Coffee should
surprise you.

It means that when we buy, we become partners with the growers rather than simply consumers of what they produce. We buy from people we know by name, on terms we agree together, without a spot-market list in between. We intend to visit every farm we work with, cup every pre-shipment sample in Amsterdam, and build each release lot by lot. The relationship continues after the container leaves: feedback on the cup travels back, and the next harvest is planned together.

Only ripe cherries, hand-picked in multiple passes across the same trees over the course of the harvest. Under-ripe or over-ripe cherries are set aside before the lot even reaches the wet mill. Selective picking is the first quality decision, and it happens on the tree.

At the wet mill the cherries are floated, sorted, and then processed as washed, natural or honey depending on the lot's intended profile. Fermentation times, temperatures and turning schedules are logged for each block, so the flavours in the cup can be traced back to a specific decision on a specific day.

Parchment is dried slowly on raised beds and patios, turned by hand and covered against midday sun and night dew. Once the moisture is stable, the coffee rests in parchment for several weeks before dry milling. That rest is where a lot of the sweetness settles.

Green coffee is packed in protective liners inside jute bags, sealed against oxygen, humidity and light, and shipped in temperature-conscious containers direct from origin. On arrival we sample every bag before it enters the roastery. If a coffee drifts in transit and does not make our shelf, it still finds its way to a cup — we pass it on through Too Good To Go, because a coffee carrying that much memory and hard work deserves to be drunk rather than discarded.

Every lot is roasted light — that is the only way we roast — profiled on its own, in small batches, with gentle development and a curve built around the specific density, moisture and sugar content of that green coffee. We roast to reveal the origin, not to impose a house taste, and we do not roast to a template.

We cup pre-shipment, on arrival, after roasting, and again after a rest of several days. A lot only makes it onto the shelf when the cup is clean, consistent across brews, and true to the sample the grower sent. Anything that does not clear that bar is held back or set aside for research.

We cup blind, score for quality, and agree the price with the grower lot by lot. The number reflects the cup, the processing complexity and the volume available. We do not publish figures unless they have been agreed with the grower and we can stand behind them.

Every bag carries the grower, farm, altitude, variety, process, roast date and batch. Cupping notes, processing logs and lot traceability are shared on request. Prices and contracts stay between us and the grower unless they have chosen to make them public.

The roastery on Steigereiland is open by appointment to students, journalists and coffee professionals. Farm visits are arranged with the growers directly during their harvest. Write to us and we will introduce the right people.

We are continuously cupping new samples. If you produce experimental or heirloom lots and would like to be considered, send us your farm details, altitude, varieties and processing notes. Every sample that arrives is cupped and answered.