5 Rings Coffee Roasters | Cali Crash | Colombia
The Roaster
5 Rings Coffee is a new and exciting coffee roaster emerging out of the UK. It was created over a longstanding friendship which began in 2012, three young aspiring athletes on the national cycling team, all with the shared dream of becoming Olympic Champions.
The three friends travelled throughout the world with cycling and wherever they ended up would always seek the best coffee in town.
Cycling is certainly a sport that has grown in popularity over the last few years in the UK, this has also brought some wonderful new coffee shops ‘geared’ to accommodating cyclists taste for speciality coffee.
Since 2016 Callum, Phil and Owain have all taken different paths; new challenges, changing disciplines and continuing that Olympic dream. However, constants remain; pursuit of excellent coffee and their friendship.
So in 2020, the three came to the conclusion, why look for the perfect coffee when you can craft your own?
"They are passionate about two things; performing at their peak and finding that perfect cup of coffee."
Their core values have been clear from the beginning; sustainability and perfection.
5 rings have committed to those values throughout the entire process from the farmers they work with to 100% recyclable packaging.
They ensure that their product is world-class and sustainably sourced. A price is paid which recognises the quality of the coffee and guarantees to cover the costs of production.
They also roast on a Loring coffee roaster which is one of the most environmentally friendly roasters out there.
I love one of their tag-lines which really resonates with us too; “Coffee is more than just a drink, we are compelled to share the very best with you.”
Three Olympic champions with passion for coffee - watch this space!
The Coffee
The coffee originates from South East Colombia. A place close to my heart, after working on a coffee farm there a few years ago.
The rolling landscape of sprawling coffee farms is breathtaking. The conditions are perfect here for growing speciality coffee, with steep hills needed to grow unique tasting coffee alongside high altitude, micro-climates and rich soil.
All of the components align to make this one of the most important regions on the speciality coffee map.
Colombia is no stranger to speciality coffee and is rightfully one of the most caught after coffee origins in the world. Synonymous in US pop culture with marketing campaigns for Juan Valdez the country prides itself on high-quality coffee.
The reason for this is because Colombia has many smallholder coffee farms, with 60% of Colombian coffee farmers cultivating land of less than 1 hectare.
This is incredible for any speciality coffee roaster as there are many different micro-lots to discover each having different flavour profiles.
The name Cali crash is attributed to Owain’s crash at the Cali track world championships in 2014.
The Review
Opening the bag of Cali crash was a wonderful experience in itself. A big fruit bowl of flavour notes race full pelt out of the bag. You can tell straight away that this is a coffee that has something about it.
The Fragrance of the ground coffee reminds me of plumbs not dissimilar to plum sauce - you know the one you get at Chinese restaurants that you dollop on your duck pancakes.
Rich fruity aromas whirl out of the brewing coffee, sweet notes of blackcurrant jam.
The coffee begins with the suggestion of berries in the fragrance, rolls over your tongue and spills over into the sides of your palate with a quench of apple juice.
At the back of the sip, there is a suggestion of dark chocolate and caramel that layers in quite nicely with the dark fruits.
The Cali Crash cools into almost fizzy flavours like tangy Haribo sweets. It doesn’t roll over your tongue anymore and unify with the caramel notes but instead carries the sharper tangy notes into the aftertaste.
It is a wonderfully clean and bright cup that twists and turns throughout the cup.
It doesn’t just stop there either, as the coffee ages, its flavour profile evolves and each time I brewed it I had a slightly different experience.
It was a pleasure to drink. Right up until the last coffee bean.
For me, the coffee was at its best when prepared through a paper filter. The complex flavours and bright tangy notes were able to shine.
