A British start-up has launched a new coffee delivery service that offers high-quality roasted and ground coffee with an East African twist.
Boun Beans founder Robel Iyassu grew up in an Eritrean household, where his mother would roast and grind coffee beans in the home for a traditional coffee ceremony, where the coffee is consumed in three rounds out of a traditional cup.
The company, which takes its name from the Eritrean for coffee, was designed to fill a gap in the market for premium, authentically roasted African speciality coffee. It differs from many of its competitors in that it does not attempt to tie consumers into a subscription, and has claimed to be the first online company to sell roasted coffee made using a traditional Eritrean method.
The process, taught to Iyassu by his mother, requires the beans to be roasted in a “menkeskesh” – or traditional roasting pan – before cooling them on a woven mat.
Robel said: “We use the Eritrean method of roasting beans; it’s authentic and traditional so it’s very different from the way other companies roast their beans. The delicacy in this roasting method enriches the taste of the coffee because we want to offer our customers the opportunity to experience what real coffee should taste like.
“We only supply Grade 1 coffee beans to our customers, which essentially is the Michelin Star in the coffee industry. The average high street coffee shop probably uses Grade 3 or 4 – that is coffee with quite a few defects that is really close to the end of its shelf-life.”
The traditional method for roasting the beans was passed down to Iyassu by his mother.
Boun Beans hand-roasts, grinds and delivers coffee to order for people to use in cafetiéres or coffee machines.
Before launching the digital firm, Iyassu worked as an NHS psychiatric therapist for ten years and has invested “a five figure sum” in the start-up.
He added: “I grew up watching my mum hand-roast coffee and serve it in a traditional Eritrean ceremony so this is my culture and passion. Essentially coffee is in my DNA and it was only a matter of time before I decided to offer UK consumers real coffee.”
Boun Beans sources the beans through UK resellers; it’s currently unable to offer beans from Eritrea, but sells varieties from countries such as Ethiopia, Jamaica and Colombia instead. The firm aims to source the highest quality green coffee beans and delicately hand roast them on the same day that the order comes in.
As the business grows the next step is to go to Eritrea and buy beans directly from farmers, it said.
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