Four Barrel Whole Bean Coffee
FOUR BARREL WHOLE BEAN COFFEE
We're an independent, locally owned coffee roastery. We operate a pair of cafes and we're partners in The Mill. We directly source almost all of the coffee that we roast for ourselves and our wholesale partners. And we take care of each other.
Available Coffee Varieties: Columbia, El Salvador, Mexico, Friendo Blendo, and Rwanda Tumba Decaf
Columbia:
Five years ago, Luz Divia Fierro and her husband, Elpidio, had an idea to plant Pink Bourbon coffee trees next to the yucca, plantains and sugar cane that they grow on the farm that they inherited from Elpidio's father, Angel. While they are the younger generation of coffee farmers in southern Huila, Luz Divia and Elpidio both grew up in coffee producing municipalities in Colombia and both had firm ideas around treating workers well and producing high quality coffees. And from these first harvests of their Pink Bourbon, we can tell you that they're onto something.
Their meticulous picking and careful processing of this variety has resulted in one of the most dynamic, complex and exciting coffees from Colombia that we've had on our menu: chrysanthemum tea, plum, mango, dried apricot, browned butter with an elegant, integrated structure. We look forward to many more harvest from Luz Divia and Elpidio and the Pink Bourbon from El Meson.
El Salvador:
Alejandro has worked closely with the producers in this Micro Region of El Salvador on our behalf for more than a decade. And two years ago he began working from his own mill, CafeNor, which is a world class, wet- processing, shade-drying and dry-milling export operation in the heart of Metapan. CafeNor is the only operation of its kind in northern El Salvador; Alejandro runs the entire mill on solar power and continues to provide extensive support to the producers in this community. We are honored to be the recipients of Alejandro’s expertise, hard work and dedication to the farmers in Metapan.
Mexico:
Jose Arguello is a third generation coffee farmer who bought Finca Santa Cruz 8 years ago to run as a family business. With the knowledge passed down from their father, Jose and his sister, Karina, run the operations of their farm and wet mill high in the mountains of the La Concordia municipality. Finca Santa Cruz has 250 hectares and while 95 of those are dedicated to coffee production, the remaining area belongs to the protected native forest of the Reserva de la Biosfera Triunfo Verde.
Obsessive about the fermentation times of their Bourbon and Typica varieties, Jose and Karina cup over 200 samples to determine when to stop fermenting and when to begin drying. Their meticulous processing lends sparkling red grapefruit acidity to a cup redolent with orange tea cake, maple, ginger and a creamy, structured body.
Friendo Blendo Espresso:
This is the Apogee of blends: Seasonal, Ethically Purchased, and Fully Washed Arabica Combine in a Balance of Florality, Brightness, and Sweetness. When using our espresso, we like 1 part espresso to 1.5 part liquid yield. And while it's tastiest 7-10 days off roast, we figure you're so good at this you could probably make it work any day.
Rwanda Tumba Decaf:
We found our latest decaf in tea country. In fact, on our way to Tumba Station, we drove along a river bordering a cooperative tea plantation for over half an hour. But you know what they say: You can't have a valley of tea without a couple mountains of coffee. Or something like that.
That’s where we found Tumba Station, the mill. And there, working the gears to mechanically adjust the mill's depulper, stood the owner, Venustre Mugraneza.
Mugraneza became Tumba's sole owner just recently. He got the support to buy out his partners from Rwanda Trading Company, a US-run ethical investment & support group. Mugraneza clearly hasn't taken this support for granted--he was the only mill owner we saw in the nation who took the term hands-on so literally.
This is the only coffee from northern Rwanda we've fallen for, a gem of a coffee among the tea leaves.
So, how do we get it from that caffeinated farm to your decaffeinated cup? First, we roast and taste harvest samples. If they pass, we direct the whole batch up to Vancouver, BC. That’s where Swiss Water Process works their osmosis-based decaf magic: no ethyl acetate, no methylene chloride, and every batch tested to ensure under .01% caffeine.
So if you’re looking for decaf, you never need to settle for tea. (Not that there’s anything wrong with tea.)
About Four Barrel:
We're an independent, locally owned coffee roastery. We operate a pair of cafes and we're partners in The Mill.
We directly source almost all of the coffee that we roast for ourselves and our wholesale partners. And we take care of each other.
Where does great coffee come from? It comes from third-generation farmers and mill-workers in Latin America, Indonesia, and East Africa. And that's where we go to find it, forging relationships that ensure quality of life for our producers, and high-quality coffee for our roastery in San Francisco.
We want to improve the lives of people all up and down the coffee chain. That's why we spend months of every year on the road, visiting and cooperating with the folks who make it all happen, at the source.
We're old-fashioned... about roasting. We rely on highly trained people, not computers, to see through the intention of our roasting style. Our style highlights the intrinsic qualities of a coffee that drove us to buy it in the first place: cleanness, sweetness, acidity, complexity.
We roast on a hulking beast of a vintage German roaster—one that was made to hold consistent heat and let air flow through in simple ways controlled by a human being...just like you.
1. SHIPPING & DELIVERY POLICY
We ship within 72 hours after payment is processed.
2. ORDER STATUS & TRACKING
All orders placed from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) will be processed and shipped within 2 days upon confirmation of payment. This could vary with circumstances such as online security checks, shipping restrictions, payment authorization, packing and dispatching of order. An email confirmation will be sent for all orders once received.
Once the order has been dispatched, an email confirmation will be sent to you with the tracking number. You may check and track the delivery status of your orders with our local logistics partner, with your Order Number. Please provide your contact number under the address selected upon checkout in order for the courier company to contact you in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
International Deliveries
For all international deliveries, the time taken is dependent on our logistics partners and their affiliates.
3. TAXES, DUTIES & TARIFFS
For all international orders, you will need to pay for all import taxes, duties and tariffs (if any) as per your country’s governing laws in order to clear customs.
4. MODE OF PAYMENTS
We accept payments via VISA/MASTER credit and debit cards, American Express and PayPal.
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