We get excited about coffee pretty often. For us, each and every bag of beans that hits our menu is something special. A beautiful bev that’s been lovingly grown in one of 8+ origins, meticulously processed, and carefully roasted. There’s a story behind each one.
So when we say we’ve got a BIG coffee announcement, you know we’re not messing around.
We’re pleased as punch, tickled pink, and overjoyed to announce that - as a world exclusive - we’ve got our hands on Cenicafé 1.
What is Cenicafé 1?
Cenicafé 1 is a new varietyof coffee. You might have heard of Bourbon (or Pink Bourbon!), Caturra, Castillo and Colombia - they’re all varieties of the arabica species.
It’s sort of like apples - you’ve got your Granny Smiths, your Red Delicious’, your Braeburns. Each has a different type of flavour, could be resistant to different diseases, might grow better in particular climates or under different conditions.
Cenicafé 1 is a new variety that’s been carefully engineered to A) be resistant to existing and future coffee diseases that are common to Colombia, and B) produce a delicious cup of coffee. It’s only just been made available to farmers to grow, and that’s why this is the first chance anyone in the UK has had to try it!
Who developed Cenicafé 1, and why?
So who develops new coffee varieties? In this case, it was Colombia’s National Coffee Research Centre (Cenicafé) through the wider Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC). They work non-stop to protect the future of coffee as a crop - looking at disease resistance, the effects of climate change, how to boost yield etc. - and to keep raising the potential for quality.
It’s a scientific endeavour, and there’s never a quick (or permanent) fix. New and stronger diseases and pests will keep emerging - which is why new varieties are constantly being developed. Cenicafé 1 alone took 20 years to come to literal fruition!
Why does Pact Coffee have exclusive access to Cenicafé 1?
No wads of cash exchanged hands, nor was it our close relationship with the FNC that meant we could offer our customers the first Cenicafé 1 crops - not directly anyway.
As this variety has only just come out of the development stages, just a few farms were chosen to grow the first crops to maturity. And as Cenicafé is as much a brand as it is a research centre, they needed to make sure the first saleable Cenicafé 1 coffee was something worth talking about. That meant choosing farmers worth their mettle.
And one of those - whether happy accident, or a result of years of development through our Three Phase Programme - was farmer Cecilia Camacho, from El Paraiso. As we have a long-standing sourcing relationship with them, not to mention having spent a lot of time training and investing in their progress, they were happy to sell their Cenicafé 1 crops to us.
About Cecilia Camacho, and El Paraiso
Cecilia grew up in coffee, and now runs El Paraiso (in Huila, Colombia) with her husband. She sees gender inequality on other farms - where wives aren’t allowed to help farm, or are given poor quality, low-earning crops to take charge of - but that’s not the case in her family. The egalitarian running of El Paraiso helped lead to its success, and it was one of few chosen to produce the first crops of Cenicafé 1 - now exclusive to Pact Coffee.
What does Cenicafé 1 by Cecilia Camacho taste like?
This batch of Cenicafé 1 has notes of silky orange blossom syrup with a honeycomb sweetness. A citrussy acidity and syrupy mouthfeel are topped off by a striking dark chocolate finish - it truly is something quite special. We’ve roasted it light, to allow the delicate flavours to shine through. Buy it now, and try a truly exclusive coffee!
