Every coffee tells a different story.
The country where it was grown, the altitude of the farm, the varietal planted, the way the cherries were processed, and even the decisions made during roasting can all shape what ultimately ends up in your cup. That diversity is one of the things we love most about specialty coffee, and it’s exactly what the Bru Bar at Klatch Coffee is designed to showcase.
Each month, our Bru Bar rotates through a selection of coffees chosen to give guests an opportunity to experience something new. Rather than committing to an entire bag of coffee before knowing whether it’s to your liking, you can explore different origins, processing methods, and flavor profiles, one cup at a time.
For August, we’re featuring three coffees that demonstrate just how dramatically coffee can change from one origin to another: Colombia Popayán Cauca, Organic Sumatra Gayo Mandheling Grade 1, and Kenya Wang’era AA.
What Is the Bru Bar?
If you’re new to Klatch’s Bru Bar, think of it as a rotating coffee tasting experience built into your everyday cafe visit.
While espresso drinks and handcrafted beverages are often the first thing people associate with a coffee shop, pour over brewing offers another way to experience coffee. It puts the individual characteristics of the beans front and center, allowing nuances in origin, varietal, processing, and roasting to shine through.
At Klatch, the Bru Bar changes every month. At our standalone cafes, you’ll typically find three featured coffees, while our locations inside Sprouts Farmers Markets feature two.
Colombia Popayán Cauca
Sweet, Bright and Refreshing
Our first featured coffee takes us to Popayán, Cauca, Colombia, a region surrounded by the Andes and known for its high-altitude plateau, volcanic soils, and favorable coffee-growing climate.
This washed coffee is produced by smallholder farmers and features Caturra, Castillo, and Colombia varietals. In the cup, it brings together brown sugar sweetness, lychee, and lime, with additional cupping notes of tangerine, dark chocolate, kiwi, and Fuji apple. The coffee has a smooth body, lively citrus, and wine-like acidity.
It’s a great example of how a washed coffee can showcase clarity and balance.
Washed coffees are processed in a way that removes the fruit from the coffee seed before drying, allowing the characteristics of the coffee itself to come through with a particularly clean and defined profile. In the case of this Colombian coffee, that translates into a cup where sweetness, acidity, and fruit character work together rather than competing for attention.
Popayán is also an excellent example of the importance of growing conditions. The region’s volcanic soils are nutrient-rich and have the ability to retain moisture while still providing good drainage. Combined with elevation and climate, these conditions help create an environment capable of producing complex coffees.
Organic Sumatra Gayo Mandheling Grade 1
Earthy, Complex and Smooth
From Colombia, we travel across the globe to Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, for our Organic Sumatra Gayo Mandheling Grade 1. This coffee offers a completely different experience.
While the Colombia is bright and citrus-driven, the Sumatra is earthy, complex, and smooth, with tasting notes of orange, sage, and milk chocolate. As the cup cools, subtle melon and rhubarb notes emerge in the finish.
The coffee comes from small family farms in the Gayo Highlands, where coffee-growing knowledge has been passed down through generations. The coffee is sourced through CV. Gayo Mandiri, a family-owned exporter that works with local cooperatives and operates a central dry mill. The organization also supports farmers through farming tools, cooperative dividends, and improved drying infrastructure.
One of the defining characteristics of this coffee is its wet-hulled processing, a traditional Indonesian method. Wet-hulling is different from the washed processing used for the Colombian coffee. After the coffee is depulped, fermented, and washed, it is partially dried before the parchment is removed. The coffee is then dried again to its final moisture level. This distinctive processing method is one of the reasons Indonesian coffees can have such recognizable profiles. Rather than emphasizing the bright, sparkling acidity often associated with washed coffees from Africa or South America, wet-hulled coffees can develop deeper, earthier, more savory characteristics.
The coffee is also Organic, and its production reflects the smallholder farming traditions of the Gayo region.
Kenya Wang’era AA
Vibrant, Fruity and Tea-Like
Our third August Bru Bar coffee takes us to Nyeri County, Kenya, where the Wang’era Coffee Farm sits at approximately 1,650 meters above sea level. This coffee is a very different expression of coffee from the Sumatra and the Colombia.
Kenya Wang’era AA is a washed coffee made exclusively from the renowned SL28 varietal, with tasting notes of cola, blackberry, and green apple. Beneath those primary flavors, you’ll find lemon and stone fruit, along with a tea-like citrus aroma and silky medium-light body. The finish is crisp and lingering.
Kenyan coffees are known for their distinctive acidity and fruit character, and Wang’era is a great example of why the origin has such a devoted following. The Wang’era Coffee Farm is a seven-acre family estate founded in 1963. Its high elevation, volcanic soils, cool climate, and exclusive planting of SL28 create conditions well suited to producing vibrant coffee. Only fully ripe cherries are selectively harvested before being hand sorted, washed, and slowly dried on raised beds.
There’s also a personal connection to this coffee at Klatch.
For founder, Roastmaster, and Green Sourcer Mike Perry, Kenyan coffee has long been a passion. He regularly brings Kenyan coffee home for himself, continually searching for lots that capture the qualities he loves about the origin. Kenya Wang’era AA is one of those coffees.
In the cup, expect a combination of sweetness and acidity that makes this coffee especially refreshing. The cola character provides a caramel-like sweetness, while blackberry brings depth and ripe fruit. Green apple and citrus brighten the profile and keep the finish crisp.
Three coffees, three different experiences
What makes this month’s Bru Bar lineup especially exciting is the contrast between the three coffees. Colombia Popayán Cauca sits in the middle, combining brown sugar sweetness, citrus, and fruit with a smooth and balanced body. Organic Sumatra Gayo Mandheling Grade 1 takes a deeper direction, showcasing earthy complexity, herbal notes, orange, and milk chocolate with the distinctive character of a wet-hulled Indonesian coffee. Kenya Wang’era AA moves in the opposite direction, emphasizing vibrant acidity, juicy fruit, and a silky, tea-like body.
Together, they demonstrate why coffee is so much more than simply “light” or “dark,” or “strong” or “mild.” Two coffees can both be roasted to a similar level and still taste completely different because of where they were grown, which varietals were planted, how the cherries were processed, and the conditions surrounding their production.
Our Bru Bar is ultimately about curiosity, craftsmanship, and connection. Every cup represents the work of producers, farmers, processors, roasters, quality control teams, baristas, and everyone else who helps bring that coffee from a seed to your cup.
This August, take a little time to explore all three.