Sourcing coffees for our Select Series is always a pleasure, as we get to taste some exquisite and rare lots from across the coffee producing world. 

For this release, we’re thankful to Jose Rivera, affectionately known as “Pepe”. Jose is a coffee producer and exporter based in Jaén, in the northern Cajamarca region of Peru. He and his wife, Mariagracia, run Origin Coffee Lab (OCL), an exporter renowned for sourcing and exporting some of the highest-quality specialty coffees in the country.

OCL works directly with producers, cupping all deliveries and paying a premium directly related to the quality of their coffee to show how their crop can be differentiated. They also provide education on financial and agricultural best practices to help farmers move towards a more sustainable future.

OCL also carries out a number of initiatives to invest in the quality of future coffee harvests. In recent years, it has funded the construction of a warehouse for storage and green coffee sorting, as well as a new vacuum packing line for microlot and nanolot coffees.

This Select Series coffee is a washed processed Sidra variety from Jose’s farm, El Rejo, in San Jose del Alto, located at 1,750–1,800 meters above sea level. At El Rejo, Bourbon is the main variety, intercropped with banana trees, and Jose is also experimenting with Marshell, SL9, Ethiopian varieties and some rare varieties such as the Sidra. Sidra is a recently introduced coffee variety, with an unclear origin story. It might have been part of a coffee plant breeding program, developed in the nurseries of a Nestle facility in Ecuador. Sidra was thought to be a hybrid of Bourbon and Typica. More recent genetic research, however, suggests its lineage may also include Ethiopian landrace varieties. 

The cultivar gained international recognition through pioneering farms in Ecuador, particularly in high-altitude regions where producers began experimenting with varieties capable of delivering exceptional cup quality. It represents a rare balance between exceptional flavour potential and strong agricultural performance. In the cup, Sidra is often associated with layered flavour profiles that may include tea like texture, floral aromatics, bright acidity and tropical fruit notes. The washed Sidra from El Rejo ticks all of these boxes, with a deliciously floral lavender top note complimented by a peach-like stone fruit acidity and honey-like sweetness. 

In recent years, the Sidra variety has gained prominence and popularity in the specialty coffee industry, with many competitors using it to achieve success in the World Barista Championships as well as the World Brewers Cup. At Maker, we strive to make the Select Series a memorable drinking experience for our customers, and we believe this washed Sidra produced by Jose Rivera delivers on that promise. We’re thrilled and proud to be offering this delicious coffee in our limited edition Select Series. Packed in 100g tins, this special release can be purchased now on the Maker website. 

2026 has gotten off to a flying start here at Maker, and we are ready to welcome the newest coffee into our roastery, a community lot from the Jaen province in Cajamarca, Peru, called Las Mishas. 

Imported into Australia by our newest import partners, InterAmerican Coffee, this coffee was one of several Peruvian lots bought by InterAmerican this year. We were lucky enough to be invited to a curated cupping by their team, and were immediately impressed by the cleanliness and sweet stone fruit notes of this coffee. 

A beautifully structured washed process coffee, this community lot is made from coffees grown by producers in the Colosay district of the Jaen province in Cajamarca, Peru. Coffee producers typically cultivate and manage just over 2 hectares of land. Grown at very high altitudes (nearly 2090 MASL), the cold climate in this area allows for slower maturation and a longer drying process, favouring the quality of these coffees.

On average, a typical farmer in this program manages slightly over 2 hectares of coffee cultivation, and all producers are certified organic. Despite the simplicity of equipment they use, the quality of the coffees remains impressive. Some farmers have their own parabolic dryers, while others opt for outdoor plastic drying or use facilities provided by neighbours or relatives.

We’re extremely excited and honored to be able to source coffees such as Las Mishas, where the dedication and quality of the producers shines through. With stone fruit complexity that is complimented by raisin and milk chocolate sweetness, this coffee is sure to be a crowd pleaser! 

Our first Brazillian coffee of this year comes from the award winning farm, Fazenda Cachoeira, owned and run by Danilo Barbosa.

Fazenda Cachoeira is one of the most distinguished farms within Brazil’s Cerrado Mineiro, the country’s first protected Designation of Origin for coffee. The land traces back to Danilo Barbosa’s family heritage and has been developed over generations into a structured, quality-driven coffee estate. Through disciplined reinvestment and long-term vision, the farm evolved into a benchmark origin within the region.

Located between 1,045 and 1,100 meters above sea level, Cachoeira benefits from the Cerrado’s defined seasons — warm, wet summers and dry winters — supporting uniform maturation and controlled drying. The farm cultivates varieties such as Red Catuaí and Yellow Catuaí, using natural and controlled fermentation methods to enhance terroir expression.

In 2021, Fazenda Cachoeira won the Brazil Cup of Excellence Championship, with a natural Yellow Catuaí lot scoring above 90.5 points, placing the farm among Brazil’s top specialty producers. Beyond awards, Cachoeira reflects structured management, environmental preservation and a commitment to consistent specialty-grade production. Fazenda Cachoeira represents generational discipline, technical precision and the proven capability of Brazilian coffee at the highest level.

Danilo Barbosa’s prowess in coffee processing is seen in this lot’s fruit forward and clean profile. This natural Catuai lot is packed with red fruits such as grapes with raisin like dried fruit finish and caramel sweetness lingering throughout. We’re excited to offer this beautiful coffee in all our bars in the coming weeks. 

The mission at Maker in 2025 was simple, to source high quality coffees which were elegant, expertly processed and expressive of the country in which they were grown. Taking a leaf out of this manual, we have the latest release of 2026, a beautiful microlot from the Masha washing station in the Kayanza province of Burundi. 

Masha Washing Station sits in the commune of Gatara in northern Burundi’s Kayanza Province at roughly 1,672 masl. It serves a large community of more than 2,500 smallholder farmers, many of whom cultivate only a few hundred trees on plots averaging around 0.11 hectares.

The station’s name comes from the Kirundi word amasho (“herds of cattle”), reflecting the area’s pastoral history and a micro-ecosystem shaped by long-term human and environmental interaction. 

The combination of high elevation, biodiversity, and dispersed smallholder production supports slower cherry maturation, denser seeds, and the potential for traceable community lots rather than estate-scale production.

Established in 1989, the washing station brings decades of operational experience and consistent post harvest practices. The washed coffees are typically depulped the same day they're harvested and delivered, and fermented underwater for 12–24 hours before being washed for about two hours. Then the coffees are spread on drying tables or raised beds, where they dry for about 20 days, depending on the weather. 

This beautiful washed coffee from the Masha Washing station has notes of ripe plum and dates with sweetness of treacle to round off a delicious and balanced cup. 

Coffees from Yirgacheffe have a special place in Specialty Coffee lore, and we love to celebrate them in our Roastery at Maker. The region of Yirgacheffe is plentiful and ripe for coffee production. The thick vegetation is a product of the warm tropical climate with moderate wet and dry seasons. Most coffee is shade-grown by small producers using organic practices. Coffees are cultivated from 1600 to 2400 masl in these highlands. The multitude of microregions creates complex profiles depending on the washing station a particular coffee is from.

This natural process coffee comes from the Chelchele washing station, which is in the kebele, or village, of Chelchele, in the words, or district, of Kochere, in the Yirgacheffe region. Chelchele coffees tend to have a nice backbone of sweetness from toffee and/or soft nuts like almond, with a floral and citrus overtone. 

Natural coffees are typically delivered the day they are harvested, and are first sorted for ripeness and quality before being rinsed clean of dirt. Then they are spread on raised drying beds or tables, where they will be rotated constantly throughout the course of drying. Drying can take an average of 8–25 days, depending on the weather. 

This coffee is beautifully layered with tasting notes of strawberry, peach and white chocolate, highlighting the mastery of coffee producers and workers at the Chelchele washing station.

You can buy this delicious coffee from the Chelchele Washing Station at the Maker Website or visit any one of the Maker Cafes to pick up a freshly roasted 250g bag. 

Coffees from Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia are always welcomed with excitement at Maker, and we are so excited to bring this washed coffee from the Chelchele washing station to our customers. 

Located in the Kochere district, the Chelchele washing station caters to nearly 500 local smallholder coffee producers. Once delivered, the cherries are sorted, weighed and then processed as either washed or natural process lots. 

This particular lot was processed using the “Special Preparation” method- what the producers generally refer to as “Premium” in Ethiopia. The cherries come from a very limited number of smallholder producers, 90% of these cherries are perfectly picked, 5% are semi ripe and 5% are over ripe. 

The coffee is picked ripe and depulped the same day. There is usually a fermentation period of 8–12 hours in open-air tanks, then washed in water channels to remove the mucilage. The coffee seeds will be spread on raised beds to dry for 5–15 days. 

This coffee has a classic washed Yirgacheffe profile, with notes of Bergamot, Jasmine and Black Tea. The new Chelchele washed process coffee is now available on the Maker website and in all venues.