To many, terroir is coffee jargon. That’s not to say they like the taste of coffee any less, but honestly, what in the world is terroir? Why has it got the baristas and producers raving so much, and why’s the idea of fair-trade terroir coffee even more astounding? Cafédirect, the UK’s first and largest 100% Fairtrade and award-winning company, is bringing terroir whole coffee beans from the lofty peaks in Africa and Peru to Singapore
First Things First, Terroir?
Terroir is a term you might’ve heard before at a wine tasting. Translated from the French language, the word means “soil” or “dirt” in a very literal sense. Holistically, the word ‘terroir’ refers to the controlled agricultural conditions and environment in which a product is grown. So coming down to it, terroir coffee is, in its simplest sense, coffee that tastes based on how and where it is grown. Apparently, that isn’t just all coffee. The conditions of terroir are so extensive that they may even involve the number of people in the area of the plantation.
The same varieties of coffee can taste vastly different when planted in different regions of the world, say, India, as compared to Costa Rica. In Cafédirect’s new Whole Beans Machu Picchu and Kilimanjaro coffees, the beans originate from volcanic soil on high mountains, so as to draw out the delicate flavours in the coffee.
Fair Trade Coffee
In anticipation of big returns, premium coffees like terroir coffee are almost always made with commercial ends in mind, often paying minimal heed to the well being and livelihood of the farmers who make them. Implementing fair trade practices into products like these are moves executed out of discipline.
Cafédirect has made the ethics of farming one of its priorities for long, rallying for a sustainable supply chain so effectively that they won two UK Social Enterprise awards in 2018 alone. Apart from giving 50% of profits back to grower communities, Cafédirect also implements stringent quality control to ensure that small farmers are harvesting beans at a quality that’s as good as they can produce. They also work with farmers on accommodating to higher production volumes and better supply chains while maintaining quality.
Cafédirect Terroir Whole Beans Kilimanjaro Coffee
The growers of Tanzania’s Native Co-operative Union (KNCU), grow these beans that are Bourbon, Kent beans, 100% Arabica.
How this coffee is made:
“Tenderly nurtured, showered in the pure mountain streams from the melting snows at its summit before being harvested from the tallest mountain in Africa. The coffee crops are given time to slowly dry in the shade of the surrounding banana trees, allowing their natural sweetness and flavours to fully blossom. The beans are then washed and expertly medium-roasted to a strength of 3 to impart a brew of its specific terroir that is lively, bright and complex with hints of natural blackcurrant sweetness. Pair it with a slice of lemon cake to amplify that zing, and savour that crisp aftertaste.”
Cafédirect Terroir Whole Beans Machu Picchu Coffee
These are grown by the folks in Huadquiña co-operative in Peru, whom Cafédirect works with at an especial closeness. The training of their smallholder grower members is funded by Cafédirect. They are certified 100% Arabica beans that are completely Organic, Bourbon, Typica, Caturra washed. Their brew is regaled for being smooth and uniquely rich.
How this coffee is made:
“The coffee beans originate from some of the steepest slopes on the verdant Peruvian Andes in South America (at altitude 1,800m to 2,200m). In smallholdings found along the Inca trail itself, these superb beans are hand-cultivated and picked when ripe with the utmost care by the patient growers. ”
If you’ve got a taste for premium goods, try to do some good while you’re at it. Cafédirect has offered all their growers shares in the company, and has impacted the lives of 1.4 million people in developing countries. Find out more at Cafédirect.