Coffee Beans at Twin Beans Coffee Company

We are excited to introduce our very first dark-roasted Sumatra. Found in the Gayo Highlands off of Oceh in Indonesia, we have roasted it with the bold-loving coffee drinker in mind. With woodsy depth, the clove and hazelnut notes bring in a sweet nuance that is often covered up in dark roasted coffee.

Historically, most Tanzanian coffees have been grown by individual farmers in small home coffee gardens. These farmers would process the coffee in their own kitchens. In recent years, new restrictions in the Tanzanian coffee trade have made it illegal for farmers to do processing at home. This has resulted in a complete overhaul in the country’s systems of processing and shipping their coffees. At the same time, economic disruptions and bank closures meant that farmers and exporters had little to no financial backing and had to suddenly alter their entire business models. They’re in the process of learning the new regulations and adapting their systems as they go.

This is an open-ended story, only time will tell if the new systems are an improvement. Tanzania is in a phase of rebuilding and revitalization, and we are proud to serve their coffee and will be share in their story in the coming years. No doubt, it will be a story of resilience and growth.

About the Farm:
Eddie Ramirez is one of our most socially conscious farmers. He has built and funded a local school and donated books and computers. He helps Haitians obtain legal residence in the Dominican Republic in order to receive fair wages. He pays his workers 300% higher wages for taking exceptional care of the environment. He is organically certified. On top of the immense care that he has for people, Eddie also takes great care in producing excellent and high-quality coffee.

About the Process:
Process is the term for what happens to a coffee bean from the time it is harvested to the time it is shipped off for roasting. With a Red Honey Process, coffee cherries are picked and placed in large vat. The cherries congeal and turn to a honey-like substance and then the beans are removed and allowed to dry. Because the bean spends so much time in the fruit (even more than in other honey processes), the beans have the chance to absorb much much more of the natural sugars from the fruit, resulting in strong fruity and sweet honey flavor notes.

While it results in a superb tasting coffee, this process carries its own risks. If done incorrectly, the fruit can rot, and the entire harvest will be lost. This processing also creates a bean that is far more finicky to roast as it has a higher water content. Few farmers are willing to take a risk on this processing method, and even fewer roasters are willing to work with it, making this a rare coffee to find and enjoy.

About the Farm:
Eddie Ramirez is one of our most socially conscious farmers. He has built and funded a local school and donated books and computers. He helps Haitians obtain legal residence in the Dominican Republic in order to receive fair wages. He pays his workers 300% higher wages for taking exceptional care of the environment. He is organically certified. On top of the immense care that he has for people, Eddie also takes great care in producing excellent and high-quality coffee.

About the Process:
Natural process is the original coffee processing method that was founded in Ethiopia. In this method, the bean is left on the cherry to dry in the sun, and then the fruit is removed. With an Aged Natural process, the cherry and bean are allowed to dry for longer than the traditional process. This extra time leads to the beans developing sweeter, more fruit-forward notes. It is also a very eco-friendly process, using less water than other methods. Because of this, regions with restricted access to clean water can produce excellent coffees. This coffee has been handled with the utmost care, resulting in one of the juiciest "fruit bomb” coffees we have had the pleasure of working with.

This classic Ethiopian is a zero-defect coffee. Sorted by hand and mechanically, this sorting takes three times longer then conventional methods and results in an essentially perfect bean. Sorters are paid three times higher than the average wage. And their extra income goes into their local economies, supporting their communities and giving them the ability to send their children to school. 

Washed process removes all fruit from the bean without allowing fermentation, creating a very clean cup of coffee.

The Yirgacheffe region is one of the most widely recognized Ethiopian coffees. If you go to any local roaster throughout our country, most will have a Yirgacheffe on their regular roasting schedule. Twin Beans Coffee Roaster is no exception, and we often have more than one because we appreciate the wide variety and exceptionally high quality of coffee that comes from this region. Different farms, processing methods, and approach to roasting will draw out different notes, and no two Yirgs are identical! 

Natural process is the original coffee processing method that was founded in Ethiopia. In this method, the bean is left on the cherry to dry, then the fruit is removed. It is very eco-friendly, using less water than other methods and allowing areas with restricted access to clean water to still produce excellent coffees.

This coffee was purchased through the Zabuni Specialty Coffee Auction, a company that enables direct trade by working directly with small farmers to connect them with producers and roasters. This model of purchasing allows us to ensure that the coffee in your cup is ethically and sustainably sourced with better returns given to the farmers.

A note on varietals:
What is with all the letters and numbers that make you feel like you stumbled into an algebra textbook? Well, they are actually the initials of the biologist who bred this line and the numbers are the green house identifiers. These coffee lines were developed to be resistant to drought and disease and to be highly adaptable to their environment. The Kenya Bingwa combines these lines to become a high quality coffee that is loved by Kenyan farmers for allowing them to produce a high yield and relatively low risk crop.

Natural process is the original coffee processing method that was founded in Ethiopia. In this method, the bean is left on the cherry to dry, then the fruit is removed. It is very eco-friendly, using less water than other methods and allowing areas with restricted access to clean water to still produce excellent coffees.

This is our roaster’s current favorite coffee because it comes with an adventure story. The region is named for Baba Budan who, according to legend, smuggled seven coffee seeds out of Yemen and planted them in India. This propagated the spread of coffee beyond Arabia and to the rest of the world.

Kalledevaspura Estate is a four-generation coffee family. They are proud to be part of the Rain Forest Alliance which is dedicated to conservation, sustainable livelihoods, environmental protection, fighting human trafficking, and advocating for human rights. The Alliance has very strict standards they require their farmers to adhere to and a coffee that has that label on it is incredibly trustworthy for their ethics. We are so very excited to have coffees that partner with such an important cause. We could go on and on about them, but we’ll let you hear it from their own words : www.rainforest-alliance.org.

This unique coffee is sourced from one of our favorite producers who is dedicated to supporting sustainable jobs and promoting healthy communities. They brought us our Haitian and Dominican coffees, and this is the first they have offered us from Bolivia. We are in love!

What is a peaberry you ask?
Coffee 101:
What we call a bean is actually one of two seeds found inside the coffee cherry. A peaberry is a natural mutation where only one small bean is within the cherry instead of two. They are rare, unpredictable, and require hand sorting and careful handling. They offer incredibly unique tasting notes, in this case, gooseberry.

Grower Luz Marina was one of the first to produce the honey process that is now one of our most beloved profiles. Grown sustainably with minimized synthetic inputs and closed loop fertilizing system. She offers housing, healthcare, and state of the art water filtration systems to both long term and seasonal employees.

Honey Pulp Natural processing is a mixture of two processes: Washed and Natural.  After harvesting, the skins of the fruit are split and put in a vat until the fruit produces a honey consistency. After fermenting, the fruit is removed, and the seeds are dried in the sun. This was originally an experimental process that has made its way into the mainstream coffee industry due to its highly complex, sweet body. The Trujillo Estate where this coffee comes from  was one of the first to use this process and has led the way in its development.

Louis Alberto Balladarez has absolute dedication to excellence and quality in every aspect of his business. He owns and operates his own farms, as well as wet and dry mills. It is extremely rare for an producer to own both wet and dry mills and produce the level of quality he maintains. The standards he holds to make his coffee some of the best tasting and highest graded in the world. His coffees are almost always sold before processing is complete, making them exceedingly difficult to get ahold of. Many farmers trust him to process their coffees knowing that their coffees will receive the best care in the region.

Honey processed coffees result in a naturally sweeter coffee. This is because the fruit is left to ferment on the bean allowing it to absorb more of the fruit’s natural sugars.

Farmer Francis Dubois runs a sustainable farm. He focuses on using a nearby river to irrigate his farm and power his wet mill. Water is carefully filtered before being allowed to return to the river, ensuring that no harm comes to the environment.

Washed process removes all fruit from the bean without allowing fermentation, creating a very clean cup of coffee. In this coffee, the result is the tasting notes come through very clearly with light body.

This coffee is a roaster favorite. The light tones of hazelnut mesh perfectly with subtle notes of cocoa and grain reminiscent of harvest time. This unique flavor profile makes it very desirable for anyone wanting to try something new. It is a very smooth cup, with consistent flavor throughout the sip.

Washed process removes all fruit from the bean without allowing fermentation, creating a very clean cup of coffee.

Nicknamed in house as “The Marvelous Ardi” this has been a favorite of both our team and our guests from the first roast. We first discovered it at a cupping at the Specialty Coffee Association Convention and the first sip had an explosive flavor of blueberry on the first sip that meshed with milk chocolate and adapts through the whole cup as the temperature changes. 

As an heirloom varietal, this coffee can be traced back genetically to some of the earliest coffees. Natural process is the original coffee processing method that was founded in Ethiopia. In this method, the bean is left on the cherry to dry, then the fruit is removed. It is very eco-friendly, using less water than other methods and allowing areas with restricted access to clean water to still produce excellent coffees. 

Ethiopian Wush Wush is a berry bomb. The natural process leaves much of the coffee cherry on the beans imparting the sweetness that makes this such an exciting addition to our African coffees. Long fermentation is a natural process that is highly experimental. Taking more time to ferment the fruit than a classic natural process, it imparts more nuanced and sweet notes into the coffee.

Named for the town it is grown near, this is a low-yield coffee plant, making it relatively obscure and quite rare. Not much of it is grown on our planet!   

This farm has been in the Contreras family for 5 generations with almost 100 years of family coffee experience. Rene Contrerass works the farm and his wife is the local doctor who provides healthcare to the community. In addition to farming, the family operates an animal sanctuary on their land. This mill employs 30 workers year-round and up to 150 men and women seasonally.

We are humbled to be the final step in this family business’s work to share this coffee with you. This coffee has gone from their family, to our family, to yours.

Coffee Industry in Burundi has been largely government owned for many years, with poor production, quality, and reputation. In 2012 Angele Ciza bought seven washing stations with a vision to work with local growers so that in collaboration with the local growers and producers, they could process and export Burundi’s best coffees. She now serves 1,000- 3,000 small scale farmers who primarily grow the Bourbon varietal. This coffee shows the results of her vision in a truly incredible symphony of taste. We are very proud to support this woman-owned and operated endeavor.

Washed process removes all fruit from the bean without allowing fermentation, creating a very clean cup of coffee. In this coffee, the result is the tasting notes come through very clearly with light body.

Coffee began in Ethiopia and even though we love what the world has done with it, we are still deeply partial to the coffees grown in its homeland. This three-bean blend incorporates various processes and different regions. We have brought them together to bring out their sweetness and allow them to balance each other into a chocolatey, fruit- forward blend. This staple for our coffee bar is seasonally adapted depending on crop availability.

This blend takes two coffees that don’t present much complexity or sweetness when alone, but when together they have surprising ability to draw both of those traits out of each other. This power couple especially shows off its strong points when brewed as a pour over, but levels into a very smooth and subtly sweet espresso when paired with milk in a Latte or Cortado. Highly recommended for camping in our amazing dessert wildernesses, or when hanging with your friendly neighborhood zombie at home.

This is our house-espresso blend and was created before Twin Beans even had a name. In the early weeks of learning to roast, Paul would walk into his living room on Sunday afternoons and pass around his latest experimental roast for his family to taste and critique. This blend elicited no critique at all from the assembled crew and instead was met with all of us requesting more tastes in bigger cups. He told us to come up with a name, and shot down “Holy Grounds” and “Religious Experience” citing that as trite and sacrilegious.  The compromise was to call it Close to Heaven. Though we are unsure how that is less sacrilegious, it did make the cut and has stuck for over ten years.

This blend is always available on our bar as our house espresso and is roasted slightly darker than most of our coffees. It is designed to cut through the sweetness of added syrups, but is still highly enjoyable on its own. When brewed as a drip coffee, it is smooth, bold and nuanced.