Friedhats from Amsterd in our July Subscription!

Summer is here, it’s hot and it’s fun!

What better way to celebrate than with packaging that brings joy and coffee that brings pleasure?

We are delighted to bring you coffee from Friedhats and a few words from the team…

I get the impression you like to do things a bit differently, there seems to be a way of working, somewhere between FUKU and FUN!
Friedhats was created with its main goal being to keep it fun. We were certain, above all else, that we had to have fun doing what we were doing or there was no point. It starts in the names Friedhats Coffee and Fuku Cafe.
Quality does not have to be slick, high gloss, minimalist and pretentious. We like to keep things simple.

Tell us a bit about how your approach plays out across different parts of your business:

Sourcing
We mainly source our coffees through importers based in Europe. We buy direct from some of the larger farms that can export but, at the moment we are not big enough to be buying containers of coffee. Like every other specialty coffee roaster out there “we source only the best of beans we can find” but more importantly we buy the beans we like, because if we don’t like what we’re roasting, what’s the point?

Roasting
As is probably clear, already, we roast light! It’s pretty simple, we don’t like “green” underdeveloped notes or smoky bitterness in our coffee. We also have a different profile for filter and espresso.

Service
In our minds service is pretty straight forward - be nice to people and enjoy helping them. We like working in our cafe for this very reason. It’s nice to chat to people and make them a coffee.

Café environment
The environment of our cafe is more like a living thing. It evolves over time and becomes something more than just a cafe. It’s about being nice to people, being non-judgmental and welcoming to everyone, and then make nice coffee!

Our cafe is a place where we can share our thoughts on coffee in an approachable way. You can just order a cappuccino, sit down, no questions asked. But you can also order an anaerobic fermented Colombian Gesha from Cerro Azul in any brew method you prefer!

Is there a brewing method you would recommend for the coffees we have this month?
At the moment we’re big fans of the V60 again. So that is what you should use! 16 grams of freshly ground Friedhats Coffee with 250 grams of the nicest water you can get your hands on. Try brewing in under 3 min.



What are you enjoying most about your work?
Tasting great coffees is number one. The constant diversity of the job keeps you on your feet, and off the street, where dodgy people meet, away from the heat and dancing, dancing.. on the beat. Being creative, that’s important!

Serving in a café or from a festival! Do you have a preference?
Ha ha, I think nothing really beats making coffee with your bare feet in the sand…so… 😉

What is the most creative repurposing, you have seen, of your coffee jar packaging?
Most people buy our coffee once for the bottle, and then put other roasters coffee in it! Of course, the best use is bringing it back so we can refill it with our coffee!

About our coffee

Kenya - Gichathaini
Kenya, we missed it so, but our first coffee from the new harvest is in. This one is from the Gichathaini factory in the Mathira district of the famous Nyeri region. It is the product of about 770 farmers picking SL-28, SL-34, Batiana and Ruiru 11 varieties from their lots at around 1600 - 1900 masl. It puts the punch in punchy and brightness into your mouth with intense notes of blackcurrant and hibiscus.

Kochere Boji
The first of our new crop natural Ethiopians for this year! This coffee is from the Kochere region, where around 500 smallholders bring their picked cherries to the washing station called Boji. Not far from Yirgacheffe, these cherries are harvested between 2100 - 2300masl and maybe that comes through a little bit in the brightness that this coffee has. It’s creamy, with notes of blueberry and white chocolate.

Colombia Jose Arangel
This Colombian is a washed process, Castillo variety from the Tolima region and grown at 2100m. That is about as typical as you can get as far as information on a coffee from Colombia goes. It’s grown by Jose Arangel Rodriguez on his farm Morro Azul in the Ibague municipality, the same region as our previous coffee from Jairo Lopez. This coffee is keeping up the game with notes of cane sugar, black strap molasses, and blackcurrant.