Balance Coffee
Balance Coffee the colourful new roastery based down in London.
Founder James has worked in the coffee industry for 8 years and wanted to create a coffee brand with a mission to inspire people to drink better quality coffee at home.
The coffee that they roast is focused on selling to people who are looking at becoming more of a home barista and create that coffee shop experience in their own home.
With really clean and slick branding their eye-catching watercolour design is a clue about the style of coffee that they offer. They are not afraid to showcase an unusual origin and may provide that unique bag of speciality ground coffee you are looking for.
As is now demanded as the norm in the speciality coffee world, Balance wants to ensure they create a positive impact by supporting the livelihoods of coffee farmers at origin which in turn, helps create a sustainable supply of coffee for the future.
All of their green beans are ethically sourced from some of the highest quality coffee farmers from around the world.
I have spent quite a few hours talking with James about all things coffee over the last year or so and his passion for the coffee industry always shines through.
Their focus on not only creating a sustainable supply chain but also their work with charities such as project waterfall make Balance one of the most forward thinking coffee roasters.
We sip and slurp coffee from all over the world. Discover which of these were our teams favourite.
The Origin
The Finca El Tambor from Balance originates from the Palencia region of Guatemala.
The owner and producer Victor Calderon represents the 5th generation of coffee farmers from a family that has been working in coffee for more than 100 years.
Victor bought the farm Finca El Tambor (meaning ‘The Drum’ in Spanish: it is assumed that the name comes from the sounds of an underground river pounding under the ground, making a drum-like sound) at the beginning of 2001 with the aim of moving out of Robusta cultivation (in which his family had previously specialised) and into Arabica.
Photo: Victor Calderon - Coffee Hunter
He was so committed to this vision that he sold his house and car in exchange for El Tambor, and upon signing the documents immediately set about renovating the coffee plots, expanding areas under coffee and improving the farm’s small wet mill.
However, Victor is a true iconoclast when it comes to coffee farming and refuses to accept conventional wisdom or accepted practices in farming. Nowhere is this more apparent than his approach to controlling coffee leaf rust on his farm.
When coffee leaf rust became truly apparent on El Tambor, Victor was concerned about using the chemically based fungicides widely recommended in Guatemala.
Realising that fungi favor acidic environments, he had tried several alkaline solutions to apply the plants – everything from lemonade to orange juice – looking for one that worked.
In his research, he read that clay – particularly from volcanic regions – is very alkaline, and his thoughts returned to El Tambor’s brief mining history.
Photo: Coffee Leaf Rust - Coffee Hunter
After much experimentation, Victor came to a unique recipe that has enabled him to fight off coffee leaf rust with minimal environmental impact.
A solution of water and clay from the old mines is mixed together with a tiny bit of copper-based fungicide and then applied to the underside of leaves using a normal sprayer.
Originally he had applied the solution on the tops of the leaves, but then realizing that the plants respire from under their leaves (and that is also where the fungus takes hold) he requested that workers apply the solution under the leaf.
Suddenly, he observed that within 3 days the fungus had died on every plant to which the solution had been applied.
He attributes this not just to the alkaline solution but also to the endothermic properties of the clay, which helps regulate temperatures and helps the plants fight off future infections.
Even better, this method is ecologically friendly and poses no threat to workers’ health. It can even be applied without protective clothing.
The Review
The Finca El Tambor starts with a zingy-ness as you open the bag subtle notes of citrus unify with a sweet chocolate layer.
As the coffee is brewing more of the delicious light acidic notes become apparent that make it starlight into the cup with initial sips of mandarine and orange zest starting at the front of each sip.
As the coffee moves over your palette, sweeter fruits combine with a milk chocolatey body. Notes of apricots evolve from the zesty start and carry through into the aftertaste.
Super enjoyable coffee that evolves throughout the brew.
Wait as it cools for more sweet fruity flavours and brew as an espresso to highlight that undertone of milk chocolate.