Grown in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, please welcome to the Cheza Roastworks offering list:

Periwinkles: Elegy of the Invisible

(Dried Cherry, Brown Sugar, Fig, Red Currant)

Many floriculturists of past generations, and even some modern-day floriculturists, held an understanding that most cultures and continents of the world used flowers for decorative and ceremonial practices, except the people of Africa. The common belief was that flowers were tossed aside for the more life-sustaining fruits from the plant. This belief has now been debunked, and the Periwinkle is one of several different flowering plants that re-shaped viewpoints on African floriculture around the turn of the century. 

Slaves were given wild, overgrown patches of land, not otherwise suitable for farming or other purposes, for use in burying their dead. There were no headstones or designed grave markers available to them, so enslaved black folks used personal items of the deceased, such as utensils, pots, or tools, to mark graves alongside perennial flowers in line with the traditions they brought from their respective cultures. The Periwinkle was very often used as a grave marker by slaves for this reason. The Periwinkle blooms perennially and was an ingenious way of remembering children, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and other lost loved ones year after year. 

Those same Periwinkles are still blooming over those same graves today; a somber poem of struggle, with timbres of strength, hope, perseverance, and endurance. Truly, the Periwinkle is an Elegy of an Invisible people.

“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” -The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, 1952 

$16

Introducing our first blend of 2022! In honor of Pride Month and the Stonewall riots...

Pride: A Coffee of Equality

This is actually a regional showcase Geisha blend composed of beans from Huila, Colombia. All farms used to make this blend are part of the ASOBOMBO cooperative, who are about 200 mostly younger producers working together to make a new generation of coffee. Around half of ASOBOMBO's producers are women. The blend is composed of 100% organic Caturra, Pink Bourbon and Geisha varietals.

Expect a medium body and balanced acidity highlighted with notes of Amaretto, Chocolate, Cherry and Pear. The Geisha and Pink Bourbon lead the way with both aroma and flavor, with the Caturra adding body and balance. The final cup has a little something for everyone across the board to appreciate! 

$14 - Limited Stock Remaining

Plague is back in stock with a new base coffee! This heirloom coffee is grown in the Bombe mountains of Ethiopia at about 2050 MASL. A group of about 600 farmers produced this year's crop of Plague coffee, and it won hands down at the Cheza Roastworks cupping table earlier this year! This is a lightly roasted, sweet, fruit-forward coffee balanced with lots of body. Notes of Peach, Blueberry, Watermelon and Strawberry. Best enjoyed at least 7 days after the printed roast date (aka the "incubation" period).

$17

This is a natural processed coffee from 18 Rabbit farms in Honduras. Natural processing leaves the coffee fruit intact for period time, and imparts more fruit, higher complexity and more sweetness to the flavor profile than a washed or honey processed coffee. 18 Rabbit farms are owned by Senora Flhor, and 12 other immediate family members for a total of 13 microlots. One of these lots took home the Honduras Cup of Excellence in 2014! This coffee was selected as Famine because of the simple, yet delicious notes it exudes: Complex, sugarcane body with green apple and a sweet honey finish. Claim your bag today before the scales are empty! 

$15

This coffee was grown on the mineral-rich, volcanic plateau of the Kintamani Highlands in Bali. The SA Cooperative has made amazing progress with wet-hull coffee in Bali, and it is an honor to offer this season's expression as our WAR coffee. The SA prohibits pesticide use anywhere on the island, so all coffees and fertilizers used to grow them are 100% organic. This roast comes medium-dark, and carries notes of Cane Sugar, Strawberry, Papaya, and Watermelon with plenty of body! 

$17

Grown by several shareholder farms near the snow-capped volcanoes of Huila, Colombia, this coffee boasts a smooth, cherry blossom, floral body with a sweet blackberry finish. Notes of Swiss chocolate and citrus acidity keep the cup balanced and grounded. Available year-round as an any time of day, any type of way coffee, this coffee is our longest running and most fine-tuned roast. 

$16

This coffee was grown just outside of Bogotá, Colombia by our partner farmer, Silvana Gonzalez, the first woman in the history of Colombia to earn Specialty Coffee Association certification in sensory skills, coffee and roasting! This coffee is roasted to a medium level for YRL, and a dark-medium level for YRD. Both roast levels present a balanced profile with Almond, Caramel, Chocolate and Lemon notes. It's truly a versatile coffee, and is perfect any time of day, every day!

$17

Temporarily out of stock

Temporarily out of stock

Temporarily out of stock

******************************************************************************************************

"There was a little boy who loved caterpillars. One day he found one, took him home and made a home for him. He watched this caterpillar everyday making sure he had plenty of food & water.

One day the caterpillar started creating a cocoon...here he would go through a metamorphosis and become a butterfly. This was so exciting, the little boy couldn’t wait to see the butterfly!

One day it happened, a small hole appeared in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out. The little boy was so excited! But then he noticed the butterfly was struggling so hard to get out and it looked like the butterfly wasn’t going to be able to break free!

The little boy was so worried for the butterfly that he decided he had to help. He quickly got a pair of scissors and snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged!

But the butterfly had a swollen body and small shriveled wings. The little boy sat and watched the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, get bigger and expand to support the swollen body.

But it never happened!

The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly…

He later learned that the butterfly was supposed to struggle. In fact, the butterfly’s struggle to push its way through the tiny opening of the cocoon pushes the fluid out of its body and into its wings. Without the struggle, the butterfly would never, ever fly. It was the struggle that made it stronger."

Temporarily out of stock

Available Fall 2023

Temporarily out of stock