Education | Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffees

WHAT IS SENSORY MEMORY AND HOW DOES IT INFLUENCE COFFEE TASTING?

8/15/2025

Memory is how our brain stores and accesses information from past experiences to understand the present and anticipate the future. It is essential, as without it, each new moment in life would be overwhelming and chaotic. It works in three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensory memory is the first step, briefly retaining the information that our senses (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory) perceive from the outside world, before most of it fades, leaving only a small fraction stored in short-term or long-term memory.

Unlike other species in the animal kingdom, humans are predominantly visual: around 90% of the information our brain processes is visual. This hinders the development of short- and long-term memory linked to the other four senses. For this reason, developing gustatory memory, for example, requires training, and not everyone has the same capacity to do so, due to differences in sensory receptors. Each person's ability to perceive and register sensory details is unique and is influenced by both physiology and the culture and environment in which we live.

Kopi Luwak: The Bitter Truth Behind the World’s Cruellest Coffee

8/8/2025

Kopi Luwak, often labelled as the most exclusive coffee in the world, is produced using beans that have passed through the digestive system of the Asian palm civet. This small, nocturnal animal eats coffee cherries, and the beans are collected from its faeces, cleaned, and roasted. While it may sound exotic, the growing popularity of Kopi Luwak has given rise to a dark and disturbing industry that thrives on animal cruelty, driven by the greed of farmers eager to profit from the high prices this coffee commands.

Originally, civets in the wild would eat only the ripest cherries, contributing to a unique fermentation process. However, as demand increased, producers began capturing civets and keeping them in cramped, filthy cages to mass-produce the coffee. These animals, who are meant to roam freely at night, suffer tremendously in captivity. They are often force-fed coffee cherries and denied a proper diet, leading to malnutrition, stress, and disease.

Could Trump's Tariffs Lower Green Coffee Prices?

7/17/2025

President Trump's recent imposition of a 50% tariff on Brazilian coffee, along with threats of similar measures against other BRICS countries, has sent shockwaves through the global coffee industry. This move poses a significant challenge, as the United States is the largest importer of Brazilian coffee, with trade valued at approximately $1.9 billion last year. The sudden disruption in this supply chain could lead to an oversupply of Brazilian coffee searching for new markets, potentially lowering both its price and the global commodity price.

With U.S. buyers stepping back, Brazilian exporters will likely turn to alternative destinations—Europe being the most logical next market. This shift could result in greater availability of Brazilian beans at more competitive prices. While this situation presents challenges for some producers, it could translate into significant cost savings for European roasters and buyers. Downward pressure on prices may help offset recent inflationary trends in green coffee supply, enabling roasters to stabilise or even reduce their costs.

The Bitter Truth Behind Coffee Festivals

6/26/2025

We've attended coffee festivals on four continents, and no matter the location, the experience is often the same: a celebration of competitions, machines, and coffee culture that feels very disconnected from those who grow the beans. The industry loves to talk about "origin," but at these festivals, origin is reduced to a booth in the least coveted corner of the fair that no one ever visits.

Rather than levelling the playing field, coffee festivals tend to reinforce the industry's most damaging imbalance: those at the top of the supply chain are the protagonists, while those at the bottom are marginalised or completely ignored. We constantly see roasters, baristas, and influencers posting endless selfies, but never the producers themselves. What's missing is not just representation, but respect. Festivals rarely invest in bringing coffee farmers in, offering translation services, or creating spaces for real dialogue about challenges at origin.

The Impact of the EU Deforestation Regulation on the Global Coffee Trade

6/6/2025

The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is reshaping the global coffee trade. Enacted to reduce the EU's contribution to global deforestation, this regulation requires that raw materials entering or leaving the EU market be deforestation-free, meaning they cannot come from lands that were deforested after December 31, 2020. However, the regulation's stringent requirements, including detailed traceability and geolocation, are posing significant technological challenges for developing countries, where smallholder farmers dominate production.

Many smallholder farmers lack the necessary technological infrastructure and resources to comply with the EU's traceability requirements. In some coffee-producing areas in Ethiopia and Burundi, for example, there is little to no internet access, putting them at risk of exclusion from one of the world's largest markets. Additionally, importers are stockpiling coffee to avoid disruptions, which could drive up prices and overwhelm global supply chains as the regulation approaches full implementation in December 2025.

Why does the term "Ethiopian Heirloom" hinder the progress of specialty coffee?

5/22/2025

The term "Ethiopian Heirloom" is often considered a catch-all term for Ethiopia's diverse coffee varieties, evoking a sense of tradition and mysticism. However, we have argued for several years that its continued use obscures transparency, undermines traceability, and limits the specialty coffee industry's ability to fully appreciate Ethiopia's genetic diversity.

Proponents of the term "Ethiopian Heirloom" claim that it reflects the complex and indigenous nature of Ethiopian coffee varieties. However, this broad term risks oversimplifying a rich genetic landscape. Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, is home to between 6,000 and 10,000 distinct varieties, many of which have been studied and catalogued, such as JARC varieties (e.g., 74110, 74112) or regional landraces like Kurume and Dega. Labelling them as "Heirloom" blurs crucial distinctions in flavour, yield, and disease resistance that roasters and farmers need to make informed decisions.

Update on the New Ethiopian Harvest

5/16/2025

The new Ethiopian harvest is now complete and ready for shipment. We are excited to see our Pre-Shipment Samples (PSS) on their way. Our Quality Control team in Budapest will begin testing shortly, and once the coffees have been cupped and recorded, we will begin sending samples to European roasters upon request. As always, we are committed to transparency and quality, ensuring early access to the season's most promising lots.

Some interesting topics from this harvest:

Why have we been disappointed again with anaerobic coffees in Ethiopia?

In recent harvests, we have cupped a growing number of experimental Ethiopian coffees. While these efforts are ambitious, we have often found inconsistent results, sometimes overshadowing the character of the origin with overwhelming lactic notes or an excess of quakers. For us, these experimental lots have not lived up to expectations, not to mention the prohibitive prices set by the government.

New Ethiopian Harvest: A perfect balance between tradition and innovation.

4/24/2025

Cupping and selecting Ethiopian coffees is a challenging but essential process to ensure we choose the best lots available for each harvest. This season, we have placed a strong emphasis on natural processed coffees, all carefully selected through a rigorous cupping process, green coffee analysis and quality control.

The 2024-2025 harvest has yielded mixed results across different regions. Areas such as Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Guji have thrived due to an ideal climate and a favourable production cycle, resulting in increased production and excellent cup quality. In contrast, western regions like Jimma, Kaffa, and Lekempti have faced challenges, including drought, unfavourable cycles, and logistical issues. Given that Ethiopia has only one harvest per year, the biennial nature of coffee production is particularly significant.

How is coffee market volatility affecting prices in Ethiopia?

2/28/2025

The global coffee market is currently experiencing unprecedented volatility, with New York Arabica coffee prices reaching all-time highs. On February 10, 2025, Arabica futures rose to $4.30 per pound, marking the 13th consecutive session of record prices. However, just yesterday, prices fell to $3.86 per pound, breaking the $4 barrier in a single day. This volatility is primarily attributed to adverse weather conditions in Brazil, the world’s leading coffee producer, where dry and hot weather has significantly impacted coffee-growing regions. As a result, Brazilian farmers are hesitant to sell their limited supplies, further exacerbating the global shortage.

In response to these global market dynamics, the Ethiopian government has implemented a minimum coffee price directive aimed at protecting local producers and ensuring that as many dollars as possible flow into the economy. This policy requires Ethiopian coffee exporters to sell at or above a predetermined minimum price, which is adjusted weekly based on international market trends and the prevailing exchange rate.

Record future prices V/S average cherry prices

2/5/2025

The recent surge in Arabica coffee futures on the New York Stock Exchange, which yesterday reached an all-time high of $3.75 per pound, has complex implications for African coffee producers. While economies such as Ethiopia, Kenya or Rwanda will benefit from higher prices, small farmers, who account for 90% of African coffee producers, often struggle to capitalise on these gains. Factors such as rampant inflation, high input costs and reliance on middlemen reduce their potential profits.

In Ethiopia, 6 kg of cherries are needed to produce 1 kg of green coffee, the price per kilogram of cherries is still low compared to the price achieved by coffee futures on international markets. During the 2024-25 harvest that just ended, the average price per kg of cherry on the local market has fluctuated between 80 to 90 birr per kilogram (approximately $0.5 to $0.55 USD), which represents a fraction of the value that coffee futures fetch on the global market. This is partly due to the intermediation structure in the Ethiopian market, where farmers often rely on local cooperatives and traders who buy the cherry at lower prices before it reaches the international market.