Who can supply me with fresh coffee?

Two Chimps Coffee can! Here at Two Chimps HQ, we believe that fresh is best, and just like any fresh produce, coffee tastes better the fresher it is.

Speciality coffee

We only source and hand roast the freshest speciality coffee, because it’s the best of the best, and the taste is amazing. Speciality coffee has been cared for throughout its life. To start, the coffee cherries are handpicked once they reach the perfect ripeness. Any that aren’t ripe are left on the plant a little longer.  Once handpicked, the coffee cherries are processed to remove the coffee bean from its fruity coating.

Processing is done in one of three ways.

First up is the washed method, where water is used to ferment the outer away from the bean. Next is the natural processing method, where the cherries are left out to dry as whole cherries which allows the skin to dry and break away naturally. Lastly is the honeyed, or semi-washed process. This, as it sounds, is a hybrid of the two methods and comes in many variables. No matter what method is used, once dried, they’re rested for up to 60 days, which is essential as this will play a role in how they will keep and transport.

Cool, what next?

The next step is to hand sort the beans, removing any defects or impurities, and once this has been done, they are ready to be graded. As you can see, huge care is taken in the growing and harvesting of these beans, all that is needed now is a high-quality score, and the coffee can be classed as speciality coffee. This is done so by Q graders, who are certified coffee tasters. They do what’s known as cupping to taste the coffee. Coffee cupping is a fair and comparative way of noting the differences in a coffee. For instance, all variables are kept the same, and therefore, if there is a difference from one sample to the next, it must be the coffee. Only when coffee is scored at 80 points or above (out of 100) can it be classed as speciality.

There are other grades of coffee available. One of which is commodity graded coffee. This grade has often been harvested in bulk, with lower attention to detail and machine picked and processed. This sort of coffee is often used for large global coffee suppliers and roasted for longer to hide any impurities that are in the coffee. This grade of coffee doesn’t float our boat at Two Chimps HQ.

Commodity coffee often has one flavour – burnt.

The best coffee deserves a better price. We always source our coffee ethically and by as direct trade as possible. Because speciality coffee naturally demands a higher price due to its amazing quality, organisations such as Rainforest Alliance are not required to guarantee a minimum when paying for our coffee. The higher cost paid means the coffee farmers are getting a very good price, allowing them to put money back into their farms in the form of tools, training and education.

How do you make your coffee so fresh?

As mentioned above, firstly, we only source the best fresh green coffee beans. Next, we store them in our temperature and humidity-controlled roastery and, lastly, we roast fresh to order.

Hand-Roasted Coffee

So, we’ve sourced the freshest speciality coffee, now what? We need to roast it! We do so by hand in small batches multiple times each week. When roasting, we bring out the delicate natural flavours of the beans. Over roasting will ruin these natural flavours and give the beans a bitter and burnt taste.  Each coffee we roast has a unique roast log to follow; built using our knowledge, skill and experience.

We monitor the roast throughout, using our senses and milestones. We always measure the density and moisture content of the green beans before we roast, so we can estimate the temperature to start the roast at. For example, if the beans are grown at a high altitude, they will have toughened up to protect themselves from the colder temperatures overnight, meaning they are denser and will need a slightly higher temperature at the start of the roast to penetrate the denser cell structure. And vice versa!

During the roast, we sniff out certain aromas which let us know that everything is going to plan.

Grass is the first milestone we look out for. As the bean starts to take on heat and release moisture, this gives off a cut grass-like smell. The next stage is hay, a little bit more moisture removed – a bit like dried grass!! And the final step before first crack, bread. The best smell of all.

First crack is the point where an exothermic reaction happens and the beans start to omit energy, rather than taking it on.

This results in an audible pop! We continue the roast into the development phase, but never as dark as the second crack. Any further and the roast could become over-roasted and we could end up ruining the natural flavours of the speciality beans. Depending on the final desired use of the batch will depend on the time spend roasting. For instance, our espresso beans are roasted a little darker than those destined for a filter as this allows more time for the sugars to caramelise, giving that delicious sweetness in all our coffees.

My mouth is watering…

I know right? We love fresh coffee. And we know that by roasting in small batches and taking a little and often approach, that our customers are getting the very freshest coffee possible. We keep our green beans fresh and only roast to order for our wholesale customers.

Our top tip to serving the freshest coffee would be to order small amounts of coffee, as this guarantees that every time you receive an order, the coffee you make will be super fresh. As an example, order two kilograms a week, rather than one order of eight kilograms a month.

We also deliver our orders by hand where possible, so you’ll know that every time you see our lovely faces, we’ll be holding a bag of beans that was roasted only a day or to ago. And to top it off, all of our deliveries are free! Therefore, ordering little and often is ideal for enabling you to have fresh coffee, whenever you want, delivered for free. Fresh is Best, after all.

Ready to receive a supply of freshly roasted coffee? Get in touch with the team today!

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