We sat down with Director of Coffee, Evan Wood, to discuss what's next for Night Swim Coffee.
"Connecting people to the places where coffee comes from, our core effort at Night Swim, provides us some unique opportunities to tell the stories of all kinds of coffee, not just ones we’re familiar with or are currently popular in the US market."
So, where is coffee most commonly grown?
Typically we expect specialty grade coffees to come from mountainous regions along the equator. Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and Ethiopia rank among the largest coffee producing countries in the world, but I think people would be surprised to know that both Vietnam and Indonesia are #2 and #4 on that list.
There are a couple of major coffee species that are grown around the world. Arabica likes a temperate climate, soaring elevations, and large swings in ambient temperature (making up ~60% of global coffee production). Robusta, on the other hand, is hardier and allows more flexibility for growing conditions. Vietnam, Indonesia, and Brazil rely heavily on Robusta to meet their massive production demands.
What are some underrepresented regions? Why are they considered underrepresented?
Over the next few months, we’ll begin highlighting coffees from China, Indonesia, El Salvador, and Bolivia. I think you can find coffees from these regions roasted by great roasters around the globe, but they’re new to Night Swim. I think a lot of coffee drinkers are probably really unfamiliar with coffees from Asia, and as we started thinking about how we wanted to focus our coffee menu for the upcoming months, we were simply excited to drink coffees that we don’t interact with very often.
While we were laying the groundwork for this iteration of our menu, roasting samples, and identifying regions we wanted to highlight, our friends at Red Fox Coffee Merchants reached out to us to gauge our interest in coordinating a couple of lots from Bolivia. This particular region of Bolivia is adjacent to Puno, Peru - a region we love and feature annually on our menu so it was a no brainer!
Connecting people to the places where coffee comes from, our core effort at Night Swim, provides us some unique opportunities to tell the stories of all kinds of coffee, not just ones we’re familiar with or are currently popular in the US market.
"We're were simply excited to drink coffees that we don’t interact with very often."
Over the next few months, we’ll begin highlighting coffees from China, Indonesia, El Salvador, and Bolivia. I think you can find coffees from these regions roasted by great roasters around the globe, but they’re new to Night Swim. I think a lot of coffee drinkers are probably really unfamiliar with coffees from Asia, and as we started thinking about how we wanted to focus our coffee menu for the upcoming months, we’re simply excited to drink coffees that we don’t interact with very often.
How do you hear about them? What factors make it possible for you to source & secure these coffees?
Delicious coffees from all over the world are available to roasters like us in accessible ways that may not have been possible or probable in periods past. The possibility of bringing in a couple of coffees from Yunnan, China catalyzed our hunt for other regions or coffees that we were unfamiliar with and excited us. One of our cafe managers actually met Ben, founder of Pacifica Renew, in a Night Swim cafe and passed his info along to me. Ben and I began dreaming up how Night Swim and PR could work together in 2023, and before long, we had a set of samples from China on our cupping table. We didn’t really know what to expect, but were shocked and excited about how delicious the Chinese offerings were. We landed on a washed and natural lot from Yunnan.
Now that the foundation was set, we spent the next few months finding some other atypical offerings with our friends at Ally Coffee, Anthem Coffee Imports, and Red Fox Coffee Merchants to add to our single-origin menu. To cap it all off, I thought it would be meaningful to incorporate this theme into a Night Swim blend as well. Serendipitously, Jim Ngokwey from Might Peace Coffee reached out to talk about our partnership with them for 2023/2024. If you don’t know about Mighty Peace - they are based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and coordinate community lots to fund the peace movement in the Congo. They produce delicious coffees and do really meaningful work with the Congolese people. We decided that incorporating one of their lots into our filter blend, Immersion, for the beginning of 2024 would be a great way to round out our initiative!
Are there any specific places you’re excited about coming up soon or looking forward to sampling coffees from in the future?
I think that we’re going to see a lot of specialty Robusta flood the US market in the next few years, so we’re really looking forward to the opportunity to source, roast, and serve a coffee species that a lot of our customer base will be entirely unfamiliar with.
In addition, we’re really excited about working with some coffees from India next year! Our friend David Stallings at Osito Coffee has been spearheading their Indian initiative and this year's arrivals were stellar and highly sought after.
What is next and when can we look forward to seeing these offerings on the Night Swim menu?
The two lots from Yunnan just arrived, so we’re beginning the prep for those coffees to release first. Then you’ll see a couple of special coffees to celebrate the holidays! Soon after, delicious coffees from Sumatra and El Salvador will hit the menu! Stay tuned to Instagram and our website so you don’t miss out!
