Snake Oil 15

 
Snake Oil 15
Perhaps one of Anodyne's best traditions is our (almost) yearly release of Snake Oil. The first Snake Oil was introduced in May of 2013 back when we had our lone Bay View cafe and our Walker's Point roastery was under construction. Batch number 1 was a 'specially prepared' espresso blend which featured coffee from Honduras José Salomón Benítez and Ethiopia Idido – sounds good! We released three versions of Snake Oil that year! These days, Snake Oil is a springtime release, sometimes a blend, sometimes a single origin with a specific focus on fresh African coffee arrivals.

Burundi Hafi Natural
The Muyinga Province is in a remote part of the country, at least a six-hour drive from Bujumbura, the largest city in Burundi. Traveling here is only possible if the rain hasn’t rendered the roads impassable. The coffee from this new terroir is named Hafi, which means 'close' in Kirundi. Before the washing station opened, small farmers in the area traveled up to 20 kilometers to deliver their freshly harvested coffee cherry to the nearest wet mill. With the hilly terrain, that was typically too far to travel in one day. Modern quality standards require same-day processing for harvested cherry, so having a wet mill nearby now makes it possible to grow and process this specialty coffee, which features creamy smooth notes of sweet, mixed berries and mandarin orange citrus.

At the Hafi washing station, they are producing only natural coffees, but they are in the process of building a new wet mill for future fully washed coffees. The washing station workers here, consisting of about 2,000 farmers, have years of experience working at other wet mills, and their combined expertise has proven to be invaluable in producing some high-quality coffee.