Santiago is a blend I created in the early 1960’s when the introduction of package holidays enabled far greater numbers to travel abroad, especially to southern Europe. An important part of the holiday was enjoying the cuisine and discovered new flavours, among them, new wines, breads, cheeses and of course coffee.

Returning to the United Kingdom, they told me of their new discoveries, especially with regard to the coffee, some customers brought me back samples requesting that I create a matching coffee in our selection. From all the descriptions and samples, I came to realise that no coffee from a single origin was going to provide the answer. I would have to create a new blend. The task was challenging because not all origins were going to be available to me, some origins only go to their traditional destinations, which in many cases is not to us in the United Kingdom.

I realised that the blend must have a powerful base of strength, strength was important, but subtle fruity undertones were there. It needed to be a dark roast, but there was another challenge, for not all varieties are suitable for that style of roasting, some take on an acrid flavour and others become so smooth that they lose all their interesting undertones.

After many hours of trial and error, a new dark roasted blend was born. I used very fine quality coffees from Costa Rica, Colombia and Brazil. I named it Santiago because many of the samples brought to me had come from Spain.

Santiago Blend is a strong and powerful coffee that will compliment most foods, it holds its own at breakfast time or as an accompaniment to a dinner menu. It will prepare well by filter makers, plunger pots (cafetières) and stove top espresso makers. 

Look for subtle hints of acidity with dark chocolate and caramelised sugar. It can be enjoyed black, or with cream or hot milk.

I hope that you will enjoy this coffee and its unique flavours.

Sincerely,

Tony Higgins