Hello and it's great to welcome you all to the July 2021 edition of the Dialled In coffee subscriptions.
Continuing our fantastic run of coffee we can't wait to introduce you to the latest selection of roasters that are making an appearance in the subscription... and we have 3 new faces and 1 returning favourite for you to enjoy.
First up we head back across the North Sea to the hotbed of coffee roasting talent - Holland. This time though we head The Netherland's second largest city and home of the largest port in Europe - Rotterdam - where we say hello to Ben and Esther at Manhattan Coffee to showcase their combined 30 years experience in the coffee industry.
We then take another trip overseas, this time across the Irish Sea for only the second time, as we feature Sam Wolsey at cutting edge Wildheart Coffee Roasters.
Next up we are very happy to be welcoming back Nathan and the team from Quarter Horse Coffee down in Birmingham.
Finally we have a great coffee, with a great story from a lovely little roastery - Carringtons Coffee over in Warrington.
Please click the link to see the July Dialled In subscription coffee in more detail.
Manhattan (Rotterdam, Holland) - Kenya Washed
When you mention the words 'Coffee' and 'Rotterdam' in the same sentence it can only mean one thing - Manhattan Coffee Roasters.
Manhattan Coffee Roasters is the brainchild of multi-competition winners Esther Maasdam and Ben Morrow, launched back in 2017 and has really made a name for roasting top quality coffee with amazing sweetness.
It is also an exciting time of the year, as the new coffee crops start landing in Europe from all across Africa (albeit slightly later than usual due to Covid and miscellaneous shipping challenges - notably the Suez Canal debacle of early in the year). We are thrilled that Ben and Esther have let us get hold of the first Kenyan coffee they have released this year, which is also, coincidently also the first Kenyan coffee we have included this year.
Manhattan, as many European roasters do, split their roast profiles for Filter and Espresso and that is probably even more important when roasting high-acidity Kenyan coffee.
All our Filter and Assorted members will be receiving the Filter roast for this coffee and our Espresso members will be getting their hands on the Espresso roast profile.
This washed Kenya comes with traditional tasting notes of Blackberry, Redcurrant and..... Dr Pepper (for that slight herby kick).
Wildheart (Newtownards, Northern Ireland) - India Red Honey
We have been keeping a keen eye on Sam Wolsey's Wildheart Coffee Roasters over in Northern Ireland since he launched last year and what we noticed was his eye for an interesting coffee. He's had Geishas and all manner of experiential processed beans through the roastery.
So we got in touch and set him a challenge... and quite a difficult one at that. We gave him a particular brief to see if he could find us an unusual and interesting honey-processed coffee for the sub (as we had not managed to find one that we thought was right all year)... and he definitely came through for us.
The coffee he has sourced this month is an Indian coffee, Red Honey processed from the Ratnagiri Estate. He then set us a challenge in return to help select the roast profile for the coffee from a number of options. In the end, between us, we came up with a split Filter and Espresso roast profile for this coffee.
All our Espresso and Assorted members will be receiving the Espresso roast and our Filter members will be getting the Filter roast.
This coffee is really interesting with a good, sharp Raspberry acidity that is balanced with a syrupy body and what is fast becoming a typical Indian coffee tasting note - a Cinnamon / Pepper spiciness.
Quarter Horse (Birmingham) - Panama Washed
One of the roasteries that we really love working with is Nathan Retzer's Quarter Horse Coffee down in Birmingham... and if you ever find yourself in the second city, we always recommend a trip down to grab a coffee, some cake and watch Nathan toil away on the roaster in full view of the cafe.
This time, Nathan has found us a coffee from a usually difficult origin to source from - Panama. Usually, coffee from Panama (and the Hacienda La Esmeralda) is usually prohibitively expensive and is becoming almost synonymous with high-priced Geisha. However, they do also grow 'accessible' coffees and this is one such coffee (in fact, only the second coffee we've managed to source from Panama for the subscription).
This washed coffee has more traditional tasting notes of Caramel, Raisin and... Picnic Bar (Chocolate and Peanut for those not well acquainted with one of Cadbury's lesser selling bars).
This omni-roast coffee will be going to all our 3 and 4 bag members.
Carringtons Coffee (Warrington, Cheshire) - Colombia Honey Double-Fermented
People make their way into the coffee industry from many walks of life, but one of our favourite stories recently must be that of Suzy and Alex Carrington at Carringtons Coffee. This husband and wife team used to work as entertainers on Disney Cruise Line ships. While working on the ships, these two coffee loving musicians stopped off to visit a coffee farm in Colombia and made lifelong friendships with the owner Fabio and his family.
There and then they decided to trade in life at sea, start coffee roasting and take on the even more incredible (and incredibly difficult task) of direct importing coffee from Fabio's farm... and we are so glad they did, otherwise we wouldn't be able to offer all our 4 bag subscribers this fantastic honey-processed double-fermented omni-roast coffee with floral stone fruit and tropical fruit notes.
Dialled In Traditional
Our traditional subscribers will be receiving Manhattan Coffee's Brooklyn Blend which is a little bit special as it is a blend of 50% Anaerobic Processed Brazil and a Panama Geisha (I mean really, who puts those two coffees in a blend? Only Manhattan).
Sitting nicely alongside that beast of a coffee is the Dark Horse Blend from Quarter Horse with 50% Brazil and 50% Peru.
Dialled In Decaf
For our decaf members, we will be sending out a double Colombia offering with one from Quarter Horse Coffee and one from Wild Heart.
