I love reading about people and their journeys. There are lessons to derive which can resonate with you. It can inspire you to take action or avoid mistakes. When I read about Alex Kitain’s feature in Standart Magazine Issue 24, I could relate to the initial part of his journey. Like me, he’s been blogging about specialty coffee after discovering the same more than a decade ago. Little did he know, the hand-brewed single origin coffee that was served to him that very day lead him to building Europe’s best coffee subscription company called The Coffeevine.

Success doesn’t happen overnight.

The Coffeevine started as a blog, this was him sharing his favorite cafes, coffee, people, and experiences in the specialty coffee world. Very soon, readership count reached thousands per month and well known brands requested collaborations. The natural next step for Alex was to launch a coffee subscription box to share the world’s most delicious coffees with people all over the world.

Today, The Coffeevine has worked with more than 200 roasters, serviced customers in over 70 countries and has established itself as Europe’s favorite coffee subscription service. And for the first time ever, UAE has a chance to experience some of the finest specialty coffee roasters from around the world. We not only have access to the Global Coffeevine Box, but also the European Coffee Roasters Box, without committing to a subscription. I don’t know about you, but it’s not everyday we get access to some of the best international roasters and their coffees.

Enter the Global Coffeevine Box

When Alex announced the Global Coffeevine Box available to people who want to experience coffees from different roasters around the world every month without committing to a recurring subscription, I immediately got in touch with him. He informed me that the order would be shipped as a collective.

This gave me several ideas: first, this solves my itch to try out roasters we don’t have access to here in the UAE and second, set up a group of people that buys and tries the same coffee available to them every month and meet on a monthly basis to network. This would form the very first UAE Collective (message me if you’d like to join the group).

The timing could not have been better because the coffee arrived during the long Eid break. There were 6 coffees featured for the month of June:

🇺🇸 Proud Mary Coffee Mexico, Santuario Ixhuatlan | Red Bourbon | Red Honey

🇨🇦 Subtext Coffee Roasters Colombia, Faver Ninco | Pink Bourbon | Washed

🇧🇪 Andy Coffee Roasters Ethiopia, Shakisu | Mixed heirloom | Washed

🇬🇧 PLOT Roasting Uganda, Kisinga | SL18 & SL24 | Natural

🇩🇪 The Barn Peru, Aromas del Valle | Caturra & Catuaí | Washed

I was particularly excited for Proud Mary’s red-honey processed Mexican coffee for two reasons:

• This is an origin the residents of the UAE don’t have access to.

• Proud Mary is a name that is synonymous with roasting the finest coffees out of Australia.

Also, how often do we come across a honey processed coffee? Handful, I’d say. With all due respect to the ubiquitous experimental lots that have seemed to taken over the UAE coffee scene, it is refreshing to see a process not very common. This coffee is roasted in Proud Mary’s Portland based roastery and it is their first international expansion out of Australia.

Nolan Hirte and Shari Hirte, husband and wife and also founders of Proud Mary, collaborated with Camilo Merizalde and the Ixhuatlán Processing Centre at The Santuario Project in Mexico. Great care is taken to produce this coffee by small-holder farmers from the surrounding area. Expect your cup to have red berries, tartiness, honey, milk chocolate, and a juicy finish.

The second coffee I ordered from the Global Coffeevine box is Subtext based in Toronto, Canada. Founded by Alex Castellani, Subtext aims to highlight their coffee without any fluff. In their own words, “we don't blend coffee; we don't rename coffees; and we don't roast our coffee dark”.

Their space in Toronto is impressive. It not only functions as a roaster, but also prioritizes education and coffee experiences. Subtext have showcased their washed Pink Bourbon from Colombia produced by Faver Ninco. This variety is well known for its bright, crisp and sweet notes.

For the month of July, I was stoked to see a UAE based roaster being featured in the Global Coffeevine box. None other than Archers, of course. They are showcasing an absolutely delicious Costa Rican from Volcan Azul. This is a naturally processed experimental H1 variety with notes of mango, red apple and hazelnut. Other featured roasters are Metric Coffee, Coffee Collective, Manhattan Coffee Roasters, and Formative Coffee. These are names that don’t need any introduction.

The lineup for July is incredible.

How does it work?

1️⃣ Fill the order form.

2️⃣ The cut off time to place your order is until July 8th.

3️⃣ Invoices will be sent out on July 11th. Payment will be done online using credit card or Paypal.

Only a few days remaining.