Ritual Coffee Roasters

We've had the pleasure of working with the desarrollo producer group in the town of gigante, colombia, for a number of years now, so we're happy to announce the launch of los gigantes decaf. In an effort to create a decaf that matches the caliber of our regular offerings, we pre-selected coffees with a bright and sweet profile before they are sent to be decaffeinated. At the descafecol plant in manizales, the caffeine is removed using naturally occurring ethyl acetate derived from sugar cane. You'll find ethyl acetate in green coffee as well as various fruits, and it is the most common ester in wine. The resulting coffee is intensely sweet and fruited both in aroma and flavor: banana bread, preserved cherries, and chocolate pudding.

Lucia zelaya's la soledad, guatemala. In the sacatepéquez department outside of antigua, guatemala, lucia zelaya and her husband, don rony asensio, cultivate the caturra and bourbon trees at their farm, la soledad. Shaded by ubiquitous grevillea trees at 1750 meters above sea level, these 21 hectares of coffee trees are harvested of their fruit throughout the spring. The coffee is then processed at the zelaya family's own beneficio bella vista in the traditional washed manner. The skin of the coffee cherry is pulped off before the seed is subjected to a fermentation process, used to deteriorate the residual clinging sugars. This coffee tastes clean and sweet, with flavors of orange zest, honey, and pear.

Dipilito producers la roca, nicaragua. This was an exciting year for producers in dipilito. Early rains brought an early and irregular harvest to the two farms, la ventaja and el jardin, which produce this offering, la roca. In such wet conditions, gorged, ripe cherries are being picked by hand at elevations ranging from 1250 - 1400 masl, and then dried very slowly. The combination of fast, full ripening cherries with slow fermentation and drying leads to balanced flavors in the cup, with an even-handedness between interesting acidity and round sweetness. Look for a shining tangerine-like acidity to be followed up with a rich red fruit sweetness and a velvety rocky road ice cream-like finish. Sweet tooth: a single origin espresso. As a roaster that is committed to promoting our producers and bringing them out of anonymity, single origin espresso has always been important to us. What's more, the best shots of espresso we've ever had have been single origin--dynamic, sweet, and complex. They are balanced, and good in milk to boot. Throughout the year, we will be showcasing eight to twelve single producers under the name sweet tooth, in homage to our original sweet tooth blend, an anti-blend that explicitly showcased the producers whose coffees comprised it. Sweet tooth will be a rotating single origin on which we've put our stamp of approval as a great shot of espresso.