Single Origin – What does it mean?
coffee education | 11.10.23If you have ordered a black coffee at Skittle Lane, or been looking at purchasing our roasted beans, you have most likely encountered the term Single Origin. In fact, all Skittle Lane coffee is Single Origin – but what does this mean?
In short, Single Origin coffee means that the coffee is sourced from one single producer, crop, or region in one country.
Within Single Origin coffees you will also find the terms Single Farm and Single Estate, which means that the beans are sourced from one farm or mill.
Its Significance
Traceability
Firstly, as the coffee is not a blend, Single Origin coffees allows for traceability. I.e. when you buy a coffee sourced from one single producer in one specific area, you are able to familiarise yourself with the characteristics of that particular area and obtain a deeper understanding of your coffee’s profile and how it is affected by its origin. In this way, you can learn about the profiles common to different origins, and learn more about the world of coffee and your personal taste preferences.
Quality
Secondly, by knowing more about different origins and farms you are able to support farmers and their efforts to grow and sell better coffee. In fact, before the rise in specialty coffee, coffee was significantly less traceable and without the same quality as today. Coffee was more commonly blended, i.e. included beans from various different farms across regions. Hence, the coffee consisted of beans of varying processes and quality. However, as demand grew and roasters requested cleaner coffees and were willing to pay more for them, it became more valuable for farmers to separate their coffee and focus on quality.
In the pursuit of higher quality coffee, lies a greater communication between roasters and farmers – as producers rely on roasters to inform them about trends, and roasters are always searching for new single origins.
At Skittle Lane, we are proud to support the development and future of coffee by acquiring quality coffee, and in this way offer our customers an exciting beans lineup whilst helping farmers retain the value of their crop.
Cheers,
The Skittle Lane Team
