Great Beans, Great Coffee.
So, with UK Coffee Week coming to a close we wanted to introduce you to a fantastic new producer we are working with, Caribe Coffee Co. For those of you who are familiar with the Heather and Bale mission, you will know that we seek out and celebrate fantastic and talented producers from around the North East. On this occasion, we didn’t have to look far.
With our ears to ground we heard that there is a new coffee producer here in Northumberland and people are saying this is “the best coffee they have ever tasted”. It didn’t take long for friends of Heather and Bale to recommend that we check out the Caribe Coffee Co. It was clear that they are a perfect fit for our range of luxury coffee hampers. We knew as soon as we tasted their coffee and learned more about their ethos that we had to work together.
The Caribe Coffee Co are located in the market town of Morpeth, Northumberland. The owners are husband and wife duo, Wilmer and Elle Carcamo. Their roaster machine (proudly named Roasty McRoast Face!) enables the team to provide fresher coffee to customers to both enjoy at independent coffee shops, or in the comfort of their own home. Also, the coffee is within the top 16% grading in the world and on top of that, they have developed unique roast profiles to ensure the flavour and body are perfect. It’s no wonder they are gaining a great reputation for quality coffee.
Where it all began
Wilmer was bourn in Honduras and faced challenges which gave him a drive to seek out a better life. After much hard work, at aged 20 he decided to travel and moved to the Cayman Islands. This is where he met his wife Elle, in 2014. Born in Northumberland, Elle gained an MBA at Durham University in 2013 and travelled to the Islands to work. She fell in love with Salsa, Latino music…and Wilmer.
After moving back to the UK, Wilmer missed the coffee of Central America and identified an opportunity to bring quality coffee to our shores. Then, with Elle’s business background and Wilmer’s family links to coffee farming they started importing the highest quality, speciality coffee from Honduras.
You can read more about their journey in their own words on their website.
#TippingNotShipping
When we first started ordering with Caribe Coffee Co, we noticed that they don’t charge shipping fees. Instead, they ask that we consider leaving a tip for the farmers. This money is saved up and used to supply equipment for the farms that provide Caribe with their exceptional coffee. Being an independent business, this means that 100% of the tip goes directly to the farmers themselves.
During November of 2020, Honduras was hit by hurricanes Eta and Lota caused extreme flooding and devastating damage. Wilmer and Elle chose to send aid to some of the communities directly affected. Funded by tips, food packs, water and face masks were provided to hundreds of families.
Coffee Catch Up
We caught up with Elle recently to ask her a few questions –
We love that you carefully source your coffee and partners. What does it mean to Caribe to hold those strong relationships?
“Celebrating the Honduran farmers is central to our whole vision. Being from Honduras and having coffee farmer’s in his family, Wilmer knows too well how difficult life can be for coffee farmers and that’s why we decided to place fair pay at the forefront of our business ethos with environmental sustainability a very close second.
Of course, coffee quality was incredibly important to us and so those three aspects; fair pay, sustainability and quality are our holy trinity (for want of better words!). Fortunately all three go hand in hand; Specialty coffee, Arabica coffee beans grown with extra care of both the trees and surrounding environment is graded at 80 and above out of the 100 coffee grading system. It is the only coffee we sell and the coffee our customers have come to love.”
Where is your favourite spot in Northumberland?
“Tough question! Being nature and countryside lovers we are spoilt for choice here in our wonderful county. We spend a lot of time at Bolam lake amongst the trees and walking around the water, both have calming effects which, after a busy day, can be just what we need. Elle also loves the Drake stone at Harbottle which has a mythical and healing history but mainly because its’ a real heart rate raiser to get to the stone and offers and amazing views.”
Where do we feature this producer?
We are only at the beginning of our journey with Caribe Coffee Co. We are really looking forward to adding more of their excellent coffee varieties to our range of locally inspired hampers and gifts. For now, you can find the Lempira speciality in our Craster Coffee Hamper. It is joined by all you need for the true lover of coffee. Furthermore, during the festive season, the Lempira can also be found in the stunning Bamburgh Luxury Christmas Hamper.
You can explore our range of Coffee Hampers & Gifts to see what other fantastic coffee producers we are working with.