Better than Socks

While this coffee tastes awesome in every device, our favourites are a filter, Chemex or cafetiere.

Head over to our brew guides for making coffee for more.

Unlike our regular coffees, which change every 8 to 12 months, our limited editions are only available for a few months. Why? Because these coffees are super-exclusive! We select interesting, uniquely flavoured beans to roast for our limited editions. A farmer might be trialling a new processing method or experimenting with different varietals to create small lots bursting with taste!

While this coffee brings all the festive vibes, it comes from Shikankoni Hill in Kayanza, Burundi, rather than the North Pole! This region is known for its high altitudes, abundant rainfall, ideal climate, and nutrient-rich soil, all of which contribute to exceptional coffee production and have been supported by Cafex for the past two decades.

Cafex is a project created by a Belgian-Burundian couple in 2006 to support local coffee farming communities by ensuring fair wages and implementing sustainable agricultural practices to protect ancestral lands. They also aim to improve living conditions in underdeveloped areas, having established a washing station in one of these towns that provides employment, medical care, and educational resources such as books.

Cafex has also ensured that everyone receives their payments on time by introducing a weekly payment schedule with no delays. This allows everyone to have a regular income throughout the harvesting season.

They also collaborate with two processing stations to maintain proper processing techniques, thereby preserving the high quality of the beans. One of these stations is managed by Ikawa Nziza, who partnered with Cafex in 2013. His mill is the first purpose-built specialty dry mill in Burundi. It is situated among the coffee farms at a higher altitude, allowing for better accessibility, with many harvests being delivered on the day of picking.

So, how was this Christmas Coffee infused with the festive spirit?

Firstly, the freshly picked coffee cherries are de-pulped, washed, and dried before being taken to Ikawa Nziza’s dry mill in Gashoho to be graded and hulled, and then bagged and transported to Two Chimps HQ.

When it comes to coffee, we like to think of speciality as the Nice List. Only top coffees make the grade: those picked by hand and awarded 80 points or more by certified Q Graders.

Then, there’s the Naughty List (that’s commodity coffee). These low-grade coffees might contain bitter beans or be stripped from the plants rather than hand picked and hand sorted. Commodity coffee is the stuff you’ll find in most instant blends and chain café cups. It tastes well, mehh…

Selecting the finest beans means we never have to over-roast our coffees. Speciality beans are always picked by hand when perfectly ripe, meaning you don’t get any bitter-tasting underripe beans. Ripe coffee cherries, just like any fruit, are naturally sweet and beautifully flavourful. Coffee elf Andy roasts with these flavours in mind and creates bespoke roasting recipes for each coffee. The result? Coffee so good you’ll want to wrap it up and give it to yourself on Christmas morning… surprise!

Roast Style: Medium

Location: Kayanza, Shikankoni Hill

Varietal(s): Bourbon

Processing: Washed

Altitude: 1450-1600 metres above sea level

Country: Burundi

Producer: Cafex

Certification: Speciality

Score: 84.5

What does this all mean? Check out our Jargon Buster.

Choosing to drink speciality coffee is an easy (and delicious) way of supporting real people. We go beyond Fairtrade standards to pay between 30 and 150% more than the going rate, ensuring the producers always receive a fair price for their quality goods. We source as directly as possible, too, by purchasing our unroasted beans through ethical importers. Keeping the chain short means even more makes it to the farmers, which is where it belongs.

You know that moment on Christmas morning when Auntie Mary hands you a gift, and you can’t help but think, “Oh great, another pair of socks, just like last year!”? We’ve all been there! This year, we’re excited to change the game! Get ready for our limited-edition Christmas Coffee that’s guaranteed to be, drumroll please… way better than socks!