SHADY LANE

A LIGHT DARK ROAST:
People have been drinking dark roasts for over two-centuries and it seems both short-sighted and careless to ignore history. And yet if you roast too dark, all of the unique flavours of origin are lost and you simply taste the bitter burn and one-dimensional char of the roast process itself. Shady Lane is a new way of roasting that uses a gentle approach and precise technique to strike a compromise: it engages in the coffee past with an approachable low-acidity but also showcases the deeply sweet and delicious chocolaty notes possible with particular origins. It is new and old because as the Pavement song concludes, "the worlds collide, but all that we want is a shady lane". 

ORIGIN:
Built in 2010, the Kapchorwa washing station is located in Sipi sub-county of Kapchorwa district, among the high ridges of Mount Elgon. It has 907 members spread across 35 Producer Organizations. We worked with the 106 farmers at the Zukuku Bora organization for this particular offering. Land plots are small, on average 2.4 acres, and contain interlocked crops of coffee, banana, beans and cocoyam, as well as shade trees, trenches, bunds, vegetative contours and mulch to help with erosion.

FLAVOUR:
This is my first time sourcing from Uganda, but after tasting Kapchorwa, it will certainly not be my last! It has a soft and cold-weather appropriate haze of ginger and nutmeg that pairs perfectly with its array of vanilla, butterscotch and cocoa notes. The cup is thick and sweet, think chocolate pudding with a generous portion of whipped cream on top. Perfect as espresso or with milk.