Darkslide is a blend of coffees from 6 different small-scale producers from San Ignacio and Cajamarca states
in Peru. We have been working with these procedures since 2019 and it is one of the handful of coffees that
we source from Peru as part of a long-term partnership with the aim of purchasing these high-quality lots at
a price 3-5 times what the producers might otherwise receive from the commodity market. This means that the
producers can expect to sell a certain percentage of their coffees at a fair market price, easing some of
the risk associated with farming (which is one of the causes of many coffee producers switching to coca
production in South America and Peru, specifically).
We have featured Tabaconas for several years as a light/medium roast coffee, featuring it at various times in
our cafes on single origin espresso as well as on drip. It’s such a solid brew as a lighter roast that we
decided to branch out and try it as a darker roast - originally developed for cold brew - and the results
were outstanding!
Toasted coconut aromas meet your nose first with this coffee, whether brewing for cold brew or with
pourover/drip methods, but after the brew the tastes diverge. With a pourover or drip brew, the bold flavors
of this darker roast are more pronounced: the caramelized sweetness of molasses, the silky, well-balanced
sweetness of prune, the characteristic dark chocolate of a dark roast, and hints of marzipan as a bit of
intrigue at the finish. As a cold brew, the flavors are more rounded and congruous: a delightful buttery
mouthfeel delivers a super smooth and chocolate dominant brew, with the sweetness of the toasted coconut
showing through, and just enough acidity to keep things lively.
Once we were satisfied with the roast recipe we set about deciding on a name, and after a long list of
submissions (some more absurd than others), we all agreed that Darkslide, a skateboard grind invented by the
Godfather of Modern skateboarding, Rodney Mullen, was perfect. Not only does it hint at the level of roast,
but it also nods to our company culture. One could even argue that the trick itself, which is similar to a
boardslide grind but flipped on its head so that you’re actually grinding on the grip tape with your feet on
the underside of the board, could be an allegory for how we really don’t offer a lot of dark roasts, and
this flips that on its head!
