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Coffee arrivals from Ethiopia

New arrivals from Ethiopia, uncover their potential

Once again, Ethiopia surprises us with amazing coffee, and finally we can say WE HAVE FRESH ARRIVALS FROM ETHIOPIA FOR YOU! To ensure  this long-awaited day, our team at Nordic Approach and our sister company, Tropiq, have followed a rigorous process to be able to present you this treat. Hence, yes! We are very excited to hear your thoughts on them! We have listed the cooperatives and washing stations because knowing the story behind our Read more…

By Irene Andrade, ago

Take a look at the 124 coffees we cupped in the Spring Cupping 2022

We closed April with our Spring Cupping 2022, where we cupped 124 coffees in total from different origins – Ethiopia, Honduras, El Salvador, Uganda, Kenya, and we couldn’t miss the opportunity to also show off some funky coffees from our collection.  Our colleagues also took us through each one of the origins during their presentations, so everybody could gain insight into the starting point of the supply chain in the coffee industry. We also discovered Read more…

By Irene Andrade, ago

Honduras 2022: harvest update and incoming coffees

It’s been a challenging year on the Honduran farms, but we have ensured our 2022 lots and it all looks promising! We have received the first preshiment samples for some of the Caballeros lots but there is more on its way. Here you go an overview so you can plan your coffees with your fav sales rep! Looking back: 2021/22 Harvest Due to different factors, volumes of Honduran coffees decreased by 30-40% this year. On Read more…

By Miren Arregui, ago

It’s Ethiopia season! Your 2022 coffees are on the way.

How can you tell that spring is coming? Sprouts, sunshine, rainy weather… and Ethiopian coffees! Our offer list just got a top-up with a bunch of options for your menu. Are you in need of inspiration or looking for a quick guide to all those fancy names? Then keep reading. Let’s Recap: 2021/22 Harvest The harvest this year started at the end of October and beginning of November in lower altitude areas and it is Read more…

By Miren Arregui, ago

The SPECIALTY coffee map in OSLO. Our 2023 recommendations meet every occasion.

It’s not about where to drink coffee but about the how. Scandinavians are true coffee lovers and that’s a fact. But where can you find the very best quality coffee in the Norwegian capital? Working in the coffee industry for over 10 years in the Nordic country gave us a fine overview of our favourite coffee shops and very unique and special spots in Oslo. But let’s go further than the classic “where to find Read more…

By Miren Arregui, ago

The unspoken treasures of Peruvian coffee. What do these coffees taste like?

Personally, I try to avoid restricting the taste profile of Peruvian coffee to only one definition, since we’re used to encountering so many different profiles… Enki SuarezQuality Coordinator, Tropiq Already well-recognized for its gastronomy, chocolate and landscapes, we’re more interested in sharing one of the other unspoken treasures of Peru. Of course, we’re talking about Peruvian coffee. This country has so much more to offer than it is often given credit for. With its longstanding Read more…

By Nordic Approach, ago

What can you expect from Peruvian coffees in 2021/22?

Our sourcing has focussed on three primary distinctions for coffee lot styles: microlots, cooperatives, and community lots. We have encountered 87+ cups and complex characteristics among all three. Ceviche, Pisco Sours, ayahuasca, and stunning coffees — yes, we are talking about Peru! We’ve done our best to get coffees shipped on time this season (though we can’t make any promises about our containers of ayahuasca). The producers started harvesting in July/August and many continued through Read more…

By Morten Wennersgaard, ago

Rwanda 2021 | Looking back

It’s truly a pleasure tasting the finished roasts and thinking back at how they started in the early crop and tasting super fresh. I’m always amazed by what you roasters manage to pull out of it. Jamie Jongkind, Sales EU & Green Buyer January, before the harvest When I first started reaching out to the producers and farmers we work with in Rwanda back in February, all seemed very bright and hopeful. Gitesi was about Read more…

By Jamie Jongkind, ago

Colombia harvest update

It has been an exacting year in Colombia and for coffee producers across the country. The Colombian people have been grappling with changes in the climate of the country that have dramatic effects on agricultural products, and the coffee harvest has seen these effects.The internal market has seen the highest prices ever recorded by the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC) price offered to producers. Country-wide unrest followed by protests – which we have Read more…

By Joanne Berry, ago

How C Price volatility impacts coffee

You may have noticed a sharp increase in the C-market lately. The current situation in the coffee futures market is not unfamiliar to most of us who have been in the industry for some years. The implications beyond the current cost of coffee can be given less immediate thought but we believe can often have a more devastating long-term impact on our industry.  We would be remiss to not first discuss the backdrop to the Read more…

By Joanne Berry, ago

Indonesia 2021 | Funky Town

Indonesia was hit pretty hard by the pandemic in 2020 and sadly, after re-opening, they are now back in lockdown. Of course this has caused a lot of problems with harvesting and processing. Luckily, we have some pretty beautiful partners in Indonesia who have been rolling with the punches. Frinsa Estate Frinsa Estate was founded & run by Wildan, his wife Atieq and their son Fikri in Bandung south of Jakarta on the island of Read more…

By Jamie Jongkind, ago

We’re Hiring: Lab Intern

We are looking for someone who is ambitious and curious about coffee who would like to invest some of their time to learn with us, with the possibility of joining our team permanently. Duration: 6 months, with start preferably being in August, or early September 2021.  The internship is unpaid but we provide free accommodation and lunch on working days. You must be an EU/ EEA national, Norwegian resident, or have a visa that would Read more…

By Suzie Hoban, ago

Uganda harvest update

Good day! I was lucky enough to travel to Uganda in April, taking every precaution and being tested ten times a day, or at least that’s what it felt like. What a beautiful journey through Uganda it was. There’s a good reason we took the calculated risk to travel. Firstly, since I will be taking over the buying for Nordic Approach’s Ugandan offers, it was important to meet our partner, Kingsley Griffin, from Kingha Estate Read more…

By Jamie Jongkind, ago

How to plan your buying for Jul – Dec 2021

If you only have 30 seconds, read this: For the second half of the year we will have coffees from Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Uganda, Rwanda, and Indonesia. Samples will start arriving in July/August, and coffees will land from Sept/Oct onwards. Coffees will be slightly more expensive in the coming months, regardless of quality or who you buy from. Plus there are a lot of different challenges in origin countries that might impact when your coffee Read more…

By Morten Wennersgaard, ago
Farm Workers in Antioquia

The situation in Colombia

Just over a month ago the Colombian government proposed a major tax reform which sparked massive protests. The government quickly withdrew the reform proposal, but protests continued as people expressed their frustration of years of poverty and inequality, exacerbated by a violent response from police.  Sadly there is a long history of violent conflict in Colombia. It dates back to the 1940s and 1950s when the country endured “La Violencia”, a decade-long conflict between liberals Read more…

By Joanne Berry, ago

Your guide to green coffee samples

The sample you are cupping represents a moment in the value chain, from the very first coffees coming off the drying tables to green coffee landed and ready to release from our European warehouse. It is important to know which step in the value chain your sample comes from, and what you should be looking for (and looking past) in this coffee.  There are a lot of names and acronyms when it comes to samples, Read more…

By Suzie Hoban, ago

Ethiopia transparency overview now available

Our third transparency overview with prices paid to farmers in Ethiopia is now available. It explains how we work in Ethiopia, the suppliers we work with, and the complicated journey our coffees take from farm to port. The overview also includes average prices paid to farmers in each region and the FOB price for all coffees we purchased from Ethiopia during the 2019/2020 harvest.  Ethiopia is a complicated country and our largest origin in volume. The Read more…

By Suzie Hoban, ago

Meet Belcy Astudillo, “Final Spoon” at Coocentral cooperative, Huila

When Belcy Astudillo first began working in the lab at Coocentral cooperative in Huila, Colombia, her colleagues would hide the sugar so she couldn’t add it to her coffee. Now she is an integral member of the lab, one of the “Final Spoons” deciding which coffees meet the cooperatives standards on quality. She analyses the Yield Factor, moisture, and the flavours, where her palate may determine how much over the base price the farmer will Read more…

By Nordic Approach, ago

Your guide to our Ethiopian profiles

Coffee is a very important agricultural export for the Ethiopian economy, and has therefore been very tightly controlled by the government. Until very recently, all coffee traded in Ethiopia was bought and sold through the Ethiopian Coffee Exchange (ECX). This entity inspected every lot of coffee, assigned it a grade according to its quality (Grade 1 being the best), and assigned it a regional profile such as Yirgacheffe or Guji. These regional profiles reflected the Read more…

By Suzie Hoban, ago

Plan your buying for 2021

ME: Hey it’s Alec from Nordic Approach! Just calling to ask about your coffee planning for 2021 🙂 🙂 YOU, A COFFEE ROASTER, IN 2021:  Um, what? Yeah, I know. It’s been a year. But we’re still here and so are you, and people still need coffee. So how should you approach coffee planning this season? Every roaster is different but there are a few things every roaster can benefit from. 1. Define your current Read more…

By Alec Oyhenart, ago

Uganda, everything we knew it could be

We are blown away by the quality coming from Uganda this season. With twin challenges of the global Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, we were expecting a drop in quality from Uganda this harvest. Instead they have improved quality and consistency across the board.  Uganda is a relatively new origin for us. Morten began establishing projects in 2018 with a focus on the naturals and special preps. These processes give our offers a lot of Read more…

By Jamie Jongkind, ago