100 Year Celebrations

This month we are excited to be ramping up our centenary celebrations. We are hosting Ipanema Coffees, amongst other international guests here in Australia! We will hear Ipanema’s team talk about their state-of-the-art Premier Cru facility at their Rio Verde Farm which has enabled them produce their newest specialty lines. During these events we will taste their fresh crop offers from this fantastic facility.

You can see them in;

Bendigo on the 17^th of October – RSVP: tom@hab.com.au

Brisbane on the 17^th of October – RSVP: khalid@hab.com.au     

Melbourne on the 18^th of October – RSVP: tom@hab.com.au

In Addition to the Ipanema nights we will be holding our first Women in Coffee event on the 23^rd of October at our office in Kew. We will hear from international producer partners and taste some of their coffees. For more info on the event, and to RSVP, email Georgia at quality@hab.com.au.

Our other esteemed international guests are coming from all over the globe including Brazil, Canada, USA, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Singapore, England, Ethiopia and India.

We are very excited and looking forward to hosting and celebrating our 100 years with the people who have made it possible!

Update from the Bennetts Team

This month we enjoyed the company of Kenny from San Cristobal Coffee Importers, USA. It was great to have a different perspective work alongside us for a month and was very rewarding to hear about the work San Cristobal do with producer group in Mexico, GTNay.

We are thrilled to have welcomed Adrian into our team. Adrian will be heading up Bennetts Sales & Operations and is excited to be immersing himself in the coffee industry.

Kenny’s Korner – Mexico

First and foremost, I’d like to thank all of the roasters that made it out to the Bennetts’ cupping nights last month and listened to my presentation on Grupo Terruño Nayarita. I was astonished by the immense support for these Mexican coffees so far from home, especially after meeting a roaster who flew in from Cairns to attend the Brisbane event. Well done Australia, you have impressed me, not only with your sublime meat pies, but with your attractive café roasteries and willingness to learn what is happening at source. 

Kenny with 

Now for the information you’ve all been waiting for! Our agronomist has spent the last three weeks inspecting GTNay’s coffee trees to determine what we can expect for the coming harvest. Although the report is not yet complete we have a breath of fresh air for the producers. By improving soil health to combat the coffee leaf rust outbreak, the plants have mostly recovered and are holding healthy fruit. For the coming harvest, which should start in late-December 2018, we can expect 7 or more containers of coffee. That’s almost 2000 - 69kg bags, up from the 282 bags that exported this year.

The operative word we use to describe our origin work in Mexico is “Long-Term”. Improving soil health is (and was) a deliberate, long-term step by GTNay Farmers to gain control of their economic and environmental sustainability. The more we learn, educate, collaborate and address issues at origin, the stronger the supply chain will become. Keep your palate ready for fresh crop GTNay microlots early next year; now that you know the story it should be clear we are delivering more than just a green bean.  

A Word from the QA Lab

The QA lab has been kept busy this month with the influx of coffee entries in the Ipanema Origin Trip competition.

Harry and Georgia have been putting their judging caps on and brewing up some delicious Brazilian roasts. There’s still a week left to get your entry into this fantastic opportunity to travel to origin. All entries will receive tasting notes and scores after the competition closes. Find out more details here.

In amongst all the Ipanema tasting, we have had some interesting new arrivals come through the cupping room.

One favorite has been the FLO-Fairtrade Organic Honduras Selin Edgardo Recinos SHG (COCAFELOL) Natural microlot.

Cupping with boozy oranges and tropical fruits that dominate the front palate. A winey cherry acidity carries through a long dark chocolate, spice and almond finish. We scored a whopping 87.75.

There are only a couple of bags left, so get in quick to secure this amazing coffee. 

After the latest shipments of microlots we recently landed, my selection was a little tougher than normal but I have decided on the Kenya AA Kii! Presenting sweet tropical fruits upfront, moving into nectarine and blackcurrant we scored this great coffee 89. This is the ideal coffee in the lead up to summer. I am especially delighted about the latest arrival of Kenyans as there have been a few years where great lots have been few and far between. It’s great to see a resurgence and for us to get our hands on some. - Scott

Enjoy the Month of October!

From,

The Bennetts Team