The Grapos cooperative is located near the town of Tapachula in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. There are a total of 888 members in this group. The farms surround both El Triunfo and Tacana Volcano biosphere reserves. The farms both work as a buffer around these endangered biospheres and the co-op works directly in these areas on conservation projects.
Established in 2007, the Mzuzu Coffee Planters Union is made up of 3,500 members located in the northern districts of Chitipa, Rumphi, Nkhata-Bay, and Mzimba. The average size farm is small at half a hectare, but each is rich with good soils and rainfall, and a mild climate to grow their Agano, Nyika, Geisha, and Catimor coffee varieties.
The Buremera washing station is located in southern Rwanda in the Nyamagabe district—an area well known for its distinctive coffees. There are around 1,500 small farmers in the Buremera community who bring their coffee to the washing station which is owned by an organization called MIG. MIG assists the farmers with their co-op organization and provides technical assistance via agronomists.
A powerfully rich coffee with notes of cocoa, brown sugar and walnut combined with a lusciously full body. This coffee is produced by a group of 244 small family farmers around the town of La Plata in the southern Huila region.The farms are located on the steep slopes of the Cordillera Central with an average size of 2 1/2 hectares.
The Dota co-op is located in Santa Maria de Dota, a high mountain valley in the Tarrazu region of Cotsa Rica. Allegro began sourcing coffee from Dota in the 90's making it one of our longest standing relationships. 87% of the Dota valley is a forest preserve. A graduate from Earth University, Ortencia, is in charge of the co-ops environmental program which includes: earth worm composting, bio-gas production, water conservation, and shade management. The farm also runs a small test organic farm to teach the members how to grow coffee using ecologically-friendly methods. Funds from the sale of this coffee go to support the Earth University scholorship program.
Blue Batak derives its name from two sources. "Blue" from the fact that the beans in their raw form are an emerald blue-green in color. Batak from the name of the indigenous people of the Lake Toba region of Sumatra. The coffee is grown by the Batak near a massive and ancient crater lake located in northern Sumatra. Our special preparation Blue Batak beans come from Rainforest Alliance certified farms surrounding four communities—Lintong Nihuta, Siborongborong, Dolok Sanggul, and Onang Ganjang.
Allegro has sourced coffee beans from El Valle farm since 1998. Through three generations, the women of the Gonzales family have followed traditional and sustainable farming practices—including the use of shade trees, manual weeding, natural pest management, and water recycling. In 2009, Cristina Gonzales had her family farm certified as Rainforest Alliance thus expanding the impact of their environmental practices. This certifcation also assisted with expanding Cristina's already sound social standards, such as improving and increasing worker housing.
The growing area that lies between Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare Mountain range yields the world's finest coffees. These great coffees are typically grown on tiny half acre farms by members of cooperative washing stations, or on small independent family farms. The elevation of these farms runs between 5,000-6,500 feet and they are blessed with rich, red volcanic soils. The exceptional flavor of these coffees are mostly due to the varietal types grown here (called SL28 and SL34). Our Grand Cru mark represents a rotating selection of the top lots sold at the weekly auctions in Nairobi and direct purchases from a couple of individual family farms—Mamuto and Ndaria.
The aromas of this coffee conjure up images of the rich compost from a forest floor— moss, crushed leaves, and wild mushrooms—offset with a sweet butterscotch finish and almost chewy body. The best coffees from Sulawesi come from an area known as Torajaland on the northern petal of this orchid-shaped island. Coffee is grown here in tiny backyard gardens alongside tropical fruit and mixed spices which add to the dimension of inherent flavor notes in the beans. Our beans come specifically from small-scale farmers in a sub-region of Toraja known as Sapan Minanga.
The Adado community is located just south of the Great Rift Valley in the region of Yirgacheffe. The small-scale farmers here grow their coffee intermixed with fruit trees and false banana—a main food staple—in garden-size plots behind their traditionally round thatch-roofed homes. The high elevation of the Yirgacheffe region and specifically of Adado contributes to the intense aromatic characteristics of the coffee. Our lot was produced using a natural sun-dried process. This means the coffee cherries were harvested and allowed to dry around the beans inside. This method helps develop a deep body and tones of dried fruit and spice in the cup.
Our 100% pure Arianna Farm Kona beans are grown on a small ecologically-focused family farm in the heart of the big island's legendary Kona Coffee Belt, which dates back to the 1890s. Arianna's coffee trees thrive in a misty microclimate nestled on the lush slopes of the Hualalai volcano. Winner of the Kona Coffee Cultural Fest for best quality, Arianna Farms is committed to sustainable methods of growing coffee in this unique and small micro-region.
