Suggested Recipe to make our Chai Latte:
Drinking Chocolate 40% Cocoa
Our Drinking Chocolate 40% cocoa is crafted using 100% Ivory Coast cocoa powder to produce a full-bodied, dark and earthy drinking chocolate. Subtle zest, hazelnut and dried stone fruit notes balance perfectly in this bitter sweet drinking chocolate blend resulting in a rich and memorable taste experience.
Suggested Recipe to make our Hot/Iced Chocolate:
Tips to milk frothing at home like your Professional Barista:
Microwave
Measure and pour the desired amount of milk into a large mug (make sure it is microwaveable). Select a duration of 2-2.5 minutes with medium to high setting. Pour the heated milk carefully into a French press or coffee plunger. Use the plunger to keep on pumping the hot milk to make it velvety smooth and build froth.
Over Fire
Measure and pour the desired amount of milk into a saucepan or pot. Heat up over low fire but prevent it from boiling too fast. As the milk turn from cold to warm, gently whisk it until it build up froth. Turn off fire when milk reaches a temperature of around 65 degrees celcius.
Now that you are all ready and filled with knowledge, swing over to our online shop and add them into cart. Brew them like Dutch Colony, post them on social media and tagged us. We love to see how you do it!
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After making your choice, there is another set of questions of what grind size to grind the coffee into (if you have been getting your barista to grind the coffees in the shop, then you need to spend about less than 20% of your Solidarity Budget payout to invest in a good hand grinder) and most of the time, this is simplified with a question from the barista, "For espresso or filter brewing?" So what are the difference between these two coffees?
Well, aside from the fact that the espresso coffees requires a much more sophisticated equipment as compared to the less expensive brewing device for filter, the difference are huge and there are definitely a lot of comparisons that can be made to describe this, but here are the three main main differences:
Caffeine Level - As we all know by now, the amount of caffeine in the cup is highly attributed to the contact time of coffee to water. One can safely described that there is at least twice the amount of caffeine in a filtered coffee as compared to espresso coffee. Although not usually detected in between sipping, those who have low tolerance with the effect of caffeine in their body will feel more discomfort after having a cup of filtered coffee as compared to perhaps, an espresso-based beverage like a latte in the same cup volume.
Coffee to Water Ratio - There are usually a higher ratio of coffee to water in a filtered style coffee (e.g. 10gm to 100ml/ 150ml of water) as compared to espresso coffee (20gm to 50/60ml of water) which makes the filtered coffee more ‘watered down’ and in this case easier to drink for the consumer. Taste profile are also usually cleaner with much clarity in filtered as compared to espresso coffee.
Roast Profile - Most roasters I know, myself included will usually go light and gentle (light to medium light roast) with the roast profile of filtered coffee as compared to roasting for espresso coffees (medium to dark). In the former, it is all for highlighting the natural sweetness of the coffee in its fruit form as well as to showcase the nuances of the coffee while as in the espresso, it is usually to elevate the sugar browning so that the coffee does not taste under developed with the high pressure brewing.
This three features has a correlation to taste-flavour attributes and because taste is subjective, it is definitely not wrong for you to purchase a bag roasted for espresso but brewing them in your V60 or Aeropress if you prefer a bolder and more developed flavour nuances.
The roaster and barista can recommend but ultimately the choice is still yours but at least now, you have a much informed knowledge on which coffee to buy and how they could be grounded.
From visual of the packaging, to assist our customers in differentiating which coffee is preferred by us to be served as espresso and filter, we packed them in two different colour packaging, with black indicating that the coffee is preferably to be served as espresso while the white indicates the coffee is best served as a filter. A tip though, most of our coffees packed in the white bag are usually versatile too for an espresso based drinks, a lot depending on your preference of the acidity of the espresso and the richness of the viscosity and body!
We hope this information helps you to improve your overall coffee experience when shopping for your coffee. Shop online now and support your local roaster!
]]>Let us demystify the meaning of the two from a coffee perspective:
Commercial Coffee - Is a definition used to define coffee in the Commodity Market, also known as the “C-Market”. In this market, commodity coffee is often traded on international stock exchanges. They are usually purchased and roasted by national brands and supply in bulk. On the cupping table, these coffees are usually scored below 75 points although some coffee purist will probably tells you that any coffees under 80 are commercial grade.
Specialty Coffee - Is the opposite of commercial coffee and very big on QUALITY (Yes! Big caps). Consumers are willing to pay a premium price for these coffees which are usually grown in unique microclimates and have a distinct and unique flavour profiles. They are mostly of fine Arabica grade (although Specialty Robusta is fast becoming a thing, a topic for another blog perhaps!) and on the cupping table, tasters rate them high on the acidity, sweetness, cup cleanliness, uniformity and aftertaste, amongst a few other scoring protocol. These coffees are usually scored between a high 80 to 100 points.
What we served and buying tips:
In Dutch Colony, we only source, buy and roast specialty coffees. We put all the efforts to let the consumer knows what exactly they are drinking, where the beans come from and putting all these details to be as informative as possible on the bag packaging. Every single origins we buy are meticulously profiled on the roasting machine, every roast is discussed extensively on the cupping table and if anything doesn't goes our way, we go back to the drawing table and restart everything all over again. Simply put, we do not sell something that we do not drink ourselves!
When you see and taste something you like on our shelves our in our bar, make sure to buy a bag or two and/or have them as often as you like it in the bar. Specialty coffees are not known to be available in abundance, as they are produced in smaller yields. With specialty coffee roasters also notorious in wanting a wider selections of coffee at any time, so more choices for the discerning bud of the ever-growing consumer palate, this also means for a particular coffee, only less than 600kg greens or around 500kg of roasted coffees are available for tasting or purchase. Consumer do not usually see the same coffee again after three to four months although similar taste profile coffees will surfaced in the future.
Specialty coffee are special not only attributed to the quality and good flavours but the transparency of the entire crop to cup chain, with the involvement of hundreds of passionate coffee professional along the way who wants to do things right. This alone is a single factor which should make you smile after every sip.
To know more about this endless information on specialty coffee, sign up for our monthly free public coffee cupping or you can also enrol in one of our many Katalyst Coffee Academy training programs.
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Why Single Origin?
Coffee roasters, and very aptly, most specialty coffee professionals love their single origins and like to serve them as it is to highlight the unique farm profile that are usually attributed by the demographic of region and terroir. Depending on what flavour one is enjoying and looking out for, you can get your chocolates from a Brazilian and Guatemalan single origin, berries and excitement from the Ethiopians, wild currants from the Kenyans, herbs and spice from the Indonesians and Indians and the list goes on.
So when you like a particular unique flavour from a particular country, you move from one farm to another of the same country until your palate gets an upgrade and move on to another new country with new flavours.
Blends
Blends, mostly for espresso and usually known as Espresso Blends, is a coffee roasters best friend, a harmony of different single origins to reflect and showcase the roasters craft and individuality. It is somehow similar to a signature dish prepared by a chef worth his salt.
In Dutch Colony, we manage five different blends in inventory, with two being seasonal to showcase only two or more selected single origin components that are in season and fresh, Katapult and the now-famous-festive-blend The Nutcracker, both of which available for a limited time offering. Out of the remaining three, which have a consistent taste profile throughout the year, two of them, Batavia and Colonial, were created for our wholesale partners while the Dutch Blend is our signature and award-winning blend.
Why Blend?
The specialty coffee scene in Singapore is still very young and taste palate is accustomed to ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ notes. With a blend, we can find the right balance to cater to this group of drinkers, which is often not achievable through a one origin, one farm, one varietal coffee.
How are Blends created?
First and foremost, we have in mind the profile we want to achieve from the level of acidity, sweetness, depth of body down to even the right balance of bitterness and length of aftertaste. Then, we demographic it into what notes in which region, a coffee have to offer (eg. The chocolates and nuts profile of Brazilian, Citrus of Kenyans, Big body of Sumatrans).
In the current coffee farming world, we do have to admit classifying coffee profile through growing regions are dogmatic as farmers are better exposed to what various processing methods can do to coffees but nonetheless it is still a safe experiment.
On the cupping tables, these coffees are then cupped individually before we start blending them up with the spoons and get slurping away to find the composition of the single origins that closely aligned with the profile we want to achieve.
As it is very important to achieve a blend with consistent tasting notes, Dutch Colony usually source and blend for origins that have very abundance supply of crop all year round, with both primary and secondary harvest. This we can achieve by using mostly Brazilians and Ethiopians in our blends. At the same time, we also offer the Katapult as a seasonal blend option and this is where the flavour wheel rotates, depending on what coffees are in season.
Conclusion
So, with the explanation above, are you a Single Origin or a Blend type of coffee drinker?
We love them both as there is the right coffee for the right occasion and each of them will give you a different level of experience and appreciation of what the farmers and the roasters have done in the process. Keep an open mind to both, find out which coffee that best suit your palate but just make sure you ask our barista if they were roasted for filter or espresso, another topic that we will soon cover.
]]>We are strong supporter of either the CO2 and/or the SWP methods, both are natural processed, chemical-free and preserve the goodness of flavour and character profile of the coffee itself. Both are also the only method of decaffeination that we source and buy from when searching for good decaf coffee.
Midnight Run is the first to many more SWP decaf coffees in the future for us here in Dutch Colony. The first edition Midnight Run, hailing from El Salvador, is made up of delicious single origin from farms that are no longer alien to us. Like how it is done for all our regular coffees, only the the most ripened and sweet cherries are handpicked from the farms of El Carmen, Patagonia and La Reforma. They go through the traditional wash processed before being packed and shipped to the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. While there, the coffee beans are soaked in caffeine-free green coffee extract, allowing the caffeine to be extracted from the bean and into the solution while the flavor components are retained in the beans. The now caffeine-saturated green coffee extract is then processed through activated charcoal to remove the caffeine, thus becoming caffeine-free again and ready to extract caffeine from a new batch of coffee. The coffee beans are then dried to their originating moisture level and re-bagged. The Swiss Water Process results in coffee that is 99.9% caffeine free. The coffee reaches us here in Singapore for it to be roasted to its sweet spot, freshly bagged and made available in all our shops.
Boasting flavours of Goji Berry, Figs and Prune when served black or brewed as a filtered coffee, Midnight Run is equally delicious as a espresso based milk beverage. In a small 3oz or 5oz milk, one will experienced flavour profile like milk chocolate, almond and even Snickers bars! Truly a coffee that are not only reserved for our pregnant mommies or those that are sensitive to caffeine, but recommended to be savour by you caffeine junkies too.
With only 4 bags of 69kg greens available throughout this year (with an estimated 15% weight loss after roasting), there are less than 235kg of it after roasting for the rest of 2020 before the next edition of Midnight Run is available. So why wait but rather, visit our shops or grab a bag or two online today.
EL SALVADOR
Swiss Water Decaffeinated | Espresso
Goji Berry. Figs. Prune.
Country |
: El Salvador |
Quoting Veronica Phua, a level 10 Burppler who wrote in the internet in 2014, "A festive blend that features notes of sweet peppercorn, raisins, figs, walnut and baker's chocolate. This resulted in an intense, complex tasting cappuccino that sat well with me." Upon its inaugural launch, we saw how it was well received, how quickly it moved out of the shelves and it was in so much demand that we remembered extending its availability well into the month of January 2015. Ever since that, The Nutcracker have been made available every month of December.
Let's take a walk down memory lane and reminisce on all the coffees that made the first five editions of The Nutcracker:
The Nutcracker - Christmas Blend 2014 |
We have never hold back when it come to sourcing and creating goodness and this year, we present The Nutcracker #006...
The NutCracker #006 - Christmas Blend 2019 |
Taking inspiration from the traditional flavours of festive season, this year's blend combines three great micro-lot coffee, a Latin American-based blend, with an Asian twist. Together reminding one of a festive fruit cake with sprinkles of chocolate, big doses of selected stone fruits and delectable baking spices.
Available at all Dutch Colony three shops main coffee grinder from the 4th of December onwards, serving as an espresso based beverages and available in 300gm retail bags online and store-wide for all the home barista to take home or as a gift exchange with your coffee enthusiast buddies. We cannot promise that it will be available for long given that we have very limited availability of the Pa-O Tribe to make the blend, so fastest finger wins as the coffee are already available on the internet for you to splurge on.
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This is Dutch Colony first purchase of this natural processed grade 1 Ethiopians from the farm of Nansebo Bulga. The coffee was grown by smallholder farmers
living around the kabele (town) of Bulga, in Oromia County. Our exporter pays more than the market price for a kilogram of red cherry, and those farmers that bring quality red cherry are paid a cash incentive, ensuring higher-than-average overall quality.Coffee is selectively hand-picked before being delivered to the mill collection points, usually within 5 km of the producers’ homes.
This is all done with a purpose to reverse out and to re-engineer the original plans that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) had in 2008, to began the centralization of all coffee exports through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), where the coffees were ‘anonymised’, stripped of any information other than region, in the interest of the farmers, who were meant to receive top dollar for quality regardless of the ‘name’ of the washing station or farm. Coffees moving through the ECX were (still are) delivered to certified coffee labs, where they were cupped according to profile then graded and marked generically for export. This ‘equalising’ measure certainly benefitted some producers, but it had the negative impact of eliminating most roasters’ and importers’ ability to provide accurate information of the precise traceability of coffees. Thus by paying more for the red cherry in return for even better quality, we are promised (by our exporter) a greater quality in the cup of this Nansebo Bulga.
At least once a day, the collected coffee cherry is delivered to the mill, where it is floated and then delivered to dry on raised beds. Here, it will be thinly spread and regularly turned over the course of several weeks, or until it reaches 12% humidity according to the moisture metre.
Having worked on its roasting profile the last 2 months as part component of our Katapult Blend, one would have thought it is as simple as replicating the roast profile and now bagging it as a single origin espresso. Instead of taking the same path, our roasting duo went back to the cupping table, revisiting the roast logs and making changes to the initial roast profile, to come out with another profile that works not only as an espresso but also delicious in your preferred brewing method.
With notes of orange tea, mixed berries and bergamot on the cupping table as well as a pourer brew, and lemon candy, citrus fruits and black tea when dialled in as an espresso (refer to our recommended espresso parameters at the bottom of this article to get this profile), this is a single origin that will add sparkle to your home brewing experience. If you enjoy your coffee as a 'flattie' or a small latte instead, get excited to be tasting milk tea, orange biscuit and floral notes on your palate.
To those of you here who prefers to have your coffee in the shops rather then the hustle of brewing at home, you will also be pleased to know that all our 3 shops are now serving them as both a hot filter brew and as a cold brew, as well as available in the espresso hopper from the 16th of October onwards.
To the home brewing enthusiasts, below information is for you to geek out on the coffee. Enjoy!
Farm: | Nansebo Bulga |
Washing Station Owner: | Ato Girma Wondimu |
Varietal(s): | Local Landraces & JARC 74 selections |
Processing: | Natural |
Altitude: | 1,850 to 2,350 metres above sea level |
Owner: | Various smallholder farmers |
Town: | West Arsi (Nansebo), Bulga |
Region: | Southern Nations, Oromia, Sidamo |
Country: | Ethiopia |
Total size of farm: | Under 1 hectare on average |
Brew it like Dutch Colony:
As a Filter
1:14 ratio of coffee to water, medium-coarse grind, 90 degrees celcius water, first pour to bloom at 2x the coffee weight (i.e 15gm of coffee so pour 30gm of water to bloom for 30 secs) and a continuous long pour to reach the desired ratio with a total brewing time of 2 minutes. Best to be enjoyed as the beverage slightly cools!
As an Espresso
1:2 ratio of coffee to water, packing about 24gm of coffee (we use a 22gm VST basket) and extracting 48gm of espresso out, between 25 to 27 seconds. For milk beverages, we cut it a little faster, getting close to a 1:1.5 ratio.
Oaklands Estate is one of Kenya’s oldest and largest coffee farms. Dating from colonial times, the farm was long owned by the Socfinaf Company, Kenya’s largest coffee plantation company at the time, which owned some twelve estates spread over 37,960 acres. The company, for many years, was one of only three licensed milling agents in Kenya and had significant influence over the development of the coffee sector in the country.
The estate lies at a fairly level altitude of 1,575 metres above sea level. The soil is of the deep red volcanic type so common to the region. This area of Kenya has two distinct rainy seasons: March through May and October through December. Irrigation water is used to supplement the needs of the coffee farm in between seasons. The famous Ruiru River and two dams (Karimu and Bradgate) provide good access to water year round, and four boreholes scattered around the farm ensure that there is always sufficient water for domestic and processing use.
The estate is currently overseen by Levine Nyakundi, who works closely with CMS to ensure best practices are carried out. There are 3 administrative staff and 66 permanent workers year-round, all of whom are housed with their families on the farm itself. This substantial work force grows to around 700 people during the peak of the harvest season.
Farm: | Oaklands Estate PB |
Varietal(s): | SL28, Ruiru 11, Batian & K7 |
Processing: | Fully washed& dried on raised beds |
Altitude: | 1,575 metres above sea level |
Managed by: | Coffee Management Services |
Town: | Ruiru |
Region: | Kiambu County |
Country: | Kenya |
Total size of farm: | 621.17 hectares |
Area under coffee: | 377.9 hectares |
Tasting Notes: | Mulberry Tea, Blackcurrant, Hibiscus |
Over a land size of 10 hectares, Finca La Falda is grown over 3 hectares of land,
the rest is planted with corn, beans and tomatoes, which help the family to supplement their income. All year round, Finca La Falda is producing only 55 bags of 15kg green coffee each year, and we are proud to be able to secure 8 out of this 55 bags this year. That works out to only 120kg of greens which will only yield about 100kg of coffees after roasting! This is not really a lot given that the boys in the roastery will probably 'drink 50% of this coffee' on the namesake of R&D. (Alright we are joking on the drinking part but really, there is only 100kg of roasted beans estimated.)
This exceptional Caturra Chiroso lot was processed, dry-milled and exported by Pergamino - a producer that Dutch Colony has been working with the last five years for most of our Colombian coffees. This 100% Caturra Chiroso variety is also truly a rare varietal that is rarely seen outside of the region, characterised by its elongated cherry and displaying a spectacular cup of floral, rhubarb and lychee notes. Never heard of this varietal? (We can assume some of you are now reaching into the pockets to 'Google' it) Well, that’s not surprising. It is a variety of Caturra originating in Urrao that is rarely seen outside the region. The variety is characterised by an elongated cherry and is known locally for its productivity.
Jose was one of the first farmers in the region to begin planting significant plots of it and commercialising it. We feel very lucky to get our hands on some this year, and are grateful that Jose has also shared seed with producers in the surrounding area. This unselfish act truly makes this coffee in the TCR program all the more meaningful and special.
For those of us who love geek-ing out on farm specifications and details, the information below is for you. To everyone else, Finca La Falda launches in the shop on the 17th of July 2019 and is available both as a filtered coffee option as well as in a 250gm bag or 1kg bag (online store only), for you to brew at the comfort of your own home.
The Colonial Reserve #009
COLOMBIA FINCA LA FALDA
Farm: | Finca La Falda, Jose Arcadio Caro |
Varietal: | 100% Caturra Chiroso |
Processing: | Fully washed & dried in parabolic beds |
Altitude: | 1,940 metres above sea level |
Owner: | Jose Arcadio Caro Rueda |
Town: | Urrao, Vereda de San Carlos |
Region: | Antioquia |
Country: | Colombia |
Size of farm: | 10 hectares |
Area under coffee: | 3 hectares |
Harvest Month: | October-January / April-May |
Tasting Notes: | Floral, Rhubarb, Lychee |