Good coffee always starts with people, and this one started with a couple of legends called Tim and Rick. They’re brothers-in-law living in Melbourne with roots in El Salvador, where their families have been growing coffee for generations. First introduced to us by our mate Ben Bicknell, it became clear pretty quickly that they saw coffee the same way we did. People first. That’s why they started Torogoz Coffee. A project with a simple aim, to help their families capture more value from the coffee they grow by building direct, mutually beneficial connections with roasters here in Australia. No BS. Just two guys trying to build a bridge between the hills of Ataco and the cafes they love back home.

Their family farm, Finca Los Naranjitos, sits high in the mountains of Concepción de Ataco. It’s a region known for rich volcanic soil, cool mountain air and brightly painted streets. The farm grows a handful of varieties from orange bourbon, pacamara and pacas, but this lot is something special; their honey-processed Geisha. They produced 9 kilos of green coffee and we helped ourselves to the entire lot. Once picked, the ripe cherries were pulped and the sticky, sugar-rich mucilage was left on the beans. That’s the honey part, or miel, as it’s called in Concepción de Ataco. The coffee was then dried slowly on raised African beds for 30 to 45 days until it reached the sweet spot of around 11% moisture. The cup rewards every hour of that labour. Expect a bright lift of jasmine on the nose, a juicy white peach character through the middle and a soft honeycomb sweetness that lingers as the cup cools. For us, this release is first and foremost about kicking off a new connection. A family farm in the hills of Ataco, two brothers trying to build something meaningful and a roastery on the Mornington Peninsula that cares about mateship that transcends borders. A small amount of coffee from small beginnings, shared between mates. Exactly how we like it.