Wed, 11 Jan 2012
This year for the first time we have brought in some ‘cascara’ - or dried coffee cherry - to our UK warehouse along with our other lots from Bolivia. We have been having fun experimenting with various brewing methods in our London lab and we’d love to hear from anyone who has come up with their own recipe.
Coffee Lover
Tue, 10 Jan 2012
Stephen Cornford took his first steps into the world of speciality coffee with Mercanta back in August, when he approached us for work experience. He has since been taken on as a permanent member of the Mercanta team and now works alongside Oli in our lab, where he assists with roasting, sample dispatch, cupping and many other lab-related activities.
Coffee Lover
Mon, 19 Dec 2011
It’s less than week to go until the big day and the Mercanta team is feeling festive! We’d like to wish all of our customers, partners, growers, friends and supporters a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2012..
Coffee Lover
Fri, 28 Oct 2011
We have just been sent some photos of the damage caused in Guatemala by weeks of heavy rain, as a series of tropical storms batter Central America. Meanwhile El Salvador is forecasting losses of between 7 and 20% of its national coffee production in 2011/12.
Tue, 25 Oct 2011
More than a million people have been affected by devastating tropical storms in Central America and Mexico in recent weeks. Over twelve days of torrential rain have caused landslides and serious floods, with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua hit particularly hard. Needless to say many coffee producers have been affected - damage caused by the rains will hit both the coming crop and, most probably, the 2012/13 crop also. Our thoughts go out to all those affected. Thank you also to the Pacas family in El Salvador for sending us an update on the situation there...
Fri, 07 Oct 2011
This year’s coffee hunter field trip headed to colourful Bahia in northern Brazil - a diverse and sometimes overlooked growing area, with some huge potential for distinctive specialty lots. We were lucky to take a talented cameraman with us, who made this film of the week - we hope it will help show what Mercanta and our field trips are all about..
Coffee Lover
Tue, 16 Aug 2011
We’re excited to learn that our independent sister company, London School of Coffee (LSC), is now offering two modules from the SCAE’s brand new Coffee Diploma. LSC trainer and coffee industry veteran, John Thompson, will be teaching Green Coffee and Sensory Cup Tasting at LSC from September.
Thu, 04 Aug 2011
Farmers in East Africa are enduring an extremely tough year. Michael Gehrken, who farms Blackburn Estate in Tanzania, recently sent us an update on the challenges he is facing as the new crop starts coming in. It’s a vivid reminder of how much hard graft goes into producing the fine coffees we source.
Thu, 28 Jul 2011
It seems the specialty coffee revolution is spreading further than we thought possible! Despite snow, sub-zero temperatures and a real lack of local cafés, the team at South Africa’s base in Antarctica are enjoying some very fine coffees this winter..
Coffee Lover
Fri, 17 Jun 2011
She is rare, exclusive and much sought after - with a stellar reputation and a price tag to match. No other coffee varietal has received quite as much acclaim as the Geisha, but what is this unusual coffee’s story and is it worth the hype?
Coffee Lover
Thu, 16 Jun 2011
Mercanta’s team in Seattle are very excited about their brand new cupping table! We can’t wait to host our first cupping day for our North American customers..
Coffee Lover
Wed, 08 Jun 2011
I recently spent an unforgettable few days in Rwanda visiting Mercanta’s partners ahead of the new crop. This was my first visit to this tiny and very green Central African country - and I was encouraged to see how specialty coffee is helping to channel much-needed funds into its rural communities.
Mon, 06 Jun 2011
This year’s World Barista Championship set a few records. Not only was it the first final to be held in a producing country - Bogotá, Colombia - but it was also won by a barista from a producing origin. El Salvador’s Alejandro Mendez took the top spot, using the wonderful El Salvadoran estate Finca La Ilusión - sourced by Mercanta! We were also thrilled to see another of our coffees in the top six - Australia’s Matt Perger came in third with the ‘Clouds of August’ microlot from Blackburn Estate in Tanzania.
Coffee Lover
Mon, 16 May 2011
Sky-rocketing coffee prices haven’t gone unnoticed by the media. We have been pleased to see increasing coverage of this year’s record highs - most recently by the BBC Radio 4 Food Programme.
Thu, 05 May 2011
Our latest recruit travelled 6000 miles to join us! Jo has just moved to London from South Africa, where she worked for the specialty roaster and coffee shop, Origin Coffee Roasting.
Coffee Lover
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