Common is a coffee roaster in Fife, Scotland. Started by a pair of Kiwi’s Jason and Ash having moved to the UK in 2014. After initially going into business together and starting a festival bar called the Shed it was clear that their calling was actually coffee rather than cold alcoholic beverages. A couple of years on the festival scene and an inspired trip to Edinburgh Common was born.

Jason and Ash wanted Common to be something different, something that was, uhhh, a bit of a festival... in the sense of bringing people together, of course! But they couldn't do it alone, they needed a creative genius and coffee pro. Cue Jess the designer and Katelyn the coffee expert. Without them, Common would be nothing more than burnt coffee in brown bags.

A coffee brand that has some inspiring ethics while also knowing how to have fun with it. They put their heart and soul into everything that they do and realise that coffee is more than just a drink, it’s a vehicle for community, friends and comings together.

The Peruvian coffee from common arrived beautifully presented. There is a bit of a debate in the speciality coffee world as to how coffee should be packaged, where some people say the magic should be inside the bag rather than on the outside. I don’t think there is anything wrong with good design and a coffee bag that makes you want to try the coffee inside. As long as the bag isn’t dipped in yoghurt and covered in chocolate buttons and the coffee is as good as design I’m all for a bit of flair. Common’s …. Comes with a lollypop label and does entice you into opening the bag straight away to get your nose in (even if it is 6 o’clock at night). 

I have a bit of a soft spot for Peruvian coffee as I used to live there and have some great friends in the coffee industry. A magical country, with jawdropping scenery and unique cultures their coffee takes on similar profiles. The progressive nature of the country is also now leading to pioneering coffee farming and processing. Biodynamic coffee is one of a few techniques that the Peruvian coffee industry is now using, where coffee is harvested depending on the cycle of the moon.

This coffee has come from three farmers near the small town of La Naranjas in the Cajamarca region of Peru. All three farmers are apart of the Alpes Andinos. This association has around 115 different farms from various villages in the north Cajamarca region. Most of these families rely on coffee as their main income and grow other fruits from personal consumption.

The harvest season is from June to October. This area has a lot of difficult terrain so all the ripe cherries are handpicked then carried by back to the road. From here a mule will take the cherries to get processed back at their homes.

The coffee was an excellent example of typical Peruvian coffee, while sometimes lacking in complexity like some of its Latin American neighbours, Peruvian coffee makes up for it in sweetness and is often an enjoyable all-rounder.

The coffee has a wonderful fragrance to start with and the more boisterous flavours make an appearance first, with dark chocolate and hazelnut leading the way. The big punchy flavours smoothed out after brewing in place of stone fruits and brown sugar that layer together quite nicely. As the coffee cools the sweet-toned flavours build on each other and unify the coffee as it finishes with deeper dark chocolate flavours. The sweetness for me stole the limelight and was a great example of how delicious coffees from Peru can be. This is definitely a go-to coffee and one that will be enjoyed right to the last bean.

Brewed in many ways as always. It really was an all-rounder of a coffee as it performed well with milk and extracted well with all the methods I tried (espresso, Aeropress, V60 and cafetire). My favourite with this one has to be cafetiere, whipped it out at a bunch with friends and it stole the show (even over my homemade sourdough).