The Kopi coffee experts
Who chooses the new coffee that arrives at your door each month? A team of professional coffee gurus whose network includes some of Europe's most respected green bean coffee traders, know first hand the world’s best coffee regions and farmers - having cultivated close relationships with them over many years. They’ve been top buyers and managers of some of the biggest brands in the coffee world and still advise the major players today.
The depth of their specialist knowledge inspires everyone at Kopi. They work at a level supermarket buyers just don’t, which is why you won’t find our coffees in food aisles. And why you’re unlikely to spot them at most coffee shops. We get our caffeine kicks from bringing you something special.
The selection process
Coffee is grown in some 80 countries in the equatorial region spanning four continents. Every month we narrow that very big choice down to one single ‘star’ coffee to share with you.
The full list of criteria by which we research and make the selection is a bit long to describe here, but our focus is obsessively on unearthing outstanding original coffees - well-farmed top quality beans that have an amazing aroma, taste and a strong story. They could be from award- winning single estates or simple small co-operative farms - wherever the best beans are at that time of year.
The roasting process
Once we’ve ordered our beans, the next crucial stage begins: the roasting. Roasting coffee is an art; the actual roasting takes just minutes and getting it wrong can ruin the entire order.A genius at getting it right, however, is Kopi’s specially-selected UK-based boutique roaster who does amazing things with his traditional convection drum to bring out the best in each month’s premium arabica beans.
Kopi & Coffee certification
We always pay premium prices for premium coffee to premium growers - far above their cost of production or the Fairtrade minimum. While we fully support the Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Soil Association initiatives, not all our coffee is organic or Fairtrade certified and here’s why:
- Fairtrade only certifies co-operatives. This excludes many superb growers and smaller farms who like to sell direct - this means lots of high quality small family farms would be excluded if only Fairtrade stamped ones were selected
- Fairtrade is tied to the commodity price to secure a minimum to the growers. The market price for a long time (18+ months as of October 2011) has been consistently well above the minimum price.
- We strive for a symbiotic relationship between ourselves and the growers to create a sustainable business model for everyone involved.
You can see:
Exactly what you get in the box
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