Paving the way for 100% direct trade for green coffee distribution. TYPICA, the online platform connecting producers and roasters.
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【TYPICA Club】23/24 Rockbern🇰🇪
This month, we are delivering coffee from an agricultural cooperative in Kirinyaga district, located at the base of Mount Kenya.
Peter from Rockbern, Kenya sees coffee as a catalyst for change. To break free from the stereotypes inscribed during the colonial era and to earn true freedom, it is essential to cultivate knowledge and the ability to think through education. Here is what his “Scholarship Project” is all about…
【TYPICA Club】23/24 Primavera Coffee🇬🇹
This time, TYPICA Club is presenting coffee from La Colina Farm, one of the most popular among the many farms in the prominent origins, Antigua.
Primavera Coffee works with more than 300 producer families in Guatemala, providing free agricultural education and training and supporting three women's coffee organizations.
Sympathizing with their vision, three roasters who visited the farms in Guatemala will convey the producer's thoughts and passion and deliver delicious coffee and narratives.
【TYPICA Club】23/24 Nayra Qata🇧🇴
Carmelo's standard variety, Red Catuai, is produced using a unique processing method called double-washed. This processing method allows the original flavor of the coffee to stand out.
Let's work together to make this grand project happen. It’s led by the owner of the farm Carmelo, who aspires to build a bridge between the farm and the city center for the local residents.
With the cooperation of our partner roasters, we are also presenting "Club Activity Online," a video on how to brew a delicious cup of coffee. The members of Tohoku University Coffee Club “Cooffambers” are enjoying brewing coffee based on the recipes from GLITCH COFFEE & ROASTERS, a coffee roaster based in Japan.
Please enjoy a different coffee experience!
【TYPICA Club】June, 2023
This month’s coffee from TYPICA Club features a classic African variety, grown in a single-origin farm overlooking the vast savannah of a national park in Tanzania.
The beans were roasted with passion by Mr. Kubota of hazeru coffee, Mr. Mori of COFFEE COUNTY, and Mr. Tanzawa of AKITO COFFEE, all of whom visited Acacia Hills through TYPICA Lab.
Let’s also take a moment to appreciate an extraordinary project led by Acacia Hills owner Leon Christianakis, who aspires to empower small-holder farmers by providing them with essential shade trees*. With this initiative, he envisions Tanzania becoming a global leader in specialty coffee production.
*Shade trees act as nature’s parasols, shielding the coffee trees from direct sunlight and enriching the soil with their fallen leaves. Moreover, these trees play a vital role in tackling climate change by absorbing (sequestering) CO2, offering a significant environmental benefit.
“Ultimately, we just need to focus on our own style and business and do what we can. It’s a waste of time to be too concerned about what others are doing, so we should use our time in a meaningful way. That’s one of the lessons I’ve learned in my life, especially in the six years since I started the business.”
Martin found in roasting something that overlapped with the mystical and spiritual world of Japanese craftsmen, who put their souls into what they make, and founded Triple five coffee roasters in his home country of Slovakia. Read more about him in our new Narrative - out now!
“I see the end consumer as the frame that finishes the picture. Just because we’re not making what we want, doesn’t mean we’re not being creative. In fact, I’d say going through this process to create a finished picture with the consumer is incredibly creative.”
Backstage Roasters was formed by a group of three former commercial photographers in their pursuit of trying to find a way to keep customers happy without sacrificing their own ambition or ideals. This is their journey.
Narrative out now!
TYPICA Lab (Group B)
The day we arrived in Antigua, Guatemala, to our surprise it was in the middle of celebrating its annual festival and the city was bustling with people and cultural experiences.
After a 4 hour drive north from the ancient city of Antigua, it was much hotter and more humid than I expected, and we were all very excited. We were all amazed at how well maintained all the farms were. Nadine, who guided us through all of our Guatemala experiences, exports beautiful green beans.
The Korean roaster headed to El Salvador for the second half of their trip.
Suddenly in the middle of the mountains, CaféNor appeared.
Alejandro's family is truly warm and caring.
We were impressed by how environmentally conscious and sustainable his station is. He makes a lot of efforts, such as generating all of his machines, no matter how much power they require, from sunlight and wind power, as well as making nutritious fertilizers from production waste. We had the opportunity to meet with him and nearly 20 other producers.
People from completely different countries, different cultures, and different environments joke with each other beyond the language barrier. We had many dialogues through the common language of coffee. This trip marked the moment when true direct trade was established.
Meanwhile, roasters from Taiwan headed for Nicaragua.
After passing through Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, a tranquil atmosphere surrounded by nature emerged. At Ocotal's El Bosque farm in the northern part of Nicaragua, coffee trees are planted in the midst of the wilderness, and Mr. Julio of Peralta Coffee said, "I don't want to increase the yield by destroying nature. What is important is to create a sustainable relationship between nature and coffee in harmony."
“Normally, a sense of ownership and responsibility becomes diluted as you go down the coffee supply chain. But that can change when you start roasting yourself. By taking charge of one’s green coffee purchases, to the ex*****on of their own roasting, the individual is left with a newfound sense of ownership over their product. I think having a sense of ownership spread across the chain like this is a way to lift the industry as a whole.”
Regalia Roasting Collective (now renamed Multimodal), which has operated a shared roastery and training facility with the mission of lowering the barriers to roasting, has been offering “business options” to many.
Paolo, the founder of the company, says “Just like an artist with an open pallet, I want our members to have the opportunity to be flexible and unrestricted.”
TYPICA Lab is our initiative to explore sustainable business practices and the future of the coffee industry together by bringing together roasters from around the world. Eight roasteries from Europe, Taiwan, and South Korea participated for our Tanzania and Kenya session. We’ve published the Lab Notes of the four roasteries who took part!
What did they feel entering an unordinary world? What did they take back with them, and how did they apply it to their daily work?
The transformation that took place inside the roasters' hearts will surely give you new insights too.
“Cupping Spoon’s strength is our specialist expertise. We’re competing on the quality standard of our flavor and training. Our customers trust and love our flavor. It’s not that we don’t need marketing, more that our core value is in our cupping skill.”
Our first visit in El Salvador was CaféNor, owned by Alejandro and his family. It was inspiring to see how sustainable his station is; they save a lot of water, everything works on solar panels which allows them to be carbon negative.
What became clear is that Alejandro is a great leader for the smallholders’ community. Many farmers respect his ideas and implement what they want together. We believe this is the ideal structure for a community to pursue sustainability collaboratively.
Our second stop was Guatemala. We visited Prisma and met Eduard, his family and the farmers who work with them. We were impressed by the sophisticated organization that the El Morito farm had. We also had the chance to spend time with the beautiful family in San Patricio, at the El Limon farm.
What is truly important to mention is how supportive Eduard is for every farmer he works with. His diverse and deep understanding for every single aspect of coffee, contributes to the production of their high-quality coffees. We were all in awe of his work.
We are looking forward to present these beautiful coffees on our platform soon!
Photos: .kozorezova
“Coffee is an incredibly complex industry. As an agricultural product there are so many factors that can influence it from the weather, to fluctuations in the stock market price, to supply and demand. But when you understand all of these mechanisms, and you think about how cooperatives are driven by people, it gives you hope for the future of cooperatives.”
Narrative out now!
TYPICA U.S. Launch Event in 2023🇺🇸
TYPICA’s fifth location opened in New York City.
To celebrate the launch, roasters and producers who are part of the TYPICA Community gathered from around the world to discuss the future of coffee.
A roaster commented, “There are limits to what we can do on our own. But that doesn’t mean we should give up. We have to celebrate and encourage each other and think about how we can create a future together, and that’s why we have a spaces like this.”
It was a five-day experience that showed the potential power of community can transcend culture and language.
A new wave of coffee is beginning to emerge from New York!
TYPICA Lab is an initiative in which unique roasters from around the world visit coffee producers to explore how we can all build a sustainable coffee industry together.
Inspired by the fresh experiences they had outside of their normal environment, the roasters’ deepened thoughts will surely awaken something in you and help you envision a new horizon too.
“I want to cultivate a brand behind Papua New Guinean coffee to shore up the industry as a whole. I believe our coffee has that potential. This country has unique micro-climates and soil conditions. So our coffee has some distinct character and appeal that’s unique and cannot be found in African or Latin American coffee. That’s especially the case with the Aiyura, Okapa, Siane, and Obura areas, where coffee beans are bigger and have unique cup profiles.
Part of the reason we are trying to organize is strategic. Papua New Guinea is a far-flung island in the Pacific. So transport costs can be expensive when exporting to consuming countries. That definitely puts us at a disadvantage. Even if small-scale producers try to transport micro-lots themselves, the price will discourage buyers. That’s why we need to unite and work closely together.”
TYPICA Club is a "subscription community" where producers, roasters, and coffee lovers can share the same daily life through a cup of coffee.
Coffee Lovers can connect directly with the producers via messages and tips when a delicious cup of coffee arrives.
The tips are used for projects that increase coffee sustainability, and the producers will keep you informed of the results from time to time.
Hello, Taiwan!
It’s nice to finally meet you.
We held the first physical event in Taiwan, the "Taiwan Caravan,” visiting four cities over five days.
At the venue provided by TYPICA's roaster community in Taiwan, we experienced the world of TYPICA through presentations and cuppings.
Since TYPICA launched in Taiwan in October 2021, everything had been conducted online due to the impact of the pandemic.
At this event, we brought together 55 Taiwanese coffee professionals, guest roasters from Japan (Mrs. Sunaga from Manly Coffee, Mr. Nagasawa from Nagasawa Coffee, Mr. Otsuki from Kurasu, and Mr. Nakamura from Mame Porepore), and guest producers to witness the "beginning" of TYPICA Taiwan together.
VWI by CHADWANG and Coffee Underwater in Taipei, Coffee Stopover in Taichung, Cupping Spoon in Tainan, and Coffee Bullet in Kaohsiung provided us with venues for the event.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the roasters and their leaders who cooperated in this event.
Chad ( ), Eric and Chris ( ), Stanley ( ), Vincent( ), Jacky( )
Guest producers
Biniyam( ), Peter( ), Emanuel( ),Elias( ), Fikri( )
TYPICA Lab: Central America has kicked off! You can follow the roasters journey and discoveries in the TYPICA Lab Diaries, where roasters will be updating their experiences.
Galo Morales, the founder of Sensum, comes with twenty years’ experience in the industry. Not only a savvy businessman, he has also built up a reputation as a coffee producer: In 2020 he was awarded third prize at Taza Dorada, Ecuador’s biggest coffee contest, and the following year he took the top prize.
But for Galo, it has never been about his own success. It has always been about building a system that can help other coffee producers succeed.
We spoke to Galo to find out what it is that drives him to keep supporting others.
Narrative out now!
“NOMAD is all about following your heart. That’s always what guides us. We never set out to grow the company. We just kept believing in ourselves, did what we had to do, and that brought us here: running NOMAD with a team of thirty.
That’s why we’ve never set a sales target or a KPI, or do a hard sell when customers come into the shop. We don’t do anything we don’t want to do, and we give everything to the things we do want to do. That’s our way of life.”
“People don’t see a barista as a job with a future. Most people quit in their 30s because they feel like they’ve achieved what they can in that role. But a barista should not be limited to working in a cafe, or winning a competition. If we show how you can have a professional career as a barista, and support your family doing it, then less people will leave the industry.”
Narrative from Tokyo’s Raw Sugar Roast is out now!
Everything we experienced was new for us.
TYPICA Lab Ethiopia 2nd group, we visited Yirgacheffe with Wete Ambela Coffee and Nansebo in Sidamo with Moplaco for our first 3 days in Ethiopia.
The smallholders at Yirgacheffe said their coffee trees are getting old and difficult to have enough cherries. They earn only 50-60 USD per harvest. When we saw and heard the realities firsthand, we had to re-consider what creating a sustainable industry meant for all of us.
When faced with the reality of the climate crisis, and what that could mean for the future of coffee, Mitchell and Kaho decided to try and raise the awareness of the people around them – through their daily interactions and regular workshops. We spoke to Kaho and Mitchell to find out why they place so much importance on personal interaction, and how small changes can have a big impact.
The Narrative for Mitchell and Kaho from Sango in Amsterdam is out now!
Processing season has started in Ethiopia and samples are finally arriving!
We have compiled a blog post about the quality and prices of this year’s samples, so have a read and learn more about what’s happening in Ethiopia this year!
“Every staff has different career goals, use different lingo, and see things from completely different angles, but both must keep improving their skills to stay at the top of their game.”
Jacky Lai, the 2014 World Roasting Champion who operates six cafes around Taiwan, says, “If you are a wolf, train your mouth so you can catch your prey and bring it home. If you are a sheep, train your feet so that you can run away quickly.” Jacky has been in the coffee industry for 20 years. Even though he has accumulated many accomplishments, he is still hungry for new discoveries. Narrative out now!
TYPICA LAB #3 took us to Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, to visit the farms and processing of Wete Ambela and Moplaco to learn about the reasons why Ethiopian coffee is so delicious, and to experience the passion and warm humanity of the coffee growers.
As Heleanna shared, the soil for growing coffee is disappearing due to climate change, and a passionate discussion ensued among roasters on what they can do on a daily basis to help.
We look forward to seeing new changes emerge as each roaster share the truth about Ethiopia through their experiences.
“When I meet producers and we go out for a drink, I learn how they really feel about what they do and what goes on behind the scenes. And that helps me decide. When I hear how the producers have spent a year pouring their heart and soul into their produce, but still can’t get a fair price, it affects me and makes me take my roasting more seriously. If you never meet the people you’re buying from then you’ll never be able to approach coffee with the level of depth and gravity that it deserves.”
New Wave Coffee Roasters based in Seoul, South Korea, takes inspiration from leading specialty coffee industries around the world. Read about Seung Kwon Yoo’s journey on our latest Narrative out now!
Let’s Creates a Cycle of Happiness
OKAGESAMA is a community-based greening project. Together with all the coffee lovers around the world, we will start to plant shade trees in coffee origins. The proceeds from your participation will go towards coffee producers as funding for further tree-planting.
How to join:
This project has a few stages. For the first stage, roasters can opt to join this project when they preorder their coffees! You will also get tree planting project updates to join the producer’s journey.
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🎉 We have reached 10,000 followers! TYPICA community would continue to expand in a natural way, through a cup of coffee. 追蹤人數超過一萬人！ 透過一杯咖啡，TYPICA社群持續自然的擴展。 팔로워가 1만 명을 돌파했습니다! TYPICA의 커뮤니티는 앞으로도 자연스럽게 커져갈 것입니다. 한 잔의 커피를 통해. Gracias a todas que hemos llegado 10,000 seguidores!! La comunidad de TYPICA seguirá creciendo orgánicamente atraves de una taza de café. フォロワーが1万人を突破しました！ TYPICAのコミュニティはこれからもずっと自然に広がっていくでしょう。一杯のコーヒーを通じて。
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