In the mountainous land where precision meets passion lies Switzerland! For such a small nation, Switzerland is home to many talented coffee professionals and even a few world champions. The challenge for the rest of the world is in getting hold of the coffee itself, which is why we are very proud and excited to share some tasty and also highly inaccessible Swiss beans!

(Zürich, Switzerland)

MAME (meaning 'beans' in Japanese) is a roastery born from Emi Fukahori’s passion and Mathieu Theis's French flair in a place that has been elevating coffee to an art form in Zurich since 2016. MAME is internationally renowned in the specialty coffee world for their love for participating in coffee competitions with both Emi & Mathieu winning many including Mathieu’s World Barista Championship 3rd place and Emi’s World Brewers Cup Champion title in 2018.

The Ethiopia filter coffee Chelbesa in this set is of Mame’s love for distinct flavours and dedication to perfectionism. They are one of the roasters we’ve really wanted to work with for many years so we’re particularly excited about this opportunity to share these very special beans with you.

(Bern, Switzerland)

As the name suggests, Drip Roasters particularly like and want to emphasise hand drip style coffee, they do this in order to focus on the individual flavour of each coffee. Set up in mid-2018 in the capital city of Bern, Drip the roastery & cafe was founded by the brothers Dennys and Fabian Schmid in the city’s Northern part, laying importance on quality and sustainability of coffee to the local community.

In their words, “Coffee is an unbelievably complex and exciting topic, which offers endless facts, tricks and secrets to be discovered. We hope we can share our enthusiasm for coffee with you.” Drip are one of our discovery roasters this month and the Mexican coffee Maricela is a great representation of what they do.

In Mexico, it’s still very unlikely that a woman would be in charge of a coffee farm. Some women, however, are taking action to change this. One of them is Maricela Esperón, a coffee grower and land owner in her mid-thirties in Sierra Mazateca, northern Oaxaca.
Maricela and her family have built raised beds in the shade big enough to dry about five tons of coffee cherries per season, a rather unusual infrastructure in the region. This is necessary because drying their natural coffee takes up to 45 days, which is drastically higher than the average of three days that most farmers in the region have. To protect them from the cold nights and heavy dew, they put the coffee cherries back into bags every night and store them in their house, before spreading them out onto the raised beds again in the morning. The result is a very clean, sweet coffee.

(Zürich, Switzerland)

Founded in 1936 by Oskar Stoll in his parents' house in Zurich, Stoll Coffee quickly became synonymous with exceptional quality and top-notch service. Even after third-generation owner Walter Stoll entrusted the company to the Amann family in 2011, Stoll Kaffee has always been a family-run business, guided by sustainable ethics passed down through generations.

Stoll has followed the dynamic & modern coffee culture of recent years with great interest and has taken part in helping a young and committed community emerge, continuing to deliver unparalleled quality fueled by the same passion since its inception in 1936. Another discovery roaster this month and we’re delighted to showcase the rich history and skill behind the Ireme Gasharu coffee.

For the Ireme (Authentic) experimental lot the Gasharu Coffee's team takes great care to monitor and enhance the fermentation process and duration to achieve the desired complexity and depth that will provide a memorable experience.

The cherries are sorted and floated to ensure consistent and good density beans are separated from the others. then they are put in the tank where they undergo 72 hours of an anaerobic fermentation to attain the best flavour and taste that can be achieved and then dried on the raised African beds for about 25 to 30 days. All this helps bring a mix of lactic and malic acidities with intense sweetness and smooth body.

(Unterlunkhofen, Switzerland)

In early 2010, an opportunity arose for cycling enthusiasts Simone Ernst and Denise Morf to delve into the art of roasting using an old Probat UG22 and Vertical Coffee Roasters became one of the first specialty coffee roasters in Switzerland. They honed their distinct roasting style, emphasising lighter roasts and introducing specialised filter roasts-a rarity in Switzerland then.

Zürich has had a growing appreciation for specialty coffee in recent years and to this day Vertical remains steadfast in its commitment to making the experience approachable and enjoyable. “We love how-through roasting-we can ‘translate’ all the flavours which are kind of slumbering in the green coffee and can give our customers a tasty experience and put a smile on their face” and this coffee certainly does that!

This Kenyan filter coffee is a true classic and has its firm place in Vertical’s portfolio: Typical for the origin and processing, Ichuga AA has a balanced but lively acidity which - paired with the right amount of sweetness - results in a juicy and syrupy cup.

The coffee was produced by the member farmers of the Kiama Farmers Cooperative Society who deliver their (selectively handpicked) cherries to Ichuga Washing Station. Once sorted, the cherries are pulped straight away and fermented before being washed in clean water. After another sorting post washing, the parchment is dried on raised beds for around two weeks, depending on the weather. Kenyan coffees are classified by size: AA beans are the largest size and are larger than 7mm.