Drop Coffee Roasters

Drop has bought Hunkute for more than a decade. The cooperative in Dalle, Sidamo, runs two washing stations and pays its 2,149 members daily during harvest, plus a second payment once the coffee sells. This lot is from Site 2 at 2,150 m: an apricot and bergamot aroma, a light body with candied lemon peel, apricot and clementine, and a dry, Assam-tea finish. FOB paid: 4.95 USD/lb.

Candied lemon peel · Apricot · Clementine

The last Kenyan of the harvest, from the Karagoto factory near Karatina in Nyeri, owned by the Tekangu cooperative and fed by 1,700+ smallholders. Cherries are hand-sorted on delivery, pulped, density-graded, fermented 24–36 hours in the shade, washed, soaked and dried 16 days on raised metal beds. A warm yet vibrant cup with a plum aroma, rosehip and a cooling blackcurrant-lemonade finish. FOB paid: 11.13 USD/kg.

Plum · Rosehip · Blackcurrant

Finca La Fany has been in the da Silva family since the early 1900s and sits on the Apaneca-Ilamatepec range near Apaneca; Rafael and Carmen bought it from an aunt in the 1990s, and Drop's Steve has bought from them since 2003. Originally all Bourbon, the farm has planted 13,000 Pacamara trees since 2017. This washed Pacamara has a dried-mango aroma, milk chocolate and ripe yellow fruit, a creamy body and a resinous finish. FOB paid: 5.50 USD/lb.

Dried mango · Milk chocolate · Yellow tropical fruit

Las Brumas' Geisha lot from the same wild-forest farm. Sweet peach aroma, juicy acidity, and a bright lime finish with an exceptionally light, velvety body. Previously featured in World Barista Championship competitions — rare and delicate.

Peach, lime juice & velvety mouthfeel

One of Ernesto Menéndez's top lots from Las Brumas, prepared to competition standard with extra sorting. The farm's SL28 descends from seeds brought from Kenya about 70 years ago and grows wild in the forest beside newer Pacamara; Las Brumas coffee has won a World Barista Championship. A juicy cup with prune, lively pineapple acidity and a long, sparkling-white-wine finish. FOB paid: 8.50 USD/lb.

Prune · Pineapple · Sparkling white wine

Ernesto Menéndez's Las Brumas grows SL28 trees whose seed nearly 70 years ago came home from a Kenyan hunting trip — first planted at neighboring Los Andes, later moved here to grow wild forest-style among the trees. This honey-processed lot is vibrant with raspberry aroma, crisp green grape and strawberry, white sugar sweetness, and a clean, tart finish.

Raspberry, green grape & strawberry tartness

The washed counterpart to the Las Brumas natural. Transparent and crisp, grown in slow-developing forest conditions that build layer upon layer of flavour. A cider-like finish and light-to-medium body — Ernesto Menéndez's partnership with Drop Coffee dating back to 2015.

Apricot, orange, cinnamon & plum

From young Cup of Excellence winner Erwin "Wingo" Jr Mierisch at Finca Las Delicias. Natural Java with a sweet, tropical character — papaya brightness, cacao depth, rum raisin and sherry aromatics, and a fudge-like finish. A boozy, complex delight.

Papaya, cacao & rum raisin

From the award-winning Mierisch family’s Limoncillo estate in Yasica Norte, Matagalpa — a steady, comfortable staple that’s held a spot in Drop Coffee’s lineup for seven years running. Washed Caturra with a chocolatey, round cup: toffee sweetness, roasted hazelnut, a hint of red apple and a lingering finish of cacao nibs.

Toffee, roasted hazelnut & cacao nib finish

Grown by Guadalupe "Beto" Reyes and family at Los Altares in Palencia — a region east of Guatemala City not traditionally known for coffee until Beto, the farm's former mayor, established it in 2012. Anaerobic natural processing gives a ruby-red, adventurous cup with dark chocolate, hazelnut, and a port wine-like, boozy finish.

Dark chocolate, hazelnut & boozy port wine finish

Ernesto Menéndez's 5-hectare Los Andes farm holds SL28 trees planted around 65 years ago from Kenyan seed, now acclimated to El Salvador's terroir. Nutty, caramel-toned aroma leads into passion fruit acidity, black currant, lemon curd, and rhubarb pie, finishing with hibiscus and a cooling sensation.

Black currant, lemon curd & rhubarb pie

From Los Andes, Ernesto Menéndez's 5-hectare farm on the Apaneca-Ilamatepec range, whose whole crop Drop buys exclusively. The trees are left to grow wild under forest, and Bourbon grows beside 80-year-old SL28 brought back from Kenya decades ago. This natural has a dark-berry aroma, milk chocolate, cacao nibs and a hint of sultana with a smooth, medium body. FOB paid: 4.50 USD/lb.

Milk chocolate · Cacao nibs · Sultanas

From Carmen and Rafael Silva Hoff's San Cayetano farm, processed at their own San Pedro station — the family runs six farms and a processing mill together. Depulped same-day and dried on raised beds across three levels for controlled drying, this washed Red Caturra gives a clean, round cup of red apple cider, nougat, and a red grape aftertaste.

Red apple cider, nougat & red grape