We’re super excited to have the exceptional Blacklist Coffee Roasters on board this month. We frequent the Blacklist concept store and have always been in awe of their ability to continually select some of the best green coffee in the world and produce very impressive roasted coffee year round. This coupled with some stunning branding and an approachable ethos cements Backlist as a local and international favourite. We have been graced with two multi award winning blends this month and an omni roasted single origin for our OCS Select subscribers.
Darren Woon - Director, Blacklist Coffee
“I got my start in coffee in 2014 after a 10 year career as a mechanical engineer working on railway projects for the likes of BHP, FMG, Rio Tinto. Back then when Blacklist Coffee was started, the Australian specialty coffee scene was still in infancy. We started a tiny roastery in south Perth, roasting for our own café, Sprolo. We wanted to do our part to make specialty coffee more approachable and accessible. We have since been blessed to see a large amount of growth and now supply coffee to our own customers and a bunch of awesome cafés across Australasia. Since opening we have captured numerous awards for our single origins and blends and we believe this shows that our efforts have not been in vain! The biggest award we have received so far was taking out overall winner for 2020 Golden Bean Roasting Championship, a huge achievement for our team.
After seeing such a great impact on both local consumers and industry from what we’ve done in Perth, we wanted to do the same for the Indonesian coffee scene in Bali. Given Indonesia is a coffee producing nation, this opens up lots of possibilities and we also want to create a strong community impact as we grow there. To achieve this, we started up a space that is a roastery and a café by day and a full restaurant and bar. by night We’re only a couple of months in to this adventure but we’re already seeing great feedback from customers on what we’re bringing to the local coffee scene. In addition to Bali, we also send boxes of freshly roasted coffee to Singapore each week to supply our cafe partners and customers from our online store. Watch this space as we plan to expand our brand and international operations in the future!
Blacklist offer a cellar door style experience at their concept store in Perth where people interested in specialty coffee can come to taste and learn about different coffees, processing methods and try coffees ranging from $35 - $500/kg. These coffees are presented as pour-over coffee as well as espresso depending on the individual characteristics. This is a great initiative from blacklist for novice coffee drinkers and seasoned coffee snobs to learn about and enjoy some high end coffees.
Darren on Blacklist’s tasting initiative - “I’m a huge wine lover and everything I’ve learnt came from spending time at cellar doors, asking questions and tasting everything I could.
I don’t think these tasting operations always generated a profit, but I personally would not have developed my appreciation of fine wine without them. Expanding on that, I don’t think the wine industry would be as strong as it is without these places, because every industry ultimately depends on the consumer to dictate how the industry can or cannot develop.
I wanted Blacklist Coffee Roasters to be that for the coffee industry and if consumer habits changed to appreciate higher end coffees, it frees up the entire supply chain, from farm to cup, to be more creative and expressive in what we can do. That is our Concept Store in Subiaco. We created a space to showcase coffee differently.
We can’t take all the credit for it, but we’ve seen the fruits of this operation with consumers understanding and demanding high-end coffee, and the entire WA specialty coffee industry has grown from this change in behaviour”.
The Roasts
This month we have two multi award winning blends for our filter and espresso subscribers and a beautiful omni roasted single origin for our OCS Select subscribers.
Espresso: Pitch Blend
Origin - Colombia, Ethiopia, Brazil
Tasting Notes - Chocolate, stone fruit, nuts and caramel
The pitch blend is one of Blacklist’s most popular blends and can usually be found on espresso at any of their cafes.
Pitch is made up of half clean tasting, washed Colombian with notes of stone fruit acidity, and dried fruit sweetness combined with a Brazilian that gives it a medium body with obvious notes of dark chocolate and nuts. Pitch is then complemented with a little Ethiopian, adding complexity to the blend. As a black, it is a comforting almost-familiar cup, with a fruity undertone. As a white, you experience caramel sweetness and chocolate flavors with a hint of dried stone fruit.
Filter: - Accent Blend
Origin - Ethiopia/Honduras
Process - Natural/Washed
Tasting Notes - Floral berries and citrus
The Accent Blend has been perfected for that vibrant and fruity black, but versatile enough for a delicate and floral white with a hint of berries. Roasted comparatively lighter than our other blends to highlight the citrus acidity and floral aromatics, it largely consists of a high grown natural processed Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. The smaller washed component lends a bit more body and tones the brightness of the Ethiopian, resulting in a sweet and balanced cup.
The winner of 6 awards using a lighter roast style this blend is crafted from distinct origins to offer optimum flavour balance and mouthfeel, this blend is sure to be enjoyed.
OCS Select - Ethiopia Uraga Purple
This stunning coffee is an omni roast meaning that it has been roasted somewhere in-between espresso and filter to allow the brewer to us any brew method they choose while maintaining the best qualities of the coffee. The name purple came from strong apparent aroma like lavender.
Origin - Guji/Uraga Ethiopia
Varietal - Heirloom
Process - Natural
Tasting Notes - Cola, grape and Prune
MASL - 1950 - 2300m
Farmer - This coffee has come from multiple micro farmers crops usually known as ‘garden coffee’