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Over the past couple of years I have tried a number of local coffee roasters, I have now tried another, Rooftop Coffee Roasters out of Fernie, BC.
Rooftop Coffee Roasters is a fairly new roaster, they launched their family business in July, 2016. When they started they were using a small electric roaster that only roasted 250 grams at a time to now they have a 5 kg and 15 kg roaster.
The Beans
Guatemala Antonio Medina
Altitude: 1700m
First on the docket was the Antonio Medina, a fully washed Guatemalan. Antonio Medina’s farm, Finca La Colina, is located near the small municipality of San Martin Jilotepeque in southern Guatemala. He is a fourth generation coffee grower.
The pour-over doled out notes of peaches, honey, and chocolate. The drink came across a little sweet and it was quite tasty.
The next day I tried this same blend as a drip. What I did was have a few of our coffee connoisseurs at work give it a go. I thought the coffee had a sweet taste, but more chocolate undertones. I had a few people tell me they felt it had more of a fruity flavour to it.
Both ways, the coffee had some great flavours and both were super smooth.
Columbia Amparo De Botina
Altitude: 1880-1930m
Second one up was a Columbian. This coffee comes from a tiny grandmother, Amparo De Botina, that runs an all-female farm.
Sipping the pour-over, I found lots of chocolate and raspberry tones with this one. The coffee came across with the sweetness of the caramelized bananas but I did not taste any of the banana.
Again, I did the same thing with this one, took some to work and made it as a drip to see what kind of comments I got with this one. The drip came across very fruity with notes of raspberry, strawberry, cherry, and again with the chocolate undertones.
Both bags of these beans produced a solid coffee bursting with flavours. I preferred the Guatemalan, it was the smoother coffee to drink, with loads of flavour.
Ethiopian Mokonisa Guji
Altitude: 2000m
Third up was an Ethiopian from the GUJI region. I read that this producer has recently changed things up from focusing on volume to focusing on quality which is great to hear.
This one I only made as a pour-over. It produced some strong blueberry notes, and I felt was almost sugary. It made this coffee very sweet, but rich in flavour.
“Coffee with a Cause
At Rooftop we want to give back to the regions and countries our coffees come from. We’re passionate about forming relationships and seek to work with people effecting positive changes in their communities. That’s why we donate $1.00 of every pound of our Peruvian beans to CIMA, Centro de Integración de Menores en Abandono, a centre for abandoned boys near Lima, Peru. Our donation goes directly to the home, and is used wherever needed. The funds have gone towards large projects such as renovating the kitchen or building a chicken coup, as well as smaller, everyday expenses like books, food, or medicine.
This cause is very dear to our hearts as two of our founders have had the opportunity to travel to Peru to live and work at the home. The experience of visiting CIMA and the friendships formed with the boys (some of which are ongoing thanks to the Internet), are the inspiration behind this first initiative. After witnessing it firsthand, we knew we had to contribute to the incredibly inspiring work CIMA is doing for their community.
Although we can’t personally visit CIMA on a regular basis, our local school, The Fernie Academy, continues to travel to Peru with the Grade 10 class every year. They’ve formed strong, lasting bonds with the inspiring faculty, educators, directors, and boys at CIMA. They now bring the annual contributions from Coffee for A Cause with them, and form a link between us and this amazing community.”
– rooftopcoffeeroasters.com
Last Words
To say the least, I was thrilled with the terrific coffee coming from the skilled hands of Rooftop Coffee Roasters. If you seek to try some of their delicious offerings, head to rooftopcoffeeroasters.com and order yourself some beans.
They are the caffeinated pride of Fernie, BC.
note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.
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