From farm to cup: our standards

Most of the work that decides a cup happens before we ever see the coffee. By the time a lot lands in Rotterdam, the ceiling on how good it can be was set at the farm, months earlier.

What we look for at harvest

Ripeness first. We buy from producers who pick selectively — several passes through the same trees, taking only the cherry that is ready — because underripe cherry is the most common reason a promising lot cups flat. Selective picking is slow and expensive. It is also the difference between eighty-four points and eighty-seven.

Then processing discipline: consistent drying, controlled fermentation, moisture landing where it should and staying there. We ask for the numbers and we visit when we can. A producer who logs their drying beds is telling you something about the whole operation.

What we pay, and why we publish it

We pay above the local market for every lot on the roster, and we tell you what we paid. Not as a marketing line — as the only way the standard above is possible. Selective picking has to be worth the picker’s day.

You cannot ask for care at harvest and negotiate it away at contract.

The rest is logistics and restraint: ship quickly, store cold and dry, roast to order, and then get out of the coffee’s way.