Campus#2 has landed. It’s a light, fruity natural microlot from Maraba, Rwanda with a roast profile created by Edita, from Campus. To celebrate its release, we wanted to give you three quick reasons why you should get excited about it.
1. It’s the first natural process from Maraba
That’s right! This is the first ever natural process coffee from the Maraba co-operative. Classically processing their coffee through the washed process, we asked if they could experiment and try a natural process for us. The natural process is a bit more tricky and time intensive, but it’s paid off, and now we’ve got something very exciting.
The natural (dry) method involves placing the whole, freshly picked ruby red coffee cherry on raised beds to dry over a 2-3 week period, after which the outer fruit and the two coffee beans inside are separated through a process called hulling. So, what does the natural process do to the flavour? While the cherry is drying, the bean nestled inside absorbs the sugars from the cherry, creating a fruity coffee, making for a very sweet cup. This makes an excellent base to develop amazing flavours and complex acidity during roasting.
Finally - what flavours can we be expecting when we sit down and drink Campus#2? Edita has broken it down for us:
• Filter: Strawberry, raspberry and vanilla, turning into redcurrant, clementine and caramel as cools
• Espresso: Blackberry, redcurrant jelly and light fudge
• With milk: Blackberry cream and malted milk biscuit
Whether it’s a light filter, short espresso or creamy flat white – Campus#2 will bring some flavours to be excited about.
2. It’s an experimental roast
This is the second roast from the Campus Series - an experimental roast profile by Edita, our Head of Coffee Education – Campus. This is an opportunity to source an amazing microlot coffee, and create a coffee which is different, bold and exciting.
We had a chat with Edita who explained the Campus#2 roast profile:
"The coffee has an excellent combination of acidity and sweetness. Whilst developing the roast profile, we tried to highlight the complexity of flavours and fruity acidity, developing just enough caramel notes to make it a tasty espresso. It’s a light roast with excellent clarity of flavour and silky body”.
This roast is something different, and available for a limited time only. So get your hands on it while you can!
3. It’s sourced from Maraba, the first co-operative Union ever worked with
Maraba plays a very important role in the story of Union, being the first co-operative that Jeremy and Steven started working with back in 2001, the year they founded the company. The 18-year longstanding relationship between Union and Maraba represents what Union Direct Trade is about.
Union started working with Maraba through a USAID funded project to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in rural areas. Following the genocide in 1994, Rwanda’s economy had come to a halt, and the development of the agricultural sector, specifically the coffee sector has played a huge role in rebuilding the country since the early 2000s. Union and Maraba’s relationship facilitated the first ever export of Rwanda speciality coffee into the UK market. The premiums paid through Union Direct Trade have contributed towards a significant improvement in the quality of life of smallholder coffee farmers and workers, including improved nutrition, better housing and education and continued economic stability in the local area through the creation of shops and local banks.
What was once one of the poorest regions in Rwanda, Maraba is now a thriving town and a hub of the speciality coffee trade in Rwanda.
What can we say? Campus#2 is very exciting and it’s available for a limited time only!
