Doppelganger Espresso

About the Coffee

Fernando "Fer" Vindas trained as a veterinarian, but when his father passed away in 2006, he and his siblings had to decide what to do with their family farms in Costa Rica. Fer took over and made the call to start milling their own coffee. He named the micromill Cerro Alto, which translates to "High Hill."

Fer's science background shows in how he runs the farm and mill. His approach is measured and precise, applying the same methodical thinking to coffee processing that he once used in veterinary practice. The consistency in his work is a direct result of that mindset.

Doppelganger is Phil and Sebastian's darkest espresso roast, built to pull well in any machine, from a manual espresso setup to a super-automatic. The beans are roasted to a chocolate brown, not the oily black you'd expect from a dark roast. The goal was a coffee that holds up well with milk and works just as well as a straight shot.

About Phil and Sebastian

Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb co-founded Phil and Sebastian in Calgary, Canada in 2007. Phil came from an engineering background and has used that training hands-on in the business, designing their roasting machine and building software that runs everything from order fulfillment to coffee menus. Sebastian has focused on the business and finance side while traveling to Central and South America to source green coffee directly.

Both founders travel to origin to buy green coffee themselves. Phil covers Africa, Sebastian covers the Americas. They pay above the industry average for their green coffee and put money into on-the-ground projects at origin. Their sourcing relationship with Fer Vindas at Cerro Alto is a good example of how that works in practice. Phil first tried the coffee in 2020 and has visited the farm and mill multiple times since.

"Phil & Sebastian is a favourite of mine from my time in Calgary. My wife swore by their "Hartmann Honey" beans, and we stocked it (or, maybe "hoarded" is a better word) for as long as they sold it. It feels like a 'full circle' moment to finally have them in our rotation."

- Dean, Director of Coffee