(Porto, Portugal)

Founded in Porto in 2019, SO Coffee Roasters derives its name from “SO” for southwest, highlighting Portugal’s location and Porto’s welcoming spirit. Started by Lisa, Pedro, and João, it has grown into a team of 12 united by a passion for exceptional, ethically sourced coffee. Collaborating with global producers, SO honors the people behind each cup and strives for excellence, earning recognition in Portuguese and international coffee competitions.

For our first collaboration with SO and with any Portuguese roastery, we sought something memorable—and this exceptional washed Ecuador coffee delivers. Delicately honeyed, it offers floral notes, bright citrus acidity, and a soft pear character with a tea-like texture. From the celebrated Typica Mejorada variety, championed by the Jijón family, it's elegant and beautifully balanced.

(Edinburgh, UK)

Born from a love of coffee and a simple home brewing ritual, Edinburgh’s Cafēn has grown into a modern specialty roastery and brew bar rooted in craft and community. With a delicate roasting style, Cafēn highlights the vibrancy and individuality of each lot. Working transparently with producers from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru, the roastery combines precision, intuition, and thoughtful sourcing to create expressive coffees full of clarity and character.

For our first coffee with Cafēn, we instantly fell in love with a special Colombian lot featuring the SL-28 Kenya varietal. Silky, lively and wonderfully fruit-forward, it delivers crystallised sweetness, candied fruits, forest-fruit yoghurt, and passion fruit, finishing with red-fruit ice cream notes, delicate spice, and elegant aromatic complexity from its culturing fermentation process, how exciting is that?

This SL28 lot from Café La Riviera and Café UBA in Colombia was produced using an inoculated washed process focused on precision fermentation and control. Selectively harvested cherries were density sorted, pulped, and fermented with chosen yeast and lactic cultures under monitored pH and temperature conditions before slow, controlled drying to stable moisture levels. Café La Riviera emphasizes strict variety separation and consistent processing protocols, while Café UBA serves as its R&D and processing lab, applying biotechnology-inspired fermentation methods akin to those in the wine and cheese industries.

(Tampere, Finland )

Three friends in Tampere, Finland began chasing the perfect siemasu (sip) and have grown into a micro roastery dedicated to expanding coffee experiences. After years of tasting coffees from specialty roasters worldwide, they aimed to create their own, believing great coffee should be accessible to all. Focusing on high-quality, sustainably produced coffees and light roasting, they showcase each coffee’s natural character with a vibrant balance of brightness, clarity, and sweetness.

For our newest discovery roaster from Finland, we selected a beautifully eloquent Peruvian Gesha from Finca Gramalotal in Cajamarca. This refined microlot offers surprising depth, with bright lavender and jasmine florals, lively lemonade acidity, and delicate stone fruit sweetness. Dessert-like sweetness ties everything together, creating an elegant yet deeply satisfying cup.

Produced at Finca Gramalotal in Peru’s Cajamarca region, this Gesha microlot follows a traditional washed process adapted to the area’s high-altitude growing conditions. Selectively harvested cherries are depulped shortly after picking and fermented in open-air tanks for 12–18 hours before being fully washed. Drying takes place on patios, raised beds, or covered systems depending on weather conditions, with close attention paid to moisture stability and consistency. The lot forms part of a traceable microlot program focused on quality differentiation and producer transparency, reflecting Cajamarca’s growing emphasis on refined processing, varietal separation, and specialty coffee production standards.

(Tokyo, Japan)

Founded in a quiet corner of downtown Tokyo in 2017, Apollon’s Gold gained international fame with its “light omni” roasting style, showcasing exceptional terroir. The roastery specializes in expressive washed coffees, along with refined honey and natural process lots from Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and Brazil. Since establishing direct trade relationships in 2023, the team has enhanced its quality focus through advanced AI green sorting and meticulous hand selection.

We chose what they call one of their ”all-time favorites” and they’ve been purchasing this exact plot exclusively since 2021. It’s strikingly tart, balanced by creamy lavender florals and a soft peach finish. Originally intended for the Costa Rica Brewers Cup Champion, this year’s lot is mature, with acidity and elegance like high-grown Geishas. Expect juicy pineapple, layered florals, and a memorable character.

Pie San Yellow Typica is an exclusive lot produced in limited quantities since 2021, originally developed for the Costa Rica Brewers Cup Champion. Early production volumes were extremely small, with the entire first harvest totalling only 23kg. Through careful farm management and the continued development of selected trees, production has expanded to 100kg by 2025. The lot showcases the maturation and adaptation of Yellow Typica within its growing environment, reflecting increased tree stability and consistency across harvests. Ongoing cultivation and selection practices have positioned Pie San as a distinctive long-term varietal project focused on quality-driven production.