I’m a fairly obsessed home coffee brewer. I drink small quantities one or two cups a day and, as my wife also loves coffee, I make and test taste around four cups per day. I grind on an Anfim Super Caimano Barista Edition and use a Bezzera Strega Lever for espressos/capuchino’s or make French press or Hario V60. I struggle to find consistently good coffee beans in Johannesburg and I have a list of issues with bean supply that bug me. But here is what you’ve gotten right and why I’m writing this mail to encourage you to keep up the excellent work.
Your brand authenticity: I know you genuinely love coffee and care about roasting it, because a few years ago I bought black coffee at the Pirates Sat Market and it was always good. I’ve also been to the Casalinga Restaurant and seen your set-up a few years ago.
Your Packaging: Top class! I’ve just been back from Berlin where I bought coffee from Café CK (beans fromSolberg & Hansen Norway) and The Barn(on site roasting) . Both excellent spots recommended by Tim Wendelboe. Both places uses foil lined bags with resealable ziploks. You are world class, and can’t do better!!
Date of Roast: I bought three bags of your coffee from the Dischem in Victory Park. The bags are clearly marked with a date. It is not clear exactly what the date refers to but I’m guessing it refers to date of Roast. World Class, like Solberg & Hansen, is to show a reference number such as roast batch number, along with Roast Date. You are not world class, but you are better than 100% of roasters in Johannesburg. (Bean there show a date that is one year from roast date, their stickers are not always legible, they do not always sticker their bags, or maybe the date stickers fall off. Most other roasters in JHHB do not even bother to date their bags)
Roast level, freshness and Bean Quality: Its early days. I’ve only just made three double espressos and one cappuchino with the Ugandan beans, but so far so good. The taste is good, the beans grind and espress as if they were roasted within the last week which confirms the date on the packet of 30.10.2016 is probably roast date. There were no defective beans that I’ve seen so far. Good Stuff!!
Damon Symondson
