Our Archetype Espresso has been a firm favourite for years now among baristas at cafes we supply to coffee drinkers at home. As the name suggests, it is our version of the archetype espresso coffee designed to give a full, velvety body with notes of rich, dark chocolate and nut that has the versatility to work well black or with milk. To achieve this we usually blend components from different origins around the world, contributing their part to an overall balanced flavour profile. These components will change with the seasons as different coffees become available at harvest times around the world. The aim is to highlights coffees at their best when they are freshly harvested, full of flavour complexity and body.
The process of choosing the right coffees involves a lot of cupping and forward planning so that there is an almost seamless transition throughout the year. Although we aim to keep the flavour profile more or less the same, the stories and the people behind this coffee will change. Here’s a little bit more about the coffees that make up our current iteration of Archetype.
At the moment we’re keeping it simple as a two part blend, 50/50 Peruvian Sol y Cafe and Guatemalan Fedecocagua Zacapa. As usual, these components are post roast blended; roasting independently to bring out the best in each before being stuck together in the cooling tray.
Peru produces a huge amount of certified coffee and this is no exception. Coffee from this co-op is triple certified, Organic, Fair-trade and Rainforest Alliance. From the coffee producing capital of Peru, Jean in Cajamarca, coffee is grown in protected areas so production naturally leans towards organic methods to preserve as much biodiversity as possible.
Sol y Cafe is a co-op with just over 1000 members who benefit from financial support, training and can now even get a health check-up when they deliver their coffee for processing. Highly trained agronomists at the co-op’s nursery have been experimenting with many different varieties and hybrids to test for cup quality, rust resistance and productivity. This coffee is mix of Typica, Caturra, Bourbon varieties, grown at high altitudes before being picked, pulped and dried on the farm. It is then brought to the co-op headquarters to be graded before export. This coffee works as the base of the blend giving heavy body, dark chocolate notes and a rich aroma of baking spices.
The remaining 50% of the blend consists of a coffee from the Zacapa department of Guatemala, close to the Honduran boarder. This is an Extra Prime washed coffee harvested early in the season at lower altitudes. This gives us all the balance and consistency of a good Guatemalan but without the acidity of one grown at higher altitudes. As part of the Fedecocagua group of co-operatives members have access to credit schemes, technical support, warehousing and export to foreign buyers. This helps them achieve better prices than would be typically paid by internal buyers looking for bulk lots.
For most members, who are from indigenous populations, coffee is their main crop providing 90% of their income. Growing coffee on an area of around 3.2ha, another 6ha is often used for keeping animals, growing vegetables and fruit trees that also help provide shade cover for the coffee. Coffee is picked, pulped and fermented in water tanks before being dried on patio roofs.
This Guatemalan component balances out some of the Peruvian’s intensity with a clean, creamy mouthfeel, roasted nut notes and some caramel sweetness.
Although designed for espresso, this coffee works great as a Cafetière or Moka Pot to really make the most of the coffees texture. If you’re using this coffee for espresso we find it works well as a slightly shorter shot to heighten some of the sweetness and achieve a good amount of body. With lower acidity than some modern espressos and as a slightly darker roast you can get good flavour with a range of recipes. We recommend using a ratio of roughly 1:2.5 with the following recipe;
Dose : 19g
Brew Weight : 48g
Time : 25-30 seconds
