Why Single O?

The reasons why black coffee costs more and why single origins should be drunk black!
Often cafes serve either a single origin or a blend of two unique small lot coffees to create a profile that is most suitable when consumed by black coffee drinkers. These beans are generally specialty grade (84+) small batch lots that have been hand-picked and specifically sorted to achieve a high point score when graded. Single origin meaning one country, one origin and most of the time one farm. This is the best representation of the farmers capabilities and often their hero product. There are competitions such as “cup of excellence” that these farmer enter hoping to win. Once recognised in the top 10 of the countries favourite coffees, these beans can fetch up to $2200 per kilo!! The attention and fame bring many buyers to these farms and regions, helping surrounding farmers and uplifting the value of the next harvests.
These green beans are purchased right after harvesting and commonly consumed within six months. They are generally small lots better known as “micro lots” or “nano lots”, meaning small or tiny amounts available. The smaller the lot and the higher the points in grading equals the more expensive the cost. Most roasters often have 4 to 6 singles rotating at any given time.
Here, we have 2 “filter roasts”, 2 medium “espresso roasts” and 1 “Roast to order” (RTO, often a Geisha) on rotation every month. The filter and RTO are the lightest of the bunch. Mostly used in batch brew, pour over, aeropress, cold brew, cold drip… (and sometimes as espresso for those who love bright coffee). The espresso can also be used as a filter however is slightly more developed as a roast and more suitable for espresso and long black.
These lots range from 1 X 15kg vacuum pack Geishas to 180 kilos micro lots. We buy enough of each to roughly last 4 weeks, allowing for 3-4 trial roasts to perfect each origin. They are all roasted in 12 kilo batches (RTO is on 1.2 kilo batches) and hand packed weekly.
There’s a lot of love and detail that is carefully crafted from the farmer all the way to your cup.
We hope you appreciate and support the cafes and roasters in this program to maintain sustainability of these exotic coffees for years to come.