Notes Between Cuppings Entry 1

Off the cuff thoughts Jan 7, 2026 

With the New Year upon us, we were inspired to try something… well not new per se… in truth it’s a bit of a return to our roots: some more personal reflections in our newsletters. 

I met with Royal co-founder Bob Fulmer casually last month, we chatted about this and that, some old travel stories and a little reflection, plus a chance for him to taste our recent Yemeni Crown Jewel (and take a little green for his own, to roast his way). 

It came to light that after his first somewhat chaotic visit to that country, circa 1990, his journal notes became the basis for the first Royal Newsletter… at the time distributed via snail mail. He posited that this was something uncommon, possibly unprecedented in the coffee importing business. 

So, in that spirit, here are a few random thoughts I pulled together. 

Memorable Recent Coffee Cuppings:

Two recent cuppings stood out in my memory, for two related reasons. Partnerships with producers are two-way streets, and the key to keeping traffic flowing smoothly on those streets is good communication. 

Madagascar’s probably not a country you’ve tasted much coffee from, but I’m hoping that’s about to change. We bought a little late-season contract of robusta this year from a new organization supporting legacy farmers in the region. I’m hopeful this is the start of something special. 

One of the things that the Madagascar Coffee Company is hoping to bring to the equation is centralized processing. For the last few years, Madagascar’s coffee farmers have largely been left to their own means to process coffee cherries. Centralization can help with organization, consistency and quality, and traceability. MCC sent me seven samples of new examples of their processing methods, asking for feedback. The results are great, I’m really excited about the improvements for both the bulk quantities of robusta, but also the arabica micro-lots.  

The next harvest won’t start until much later in the year, but having conversations now about what worked and what didn’t with the small experimental lots can set the stage for success down the line. Interestingly enough, the coffees we preferred largely didn’t do anything complicated—washed processes with normal fermentations, natural coffees with little to no infrastructure – it felt good to recommend practices that are both common and easy to implement to get great tasting results. More to come on this front, for sure. 

The second cupping was with Charlie Habegger, whose connection to the Mountain Harvest group in Uganda has had hits and misses over the last few years. Uganda’s coffees are typically thought of as somewhat inexpensive and a bit boring, but Mountain Harvest is changing that, with the benefit of unprecedented traceability in the country. Their ten or so samples really impressed both of us. With their harvest wrapping up, this was the ideal time for us to taste examples of what they were capable of producing and essentially put in “orders” for coffee prior to processing. We loved their natural options, fruit flavors absolutely flying off the cupping table, and some really unique honey processing methods as well. Of course, the standard washed grades were a cut above and have the benefit of being partially sourced from a majority women-producing group, plus they’re certified organic. 

Offering clear preferences, projecting volumes, and being realistic about the market appeal of unusual coffees like those from Uganda and Madagascar is absolutely critical to their success. We’re still working on these projects, and don’t have anything contracted yet, but if these are the kinds of coffees that sound appealing to you, communicating that to us helps move that conversation up the supply chain and provide confidence to produce and offer these types of unique flavors and origins. 

Sourcing Green Coffee

As far as strictly coffee business goes, we’re landing good volumes of Peru and Colombia currently. We also just saw the arrival of our annual container of Kivu Belt coffee from Rwanda, with more of the “off-the-beaten-path” coffees from the Southern hemisphere on its heels, like Burundi and Bolivia, and a little Madagascar robusta for the first time in many years. We’ve also been busy securing Brazilian coffee since the tariff exemptions, and we’ll see plenty of that coffee soon, albeit a little later in the year than usual. On the Crown Jewel horizon, Colombia is taking center stage for much of the next month or two, with Pink Bourbon, SL28, Gesha, and a few co-ferments all imminent. 

Sourcing season has begun in earnest for the northern hemisphere, led by Central America and Mexico where contracts are being drawn and a few early approvals have already been made. We’ll start seeing fresh crop Ethiopian samples within a month or so, but keep in mind all of these coffees still need to complete harvest, processing, and milling. Expect the floodgates to open in the second quarter and, for Ethiopia, probably a little later. 

Lately at The Crown

This week at the Crown we’ve been busy cleaning the roasting equipment, the first (overdue) truly deep clean in a long while. This is your reminder, roasters, to keep your machines tidy to prevent accidents and unexpected maintenance issues 😉. Private trainings have picked up here too, plus the blitz to “evolve” Q graders before the end of the grace period last year has kept our education department on its toes. And the Tasting Room remains busy, serving up our newest signature drink the “Hey Mambo!” an Italian inspired amaretto and raspberry soda with espresso and cream. 

That’s probably enough rambling from me this time around. Anything you want us to address in a future newsletter? Don’t hesitate to reach out, we’d love to talk shop with you. 

Cheers, 

-Chris