Read our definitions and commentaries on independent certification schemes applicable to our coffees.
The purest coffee experience is an unblended single origin, with the ultimate being a single estate in which all the beans are harvested from one farm or small producer group. Each bean must be of outstanding quality.
Estate coffees carry the name of the farm or grower association. While a coffee may be designated as coming from one country or region, only this type comes precisely from the defined farm or village carrying the single estate 'appellation' like wine. Indeed, micro-climate, soil type, quality, elevation, amount of sunshine, rainfall and tree varietal creates the 'terroir' and produces beans with distinctive flavours, aromas, acidity and body.
Let your customers traverse this intriguing journey through our collection from exclusive family farms and smallholder co-operatives. From Central to South America to East Africa and the Pacific, we've travelled to the remotest regions to bring you the flavours and aromas to really captivate.
All these coffees are available in 1kg wholebean formats, and are designed for wholebean retail sales. Each is purchased individually by the kilo, making orders up to either 5 or 10kg case quantities. For more information about stocking our coffees, please contact us.
From the Santa Ana la Huerta farm, Sierra de Minas.
Grown by Rony Asensio and Luis Pedro Zelaya on their family-owned farm, Santa Ana la Huerta is located in Sierra de Las Minas about three hours north-east of Guatemala City. We have committed to purchase from Rony at a sustainable price so he and his family can continue to live their dream of producing high quality coffee while improving the living and working conditions for their farm workers.
Santa Ana La Huerta is exclusive to Union Hand-Roasted and reveals all that is great about exceptional Guatemala coffee. The cup is medium-bodied, with lively flavour tones of honey, chocolate and spice complemented by red fruit notes and faintly smoky overtones.
From the ISMAM co-operative.
Grown and harvested by the Indigenous Peoples of the Sierra Madre of Motozintla, a co-operative of native Mayan farmers in the highlands of Chiapas. The Co-op is organised on egalitarian democratic ideals that stress responsibility to the co-op, hard work and high standards; their programmes help the communities in many positive ways.
The environmentally sound agricultural practices produce a delicate, sweet coffee with a light to medium body and a bright fruity flavour that sparkles through the cup. Certified Fairtrade and Organic.
From the Santa Terezinha farm.
Paulo Sérgio do Almeida’s family have owned this farm in Paraisopolis, in the southern uplands of Minas Gerais state, for many years. As a member of the Brazil Organic Agriculture Association and an associate of the Rural Development Biodynamic Institute, Paulo has developed new natural fertilising methods and is committed to producing truly fine coffees in harmony with the land and people who occupy it.
The cup is sweet and very rounded, clean and with a delicious nutty-caramel aroma that will have you reaching for that second cup. Certified Organic.
From the Lambari Farm, Poços de Caldas.
Owned by the Rebetez Mariani family and located in the south of Minas Gerais state near the city of Pocos de Caldas (Hot Springs), this farm produces coffee that is a consistent finalist in the National ‘Cup of Excellence’ competition.
Lambari is a 'model farm' with exemplary commitment to social and environmental programmes having its own school for 360 children which also takes pupils from other local farms. All farm workers receive salaries substantially above Brazil's minimum wage plus weekly food baskets, free dental clinic, employment insurance and pensions. The coffee is harvested using the ‘natural process’, where a small amount of the cherry fruit is left on the bean so the sugars are absorbed during drying. This produces an incredibly sweet, rounded cup with tones of cocoa and almonds, yielding a flavoursome wake-up call and is delicious all through the day but particularly mid-morning with a sweet pastry.
From the Asprotimaná co-operative, Huila.
In recent years the quality of Colombia coffee had deteriorated - until now! Small producers have emerged from under the wing of the National Coffee Federation to offer exceptional coffees.
Timaná was formed in 2001 when families of coffee producers in Huila joined forces to create a co-operative, to improve the quality of their coffee and work towards the principles of environmental sustainability. The coffee is “shade-grown” in forest-like plantations providing a habitat for indigenous and migratory birds as well as preventing soil erosion and improving water conservation. The coffee is extremely well balanced and clean with a leading edge of citrus zest and a sweet chocolate rounded body. Timaná also has a gentle red wine after-note, so lacking in much of today’s Colombian coffees. Smooth and elegant for all day easy drinking or after dinner relaxing.
From the Konga co-operative.
Our selection from the Yirgacheffe district is grown on family plots and smallholdings. Each producer takes their coffee cherry harvest to a central co-operative owned milling station within one of the farming zones for pulping, washing, drying and sorting.
This unusual coffee possesses great depth of flavour and an intriguing floral lemon-pepper aroma, unlike any other coffee. The cup is distinctive, wild and exotic. It is medium bodied and perfectly complements a wide range of foods - especially those which are spicy, or strong flavoured. Certified Fairtrade and Organic.
From the Bibi Plantations, Sunticoppa province.
Exposure to the monsoon winds after harvest and milling produces coffee considered a delicacy by many. Our Monsooned Malabar, from southern India, has a deep mouth-feel with complex and powerful spice-like aromas and very little acidity. Notes of cinnamon and coconut crème permeat through the cup's sweet finish.
The farm, in Sunticoppa, Karnataka State, provides excellent subsidised supplies for the workers along with dwellings, electricity and health care, as well as transport to local villages.
From the Abahuzamugambi Ba Kawa co-operative.
This clean, fruity and deeply smooth coffee comes from an amazing group of smallholder farmers in the beautiful Maraba district of southwest Rwanda and is the country's first-ever sold as a single origin. We have been working alongside the Abahuzamugambi Ba Kawa co-operative for more than five years now and have made many personal visits to help them develop the quality of their coffee and improve quality of life in their community.
Our efforts have seen a remarkable transformation in the local environment - yet none of it would be possible without the total quality produced by the farmers themselves. The cup has notes of bright citrus and sweet oranges, overlaying delicious creamy milk chocolate tones. Certified Fairtrade.
A union of selected beans, aged in controlled conditions for five years.
Most coffees are shipped from origin straight after harvesting and milling, but our aged coffee is stored in the Far East, under humid conditions for several years. This imparts a dramatic quality which is a highly prized very heavy body and velvety soft mouth-feel.
Celebrated spirits writer Dave Broom memorably named it ‘the Black Hole of coffee’ at a tasting because of these very characters. The taste is very concentrated with hints of spice and cedar and is an outstanding coffee to follow a sumptuous feast.
From the Kud Sane co-operative.
An unusual coffee with rare depth and complexity. Grown in the Toraja district of South Sulawesi, this coffee is full bodied with rich flavour tones of caramelised butterscotch and a wisp of toasted almonds.
A gentle sparkle lifts this cup onto its rightful pedestal as the definitive coffee for the serious coffee lover. Compare this coffee with our Kenya AA to really taste the difference between acidity and body and you will never say that all coffees taste the same.
From the Gayo Mountain co-operative.
With relatively low acidity, but just enough to keep the cup vibrant, our Sumatra Extra Fancy is an exceptional example from the most highly-prized of the Indonesia region's origins. High demand and a glut of low quality beans means premium Arabicas from here are especially hard to come by. Yet rising to the challenge, we are delighted to offer this selection from the Gayo Mountain Co-operative, high in the cool, isolated but richly fertile uplands of the Aceh province. We’ve named it Extra Fancy because this is a specially selected pick of the crop which is painstakingly triple hand-sorted.
This intensely fragrant cup is unusually concentrated and delivers a deep, rich and very smooth experience, with hints of herbal chocolate, peat, spice and fresh green oak.