Sourcing Archives -

August 19, 2021

Peru COE #13

The center of gravity in Peru’s coffee sector — and the focus of Intelligentsia’s Direct Trade sourcing program there — has historically been the mountainous north near the country’s border with Ecuador. It produces more coffee, and more specialty coffee, than any other region in Peru. In recent years, however, the rugged and remote Andean regions of Cusco and Puno in southern Peru have stolen the spotlight. Thrilling coffees like this one, and farmers like Lucio Luque Vásquez who grew it, are the reasons why.

August 16, 2021

Kenya Thiriku

When roasters and coffee tasters across the industry are polled about their favorite coffee origins, Kenya almost invariably lands in the top three. There really aren’t any good comparisons — the taste profile of Kenyan coffees is truly unique in the world of coffee. And…

March 3, 2020

ECWx Notebook: Small is Beautiful

It’s been more than 18 months since I published this account of our inaugural ECWx event: ECWx 2018 Colombia. At the time, the memory of the event was still fresh. I was excited by the potential of ECWx to deliver real value to smallholder coffee…

October 1, 2019

Finca Chelín’s 22 Flavors

In the early 1950s, the ice cream parlor chain Baskin-Robbins unveiled a new slogan. Its iconic “31 flavors” tagline reflected its commitment to a menu so vast, customers could order a different flavor every day for an entire month. The Baskin-Robbins vision was ahead of its time, and prefigured…

July 17, 2019

Los Delirios Labor Diaries

Our current Nicaragua Flor Azul lot comes from Milton Canales and the Los Monos section of his family’s Los Delirios farm. It was shade-grown and shade-dried at the family’s new dry mill, and represents the culmination of years of effort and investment to rehabilitate Los…

July 16, 2019

Our collective blind spot

Intelligentsia’s Chicago Roasting Works is located in a light industry area a few miles west of the Loop, the center of the city’s financial and cultural districts. Every morning on my way to work, I walk past manufacturing plants, dodging forklifts and rigs making deliveries…

December 31, 2018

ECW 2018: Bolivia

As 2018 draws to a close, we look back at an Intelligentsia milestone: our 10th annual Extraordinary Coffee Workshop, held September 6-13 in Bolivia.

August 6, 2018

ECWx | The Big Idea

Before joining the team at Intelligentsia in 2016, I spent 14 years working for an international development agency. A long-time collaborator in that work with a track record of innovation had so much success in rolling out new initiatives in part because he thought through…

May 8, 2018

Being there

The core principles and standard practices of our Direct Trade program contribute to the resilience of our supply chain partners by insulating them from risk.

May 7, 2018

ECW: What’s risk got to do with it?

Once a year, we convene all our Direct Trade partners from around the world — more than 50 growers and representatives of farmer associations, washing stations and exporters from 15 countries on four continents — for a week of farm visits, cupping sessions, presentations, meetings,…

May 4, 2018

Busting the microlot myth

The idea that Direct Trade is all about microlots is pervasive. And persistent. And, at least in our case, dead wrong.

May 3, 2018

Escaping the commodity trap

From the day we opened the doors at our original location on Broadway in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood back in 1995, our business has been built on quality-based differentiation: we have always worked to deliver the best coffee and the most elevated experience in the marketplace. When…