🧭 Explore the flavors of Guatemala with our May special!

Get ready for a delightful journey through the vibrant flavors of Guatemala! This May, we are thrilled to be featuring not just one, but three exceptional new crops from our Guatemalan farmers in our “Coffee of the Month” special!

For over eight years, we have nurtured a remarkably impactful relationship with “Cooperativa La Asuncion” in Poaquil, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, and it brings us immense joy to witness the town's incredible growth and economic development with each visit. Since 2016, we've been championing this community with life-changing prices, and now, we're excited to share the fruits of this special partnership, and our relentless continuous improvement journey with you. Our May special showcases the distinct profiles of all three new crops: Poaquil Washed, Honey, and Natural. Whether you're drawn to the intoxicating aroma and robust chocolate notes of the Washed version, the creamy body and sweetness of the Honey process, or the tantalizing blend of chocolate-drenched red fruits in the Natural process, this special promises to be a sensory adventure you won't want to miss! We will also be featuring these exquisite coffees frequently as samples in all your boxes throughout the month.

Plus, there’s plenty to look forward to this Summer: our 2024 Ethereal Summer Blend will be launching in June, and we’ll be doing our “RE: Summer Series” on different coffee topics in June, July, and August (if you have a coffee topic, idea, or question you’d like us to research and answer, please reply back and let us know!). In addition, we’ll be doing some fun interviews with some of our coffee partners (i.e. the people choosing to Brew Greatness with us at their coffee shops, stores, and businesses), and Lisbeth will be personally hosting the first-ever Ice Cream & Ethos, “ICE Happy Hours” at our newest joint venture, Ripples Handcrafted in Winter Haven this August! If you’re in the Lakeland-Winter Haven area, we hope you’ll come and share some delicious coffee and dessert with us!

Grateful to begin every single day Brewing Greatness in the world with you,

Jolian & Lisbeth

RE: Wet vs. Dry | How Processing Impacts Flavor

We’ve had an exciting week! Our new crops of Poaquil (Washed, Honey, and Natural), arrived yesterday, and we’re so ready to share them with you! Overall acidity is down across the board, the Honey is sweeter than ever, and the Natural is a fruit bomb! We’re so proud of the amazing job the Co-Op has done for us this year, so happy to report we’ve been able to reward them with even higher premiums for their Honey and Natural this year, and so eager to start roasting and drinking all these amazing coffees with all of you!

Of course, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to re-visit the topic of processing methods, and how a process that begins thousands of miles away, at the farm, impacts the flavors in your cup in such a big way! Coffee processing is what transforms a coffee cherry into a coffee “bean” (technically, a seed) that’s ready to be roasted - which means all - yes, all - the coffee in the world is “processed” (i.e. nobody brews ‘roasted cherries’). There’s two main ways to achieve this: (1) “Wet” processing - aka. “Washed”, under which coffee beans/seeds are throughly submerged - and literally - washed with water to remove any cherry and pulp components prior to drying and (2) “Dry” processing - which do not use (or use very little) water, as the cherry is not removed (Naturals) or is only partially removed (Honeys) prior to drying.

The main resulting difference is that Wet Processed/Washed coffees won’t have any sugars or enzymes that can be fermented as the beans dry… while Dry Processed/Natural/Honey coffees will have lots of them (the exact amount will depend on a few factors like cherry ripeness and sugar concentration, and the amount of pulp left behind). As a result, these coffees will undergo a series of fermentation reactions - i.e. the breakdown of carbohydrates and sugars by enzymes, environmental bacteria (mostly Lactobacillus, widely used in dairy fermentations), and yeasts (from the same awesome Saccharomyces genus also used in bread and beer production!). The end result of these fermentations (when perfectly controlled)? More sweetness and body in your cup, and a lot more flavor complexity - including stronger and more specific fruit notes (i.e. raisin) and a more lingering finish. In contrast, Washed coffees tend to be cleaner and more “well-balanced” (i.e. just the right amount of sweetness and acidity), and feature more prominently those characteristic roasted notes with chocolate and nutty undertones.

We hope you’ll give the new Poaquil crops a try! We’ll also be sampling them regularly in the next few weeks… along with our awesome new “UMOJA” from the Democratic Republic of Congo - which is another high-impact coffee changing lives (watch farmers’ testimonies @ethosroasters), and adding incredible variety and depth to our coffee offerings. It is also a Washed Bourbon (like Poaquil), yet features a completely different flavor profile (earthy, sweet, bold yet with a slight fruity/winey character), reflective of the unique growing conditions that make African coffees so special!

Thank you so, so much for making all of this possible - our travel may still be restricted - but this is still, and will always be - the journey of our lives! What an amazing privilege it is to get to make a difference for those who need it most, when they need it most… and I always hope that you can also feel that joy, and all of our gratitude and love every time you brew Ethos at home!

So deeply grateful to get to roast and Brew Greatness with you,

Lisbeth

P.S. The same day our 5 pallets of Poaquil were delivered… we also got another special delivery - of our brand new, custom-built 10-kilo roaster! This will be replacing our smallest roaster and adding more capacity, flexibility, and technology to your roastery - we’ll be working as fast as possible on the installation so it’ll be ready and at your service this Holiday season! We’re also hoping to be able to do some (limited-capacity, socially-distanced) events so you can see it in person this Winter!