Morning coffee. A moment that so many of us savour and cherish. Whether enjoying out of a favourite mug, carefully following your own particular method at home or grabbing a takeaway on your way to work, it’s often that one small window in the day that we take time for ourselves.
Behind each cup lies a story of care, craft and time. Ensuring the craftsmanship of the farmers we work with matches the skill of our baristas, tasting a huge array of different coffee lots to create our seasonal blends, and working with the right producers is a core part of our commitment to craft and sustainability - which is why we work with our friends at Union Hand-Roasted Coffee.
Union Hand-Roasted Coffee collaborate with producers and growing communities around the world to source good quality coffee by building long-term relationships that support the sustainable livelihoods and farming practices for growers, workers and their families.
Our house blend changes seasonally but some components are mainstays. This includes sourcing beans from three coffee farms and cooperatives: Chirinos in Peru, Aldea in Nicaragua, and Primavera in Brazil.
Careful consideration goes into the quality, performance and potential for impact of each origin we include in our blend. Union are exceptional at helping us to establish these partnerships so that every cup of our house blend goes towards helping improve our growers’ farms, ecosystems and livelihoods.
For more of the story behind your morning brew, read on…
Chirinos Co-operative, Peru
Back in 1968, 36 smallholder coffee farmers joined together to form the Chirinos Co-Operative in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru. Today, the co-operative boasts over 800 members across several communities, with a third of their members made up of women.
Since the average coffee producer in this part of Peru farms an area less than five hectares in size, being part of a co-operative enables more farmers to access markets and sell their coffee at a better price.
The coffee is produced under completely organic conditions, thanks in large part to an innovative organic composting system that the co-operative have developed themselves. Nitrogen-rich guinea pig manure is mixed with composted coffee cherries, cow manure and honey water from coffee processing, after which EM (Extra-ordinary Microorganism) is added to increase the rate of decomposition.
The organic compost facility that the co-operative have built is the powerhouse behind their successful organic coffee production and critical to ensuring that farmers produce sustainable yields whilst maintaining peak soil conditions.
Chirinos is an excellent example of how successful co-operatives can change the lives of their members.
Juicy yet well-structured with notes of stone fruit, berries and chocolate, this lot adds a refreshing red berry brightness and complexity to our house blend.
Aldea Coffee Nicaragua
With its many lakes, lagoons and a string of some 40 volcanoes, Nicaragua is often referred to as “The land of lakes and volcanoes”. And it’s in these fertile organic soils that over 6,200 coffee farmers grow coffee for our house blend as part of the Aldea Coffee association.
Having embraced a clear vision for sustainable agriculture, gender equality, and technological innovation for rural families, Aldea Coffee have set themselves apart within Nicaragua.
As well as their use of technology and new digital solutions to provide game-changing technical and agronomical support to their members, they also offer microfinancing services and social programs, insist that at least 40% of the delegates in their general assembly and different boards are women and ensure their members have everything they need to focus on growing high-quality coffee.
With a citrus like aftertaste, this lot has a clean, nutty sweetness with notes of caramel, chocolate and citrus fruits – all of which enhances the deep sweetness of our house blend.
Fazenda Primavera, Brazil
At around 900 - 1100m above sea level, nestled in the highlands of Minas Gerias in south eastern Brazil, lies Fazenda Primavera.
Primavera means ‘spring’ in Portuguese and refers to the farm’s perfect climate in which to grow speciality coffee. High precipitation and temperatures sitting around the low twenties all year round makes for ideal growing conditions. Yet there’s more to Primavera’s coffee than the right climate.
Social and environmental sustainability have always been an integral part of Primavera. Today, the farm uses recycled coffee pulp as fertiliser and runs outreach programmes with neighbouring farmers to share knowledge and best practices to help move the region forward. It’s no surprise that Fazenda Primavera has earned the title of 3rd Most Sustainable Farm in Brazil.
Sweet with a long, bittersweet finish, this lot has distinctive notes of chocolate, dried fruit, roasted nuts and caramel – delivering the body and characteristic finish associated with our house blend.
At GAIL’s, we make food that tastes good and does good. So it stands to reason that we believe coffee that tastes good should do good too. Something to think about next time you’re enjoying your morning cup...
