Coffee Masters is a multi-disciplinary global barista tournament designed by Allegra Events and coffee creative duo Rob Dunne & Victor Frankowski. The competition sees some of the world’s best baristas compete head-to-head, in an extreme test of a barista’s skill as they contend for the prestigious Coffee Master.  

We've carefully gathered nine unique coffees, with the aim of pushing competitors to their absolute limits. Sourcing these coffees involved travelling to coffee producing regions in Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Colombia, El Salvador and Panama to name a few. Much like the Coffee Masters competitors, these coffees have gone through a rigorous selection process before they made the cut.

We introduce to you ‘The Niners’.

DERI KOCHOHA

HAGERE MARYAME, ETHIOPIA

Process - Washed
Varietal - Heirloom
Altitude - 2000 Masl
Harvested - 2017

Guji in Ethiopia has been home to a number of stellar washing stations over the years, but none come close to matching Deri Kochoha this season. A solid, consistent 90+ hitter, this fully washed lot is as elegant as it is complex. Intensely flavourful with a deep lime, jasmine and stonefruit character. There is no doubt that Deri Kochoha is putting the class into world class.  

GABRIEL CASTAÑO

ACEVEDO, COLOMBIA

Process - Washed
Varietal - Pink Bourbon
Altitude - 1800 masl
Harvested - May 2016

Gabriel Castaño’s Finca La Granada is located in Acevedo, the second highest growing region in all of Colombia. Situated at 1800 masl, the warm days and cool nights provide a good degree of stress for Gabriel’s coffee. Covering only 2 hectares, Gabriel has 8000 pink bourbon plants; a varietal that is becoming increasingly well known for its complex cup profile.

Coffee is processed in the typical Colombian fully washed style. Once the cherry is floated and de pulped, concrete tanks are used to ferment the parchment for anywhere between 24 – 36 hours to remove any residual mucilage. Afterwards, drying takes place on raised beds in a parabolic greenhouse for approximately 15 days

DILMA PONCE

NANEGAL, ECUADOR

Process - Washed
Varietal - Sidra
Altitude - 1400 masl
Harvest - August/October 2016

Dilma Ponce is a new comer to the coffee scene; this Sidra was planted three years ago, and we’ve received the first ever harvest from Finca La Giuglia. Hailing from the soon to be famous region of Pichincha, Ecuador, this coffee is bright, floral & elegant. Dilma thinks the best part of owning Finca La Giuglia are the long walks that she makes, the little animals that appear daily, and walking to a beautiful waterfall located very close to the farm after a hard days work.

NDARO-INI

KARATINA, KENYA

Process - Fully Washed
Varietal - SL 28, SL 34
Altitude - 1750 masl
Harvest - 2017

Built in 1984, Ndaro-ini has for many years produced outstanding lots of washed coffees. The factory receives cherry from approximately 700 smallholders from the local district. All of whom grow either SL 28 or SL 34. Most smallholders are working with less than a full hectare of land which is commonly intercropped with other crops which provide good shade cover as well as additional income.

Prior to processing all cherry is weighed, hand sorted for defects. Once ready the clean cherry is gathered in a reception hopper before being pulped to remove the cherry from the parchment. The clean parchment is then fermented in large tanks for approximately 16 hours before being soaked for a further 8 hours. Its speculated that this additional soaking stage is what contributes to the uniquely Kenyan cup profile that is highly sought after.

WAHANA

TOBA, INDONESIA

Process - Fully Washed
Varietal - P88
Altitude - 1400 masl
November 2016

Located in the Lake Toba region of Sumatra, Wahana Estate has, over the past 13 years, forged a fully deserved reputation for coffee excellence. Well known for its program of experimental processing and varietal coffees the estate has approximately 500 hectares planted with a wide range of coffee varietals.

Processing takes place at the onsite wet mill facility meaning that, unusually for Indonesia, it is able to produce a large volume of fully washed coffees each season. Extensive research and development takes place on the estate with the cataloguing and study of various Indonesian hybrid plantings. Varietals such as Jember, Andong Sari, Toraja and P88 have all shown great promise and continue to push forward the boundaries of speciality coffee in Asia.

Wahana takes it social commitment incredibly seriously, providing rehousing, healthcare, electricity and water are provided for the 1000 workers on the estate.

CEREFINO MACA

POPAYAN, COLOMBIA

Process - Washed & Honey
Varietal - Bourbon
Altitude - 1970 - 2020 masl
Harvest - 2016

El Zafiro is located close by to Popayan in Cauca, South Western Colombia. At a staggering 2000 masl the coffee that grows here does so slowly as a direct result of the low temperatures at such altitudes. This delayed maturation process causes the coffee cherry to develop sweeter more complex fruit; a discernible trait in the final cup.

THADEO MWAKILASA

MBEYA, TANZANIA

Process - Fully Washed
Varietal - Red Bourbon/Kent
Altitude - 1550 masl
Harvest - September 2016

Thadeo Mwakilasa has been producing speciality coffee for a number of years in Mbeya, South Western Tanzania. His skill at producing clean, consistent organic lots has been the result of finance and support from Tembo Coffee.

ROSENDO DOMINGO

PETATAN, GUATEMALA

Process - Washed 32 hour ferment
Varietal - Caturra
Altitude - 1600 Masl
Harvest - January/February 2017

Rosendo has been learning the ropes since his early years. Now at the age of 23 its his time to step upto the plate and put into practise everything he has learned. The coffee from Kejna, Rosendos family farm in Huehuetenango is some of the sweetest, cleanest and most complex to be found in the region. A great start to a very promising pro career.

DATERRA

MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL

Process - Natural
Varietal - Laurina
Altitude - 1100 masl
Harvest - September 2016

The recipient of numerous awards including Cup of Excellence and the Rainforest Alliances Cupping for Quality. Daterra has become well known throughout the speciality coffee world for its consistent innovation and meticulous approach to production. A deliberate culture within the estate has been fostered and has continually raised the bar for Brazilian coffee; this commitment to excellence is best described with their annual Masterpiece selection.

Each year coffees that have cupped in excess of 88 points (SCAA) are identified and earmarked for sale at auction. This particular lot is one such coffee. An incredibly small micro lot of 96 kgs that has been packaged in Daterras own patented Penta system to optimize its freshness.

Creating the Niners series has been a challenging and rewarding project for the whole team at Caravan Coffee Roasters. We have thoroughly enjoyed the task of sourcing and roast profiling nine unique and interesting coffees to challenge the competitors and hopefully produce a great competition. We hope you enjoy our Niners series as much as we do and thank you for taking the journey with us!