Thereโs a whole wide world of coffee out there, and itโs only getting bigger. Emerging origins, new varieties, and novel processing methods have expanding what we thought we knew about coffee and what it could taste like. And at the bleeding of it all is Oliverโs Custom Coffee, a new brand from Olympia Coffee Roastingโs Oliver Stormshak. The latest addition to the Olympia family will focus on exceptional coffees, small lots, and experimental processings at a variety of roast levels.
Announced today, January 16th exclusively here at Sprudge, Oliverโs Custom Coffee allows Stormshak to take a deep dive into the experimental side of coffee processing, putting both his Q grader and Q processor certifications to good use. Some of the coffees on offer at Oliverโs will be bought as cherry and processed by Stormshak himself. โCurrently, we have two contractual cherry-buying programs with farmers in place, one in Kona District, Hawai’i, and the other in La Plata, Huila, Colombia,โ Stormshak states. โI lean towards yeast inoculation in combination with Anaerobic Naturals as a starting point base but I like doing washed cold room fermentations, classic red honeys, and classic naturals.โ
Other coffees in the lineup will be processed in partnership with Marco Ariz in Ahuachapรกn, El Salvador at their mill Fenix and Kenean Dukamo at his farm Gatta for experimental processing of the Ethiopian lots.
With Oliverโs Stormshak and Olympia have the chance to work with their producer partners on much smaller lots, that can be picked, processed, separated, etc in ways that larger roasting operations arenโt able to. Thereโs risk associated with experimenting with production in these ways, and doing so on a very small scale allows for the producers to branch out without risking large swaths of their crops.
โOliver’s Custom Coffee gives us some space to dive even deeper into emerging trends in specialty coffee. Coffee processing is a huge part of this, there is a growing interest in more experiential coffees that don’t necessarily taste like coffee anymore,โ Stormshak tells Sprudge.
Right out of the gate, Oliverโs has eight different coffees on offer, including two from Hawaiiโa washed Kona Pacamara and an anaerobic natural Bourbon from Maunawili, Oahuโa Gesha peaberry from Panama, and a host of completely wild coffees from Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Sumatra.
Coming in 6oz increments, each lot will be available in both a lighter and darker roast profile, with the Agtron score for each being given on the website. โWe want to keep learning about roasting and improve what we do on the lighter side of the roast spectrum and also get better at roasting on the more developed side for folks who love a clear yet balanced single-origin espresso,โ Stormshak says.
So if you are ready to take a walk on the wild side of coffee, head over to Oliver’s Custom Coffee to check out the coffees they currently have on offer.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.
