House vs Single Origin: How We Label Our Coffees
Since Chimney Fire's inception in 2017, the way we name and package our coffees has evolved. From the early days of including the lot number in the title (shout out to 194 - Ranmore Signature Espresso), to our current method of categorising roasts into House and Single Origin, we're looking to make it as easy as possible to choose which coffee is right for you and your favourite brew method.
What's a House Coffee?
Our House coffees with the blue labels are sourced from larger producers, or are blends of coffee from multiple places. Because we source the largest volumes of these coffees, we are able to keep their prices at the lower end of our scale.
These are the coffees that are served in the majority of the many independent cafés, hotels, offices, and gyms who serve our coffee. Being sourced from a larger geographic area, they stay consistent in flavour year-on-year, as new crops come in - ideal if you've found a coffee you love and want to stick to it.
Why would we do a blend?
There are two distinct philosophies in roasting coffee (as in making wine): roasting to showcase the unique taste of one particular place, or roasting to create a flavour that we think our customers will love.
Our two house espresso blends - Americas and Revival - are a mix of coffees from two different places (Brazil/Peru and Brazil/Colombia respectively). The green beans that go into these coffees have been selected by our roastery team to bring the different elements that create the classic espresso style, in a literal recipe (fun fact: we're now on version 11 of our Americas blend!). Combined with a darker roast level, these two coffees bring a more traditional taste to our range, backed up by the strong ethics of modern speciality coffee. There is no compromise on the quality of coffee or traceability that goes into our house blends.
Single Origin Coffees
A single origin coffee simply means that it is sourced from one particular place. Depending on the level of physical traceability desired by the brand, this could be anything from a whole country to an individual plot of land on a farm. In general, we consider our single origin coffees to come from an individual producer.
In this sense, it is true that some of our house coffees are also single origins. We use the term single origin in our range to denote a high quality coffee from a smaller patch of land, which is likely to change from one crop to the next - just as you might expect from a good quality bottle of wine from a French Château.
What's best for me?
The short answer to this question is why not give one of each a go to find out! We think all our coffees taste great no matter how you brew them, but we do consider our house coffees to be a little easier to work with, especially in espresso machines.
Our single origin range coffees typically have a higher acidity than our house coffees, so if you have a bean to cup machine you may wish to lean towards our blends. The way bean to cup machines brew their espresso is usually tailored towards darker roasts, so it's worth starting with our Americas or Revival Espresso Blends. Our house coffees are also roasted with milk in mind, and we know the creaminess of your favourite milk will compliment their flavours.
If you love fruity coffees, either in a cafetière/filter or as espresso, then our single origin coffees are a great way to delve into the unique terroirs of our partner producers.
Ultimately, knowing where your coffee comes from is a nice bonus and may encourage you to explore other roasts from that region. But, no matter which bag you choose, by buying from us you can be sure that the producers are being paid the best possible price for their delicious beans. Look out for our latest Impact Report (due at the end of August) for lots more insight about how we make this happen.
