April 04, 2019
Guatemala La Cumbre (Espresso)
Burundi Mbrizi (Filter)
Rumble Coffee Roasters are a coffee heavy-weight champion. Reflecting their working class location in Melbourne’s inner North-West, Kensington. Rumble Coffee Roasters have always been about grit, determination and training for the big bouts. Innovators in the coffee industry, last year they committed to a series of transparency projects that aim to educate the coffee consumer about their fair trade supply chain. This commitment to openness is designed to make sure coffee growers are well compensated for the outstanding coffee they produce. Their aim is to buy quality coffee at a fair price; a fair price means one that can support the farmer, their family and the environment. In May this year, the company will publish its first annual transparency report followed by an innovative campaign called “Cost of a Cup” which aims to better communicate its social responsibility efforts to their customers. This initiative is designed to showcase the entire supply chain from farmer to roaster to customer.
To discuss this month’s selections, Three Thousand Thieves sat down with Rumble’s Head of Training and Dispatch Stan Bicknell. According to Stan, “Rumble has had a really strong year, and in addition to our transparency projects we have also doubled down on training. Like in boxing, it’s those extra 10% efforts that make a difference in the end. For us, helping consumers and our café customers get the absolute best performance from their brewing equipment is essential to appreciate these amazing small batch coffees we’re highlighting.”
To that end, Rumble has launched a series of step-by-step educational videos on the company’s website that show how to brew better plunger, aeropress, pour over and moccamaster coffees. Called the Brew Guide Series, Stan takes you through everything you need to know - with comprehensive gear lists and step by step instructions so you are getting the perfect brew every time.
When discussing this month’s coffee selections, Stan is effusive. “These are both amazing coffees. We pride ourselves on roasting exceptional coffees, but these two are in a class by themselves. For our espresso roast, we picked Guatemala La Cumbre, it has amazing notes of paw paw, raspberry and nectarine and a great, bold flavour.”
“Finca La Cumbre is near Guatemala City on the road to El Salvador. Otto Block bought the farm in 1980 because he loved the location and magnificent views. La Cumbre means “the summit” in Spanish. Otto first planted coffee there in 1986 when he realised the conditions were perfect for high quality coffee. His daughter Anna took over in 1998 and is a member of the Guatemalan Women in Coffee Association. The farm employs 15 people year-round and 80 pickers during harvest. At the moment, Anna is replanting the farm and adding new varietals as well as upgrading housing for the pickers.”
For the back-story on this month’s filter selection, Stan tells us about the Burundi Mbrizi.
“This coffee has an amazing flavour profile. We get hints of apricot, black tea and honey - it’s one of my personal favourites at the moment. The coffee comes from a community surrounding the Mbrizi washing station. The hill where these cherries grow is called Nyabihanga. Mbrizi station opened in 2015 by Salum Ramadham. Salum now owns 4 washing stations around the area and aims to open more to serve the nearby communities.”
Rumble has been a big fan for several years now, “This is our third year purchasing coffee from Salum. In 2018, we visited during the harvest to cup lots and bring them to Australia. The work being put in blew us away. With multiple coffees being placed in the Cup of Excellence over the years the hard work is paying off. We plan on roasting three different processes from the same station to show the diversity of flavour from the different processing methods.”
For the Guatemala La Cumbre, if brewed on a commercial espresso machine Stan recommends.
Commercial Espresso Machine Recipe:
- Dose: 21g
- Yield: 44g
- Full extraction: 28 seconds
For the for the Burundi Mbrizi:
V60 – pour over method:
- Dose: 22g
- Yield: 360ml
- Extraction time: 2 minutes 45 sec
We hope you enjoy this month’s selections from Rumble as much as we do. Keep punching out the great coffee Rumble – we love your work!
