Our Black & Gold espresso blend is a unique blend of coffees grown by various small farms in the Minas Gerais, Bahia and Espírito Santo regions of Brazil. With tasting notes of cocoa, toffee and nuts Black & Gold makes a great brew for a variety of methods especially espresso, drip and cold brew.

This organic fully washed lot is from Hutwe washing station in North Kivu.

Hutwe village is located in the Kirumba region of Nord-Kivu (North of Lake Kivu), on the edge of Virunga National Park, bordered by Uganda to the east. The region has excellent conditions for speciality arabica production with plentiful rainfall, high altitude and highly fertile volcanic soils. The region is also very poverty-stricken and has had a severe lack of infrastructure which has made high quality arabica both difficult to produce and very challenging to export. Virunga Coffee Company has sought to overcome many of these problems through hands-on farmer education and investment in local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. This has allowed quality improvements every season and, in turn, higher premiums for farmers.

Central Aceh is a well known coffee-growing region and its coffee is often known locally as Gayo, named after the eponymous ethnic group from Central Aceh. Rather than "central Aceh" the locals prefer to refer to their region as Gayo Highland. The coffee history in Gayo is very long and deep-rooted in the communities. It started in 1908 with only 100 Ha by Dutch colonists. The Gayo highland now contributes to 40% of the total coffee production in Indonesia. Gayo Coffee seeds originally came from Java Preanger, a Dutch coffee plantation in West Java.

A popular saying about coffee comes from Teuku Umar. A rebel leader in the fight for independence against the Dutch colonials, and a local hero in Gayo - he famously said to his army the night before he died in battle: "Tomorrow morning, we will drink coffee at Meulaboh (a port city) or I will die as noble."

The subregion of Isale is located just north of the regional capital of Butembo, on the outskirts of the Virunga National Park. The region has excellent conditions for speciality arabica production with plentiful rainfall, high altitude and highly fertile volcanic soils. The region is also very poverty-stricken and has had a severe lack of infrastructure which has made high quality arabica both difficult to produce and very challenging to export. Virunga Coffee Company has sought to overcome many of these problems through hands-on farmer education and investment in local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. This has allowed quality improvements every season and, in turn, higher premiums for farmers.