Uganda
Gombe, Lot 9
Terroir Best Lot
QUALITY SCORE: 86.00
Cup Notes
Peach / Vanilla / Milk Chocolate
Indulge in the delightful Gombe coffee from Mount Elgon, Uganda: with its irresistible flavours, it is a perfect morning cup.
Suggested for espresso and filter
when we roast
We freshly roast to order all coffees on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding national holidays), and ship the same day! Cut-off time is 11:59pm (UTC+1) of the day before the roast day. *We only ship whole beans*
Details
- Quality Score
- 86.00
- Series
- Specialty
- Producer
- Several small farmers
- Country
- Uganda
- Terroir
- Mount Elgon
- Altitude
- 1800-2200 masl
- Process
- Classic Washed - Raised Beds
- Arabica cultivar
- SL14, SL28, Nyasaland
- Picked in
- January 2023
- Arrived in
- July 2023
- Shipped in
- GrainPro
- Roast profile by
- Rubens Gardelli
- Roasted on
- Customised solid-drum roaster
Suggested brewing recipe
To help you make the best out of your coffee, Rubens has crafted recipes for brewing this particular lot in filter.
There are two recipes: one for conical brewer (think v60) and one for flat-bottom brewer (think Kalita), however you can surely brew our coffees with any other brewing device, such as immersion brewers.
Please remember that these recipes are intended as starting points and may require further adjustments if the equipment you use is not identical to the one in the recipe; the characteristics of water used can also make a big difference in brewing.
Finally, the recipes suited specifically to Rubens’ roasting style, hence we do not guarantee that they will work as a universal reference.
There are two recipes: one for conical brewer (think v60) and one for flat-bottom brewer (think Kalita), however you can surely brew our coffees with any other brewing device, such as immersion brewers.
Please remember that these recipes are intended as starting points and may require further adjustments if the equipment you use is not identical to the one in the recipe; the characteristics of water used can also make a big difference in brewing.
Finally, the recipes suited specifically to Rubens’ roasting style, hence we do not guarantee that they will work as a universal reference.
Have fun brewing!
V60 STYLE
- Coffee:
- 17g
- Grind:
- Comandante 20 clicks (medium)
- Water:
- 250g (40tds) at 94 Celsius
- Time:
- 2:20
- Brew strenght:
- 1,44 tds
FLATBED
- Coffee:
- 17g
- Grind:
- Comandante 24 clicks (medium)
- Water:
- 250g (40tds) at 94 Celsius
- Time:
- Brew strenght:
- 1,45 tds
THE STORY BEHIND
The beans for this microlot are cultivated by farmers living on the mountain near the Coffee Gardens' washing station. These farmers bring down the coffee cherries to the processing station themselves to earn extra income.
This particular lot comprises the harvest from 227 farmers, 18% of whom are being women farmers. Impressively, these farmers received 48% of the FOB price for their cherries. The lot was harvested in December 2022 and January 2023.
Established in 2017, The Coffee Gardens embarked on a mission to produce exceptional specialty coffee in an ethical manner, developing a transparent and direct link between coffee farmers and consumers. To increase their capacity and produce more coffee, they dismantled their old washing station and rebuilt it at a new site during the 2022 season.
The Coffee Gardens Project has several key objectives, including enhancing farmers' income and livelihoods, creating rural employment opportunities, promoting gender equality, ensuring transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain, advocating for environmental protection in the region, and providing training to farmers in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
The Coffee Gardens actively incentivizes and rewards farmers through various monetary and non-monetary means. These include post-season bonuses, additional income-generating and employment opportunities, distribution of trees, and a comprehensive range of year-round training programs.
Ensuring transparency, The Coffee Gardens maintains an open buying policy and price communication with their partner farmers. Each registered farmer receives a contract and a buying-record book, and any price changes are promptly conveyed via SMS. Moreover, the company provides receipts for every transaction, demonstrating their commitment to fairness and accountability.
THE VARIETY
SL14
SL14 was originally selected in Kenya the late 1930s at the Scott Agricultural Laboratories. Individual tree selections made at the Scott Laboratories in Kenya during the 1935-1939 period were prefixed “SL.” SL14 was selected in 1936 from a single tree labeled Drought Resistant II (D.R. II), and drought tolerance is a noted characteristic of SL14. Historical records documenting the origin of D.R. II were lost, but the seedlings were established at Kabete in 1933, and then widely distributed in areas east of the Rift Valley in Kenya.Recent genetic tests have confirmed that SL14 is related to the Typica genetic group. It is economically important in both Kenya and Uganda.
SL28
SL28 is among the most well-known and well-regarded varieties of Africa.
SL28 was chosen at the Scott Laboratories Agricultural Laboratory in Kabete, now the National Agricultural Laboratory of Kenya. Between 1935 and 1939, Scott’s laboratory performed individual selection on 42 coffee plants of various origins. These coffee plants with names beginning with ‘SL’ (SL1… SL42) were chosen and tested for yield, seed quality, drought tolerance, and disease resistance, with SL28 being selected in 1935 from a single Tanganyika Drought Resistant plant in the population.
According to historical archives, one employee of Scott Laboratories spotted a coffee type growing in the Moduli district that appeared to be drought and insect resistant. This seed was collected and returned to Scott Laboratories to determine its high drought tolerance. This coffee type was widely grown until SL28, a descendent, supplanted it. Molecular genetic tests have revealed that SL28 is connected to the Arabica Bourbon coffee (selections bourbon trees) variety, one of the core Arabica varietals (bourbon trees made).
NYASALAND
One of the oldest Arabica coffee varieties introduced to Africa. The variety originates from Typica introduced to Nyasaland (now Malawi) in 1878 from Jamaica. By 1891 there was a flourishing coffee industry in Malawi, but eventually declined because of the marginal climate, which is hotter and drier than is usual for Typica, and because of the high incidence of pests including white stem borer. Inexperienced farmers allowed the plants to overbear in the first years, causing a precipitous fall in yields that ultimately led to the abandonment of coffee in Malawi. Nyasaland was taken from Malawi to Uganda in 1910, where farmers also struggled with the variety. Early failure led to the widespread planting of Robusta in Uganda. But in recent years, there has been a small resurgence of Arabica growing on the slopes of Mount Elgon, where Nyasaland (locally called Bugisu) is an important variety for smallholders.
THE FERMENTATION PROCESS
Coffee is delivered to the station and sorted by 4 employees dedicated to this job.
The sorted cherries are pulped, soaked in cold mountain water, and then submerged in tanks for a 40-hour signature fermentation. The coffee is then washed, and any floaters removed.
After washing the coffee is transferred for skin drying on raised beds in the shade for 2-3 days.
It is subsequently taken to the solar drier, where it continues to dry for 10 days until it reaches between 15-25% of humidity, depending on the season and local weather.
The coffee is then transported down the hill to the drying yard in Mbale, where it is dried for another 10 days so that it reaches below 11% humidity.
