These picks were put together by Sourcing Curator and Placement Specialist, Charlie Habegger.
Early summer, when many roasters can feel—or fear—a slump in green supply as they wait for familiar offers to come back again, is a great time to help you get creative. Because my work at Royal is so spread out, I get to be a small but meaningful part of a wide variety of sourcing programs, and often have something unexpected to recommend. Below are recommendations of coffees both spot and very nearby for roasters craving some newness now. There are coffees to revive blends, replace single origins, to plan some summer releases or immediate special occasions. The beauty of many of these is that some of our customers practically live for them, and others have never heard of them.
Please discuss the options with your trader, or email us at info@royalcoffee.com. Want to book forward? Check out the ‘Incoming’ tab and email us at booking@royalcoffee.com.
El Salvador
I can’t recommend enough our natural process bulk lots from Los Volcanes Coffee. Los Volcanoes, though based in Guatemala, manage a large wet mill in Ahuachapán, El Salvador. Here they take full advantage of the climate to produce one of the few actual large volume, low price full naturals in all of Central America. The coffee is subtly fruity, clean and very chocolatey, and will add heft, sweetness, or fruit to almost any blend in a way washed milds or Brazils cannot. This can also make an effective substitute for lower grade Ethiopia naturals, depending on roast level. Regardless, this profile is a resource to be explored. We have lots shipping now, and in a few weeks, arriving August onward.
Honduras
We have a very limited selection of single farmer microlots that deserve the spotlight before they sell out. These come via the COMSA coop, in Marcala, with whom Royal has a deep relationship—most people reading this will be familiar with their organic and women produced lots we sell almost year-round. Each harvest COMSA’s cuppers set aside a roster of individual farmers with superlative coffee, and we make yet another selection ourselves, importing only the top few growers with truly exceptional coffee to offer. Each grower has an inspirational background and believes deeply in the importance of organic and closed-loop farming.
