Our origin
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Our origin *
What would be the result of blending a Brazilian (Paulistana) and a Colombian (Rolo) Naturals? Well, besides two lovely children, we are the founders of Coffea Espression – the realisation of a family dream.
We have dedicated a significant portion of our professional lives to academia. It was back in 2010 at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) where we first met. Surrounded by a white atmosphere of biologists, cells, and chemicals, a life in a lab has been instrumental in shaping our destiny, forging excellent friends, and building the family we have now. We are deeply grateful to science.
In 2019, we decided to move from the warm and remote southern part of the US (Georgia) to the northern and chillier, but lovely medieval town of Durham, UK. Here, while Brian was working on a project about nucleotides in parasites, he ended up testing the action of caffeine (a nucleobase) on the sensory response of a disease-causing parasite. Brian’s curiosity about this molecule led him to delve deeper until he tasted it in its pure form and noted how bitter it is. But perhaps the more intriguing aspect was the learning that in coffee, sweetness perception does not necessarily mean sugar content, and amino acids are key to enhancing or ruining a cup of coffee. This was a striking realisation since Brian’s PhD work was about amino acid metabolism, but it was the perfect trigger to take the idea of embedding in the coffee enterprise more closely. Then, Brian’s focused on roasting science and put the hands on as a home roaster.
Flavia, on the other hand, has always been fascinated by the life science. Following a decade immersed in the intricacies of parasite biology, her life began to alternate between the laboratories and motherhood. It was during this juncture that Flavia realised that reigniting a desire initiated in Brazil could not only be an opportunity to continue exploring her passion for biology while working with this natural product but also to establish something familiar and more stable for her and her family.
Now, we have decided to join the Coffea family from a different angle. Coffea is the name given to the plant species that produce coffee. And coming from two of the major producers of these seeds globally, we will combine our knowledge about coffee and professional experiences to express ourselves in a coffee bean.
Our mission
Coffea Espression’s mission lays its ground in three core principles (QAS)
** QUALITY **
Our coffees are carefully sourced by Brazilian and Colombian farmers.
Following bespoke methods for cultivation, harvesting, and processing we have been able to set our minimal standards.
The coffee beans follow a meticulous workflow of sample roasting, tasting, profiling, and scaling up when required.
We maintain the optimal conditions for storage and roasting coffee in small batches, allowing us to offer freshly roasted beans.
Quality goes beyond branding us as an ‘Speciality Coffee’ supplier.
Aroma and flavour are important attributes of our beans.
** ACCESSIBILITY **
Although coffee is a commodity whose prices are unavoidably affected by the international market, we are proud to have the opportunity for direct trading with the most of our coffee supliers.
Direct trading allows some producers to access an international market where barriers such as language or export logistics may arise.
On the other side, we aim to build a community that can access coffee with distinct attributes in an affordable way.
As academics, we care about knowledge. The idea is not to complicate things by becoming coffee geeks. Coffee is to enjoy, and the most important thing is to get the most out of every sip of coffee. But we will use our platforms to showcase all the underlying intricacies of the coffee supply chain, processing, and brewing.
** SUSTAINABILITY **
We aim to develop a sustainable business. We are fully committed to the current challenges faced worldwide, and all our actions do not end with delivering a bag of beans.
Our workflow has been carefully designed to diminish the carbon-footprint by:
Using an energy efficient machine in our roasting process;
Using fully recyclable packaging and takeaway cups;
Allocating a portion of our e-commerce revenue to contribute to an international fund for businesses tackling climate change.
The coffee we source generates two by-products for downstream applications:
Chaff (rich in bioavailable nitrogen for plants), resulted from roasting process, is distributed locally for use in domestic farming/gardening. If you would like to get some and try it at home, please do get in touch.
Coffee grounds, from our locally served coffee is selectively disposed of. We seek to partner with a company that can collect and recycle ground coffee to repurpose them into other products.
Vision
Source coffees primarily from two remarkable Latin American countries that we take immense pride in and hold dear for those who enjoy morning caffine shots, espresso-based beverages, or has a delicate palate
Distinct profiles, origins, and processsing techniques will ensure each member of the Coffea family can discover their favourite brew.
We aim to showcase the best of Colombia. Although the country and its diaspora bear the burden of the country's dark history, we want to ensure that there are many other positive reasons to talk about this country, and certainly, coffee plays a significant role.
