What we're tasting: Dark Chocolate, Dried Fruit and Nut

Our house blend coffee, 'Nat Has Her Beans' a celebration of the viral tag 'Nat Has Herpes' - which, rumour has it - originated in East Wing Oslo House, the home of our roastery. We have a base of Brazilian coffee beans giving us big dark chocolate and almond nut feels blended with Rwandan beans adding sweetness and lots of depth for espresso drinkers, and finally, we mix in an Ethiopian bean which is bursting with big fresh berry vibes.

Roast: Medium
Origin: Brazil Sul de Minas, Cafeina Women's Group
Altitude: 900-1100
Varietal: Mixed
Process: Natural

Origin: Rwanda, Kinini
Altitude: 2000
Varietal: REd Bourbon
Process: Natural

Origin: Ethiopia, Sweet Berry
Altitude: 1500 - 2200m
Varietal: Heirloom
Process: Natural

About the Producers 

Sourced from the Tres Pontas, Sul de Minas region of Brazil, these beans are produced by Jacqueline (Jaja) and Flaviane, they are a part of the Cafeina Women’s Collective who formed to exchange knowledge and empower female producers within the specialty coffee industry. Grown at an altitude of 1150, the coffee cherries are hand-picked and processed naturally.

Rwanda has the most perfect growing conditions: high altitude, regular rainfall, volcanic soils with good organic structure. The majority of coffee is produced by smallholder farms formed into cooperatives sharing services of washing stations. Abadatezuka Cooperative is a group of smallholder farmers in Rwanda's Western Province. The producers here grow coffee at elevations all the way up to 2,200 meters above sea level.

One interesting facet to coffee here is that the native honeybees that live in and around the Nyungwe forest where the coffee is grown are said to be responsible in part to the "unique profile" this coffee has. This bean adds a fruity, berry intensity to the overall blend.

Sweet Berry makes the Ethiopian part of the blend, it's a Sidamo-style natural, which means that it is renowned for its full bodied flavour, and it's intense flavour. It's job is to add complexity to the blend.  

Cherries are harvested and picked individually by hand. Pickers rotate among trees every eight to ten days, choosing only the cherries that are a deep red colour. Naturally processed, this is the oldest method of processing coffee, the entire cherry after harvest is first cleaned and then placed in the sun to dry on tables lining the hills. (Purchasing this bean also helps to fund the Miyah Village Pure Water Project, an initiative providing clean drinking water to the residents of Miyah village).

About the name

"Nat Has Herpes" first appeared on the walls of Hackney Wick, becoming one of the area’s - if not the world's - most infamous graffiti tags. One day, while cleaning up in the shop, we found a coffee cup adorned with a playful twist on the tag: "Nat Has Beans." A little piece of local graffiti history had found its way into our hands.

We later heard whispers that the very first "Nat Has Herpes" tag might’ve been sprayed in the warehouse we now roast in. Coincidence? Maybe. But we embraced the mystery  naming our beans after this local legend.