This International Coffee Day, We're Celebrating Women
Because without them, we wouldn't have one to celebrate.
The release of the incomparable El Salvador Aida Batlle Kilimanjaro couldn't have fallen at a more appropriate moment. Cultivated by the now world-famous Aida Batlle, this single origin phenomenon has been delighting the specialty coffee scene since it won El Salvador's Cup of Excellence in 2003.
As the first woman producer to ever win the prestigious award, Batlle continues to defy convention—in an industry where men are still prioritized—to create breathtakingly beautiful coffees.
Women of Kinyovu Station
Though she is arguably the most famous, Aida is far from the only woman Blue Bottle partners with to bring our guests coffee. For two years now, we've worked with the International Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA) to bring Burundi coffees grown by the Women of Kinyovu Station.
As members of the IWCA, the farmers of the Kinyovu Washing Station are incentivized with higher premiums and cultivation resources to prioritize coffee quality over coffee quantity. In the cool forest air of the Kayanza region, they bring to life Burundi Women of Kinyovu Station, a plummy, syrupy Bourbon of stunning deliciousness.
Catracha Community Company
Doris and her husband, Mateo
It's not uncommon to discover remarkable single-plot farmers through organizations like Women of Kinyovu Station. Since 2012, Blue Bottle Coffee has been a proud buyer of Catracha Coffee Company, a Honduras-based organization started by coffee farmer Mayra Orellana-Powell. It was through Catracha that we met Doris Alicia Benitez, a farmer who contributes to Catracha, and who also grows her own coffee—Honduras Santa Elena Doris Alicia Benitez—on a personal 2.5 hectare plot. Three years into harvesting her delicious Red Catuai for herself, she couldn't possibly be doing better as an independent farmer.
Doris is a testament to the success of Catracha Community, which sees deliciousness as the key to profitability and sustainable family farming. Quality-based premiums are a sure way to maximize profits from modest plots of land, so farmers are as careful as possible with the modest amounts of coffee they produce.
Women in Coffee
This International Coffee Day, we remember that women changing the face of coffee aren't just farmers and producers and baristas. They're artists and technicians. They're the people who make our Cold Brew, bake our pastries, and craft our gifts. They organize for better working conditions, speak out against harassment, and continue to innovate in the face of every imaginable hardship.
This International Coffee Day, we honor women. Without them, we wouldn't have one to celebrate.