January 05, 2021
We’ve featured our friends over at ST. ALi before and we’re so excited to have them back to kick off the New Year. This time around ST. ALi has aimed to shine the spotlight on women in coffee - from their farmers and producers in Colombia to their team on the ground here in Australia!
Melbourne based roastery ST. ALi is one of the great original Melbourne coffee scene contributors. Started by Australian coffee pioneer, Salvatore Malatesta, ST. ALi now runs its flagship roasting facility in Port Melbourne where pundits can get up close and personal with the roasting process while enjoying a world class cup. This month they’re bringing us something truly special - a coffee produced mostly by women, at home and abroad. They’re incredibly proud of the fact that women were involved in every step of bringing this month’s coffee from shrub to your mug.
The team worked closely with AMACA (Asociación de Mujeres Productoras Agropecuarias del Cauca), a Colombian group of women who formed a cooperative to better their communities and advocate for women as entrepreneurs. Women having financial independence in Colombia was uncommon when the group was first started in 1999 and it still is today. These days, thanks to all the womens’ hard work, the culture within the communities they live and work is changing and the men are incredibly proud of their wives, sisters and mothers, and support them wholeheartedly in all their endeavours. These women are all ambitious farm owners and heads of households, their resilience and insistence to better their communities is incredible. The women of AMACA are very proud of the coffee they’ve produced, with the help of their families, and are very excited that it’s about to be enjoyed by coffee fanatics all across Australia.
"The tenacity of these women is the inspiration for this feature and I know they would be proud to see their coffee in so many homes across Australia." — ST. ALi’s, Lucy Ward
Speaking of Australia, the involvement of women didn’t stop in Colombia. Once the coffee landed on Australian shores the women of ST. ALi got to work testing, tasting, and packing these delicious beans. ST. ALi Green Buyer, Lucy Ward, visited AMACA in Colombia before COVID last year, along with other women roasters from around the globe, which is how this all began. So the bond between the two groups of women runs deep and the ST. ALi crew counts itself lucky to be working with AMACA on this very
special project.
AMACA (ESPRESSO & FILTER)
AMACA, named after the amazing organisation which produced this coffee, was roasted as both espresso and filter roast. It’s light enough to highlight the fresh fruit character but still with enough sweetness to bring balance to the cup.
Coming From: The El Tambo community in Cauca, Colombia
Tasting Notes: Tastes of lemon drop candies and fresh cherry jam.
Suggested Recipe (Espresso):
20g dose in
42–44g yield
In 26–30 seconds
Suggested Recipe (Filter):
Dose 12g to 200g water
Brew time of 2 minutes 30 seconds to 2 minutes 45 seconds
Like we said, let’s all start fresh in 2021. We’re excited to see what ST. ALi gets up-to in the New Year now that things are semi back to normal. In the meantime, let’s sip on their delicious coffee all of January and thank the women who made this happen!