As we celebrate 10 years, we do so with endless incredible memories and gratitude. From roasting our first batch of Kenyan coffee on our little Giesen roaster on Jameson Street, to serving wonderful plates of food in our cafe, to pouring a wonderful Terrazzo floor in the Ormeau Baths, there’s an endless repository of nostalgia to be tapped. Of course, it’s the faces, the characters and the conversations that matter the most though. So many of you have enriched us as a company and indeed, made it possible for us to last this long. Looking to the future, we are going to deeper into the world of coffee. We are partnering with our good friend Harry Leath and his little coffee farm - La Cruz - in El Salvador. Harry, knowing little about coffee, took himself to Mexico and did a crash course in all things specialty coffee. Serendipitously, he was offered a bygone coffee farm in El Salvador in return for some bitcoin. Harry jumped at it. After 10 years of neglect, it looked like a forgotten parcel of land, assimilated by the jungle. Hiding away in it in a rotten rambling wooden shed, was an 80 year old man called Elias. Squatting there, he would come with the farm. Harry has since worked tirelessly to wrest the farm from the jungle and kicked it back into a productive shape. Old plants are bearing fruit and a nursery whispers of a new, brighter and more hopeful future; not only for the plants, but for Elias too. With his own basic but bricks and mortar home now, Elias feels like he’s hit the jackpot, and Harry’s care for him and his crops are evident to all who visit. Truly, I was marked by my visit in January; more so than I've ever been in visiting a coffee farm. All have been more glamorous, better resourced, and definitely more sustainable, but La Cruz has soul, and substance. I immediately knew I wanted a collab between R&B with 10 years under its belt and this fledgling project in an up-and-coming part of the world. My brief involvement and whatever help I could provide in a quick week felt like just the start, and Harry and I are excited about the future symbiosis between our projects. With shared values and vision, we’re determined to bring something of value and quality to the world of speciality coffee. This very limited and exclusive 10 Years Birthday Coffee from La Cruz is, like our birthday affords, an appreciation of history, but a vision for the future, and we think it's good...very good!Harry and his team will ensure that it will get better each and every year and the nursery, brimful of varietals and saplings, speaks to this. Meantime, we invite you to sample the first fruits and we promise to keep you posted as this collaboration takes more shape into the future. Finally, thank you for ALL of your support throughout this decade. I am filled with gratitude and thrilled that I have the privilege of providing you with what we all know is a core ingredient to enjoyment in all of our lives. Simon
As we celebrate 10 years, we do so with endless incredible memories and gratitude. From roasting our first batch of Kenyan coffee on our little Giesen roaster on Jameson Street, to serving wonderful plates of food in our cafe, to pouring a wonderful Terrazzo floor in the Ormeau Baths, there’s an endless repository of nostalgia to be tapped. Of course, it’s the faces, the characters and the conversations that matter the most though. So many of you have enriched us as a company and indeed, made it possible for us to last this long. Looking to the future, we are going to deeper into the world of coffee. We are partnering with our good friend Harry Leath and his little coffee farm - La Cruz - in El Salvador. Harry, knowing little about coffee, took himself to Mexico and did a crash course in all things specialty coffee. Serendipitously, he was offered a bygone coffee farm in El Salvador in return for some bitcoin. Harry jumped at it. After 10 years of neglect, it looked like a forgotten parcel of land, assimilated by the jungle. Hiding away in it in a rotten rambling wooden shed, was an 80 year old man called Elias. Squatting there, he would come with the farm. Harry has since worked tirelessly to wrest the farm from the jungle and kicked it back into a productive shape. Old plants are bearing fruit and a nursery whispers of a new, brighter and more hopeful future; not only for the plants, but for Elias too. With his own basic but bricks and mortar home now, Elias feels like he’s hit the jackpot, and Harry’s care for him and his crops are evident to all who visit. Truly, I was marked by my visit in January; more so than I've ever been in visiting a coffee farm. All have been more glamorous, better resourced, and definitely more sustainable, but La Cruz has soul, and substance. I immediately knew I wanted a collab between R&B with 10 years under its belt and this fledgling project in an up-and-coming part of the world. My brief involvement and whatever help I could provide in a quick week felt like just the start, and Harry and I are excited about the future symbiosis between our projects. With shared values and vision, we’re determined to bring something of value and quality to the world of speciality coffee. This very limited and exclusive 10 Years Birthday Coffee from La Cruz is, like our birthday affords, an appreciation of history, but a vision for the future, and we think it's good...very good!Harry and his team will ensure that it will get better each and every year and the nursery, brimful of varietals and saplings, speaks to this. Meantime, we invite you to sample the first fruits and we promise to keep you posted as this collaboration takes more shape into the future. Finally, thank you for ALL of your support throughout this decade. I am filled with gratitude and thrilled that I have the privilege of providing you with what we all know is a core ingredient to enjoyment in all of our lives. Simon
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