Ever had a cup of really good Zimbabwean coffee...or any Zimbabwean coffee for that matter?
That’s just the question we asked ourselves over several cups of coffee one wet London afternoon. Whilst sipping away at a couple of v60 brews (a Kenyan and an Ethiopian from memory), Mitch and Danny began to wonder why we could not find a cup of Zimbabwean on the menu anywhere? And so an idea was born.
But as with most bright ideas it remained just that until Mitch returned home to Bulawayo in 2019. Time to dust off that idea! And yet we were always about more than developing the perfect cup. Of course rediscovering exceptional Zimbabwean coffee is foundational to our story. But we also wanted to build a fair and flourishing supply chain with a circular impact that reinvests profits for the good of the community and for the good of the cup.
With all that in mind it became apparent that we needed to strengthen the team so called up an old friend in Louise whose exact words were "Sign me up!". With that the team grew from two to three and ensured we not only acquired a priceless set of skills but mainly one of the loveliest people you'll meet.
Meanwhile, back in Zimbabwe Mitch had been steadily building direct relationships with small-scale farmers. One of these is David Muganyura, a connection made thanks to the fabulous Danie of Mushe Coffee. David and his family have been growing coffee in Zimbabwe for 30 years and call the spectacular Honde Valley home. Roughly 15km from Hauna Growth Point and nestled up on the side of the escarpment, Masara Heights looks out over the valley where rainfall, elevation and topography all collide to produce a coffee farmer’s haven. Not long afterwards we bought our first bag of Zimbabwean green beans, 60kg of Masara Heights AAA in a re-used jute sack because that's all that the mill could find.
Around this time we started working with Ally Simpson (@supersimbo), who worked his magic to help us develop a brand identity. Louise then introduced us all to some of her friends, the remarkable Rachel and Frank of Fidela Coffee, who've become indispensable partners in most things from farm to cup.
By mid 2022 our first ever batch of coffee was roasted, rested, packed and labelled with the friendliest of packaging materials, before being sent out into the world for a lucky bunch of testers to rediscover exceptional Zimbabwean coffee.
So far the feedback has been unanimous in terms of the quality in the cup and its potential and that's all we needed to take the next step and buy up David's 2022 harvest at a price of his choosing. And we can't wait to get it into your hands.
And there you have it, at least the bare bones of it anyway.
We hope you like what we’re trying to do as much as you like our coffee.