Toby's Estate Coffee

The Andino association was founded in 2002 to support the small-scale coffee farmers around the town of Bruselas, in the southern reaches of Colombia’s famed Huila region. Today the association has over 100 members who tend small farms (from 1-7 hectares) and process their coffees at local micro mills instead of larger, centralized mills. Because of this diversity in growing and processing there’s a tremendous amount of variation between each farmer’s coffees, but only the best lots made the cut for this delicious brew.

We could not be more excited about this coffee! We evaluated eleven Costa Rican coffees this month and this one was our favorite. And, this is the first Costa Rican we have featured since 2011! No surprise its from Craft Coffee veterans, Toby’s Estate in Brooklyn, New York. This coffee is courtesy of Maria Elena Castro and her son Luis Salazar. Located in the Palmira de Zacero micro-region in Costa Rica’s Central Valley their farm, Finca Salaca, is blessed with optimal climatic conditions for producing excellent coffees; rich volcanic soils and ideal altitude. The coffees are processed nearby at the family owned micro-mill, Las Brisas, making sure quality control is transparent from start to finish. We love this brew with its tangerine aromas, mild body and fuji-apple, honeyed flavors.

This coffee hails from paradise. For years, the folks behind Finca El Pilar, just outside of Antigua, Guatemala have worked to convert a colonial coffee plantation into a protected forest sanctuary. Today, only 5% of the grounds are dedicated to growing these certified organic beans. The rest are set aside for over 130 bird species, lush green landscapes and beautiful butterflies. Hummingbirds are known to flitter throughout the property. Toby’s Estate, our neighbors in Brooklyn, are no strangers to renewal of spaces themselves. They only recently arrived from Australia and converted an old meat-provisioning house into their beautiful cafe and roastery. We couldn’t be more pleased to help them share this sugary brew that’s layered with chocolate, hazelnuts and spice.

Nestled between peaks in the Colombian Andes, the 400 small farmers of the Asorcafe Growers Association grow their coffee on slopes overlooking Colombia’s highest volcano, el Nevado del Huila. When the farmers banded together in 2004, they adopted the name “La Piramide” in honor of the pyramid-shaped mountains that tower over their land. When Toby's Estate, an Australian micro-roaster, arrived on our shores to open a Brooklyn roastery and cafe, La Piramide was an immediate hit. In their hands, it features a rich backdrop of dark wood which showcases a sugary maple candy sweetness, a syrupy body, and an elegant warm plum acidity.

There aren’t too many roasters who can boast beginning their coffee careers at age 15. It was at this age that Deaton Pigot first became a barista in Australia. Since then, his coffee expertise has taken him around the world and landed him as the resident roasting virtuoso at Toby’s Estate in Brooklyn. Like Deaton, Toby’s Estate hails originally from Australia, and it has taken Brooklyn by storm since its opening earlier this year. Deaton coaxes flavor with a finesse gained only by a lifetime of practice. When these beans from Paez, Colombia are given Deaton’s special treatment, the result is a bright and vibrant cup with flavors of tart cherry, giving way to a subtle oak finish.