African Coffees
We currently have two awesome African single-origin coffees.
Ethiopian ‘Shefina’ has notes of peach pie, lemon drops, and verbena, with a juicy and creamy mouthfeel. We have been using this coffee in our Pompadour Blend to contribute floral flavors and sweetness - so if you enjoy Pompadour, you will love this coffee. We found it was so delicious it deserved to be featured as a single origin.
Located in the highlands of Sidama, Shefina Washing Station purchases coffee cherries from hundreds of smallholder producers with farms less than two hectares each. Due to the diversity of varietals in Ethiopia and the nature of their agricultural practices, the coffee from Shefina Washing Station is a blend of heirloom varietals, which creates a complexity of flavor unique to Ethiopia. The coffee is selectively picked and processed the same day using the ‘washed’ method, then dried on raised beds.
As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is home to more species of coffee plants than any place on earth, much of it still growing wild and much of it still undiscovered. The genetic diversity of coffee varieties means that we find a diversity of flavor, even between (or within) farms with similar growing conditions and processing. The exceptional quality of Ethiopian coffee is due to a combination of factors. The region’s fertile soils, cool climate, and elevation contribute to coffee cherries maturing more slowly, resulting in complex cup profiles. All specialty Ethiopian Coffee is grown above 1200 meters and most above 1800 meters - in the highlands of Sidama, some coffee grows above 2100 meters.
AROMA: jasmine, peach pie
FLAVOR: lemon drops, cherry
BODY: juicy, creamy
FINISH: sugar cookie, verbena
PRODUCER: various smallholders
REGION: yirga alem, sidama region
ALTITUDE: 1800-2200 meters above sea level
VARIETY: heirloom indigenous
PROCESS: washed, then sun-dried
CERTIFICATION: organic
Rwandan 'Mbilima' has flavor notes of coffee blossom, nectarine, and green tea - with a juicy and syrupy body.
This coffee comes from the Dukunde Kawa cooperative, a respected producer group in Rwanda. The co-op is certified by Fair Trade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, and more, and over 80% of its workforce is women. Their farms and washing stations are in the Northern Province, where specialty coffee is less common than in the west and south. Dukunde Kawa started in 2000 with just one wet mill, before most washing stations even existed in Rwanda. Since then, they’ve won sustainability awards from the Specialty Coffee Association and placed high in Rwanda’s Cup of Excellence. Today, the co-op has over 2,000 farmer members and four washing stations - Mbilima is one of them.
Dukunde Kawa opened the Mbilima washing station in 2005 to make it easier for farmers to deliver coffee cherries during harvest. The next closest station was so far away that the long trip hurt coffee quality. Mbilima and its farmers earned organic certification in 2015. The station sits at 2020 meters, making it one of the highest in Rwanda, and benefits from mineral-rich volcanic soil and lush surroundings. Because of the high elevation and local climate, harvest here progresses slowly and lasts into October, multiple months past the majority of the country.
In the late 2000’s, one of East Africa’s most successful coffee interventions, P.E.A.R.L. (Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda Through Linkages), helped Rwandan coffee grow throughout the international market. P.E.A.R.L. was a sweeping infrastructure and education investment targeting large regions of Rwanda whose coffee was for the most part processed at home and exported with little traceability. The program was designed and led by the University of Michigan, Texas A&M, and a host of Rwandan organizations. They built washing stations and organized remote smallholders into cooperative businesses capable of specialty partnerships. They revitalized legacy bourbon coffee varietals. The snappy acidity, stone fruit flavors, and fragrant herbaceousness found in Rwanda’s coffee is still completely unique to bourbon produced anywhere else in the world.
AROMA: coffee blossom, maple syrup
FLAVOR: nectarine, tangerine
BODY: juicy, syrupy
FINISH: green tea, brown sugar
REGION: akanduga, gakenke
VARIETY: local bourbon cultivars
PROCESS: washed, then sun-dried
PRODUCER: dukunde kawa co-op
ALTITUDE: 1500 – 2100 meters above sea level
CERTIFICATION: organic
You can also try our blends that have african components:
When Noble Coffee Roasting shifted from an idea to a reality about 20 years ago, founder Jared Rennie developed Pompadour {Elegant Espresso} as one of our 4 staple blends. Pompadour has sweet and delicate flavor notes, such as raspberry, honeysuckle, jasmine tea, and macadamia nut. Pompadour was designed to contrast World Tour {Classic Espresso}. Where the boldness of World Tour cuts through milky drinks like lattes, Pompadour shines on its own and in drinks with little milk.
Pompadour is comprised of a combination of washed coffees from high altitudes, often sourced from Ethiopia, Colombia, Peru, and Guatemala. Higher altitudes cause coffee plants to take more time to mature, which leads to refined acidity and complex flavors in coffee, like black tea and champagne.
This blend gets its name from a landmark on the outskirts of Ashland, Pompadour Bluff, which is now a nature preserve to protect the land and rare species of flora and fauna. This landmark, among the rest of the surrounding landscape, was a source of inspiration for Jared, as he came up with the very beginnings of Noble Coffee Roasting, overlooking the views of the valley.
AROMA: maple, honeysuckle
FLAVOR: sugar browning, raspberry
BODY: soft, silky
FINISH: orange zest, macadamia
REGION: africa, central america, and south america
PROCESS: washed, then sun-dried
CERTIFICATION: organic
This blend is designed to create a complex balance of coffees from the world's four largest coffee producing regions. Originally designed to be pulled as espresso, this blend holds up well to some milk, as when used in a latte. That having been said, this coffee has become a crowd-pleasing favorite and is also enjoyed by many who brew it by all other brew methods.
AROMA: vanilla, honey, cinnamon
FLAVOR: chocolate, hazelnut, winey fruit
BODY: rich (typical of dry-processed coffees)
FINISH: spice, lingering cacao
REGION: africa, indonesia, central america, and south america
PROCESS: natural, washed, wet-hulled
CERTIFICATION: organic
‘Mokha Java’ {Classic Blend} is a crowd pleaser - with flavor notes of cherry cordial, clove, and red wine, it is perfectly balanced between rich and sweet. This coffee is delicious served black or with your favorite milk and sweetener.
The name ‘Mokha Java’ can be traced back more than 500 years to two of the first shipping ports where coffee was originally exported: the port of Mokha in Yemen, Arabia and the island of Java in Indonesia. Coffee cultivation started in Ethiopia; the indigenous and wild coffee plants were brought to Yemen, where it was first systematically farmed and turned into a global commercial enterprise. Coffee made its way to the Indonesian island of Java when Dutch colonialists smuggled Arabica seedlings from Yemen. Indonesia became the first place outside Arabia to successfully mass-produce coffee, making the island of Java so famous that "java" turned into a global nickname for the drink. Trade ships would load up with coffee from the two ports to supply the growing population of European coffee drinkers. Whether by accident or intentionally, the two beans were blended together and became the world’s first coffee blend.
Our ‘Mokha Java’ is a two-bean blend, designed to capture the historical flavor profile. The 'Mokha' component in our blend is a natural-process Ethiopian coffee that contributes notes of fruit and cocoa. The 'Java' component is a wet-hulled Indonesian coffee that has deeper notes of earth and spice. It’s a marriage between the brightness of Africa and the depth of Indonesia, resulting in a dynamic yet balanced coffee.
AROMA: cherry cordial, clove
FLAVOR: red wine, dark chocolate
BODY: plush, silky
FINISH: tobacco, nutmeg
REGION: africa and indonesia
PROCESS: natural, wet-hulled
CERTIFICATION: organic