Dark Mountain Coffee

Dark Mountain Coffee is a blend originating from Central and South American Coffees, dark-roasted to the colour level of 55 in the style of Dark Continental Coffees. The blend includes high-grade Coffees from Brazil, Colombia, and the Central American country of Costa Rica. Its taste, meanwhile, is best described as being smooth in flavour with smoky notes of a pleasant strength.

It is also slightly sweet and well-suited to morning drinking. Most of all, however, our Dark Mountain Coffee is a choice-blend for those who enjoy notably dark-roasted Coffees.

The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company have been roasting Coffees for over 30 years and now use the latest state-of-the-art Neuhaus Neotec fluidised air-bed system, which primarily uses convection heat transfer to roast the Coffee. Ultimately, this ensures both quality and consistency, a trait found in all of our Coffees, including our Dark Mountain Coffee, a beverage that captivates with every sip.

But to understand this Coffee in all its glory, one must understand its origins. With three countries growing the Coffees included in this blend, let’s first look at Brazil. Today, Brazil is the world’s largest producer and exporter of Coffee. Not only that, but it also accounts for a third of the world’s Coffee production. In 2016 alone, Brazil produced 2,595,000 metric tons of Coffee (approx 40 to 60 million bags), the beans harvested between May and September at an average elevation of 1,100 metres above sea level.

Coffee was first introduced to Brazil by French settlers, many of whom established themselves in the state of Pará in the early 18th Century. Pará had ideal Coffee growing conditions, as did much of the rest of Brazil, and in time Coffee plants grew in great abundance throughout the country. By the 1820’s, Coffee exports overtook sugar, and 20 years later, Brazil was already the largest exporter of Coffee in the world, a position it has since retained.

Also in South America is Colombia. According to current statistics, Colombia produces around 12% of the world’s Coffee, fourth after Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia respectively. Many Colombian Coffee farmers grow at altitudes of 1,000 and 2,000 metres, and as such, many of these Coffees develop slight acidity, a quality much-loved and to the taste of many.

These same Coffees are also considered some of the highest quality Coffees in the world. The country boasts some of the most biologically diverse landscapes of any Coffee-growing area, with over 500,000 farms, most of which are small landholdings of 5 hectares or less, scattered across numerous regions.

No one knows for sure when Coffee arrived in Colombia, although most historians suggest it coincided with the arrival of the European Jesuit priests during the 17th Century. The first Coffee shipments were not made until 1835, however, when just 2,500 pounds of Coffee was exported to the United States.

Nevertheless, three decades later, Colombian Coffee had emerged as a dominant export crop, by which point the country had attained independence from Spain. By 1875, Colombia was exporting 170,000 bags of Coffee to the United States and Europe, and just over 100 years later, in 1992, exports of Colombian Coffee were at around 17,000,000 bags, a sharp increase. Today, Colombian Coffee exports continue to increase with each passing year.

Finally, our Dark Mountain Coffee includes Coffee from Costa Rica, a country where Coffee is an integral part of life and society. It sustains the economy and is one of the country’s biggest exports. It was first introduced to the Central American nation in 1779, by Spanish colonists who brought with them arabica Coffee plants. By the 19th Century, the Costa Rican government actively encouraged the mass-production of Coffee to meet the growing demands of consumers, mainly Europeans.

As such, land was offered free to farmers who wanted to move towards Coffee production. The move paid off, and even today, Costa Rica has ideal soil and climate for Coffee to thrive, with many farmers producing beans on an astonishing scale.

By 1829, the production of Costa Rican Coffee had overtaken tobacco, sugar and cocoa, the profits allowing for the construction of Costa Rica’s first railway in 1890, named the Ferrocarril al Atlántico, which in turn transported Coffee beans to the Atlantic coast for exportation to Europe. In 1897, the Costa Rican government oversaw the construction of the National Theatre in San Jose, the capital, its purpose to show off the economic success of Costa Rica’s Coffee Industry and the promise of a bright future in further development.

Until the Second World War, England was the largest recipient of Costa Rican Coffee exports; however, this is no longer the case. Nevertheless, The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company continue to support Costa Rican Coffee farmers, and in turn the economy of Costa Rica, with our Costa Rica Coffee and Costa Rica Tarrazu Dark Roast Coffee, as well as all blends to include beans from Costa Rica, which of course includes Dark Mountain Coffee.

Origin: Brazil, Colombia (South America), and Costa Rica (Central America).