Blueprint Coffee

We’re always on the lookout for coffees that are unique for their origin or surprise us with interesting and unexpected qualities. Sometimes, though, we fall in love with a coffee simply because it’s a perfect example of what we expect from a growing region - a “breed standard” if you will. This month we’re thrilled to introduce Blueprint Coffee to the Craft family with a bright, balanced offering that embodies everything we’ve come to know and love about Kenyan coffees. In the Kirinyaga district south of Mt. Kenya, the skilled farmers of the Rung’eto cooperative society grow Kenya’s prized SL28 variety in nearly full shade, leading to beans with exceptional clarity and depth. This specific lot was graded AA Top, a rating reserved for the country’s largest and highest quality beans. Overall we think that Andrew Timko, Blueprint’s green coffee buyer and head roaster, sums up this coffee best - “It is so beautifully classic ‘Kenya’ that I simply love to drink it and think about the coffees this country produces and how they bring the best out of their coffees.” But you don’t just have to take Andrew’s word on it. This showstopping Kenyan recently helped Blueprint’s own Kevin Reddy and Nora Brady snag third and sixth place, respectively, in national barista competitions hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Blueprint Coffee, hailing from St. Louis, is a relatively new name, but their coffee roots run deep with connections to longtime St. Louis institution Kaldi’s Coffee. If this sparkling Kenyan is any indicator of what’s to come from Blueprint, we’d say there’s a new rising star on the scene.