Etapa3: Coffeelogue Veinte 20

Hidden Coffee Roasters, Girona, Catalunya

Hidden, the Cafe & the Roaster

Hidden Coffee Roasters was co-founded by Carlos Moral. Carlos hails from a local coffee dynasty that has been in the business for many decades when his father Rafa founded local coffee import business MareTerra.

Ever since they started, the aim was always to build long term relationships with farmers although specialty coffee was practically non-existent back then and the understanding of the subject amongst consumers was very little. I would say pre-Third Wave of Coffee movement. Thus, in 2008, they launched the so-called ‘Instituto Español del Café’ with the aim to provide coffee education.

If we look back, Hidden Coffee was actually born out of a necessity to provide the end-consumer with a cup of coffee, a presentation and an explanation that was a bit different to what was available at the time.

Few years into that, Carlos and his brothers Jonathan and Joaquin all decided to start their own coffee roasting companies in the Barcelona area and were able to leverage on their family’s rich heritage. Joaquin started Right Side Coffee Roasters (more on that in the next coffeelogue), and Jonathan started Café de Finca. While they may have a few similarities, it’s super interesting to see how each brother’s own take on specialty coffee differs from the other.

The brand name Hidden comes from Carlos’ desire to bring specialty coffee out of darkness into shining light. That’s also the reason why the company logo is the Iberian Lynx, a critically endangered species of wild cat that is endemic to the peninsula.

All of Hidden’s coffees have animal or bird names, which is a reflection towards nature and its importance in our daily lives.

The Coffee

The Coffee I tasted was ‘Torogoz’, which is the national bird of El Salvador, and a lot of people feel a connection to it because it represents the beauty of the Salvadoran nature and their need for freedom in the country.

Torogoz is the new high-scoring coffee coming to the Hidden Coffee Roasters family to start their Competition Series, a new range of coffees with SCA scores above 90 points.

91 SCA points : But what does this mean?
SCA stands for Specialty Coffee Association and is the body responsible for ensuring the quality of specialty coffees around the world. It includes producers, roasters and baristas who contribute their experience and knowledge to reach the excellence of each coffee.

In order to establish a scale of value in the world of specialty coffees, the SCA created the SCA Cupping Form, a scoring system from 0 to 100 to determine the characteristics and virtues of each coffee. In this system only coffees from 80 points are considered specialty and between 90 and 100 exceptional points.

Traceability & The Farm

The San Francisco farm located in the coffee region of Apaneca – Ilamatepec, has 205 hectares of coffee. Coffee trees have an average age of 25 years,and are found on sandy and volcanic soil. The Salaverria family takes care of the entire process from collection to storage. The type of crop is under native shade, managed through selective logging, pruning is traditional and the harvest of the fruits is manual.

Andrés Salaverria is the fifth generation of this family dedicated to coffee farming. He has been working in coffee for 11 years, always concerned about innovating and improving, in addition to working on the social and ecological components around coffee farming.

Extremely funky, complex and fun coffee with fruity notes of ripe kiwi, melon, lychee and even macadamia nut and chocolate. In cup it is silky and provides a complex acidity that will not leave anyone indifferent. This is one of those coffees only suitable for people who are adventurous, have an open mind and the desire to try something really unique.

·       COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: El Salvador

·       REGION: Apaneca-Ilamatepec

·       PROCESS: Natural

·       ALTITUDE: 1650 m.a.s.l

·       SCREENING: 15/18

·       VARIETY: Bourbon

·       PRODUCER: Andres Salaverria

·       FARM: San Francisco

·       ATTRIBUTES: Complex acidity with silky body

·       TASTING NOTES: Melon, Lychee and Macadamia nut