Spring is here and so is your Bean Bros subscription for April, featuring, from Denmark, CleverCoffee.
We had a good interview with them, so enjoy that alongside their delicious coffee.
CleverCoffee is born of passion, providing excellence and transparency in your cup. Super tasty and backed with best intentions. We hope you enjoy.
What’s CleverCoffee all about and please tell us a little bit about the team too?
CleverCoffee started as more of a hobby in 2014, developed into a webshop with fresh roasted specialty coffee - and from there on out the idea of sustainable quality coffee available for everybody was born.
Today, CleverCoffee is an award-winning coffee roastery and coffee shop. The roastery is located in Fillerup and our coffee shop is located in The Kitchen at Aarhus University.
CleverCoffee looks a lot different today than it did when the two partners, Lars and Lindy, had it more of a hobby than a business but the objective is still the same: to make the trade of coffee transparent and making sure that everyone down the line is taken care of. We do it by buying responsibly and in long-term with the farmer.
CleverCoffee is a team of 10 gigantic coffee nerds. Every day we strive to give back to each other, the farmers, and our community. We work hard, get stuck in, and make coffee memories.
Why do you love working in coffee?
At CleverCoffee, we think about coffee like it’s our job, and that’s because, well, it is. So it’s probably no surprise that we love creating those extraordinary coffee moments. That is why we make specialty coffee - not just a cup of Joe (no offense to guys named Joe).
We want to change the world of coffee and the mindset of the people who grow, harvest, trade, brew and drink it. We call this Transparency in Every Drop. How? We do not compromise on either cup quality or transparency of how our coffees are produced and traded. Why? Because we believe that coffee should be sourced in a sustainable and responsible way that benefits everyone in the value chain – you included.
What does it mean to be a B Corp?
We can truly say that being a responsible company is important to us. As a company, we are always striving to make sure not only our coffee, but everything we do, has as little negative impact on people and the planet as possible.
In 2021, we became a certified B Corp. As a B Corporation CleverCoffee meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. B Corps don’t just care about profit – they care about people and the planet too.
Objectives that you are focussed on making happen…
We want every cup of coffee to be a unique experience and at the same time we want to push the industry towards transparency. Coffee farmers have been underpaid for 40 years, and we need this to change fast for the farmers to be able to survive and for us to be able to share these unique tasting experiences with you.
We as an industry need to pay the farmers a higher premium and make sure the payment ends up in the farmers pockets. That is why we need more transparency.
There are a lot of companies promoting themself as helping the farmers, but without any transparency and therefore no chance for the consumers to know if they actually do what they say.
We are fully transparent sharing our purchase prices and each year we release a Transparency report where we share our work.
Is there any particular seasonal release you look forward to the most?
Not one in particular. New crops are always super exciting no matter where from, but the African samples coming in at the moment are tasting pretty amazing.
What are your main goals in selecting and roasting coffee?
We get our hands and taste buds on more that 40 different types of coffee each month but only a very few of them make the cut to our roastery. All the different beans are carefully selected based on their unique and exciting characteristics.
At CleverCoffee we are all about the bright taste from a light and gentle roast. All of our coffees are lightly omni-roasted. The coffees are analyzed, and we develop a unique roast profile for each coffee.
To us, ‘specialty coffee’ means being respectful for the life of the coffee cherry. That is why we roast the coffee to be as transparent as possible - and highlight the natural flavours in every single cup of coffee.
What came first - the coffee shop or roastery? How do you enjoy the different demands?
In 2020 we opened our own coffee shop in Aarhus, Denmark. We welcome guests, and serve CleverCoffee in good company. It is a brilliant space to enrich minds, tastes, and relationships through coffee. It is where we get instant feedback from the people actually drinking our coffee. And we get to see the faces of our guests when we tell them about the positive impact they leave on the world when drinking CleverCoffee.
What competitions have you been involved in and will be going forward?
We have roasted coffee for a few baristas competing around Europe over the years, but this year our Head of Coffee Lindy Brogaard will be competing in the Danish Brewers Cup. This is going to be a lot of fun. It’s something we have wanted to do for a long time.
The featured coffees of the month:
Manuel Osmín - Honduras
Region: Mercedes, Ocotepeque
Washing station: Cafesmo
Variety: Parainema
Process: Natural
Harvest: March 2021
Altitude: 1050 masl
Taste: Sweet and balanced with notes of tamarind, papaya and mango
Shade plants: Guanijiquil og Calzonte trees.
Suke Quto - Ethiopia
Region: Guji
Washing station: Suke Quto
Variety: Kurume, Welicho
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1800-2000 masl
Harvest: March - April 2021
Certifications: Organic
Taste: Bergamot and peach
La Catarata - Costa Rica
Region: Chirripó
Washing station: Café Rivense del Chirripó
Variety: Red Catuaí
Process: Black Honey
Altitude: 1600 masl
Harvest: April 2021
Taste: Intense but balanced with flavor of sweet figs and ripe cherries.
