Here at UCR, we're always trying new beans, from new regions, playing with how we roast it, different brew methods, and so on. When you have as much caffeine as we do, it's hard to hold still! We're always moving on to the next thing. In early 2019, we launched our Roaster's Select series. These beans are special ordered, roasted, cupped, the roast is tweaked, then cupped again... we do it until we get it right.

When we come out with a new bean in our line, it's exactly what we want. The coffee works its way though our company, opinions are heard, and eventually one is "selected" (pun intended.)

Our roaster gets to work on roasting hundreds of pounds beans, so that we can bring it to you, our customers.

Our roaster said she really enjoyed the process of roasting this particular bean, due to it being a natural process bean. She stated that it was more of a challenge than she'd had in a while, but she's always up for a challenge. After picking the Ethiopia Shantawene for our Roaster's Select line, she got to work perfecting the roast.

African coffee is known for having incredible floral notes, paired with a healthy dose of citrus and berries. Our roasting team was intrigued by the Ethiopia Shantawene. Being from Africa, it is certainly floral, but with much more muted citrus, and tends to favor much richer berry notes.

Written by Gavin Sellers