Coffee Circle - Featured Roaster in October 2023

Autumn! Time to enjoy the change of seasons and avoid bad coffee full of cream and pumpkin flavourings! Bean Bros is here to help you with the tastiest of coffee in the comfort of your own home!

This month we are proud to introduce Coffee Circle from Berlin, and they have a clear mission: We serve and deliver the world’s finest coffee and equipment. We uphold high moral standards and work to sustain the planet and humanity.

These are not just words, Coffee Circle actively enable these ideas and values to come true. Enjoy your coffee and read on, to learn some more about this amazing team! 

Please tell us a little about the team and your passion for the industry

Coffee Circle was started in the spirit of discovery & change. Today, Coffee Circle is an industry pioneer, curious and enthusiastic by nature, always improving how to cultivate, source, roast, and brew coffee.

Since 2010 we expanded our activities from an online pure player into a fully integrated coffee roaster and retail store operator.

We treat people how we want to be treated, and respect all humans as they are. We maintain open, honest, and transparent communication with our partners. In all we do, we uphold the highest moral standards to sustain the planet and humanity.

We are about 80 coffee lovers from 25 different countries working together in Berlin.

What factors are important for you in helping select producers to work with but also to help and support them?

We purchase our coffee directly from the producers to live up to our claim of fairness. We pay high prices for the world's best coffees. Through higher wages, transparency, and partnerships, we create a better starting point for coffee farmers. Standard labels such as Fairtrade do not meet our requirements.

In addition, we invest a fixed amount of €1 per kilogram of coffee sold in projects in the growing regions, such as the development of sources of clean drinking water. The focus is on projects and initiatives in the areas of WaSH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene), education, sustainable coffee cultivation, fair supply chains, and climate resilience for a more sustainable coffee industry. Our goal is to secure the lives of coffee farmers and their families for generations to come.

You are involved in some amazing and worthwhile projects, is there anything you would highlight to spread awareness, or encourage support?

We focus our investments on three pillars: Education, health, and sustainable coffee cultivation. We decide on the goals and measures of our investments in close consultation with the communities and farmers. They are implemented by our local teams in cooperation with the local people. In this way, we strengthen the local population's ownership of the results of our work. We start where the need is. So far we invested 4.0 million € into coffee communities around the world, improving the lives of over 750,000 farmers and their families (2022).

Any closing remark you would like to make to our subscribers?

With every cup of coffee, you contribute to our mission. Thank you!

The coffee this month…

Rungeto This coffee is grown in Kenya on volcanic soil at an altitude of approx. 1,750 metres. The optimal conditions give it a tangy and fresh taste profile.

The coffee comes with a lively character and an extremely complex taste. It offers intense berry notes, reminiscent of finely tart currants and fresh rhubarb. At the same time, Rungeto has a great mouth feel and a round body so that this coffee is kept in beautiful balance from the first to the last sip.

The fruity, lively character is best expressed in hand filter preparations, such as the Hario v60 or the AeroPress. We recommend using 200 ml of water per 12 g of coffee and enjoying the prepared coffee best without milk and sugar. This fruity coffee is also highly recommended as a cold brew.

Limu Buture This coffee is 100 % Arabica from Ethiopia. We roasted it, especially for bean bros and are very excited about it. Our Limu buture is a washed, light roast filter coffee with a soft taste profile.

Funded by the donations generated through the sales of our coffee in the past years, the farming cooperative was able to build a washing station. We are very proud to offer this great coffee, which wouldn’t have been here without all the donations collected. A full circle moment.

The Limu Buture reminds us of its soft profile of chocolate and cardamom. A great, indulging taste for this light roasted filter, is best expressed in hand filter preparations like Hario v60, AeroPress, or Chemex. Enjoy Limu Buture best without milk and sugar.

Gishubi Our first coffee from Burundi! The Gishubi is like a refreshing summer drink that makes your senses dance. Fruity, invigorating, and just right for warm days.

This coffee has a bewitching acidity and slightly tart notes, making it reminiscent of a refreshing cocktail at a garden party. In addition, Gishubi’s green coffee comes from a great coffee project called „Long Miles Coffee, “ where coffee farmers receive assistance in growing and processing coffee, so they receive significantly higher income through higher retail prices.

The roasting of the Gishubi is adapted to all types of preparation of filter coffee. We recommend it for preparation in the Pour Over method, such as with the Hario v60. Alternatively, the Gishubi also fits well with the Aeropress or the classic coffee maker. Due to the wonderful fruity note, it is also very well suited as an iced coffee or cold brew.

Francesco Lopez Francisco Lopez is a "washed" processed coffee from Guatemala that impresses us with its nutty and chocolaty flavor and its very creamy texture at the same time. This coffee was named after its farmer and is the first espresso we offer from Guatemala.

This coffee is a spicy and at the same time very chocolaty espresso that impresses with its intense aromas. The nutty-chocolatey notes are reminiscent of cocoa, roasted almonds, and tonka beans. The Francisco Lopez coffee is medium roasted so it is very balanced and ideal for preparation pure or with milk.

Guji Guji is a natural espresso coffee from Ethiopia, that inspires us with its extraordinary exotic taste. The coffee is reminiscent of summery and exotic fruits and impresses with a wonderful interplay of a sweetish character and a tingling acidity.

The fruity notes are reminiscent of ripe berries such as raspberries and strawberries. The coffee is underpinned by a very elegant floral character and fruity notes reminiscent of jasmine and blackberries. The Guji natural espresso is medium roasted, so it tastes very balanced and surprisingly clear for a natural.

The roasting of Guji is adapted to all types of espresso preparation. We recommend it for preparation with the espresso machine, the stovetop pot, or the AeroPress. As it is not very darkly roasted, it also works well as a filter coffee variant in the French Press. Due to the wonderful fruity note, it is also very suitable as an iced espresso or cold brew.

Cerrado The Cerrado is our first 100% Arabica coffee from Brazil and is some of the best quality coffee the country has to offer. Cerrado is nutty, chocolatey, and suitable for both filter coffee and espresso.

On our trip through Brazil, we got to know the farm “Daterra – sustainable coffee“ personally and were immediately enthusiastic: The farm combines sustainable cultivation methods and innovative spirit with the highest coffee quality.

The coffee is particularly low in acidity thanks to its roasting. As a filter coffee, the mild, full-bodied aromas are shown to their best advantage. As an espresso, the coffee provides a velvety mouthfeel with a pleasant nutty aftertaste, which is optimally emphasized with a little milk as cappuccino.