Our Origins: The Journey of Our Beans, Farm by Farm
Every KARBUR bag starts long before roasting — on a specific plot of land, with producers we can name. Here are the five origins that make up our lineup right now: where they come from, how they're grown, and why we chose them.
🇵🇪 Peru · Cajamarca — Montegrande
In the cup: cocoa, gentle citrus brightness, and subtle floral notes.
Region: Cajamarca · Altitude: 1,500–1,900 m · Variety: local varieties · Process: washed · Certifications: Fairtrade & Organic
This coffee comes from the Montegrande Farmers' Association, which brings together smallholders in Cajamarca, in the Andes of northern Peru. Together, they share training, resources, and markets that none could reach alone.
Grown at altitude on certified organic land, then washed for a clean, balanced cup, the more stable price guaranteed by Fairtrade is reinvested in part into the farms and the community's infrastructure.
💡 Did you know? Fairtrade guarantees producers a minimum price plus a premium paid to their community. Organic certification bans synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Together: a coffee that's good for the land and for the people who grow it.
🇨🇴 Colombia · Huila — Huila Supremo
In the cup: green tea, tropical fruit, and molasses — a bright, well-balanced cup.
Region: Huila · Altitude: 1,300–1,900 m · Varieties: Castillo, Caturra, Colombia, Cenicafé · Process: washed · SCA score: 84.5
In southern Colombia, families have grown coffee for generations on the volcanic soils of Huila, shaded by native trees. This lot blends four varieties, giving it depth and complexity.
It comes from the CADEFIHUILA cooperative, a non-profit active for over 60 years. It offers its members 45 buying points, 16 cupping labs, and drying services, and meets Fairtrade, Rainforest, 4C, and C.A.F.E. Practices standards.
💡 Did you know? "Supremo" isn't a variety — it's a bean size, the largest of the Colombian harvest. The SCA score, out of 100, measures cup quality; from 80 points up, it's considered specialty coffee.
🇧🇷 Brazil · Cerrado Mineiro — Catuai
In the cup: sweet caramel, cocoa, roasted nuts, and hazelnut, with hints of dried fruit.
Region: Cerrado Mineiro · Altitude: approx. 1,200 m · Variety: Red Catuai · Process: natural pulped · Grade: Sc. 15 Up
This coffee comes from Bioma Café, founded by Marcelo Nogueira Assis and Flavio Marcio Silva, both award-winning producers at the Cup of Excellence competition. Their farm controls every step, from growing to post-harvest processing, for full traceability and consistent quality.
The Cerrado Mineiro, a plateau in the state of Minas Gerais, offers well-defined seasons and a stable climate. Cherries ripen evenly there, giving a clean, structured, naturally sweet cup, consistent from one harvest to the next.
💡 Did you know? With a natural pulped process, the cherry's skin is removed but the bean dries with some of its sweet pulp (the mucilage) still on — hence the caramel notes. "Sc. 15 Up" means beans of at least 15/64 inch.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica · Turrialba — Esperanza
In the cup: cocoa, roasted nuts, brown sugar, and a delicate vanilla sweetness.
Region: Turrialba · Altitude: 800–1,400 m · Variety: Esperanza · Process: washed (African Washed) · Grade: SHB EP
This lot comes from Aquiares Estate, founded in 1980 on the volcanic soils of Turrialba. It's one of the country's largest coffee farms: 925 hectares, over 200 of which are protected forest. Starting in the 1990s, its workers were able to become homeowners on the farm.
The Esperanza variety crosses Ethiopian genetics, a source of aromatic complexity, with the hardy Sarchimor. Aquiares has measured its emissions since 2015: its verified results show it to be carbon-neutral, even carbon-negative.
💡 Did you know? SHB, for "Strictly Hard Bean," describes a bean grown at altitude that ripens slowly and becomes denser and more aromatic. EP, for "European Preparation," means the lot is sorted to remove defects.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Yirgacheffe — Yirgacheffe Edido
In the cup: floral aromas, bright citrus, cocoa sweetness, and a clean caramel finish.
Region: Yirgacheffe, Idido · Altitude: 1,900–2,450 m · Variety: Heirloom · Process: washed · Grade: Grade 1 · SCA score: 86
This lot comes from Idido (Edido), one of the communities that made Yirgacheffe famous. Smallholders there grow traditional varieties at very high altitude, shaded by native trees.
It's exported by Ken Bon, a mother-daughter business run by Aisha and Danya, who provide producers with processing facilities and training on quality and sustainable practices, for traceable, carefully handled lots.
💡 Did you know? Ethiopia is the birthplace of arabica. "Heirloom" refers to its thousands of indigenous varieties, often never catalogued — hence these unique floral aromas. Grade 1 is the highest grade, with almost no defects.
These beans show up, solo or blended, across our totem coffees. Explore the full KARBUR lineup and find the one that matches you.