Origin: Fazenda Sucuri, Cerrado Mineiro, Brazil + El Bejucal, Casillas, Nueva Santa Rosa, Guatemala

Producer: Danilo Barbosa & Family + Regelio & Miguel Quinteros

Process: Natural + Washed

Varieties: Yellow Bourbon + Red & Yellow Catui

Elevation: 1100masl + 1800masl

Importer: Orange Brown Coffee Imports + Semilla

Roast: Extra Medium

Notes: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Dried fruit

Can't Complain is one of our main staple coffees, our favourite house espresso for ease of use and consistency, especially delicious in milk. It does well as a low-acid filter option as well, roasted deep into a medium profile, it extracts easily and brings a nice round, sweet cup. We focus on bringing in approachable low-acid coffees for it, that are chocolatey and nutty.

This current iteration of Can't Complain is a blend of Yellow Bourbon from Brazil and Red & Yellow Catui from Guatemala. The Brazilian is from the Barbosa Family, whom we've purchased from for two years now. The Guatemalan is grown by two cousins Regelio & Miguel Quinteros. This is a new relationship through our import partners at Semilla.

Brazil - The Barbosa family in Cerrado Mineiro.

Danilo is a Brazilian farmer who's Family farm goes generations back, he prides himself in the quality of their coffee, being extremely diligent in the processing and quality control work they do.

 Cerrado Mineiro is a very desirable area to grow coffee in. Higher altitudes, and lower temperatures allow for the coffee to ripen slower than lower altitude regions, resulting in a sweeter, cleaner coffee. This coffee is grown on 10 hectares of irrigated fields, managed by Danilo and his family.

Guatemala - Volcancito, Cafe Colis Resistencia, and a Canadian silver mine.

This is our first year purchasing coffees from the Volcancito group out of Casilles in Nueva Santa Rosa, Guatemala.

We are happy to support the Volcancito group. This project and their partners Cafe Colis Resistencia were how I had first learned of Semilla via Drew at Bow's Coffee Roasters(BC), and their efforts to import coffee from these folks.

I reached out to Drew when he made a call for Canadian roasters to help take a large amount of coffee that was being imported from the Cafe Colis Resistencia group. I wasn't roasting yet, but the work being done resonated with how I wanted to buy our coffee, and so I got in touch with Brendan from Semilla.

Cafe Colis Resistencia and El Volcancito are at the forefront of a political and literal battle with the Canadian owned & operated Escobal Silver Mine(Pan-America Silver Company), built on indigenous land with no consultation from the local people. 

Semilla has this well documented and written up on their website, which I will provide a link for. This story is a good glimpse into the struggles of coffee producers and indigenous people everywhere, and the struggles they have to live through under the threat of political and corporate profit.

We're happy to support the indigenous Xinca people who are a part of this project, and their fight against the oppressive goals of one of the largest silver mining companies in the world. 

Semilla's write up about Cafe Colis Resistencia - head here to read more about El Volcancito and the Cafe Colis Resistencia story.

"A coffee inspired by Nova Scotia’s love for low acid, crushable coffees. Can’t Complain is designed to be the perfect house espresso, or filter coffee if you prefer a more classic cup. This lot from Marcelo has lots of chocolate, rich hazelnut, coconut, and a dried fruit sweetness. We hope this coffee fills you with the nostalgia of diner coffees past, but better."