One of the best parts of doing what we do at Swiss Water is getting to work with passionate, innovative coffee roasters around the world. We're taking the time to introduce you to some of these great roasters each month, as well as highlighting them on our social media channels (a reminder to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for more content!)
Our August roasters hail from the metropolises of Calgary, Alberta, and New York City. Here's a little more about each.
MONOGRAM COFFFEE
Monogram Coffee was founded in 2015 by three coffee pros—and friends—who wanted to continue to elevate Calgary's coffee scene. And have they ever—they claim repeated Canadian National Barista Champion trophies, this year's belonging to national champion and Monogram Manager of Quality & Training Jill Hoff (in second place was her boss, Monogram co-founder and former national champ Ben Put).
Put says, "We chose Swiss Water for a number of reasons. First of all, we think that it tastes really good. Other methods add a distinct flavour. Sometimes that flavour is not negative, but it’s still adding something foreign. It’s also important to many of our customers that decaf is chemical free."
Monogram's current decaf offering is a Peruvian coffee called El Milagro. Put says it has "has great balance and sweetness, which let us keep the roast on the lighter side for filter, but without making the espresso too acidic. We’re always interested in finding new flavours and exploring different origins in decaf."
Check out Monogram's website here.
NINTH STREET ESPRESSO
Ninth Street Espresso is one of New York City's most iconic specialty coffee roasters, having ridden in on the vanguard of specialty in the early 2000s. Their flagship café in NYC's "Alphabet City" neighborhood is a must-stop on any New York coffee tour. Lead roaster Nina Glikshtern says that Ninth Street's Swiss Water Decaf is always based on a Nicaraguan coffee sourced from their friends at Fincas Mierisch, hailing back to the days Ninth Street began roasting its own coffee at Steve Mierisch's shared Pulley Collective roasting space in Brooklyn.
Offering a Swiss Water processed decaf is important to Ninth Street customers, says Glikshtern. "If offered the choice between a chemical solvent process or a chemical-free process, our customers will choose sans chemicals every time. The health concerns over using a chemical solvent seem substantial enough that, if there's a healthier way that produces equally good or better tasting decaf, why wouldn't you use that?"
Check out Ninth Street Espresso's website here, or pick up a bag of their coffee from the Swiss Water store today.
