It is green coffee buying season right now which means we are busy assessing, evaluating and cupping a range of new coffees from a variety of origins. We thought this would be a great opportunity to be transparent around our own buying decisions as well as sharing our findings.
When we start thinking about new season coffee, there is a couple of things that we consider company wide and as individual offices in Australia, New Zealand, and the US.
Are we purchasing coffee to service existing contracts or are we spot buying? If we are not servicing a contract, will these coffees be right for the intended market? How much should we bring in? Are our customers looking for coffee with a particular cupping score, flavour profile or processing method? All these considerations are correct.
Having existing customers on contracts allows us to buy in the volume that our customers have committed to which helps to justify bringing in a little more as we know the majority is pre-sold.
Apart from the considerations above, we make buying decisions based on the evaluation of samples received. We sample roast and cup accordingly, sometimes virtual cupping across our NZ, AU and US offices to help keep consistency and a level of calibration. We then log our cupping sessions in Tastify, identifying the distinctive characteristics and tasting notes of the coffees. This contributes to the final score.
We are currently working on a way to share this tracking information with you all in real-time but in the meantime, the image below gives you an idea of what the map looks like.
This is from a previous shipment from Colombia to Sydney, Australia last year:
We are currently assessing many coffees but thought we would share our findings for a few Colombia and Guatemala micro lots that we have approved and have headed our way.
We cupped and assessed a range of Colombia FNC micro lots and here are our thoughts of the coffees we approved:
bright, clean, silky, notes of black tea, bergamot, jasmine honeysuckle, soft, delicate, juicy and structured
bright and clean, delicate body, cedar aroma, notes of stone fruit, apricot, juicy and round
clean, tart, creamy body, notes of cranberry and cream, hops, juicy and structured
Crisp acidity, notes of jasmine honeysuckle and vanilla, juicy body, structured, wild and bold
crisp and clean acidity, notes of dark chocolate and cola
We cupped and assessed a range of Guatemala Dinamica coffees and here are our thoughts of the coffees we approved:
a balanced coffee with clean and vibrant acidity. Notes of peach, apricot and passionfruit with a hint of a milk chocolate and sweet finish. Complex body with a lingering aftertaste
crisp acidity, notes of milk chocolate and apricot. Tea-like body with a lingering aftertaste
round and juicy body with notes of milk chocolate, sugarcane and golden raisin with a lingering aftertaste
We also have Guatemala Finca La Bella Pacamara Washed and Guatemala Finca La Bella Pacamara Natural on their way. We thought this would be an interesting offering, having two of the same coffees but with different processing methods.
If you would like a little more information on these coffees, please feel free to download the Tastify reports that are attached to each coffee or send us an email, we love to talk coffee!
If you see something that interests you and would like to discuss with us, please reach out to one of our offices:
trade@opalcoffee.au |trade@opalcoffee.nz | trade@opalcoffee.us
To keep updated on when new season coffee is arriving check our offer list as this is updated weekly:
In late October and early November, Jason (Opal BNE) and Hengky (Opal SYD) traveled to West Java to visit several coffee farms, with the goal of developing a sustainable and long-term buying plan.
We recently had some Mountain Water Process Decaf land in New Zealand and we thought this would be a great opportunity to provide some information on the two types of Decaf that we currently have in our warehouses.
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