Merry Chimpmas

Rudolph likes this coffee in every device, but Santa thinks an espresso machine, Moka Pot and AeroPress are especially good.

Head over to our brew guides for making coffee for more.

Christmas comes but once a year, and when it comes it brings… limited-edition coffee! Unlike our regular coffees, which change every 8 to 12 months, our limited editions are only available for a few months. Why? Because these coffees are super-exclusive! We select interesting, uniquely flavoured beans to roast for our limited editions. A farmer might be trialling a new processing method or experimenting with different varietals to create small lots bursting with taste!

This limited-edition coffee is grown by the Kateshi and Isanya Estates in the Northern Province of Zambia. The conditions here are ideal for coffee production. Close to the equator and high in altitude, arabica coffee shrubs grow very happily in this hot-summer climate.

The Kateshi Estate growers know their beans back to front: the farm has been growing coffee since 1972 and was one of the first coffee estates in Zambia. Sustainability continues to be key, with the estate set in 600 glorious hectares of protected forest. The growers also prioritise female empowerment and equal opportunities by tackling the country’s gender stereotypes. The Kateshi Estate is still the first and only coffee estate that gives women the chance to take on male-dominated roles such as tractor driving.

Zambia’s Mafinga Hills are also home to the Isanya Estate. This is a coffee estate with a long and fascinating history: the final shot of WWI was fired a very short distance away, in what was then Northern Rhodesia.

Your scrummy beans are washed processed in Ecopulpers and fermentation tanks. This can be done directly on the estates thanks to their plentiful supplies of clean water. Fermentation lasts between 16 and 24 hours, depending on the climate. The farmers then transport the coffee from the Isanya Estate to the Kateshi dry mill, ready for its trip to our roastery.

When it comes to coffee, we like to think of speciality as the Nice List. Only top coffees make the grade: those picked by hand and awarded 80 points or more by certified Q Graders.

Then, there’s the Naughty List (that’s commodity coffee). These low-grade coffees might contain bitter beans or be stripped from the plants rather than hand picked and hand sorted. Commodity coffee is the stuff you’ll find in most instant blends and chain café cups. It tastes well, mehh…

Selecting the finest beans means we never have to over-roast our coffees. Speciality beans are always picked by hand when perfectly ripe, meaning you don’t get any bitter-tasting underripe beans. Ripe coffee cherries, just like any fruit, are naturally sweet and beautifully flavourful. Coffee elf Andy roasts with these flavours in mind and creates bespoke roasting recipes for each coffee. The result? Coffee so good you’ll want to wrap it up and give it to yourself on Christmas morning… surprise!

Roast Style: Medium/dark roast

Location: Northern Province

Varietal(s): CAT-129, Java, Trial, F6 and Castillo

Processing: Washed

Altitude: 1,340 – 1,400 metres above sea level

Country: Zambia

Certification: Speciality, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance

What does this all mean? Check out our Jargon Buster.

Choosing to drink speciality coffee is an easy (and delicious) way of supporting real people. We go beyond Fairtrade standards to pay between 30 and 150% more than the going rate, ensuring the producers always receive a fair price for their quality goods. We source as directly as possible, too, by purchasing our unroasted beans through ethical importers. Keeping the chain short means even more makes it to the farmers, which is where it belongs.

Christmas is a time of magic but Chimpmas, oh my, it’s just mug-ical! Celebrate with these roasty toasty marzipany beans and an obligatory festive mug!

We wish you a Merry CHIMPMAS and a Happy Brew Year! ☕?