April 2021: Bonavista Coffee Company
Secret Sip Coffee Club is excited to formally introduce our outstanding secret roasting partner from the furthest east we have ever reached since starting our journey many years ago. When the famed Genovese freelance explorer Giovanni Caboto first saw land, he reputedly said "O Buon Vista" ("Oh, Happy Sight!") which is the name’s sake of this very special city housing April’s secret roastery. Holding down the fort in Bonavista, Newfoundland, Bonavista Coffee Company is a small batch roaster with big dreams and a bold coffee array!
There mighty mission is what captivated us “Our mission is to become a truly Direct Trade coffee company. This means travelling to coffee producing countries, meeting with farmers and paying higher prices for good farming practices and better-quality coffee. We want to handle the exchange of money ourselves, face to face with the farmers. We want to directly oversee the export and import of our coffees. By cutting out the middle man, we will work to ensure that coffee farm owners and coffee pickers make a better wage.”
Currently, the amazing team at Bonavista has already secured direct purchasing relationships in both Colombia and Costa Rica and the owner Jon Howse travels to the coffee producing locales to meet with farmers and pay higher prices for better farming practices and higher quality coffee. “Our priorities are to support small farms, women producers, farms that pay their pickers fairly and those farms that participate in organic and permaculture practices.”
April’s exclusive secret coffee selection is called La Resistencia, from Mataquescuintla, Guatemala. This coffee brings together the production of a group of indigenous Xinca farmers. Normally they sell their coffee to intermediaries for as little as 7 cents a pound! By selling their pooled coffees as a syndicate, they are able to reach the specialty market. This “relationship” coffee empowers the Xinca in their fight to protect their rights, their culture, and their land. The cupping score of this month’s roast was an 86, and included varietals of Pache San Ramon, Catuai, and exhibited delicious notes of hazelnut, cocoa, and sweet apple.
Secret Sip Coffee Club is so pleased to have partnered with Bonavista Coffee Company to bring you this month's secret roast, and what we believe to be, one of Canada’s best coffees. To learn more about Bonavista Coffee Company, check out their website below: