Yellow Bourbon

About the Coffee

This coffee comes from Sul de Minas, one of Brazil's most established coffee-growing regions in the southern part of Minas Gerais state. The area sits at elevations between 700 and 1,100 meters, with a dry season that lines up well with harvest and consistent temperatures that suit the Yellow Bourbon variety. Yellow Bourbon is an older variety, a mutation of the more common Red Bourbon, and it's been grown in Brazil since the early 20th century. It tends to produce a lower yield than modern hybrids, but farmers in Sul de Minas have stuck with it because of the cup quality.

Yellow Bourbon trees are recognizable at harvest by their yellow cherries rather than the typical red. The variety is considered more delicate and more susceptible to disease than newer cultivars, which means farmers who grow it are making a deliberate choice. Sul de Minas has a long tradition with this variety, and many farms in the region have passed down Yellow Bourbon trees through multiple generations.

About Roasti

Roasti Coffee Co. was started in January 2017 by Andrew Hayes and his father Gerry, out of Sherwood Park, Alberta. Gerry had been roasting coffee in the family garage for years before Andrew took it over after his career as a professional hockey goaltender ended. Andrew ordered a five-kilo roaster out of Montréal, set it up in his garage, and started learning. He's been open about the fact that starting the roastery gave him focus while recovering from post-concussion syndrome.

One of Roasti's earliest and most direct producer relationships is with Henrique Cambraia, a fourth-generation Brazilian coffee grower whose family Andrew and Gerry met around the time the roastery launched. Production Roaster Tara Huizinga describes their roasting approach as trying to represent a coffee the way the producer would want it represented, working from notes and expectations passed along by the farmers themselves through their importers.

"Roasti caught my attention on Reddit forums, but earned its spot in our July box after sampling their coffees; every coffee I tried was delicious and well-balanced. The "icing on the cake": Roasti publishes each coffee's FOB price on their website."

- Dean, Director of Coffee