Blog — Africa

When we talk about flavor in coffee, we’re never talking about just one factor. From the varietal of bean to the soil it grew in—all the way to how it fermented and dried, and how it was roasted—flavor is a journey, a story in the making. And it ends, most deliciously of all, with a sip from your very own cup.True, we talk a lot about coffee processing: the factor we’ve found to have the most pronounced impact on flavor. And no process is richer in history and tradition than the natural process. An age-old technique mastered first in Ethiopia,...

Over the next few months, we'll be taking some time here and there to highlight coffee themes we find intriguing, informative, and inspiring—and, y'know, just straight-up fun. So, to start off: welcome to Origin Week, where we're focusing in on some of the countries and regions of origin that produce the coffees we love so much. Beginning, appropriately, with where coffee started: East Africa. Nestled among the picturesque landscapes and fertile soils of countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Burundi, the coffee of East Africa has earned a distinguished reputation for distinctive flavors and unparalleled quality. The region's centuries-old coffee industry...

We know our Gatta Anaerobic is good. Crazy good. Good enough to take to competition, even. Still, when Coffee Review in their March tasting report awarded this recent Ethiopian micro lot with a soaring 94 points, we were blissfully over the moon. Gatta Anaerobic is Olympia Coffee's first-ever anaerobic coffee from Ethiopia, sourced from producer Kenean Dukamo of Gatta Farm in Sidamo. It also happens to be the only lot on Coffee Review's list that hails from the African continent. While more farms in Latin America seem to have jumped on anaerobic processing, the trend has picked up more slowly...

What is it that makes specialty coffee so, well, magical? For us at Olympia Coffee, it’s the people. The farmers and importers, roasters and production experts, baristas and cafe regulars — and so many others that support and shape us. It’s because of these people, living in diverse, vibrant communities across the globe, that we’ve grown our company around a core mission to work toward a coffee industry that’s equitable, ethical, and sustainable from seed to cup. So that everyone whose hands and hearts go into making this delicious, carefully crafted coffee can enjoy a better quality of life. That’s...

  Before January 1st, back in November of 2012 it was announced that we were Roast Magazine’s 2013 Micro Roaster of the Year. Naturally, we celebrated by throwing a huge party at our roastery on the November 15th our 7 anniversary of being in business. Our party was covered by the Weekly Volcano, and featured excellent coffee, organic beer, tamales and live music by Lazer Zeppelin and The Maxines. Capitol Boulevard build out By the time the first of the year rolled around we had just signed a lease on what was to become our Capitol Boulevard Coffee Bar. This...