Version 6 of our Four Chairs Seasonal Espresso has to be one of the shortest run amongst all its predecessors. So we have started serving version 7 this week and this post will be a quick update of the changes to this seasonal espresso blend.
It has been an incredibly hectic start to the year. The first two months of the year focused a lot on our first participation at the national barista competition as well as our annual visit to Central America. In the midst of trying to get over our usual jet lag - that seems to only get worse every year, and a crazy week trying to catch up on our roasting, we are pleased to finally present you the latest iteration of the Four Chairs seasonal espresso blend.
Working with our Colombian friends at Banexport who helped us with the sourcing, this coffee from the cooperative ASOPEP really strikes a sweet spot with us on the cupping table. It is a mixed varietal of Castillo and Colombian and is a collective effort from 53 member producers making up the Co-op. It is a wet-processed coffee with vibrant passionfruit-like acidity and plenty of sugary content. Incredibly clean and juicy.
The other component is a mixed varietal, natural processed coffee from our friends at Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza in Brazil. We finally visited this amazing farm back in August last year. Silvia, Marcos and Felipe are firm believers of managing a farm that can produce great tasting coffees and yet sustainably responsible to the environment and the communities around the farm. All their hard work are reflected in the cup - clean, sweet with hints of pecan nuts and mild stone fruits acidity.
We love how these two coffees come together beautifully and hopefully you will enjoy it too! Available at S$19 (300g) in store and online.
The names of these farms might sound familiar as we had bought coffees from these farms last year. In 2013, we had the washed coffee from Finca San Jose and a pulp natural Javanica varietal from Finca El Limoncillo. During our trip to Central America earlier this year, we selected a pulp-natural (also known as semi-washed) processed lot from Finca San Jose and a washed Caturra varietal from Finca El Limoncillo. Despite facing more challenges in our sourcing this year due to the coffee rust, these are coffees which stood out on the cupping table this year and something different from these farms that we are really keen to showcase at Nylon.
For those who enjoy the current version of the Four Chairs seasonal espresso blend, expect similar characteristics - clean, balanced and sweet! There is plenty of fruits in the espresso - grapes, plums and blackcurrants. Lush viscous mouthfeel and the sweetness comes through with hints of cocoa in the finish. This is a well-structured espresso that we feel would work for an everyday cup.
The new Four Chairs is already available in store as well as on our web shop (SGD19/300g). For those who still want to catch the last few batches of the current version of Four Chairs, hurry down to Everton Park & grab a cuppa before it is all gone!