Blend Altura

About the Coffee

The Café con Altura program works with smallholder farmers in Nariño, Colombia, one of the country's most extreme growing regions. Farms here sit in the shadow of the Galeras volcano, with producers working at elevations that push the upper limits of where coffee can viably grow. The altitude slows the cherry's development, giving the beans more time to build density and sugar before harvest.

After picking, the coffee goes through a washed process: the fruit is removed, the beans are fermented to loosen the remaining mucilage, then dried in the sun. Done at this elevation, drying takes longer and requires careful attention to keep the bed consistent. The program is built around supporting producers who are working in genuinely difficult conditions, helping them get fair value for coffee that takes more effort to grow and process than what comes off lower-lying farms.

About Bright Jenny

Dave Upshaw started Bright Jenny in Kelowna, BC after bouncing through a few careers that never quite fit. He got his start in coffee at Starbucks while studying for his real estate license, worked as a realtor for three years, tried paramedic training, then spent time in the craft beer industry. Coffee kept pulling him back. He taught himself to roast on a popcorn maker, then built his own drum roaster out of a BBQ and a modified rotisserie. 

Bright Jenny has grown from those early DIY days into a full roastery and cafe operation, but the personality hasn't changed much. The holes in the counter are still there. The smoke-and-mirrors dark roast is still on the menu. And Dave will still tell you a story if you ask how any of it started.

Dave's sourcing philosophy is straightforward: coffee quality starts at the farm, and roasters are just trying to bring out what's already there. That means sourcing as directly as possible and paying a premium so farmers can reinvest in quality.

"Bright Jenny is another roaster we love for how seriously they take their craft without taking themselves too seriously. The result: a panel of excellently roasted and delicious coffees that fit a broad set of tastes. The owner (Dave Upshaw) himself considers their dark roast, Smoke & Mirrors, among his favourites, to which Dave says: "yes, coffee nerds are allowed to like dark roasts.""

- Dean, Director of Coffee