Nostos Coffee

From Cerro Azul, the most famous of CGLE's three farms spread across three mountain ranges with many microclimates. Delicate honeysuckle, bright citrus and peach, a hint of red currant and a sencha-like finish.

Honeysuckle · Peach · Green tea

A notoriously funky lot: 36 hours of cherry oxidation, 24 hours anaerobic at 16–18°C, another 24 hours oxidation, 48 hours submerged, a 50°C thermal shock, then two interrupted drying phases with rehydration and a dark rest. Wild tropical and red fruit balanced by single-origin dark chocolate.

Pineapple · Cranberry · Cherry · Pomegranate · Dark chocolate

A layered honey-processed CGLE-17 from Finca Potosí: ripe fruit sweetness, delicate florals and a silky, lingering oolong finish.

Raspberry · Red grape · Golden kiwi · Oolong

From Potosí, the original 1945 farm of the Herrera family's Café Granja La Esperanza, where Juan Antonio Herrera first planted Bourbon and Caturra beside the Typica. One of three CGLE-17 process variants on offer.

Strawberry jam · Red grape · Mango

The washed version of CGLE's own CGLE-17 hybrid from Finca Potosí, the farm where the family's experimentation with varieties and processes began.

Red apple · White peach · Mandarin · Bergamot

Pure balance: a washed Sidra from CGLE's original Potosí farm, with white florals and stone fruit rounded by caramel and honey.

White florals · Stone fruit · Caramel

A third Oma natural from Gesha Village: guava and blood orange filling the palate, with a delicate, lingering white-tea florality.

Guava · Blood orange · White tea

A second Oma natural from Gesha Village: hibiscus acidity, a green-grape mouthfeel and florals lingering on the aftertaste.

Hibiscus · Green grape · Floral

Gesha Village sits next to the Gori Gesha forest, birthplace of the Gesha variety; the Oma plot is named for a chief of the indigenous Meanit people. Intense tropical fruit balanced by sweet florals.

Raspberry jam · Apricot · Orange blossom

AACRI was founded in 1998 by 18 families and now counts around 150–215 smallholders growing shade coffee with agroforestry and organic methods that protect the cloud forest, an alternative to destructive mining in the valley. Prices are set democratically in annual assemblies.

Red fruits · Citrus · Vanilla · Brown sugar

Lot GWA 920 from the Janson family, whose story in Volcán began when Carl Axel Janson arrived from Sweden in 1926. Grown at Los Alpes with heavy rainfall and cool temperatures that slow ripening: creamy and juicy with a crisp, clean citrus finish.

Jasmine · White peach · Lemon

Nostos's newest Homecoming coffee: a bright, tropical, intensely sweet natural from Koke on the edge of Yirgacheffe, made from the local Dega, Kudhume and Wolisho varieties. Exciting as espresso, brilliant as batch brew or filter.

Pineapple · Melon · Rose

One of Nostos's favourite coffees of all time. Brix-checked cherries go through 14 hours of open aerobic fermentation, 18 hours anaerobic in sealed tanks, then 24 hours aerobic after pulping before washing and drying.

Blueberry · Plum · Vanilla · Ginger

From the five-generation family behind Café Directo, who built their own micromill in 2010. Monte Alto is their high farm, given over to distinctive varieties such as Geisha and Pacamara; their lower Casa de Piedra grows Red Catuaí.

Dried mango · Mixed berries · Caramel

A 30-acre, family-run farm of about 17,000 trees across three parcels in the coffee-tea transition zone near the Aberdares, on deep red volcanic soil. A clean classic Kenyan profile: vibrant citrus acidity, sweet berries and a smooth brown-sugar finish.

Red apple · Berries · Plum · Brown sugar

A washed heirloom from the Nano Challa co-op in Jimma, double-sorted, mechanically demucilaged with Penagos machines, soaked 12 hours, skin-dried, then finished on raised beds over 7–11 days and conditioned in parchment. A classic clean washed Ethiopia, good black or white.

Stone fruit · Black tea · Citrus

A stalwart in both Nostos shops: a Huila cooperative coffee washed at origin, then decaffeinated with ethyl acetate from sugarcane, a gentle process that keeps much of its character. Works black or white.

Red apple · Caramel · Raisin

A washed Geisha from a cooperative of young farmers that began as a student project ("Give back to your land what it gave you") among children of coffee growers, set up in 2016 to counter the ageing of Peru's farming population.

Peach · Vanilla · Red berries · Plum