Kiss the Hippo Coffee - Donna Blend

Tasting Notes: Caramel • Dark Chocolate • Walnut
Recommended for Espresso.

70% Uganda - Midnight Flyer, Pulped Natural

30% Brazil - Sitio, Washed

COFFEE STORY

The Donna Espresso Blend is our nod towards a more traditional coffee flavour. First, we find coffees that have the inherent characteristics of deep chocolate, with low acidity and lots of body. We then roast a little darker than our other coffees, to the point where the natural sugars are browned to a dark caramel quality. Donna tastes robust and strong, but still allows the unique characteristics of our seasonal coffees to shine through.

Born in Caxixe Quente, Jose Depulpo now lives on a property that he bought in the late 1980s. At that time he had only 1,500 coffee trees; now, years later, the farm is home to around 13,500. Despite this increased production, Jose has ensured that part of the property is set aside as a reservation forest. Jose works with his son, Josimar, and they rarely employ any outsourced labour. Effort is made every season to separate lots by variety, time of picking and the location on the farm. Josimar has undertaken coffee training courses in the Alegre region and plans to continue his father's legacy, modernising the farm and improving wherever he can.

This Ugandan Coffee that we call Midnight Flyer is a fully-washed coffee from Bugoye, a recent washing station development with a focus on fully-washed lots. The coffee is processed and sourced from somewhere between 300 and 500 farms. This is because the farm sizes in the Rwenzori mountains are very small, making it almost impossible to get a single farm lot within the region – meaning farms are grouped into specific areas. Midnight Flyer gives Donna a backbone of fruity sweetness and gentle acidity, without skimping on the complexity.