Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters promotes its monthly single origin program, intended to satisfy any customer’s tastebuds.
From big and bold to smooth, sweet flavours, Toby’s Estate Head Roaster Danny Cao says the Sydney-based roaster has a brew for every coffee-lover. The extensive range, he says, is designed to suit all tastes across the board, complemented by its ongoing monthly single origin program.
“Our single origin program offers a continuously fresh and new brew experience and is a worldwide, curated collection of seven unique espresso and filter coffees of different varieties and processing methods,” says Danny.
“We put a lot of work into creating a range every month that suits both the new coffee entrant as well as the coffee geek as we think it’s really important to not always exclude people through cost or complexity.
“Our November rotation has been extended through Christmas and the New Year, and because of that, we are offering some very exciting coffees.”
Toby’s Estate’s November rotations will run from 9 November 2023 to 18 January 2024. The rotation consists of espresso coffees ranging from a washed SL 28 varietal from La Reforma in El Salvador with flavour notes of lemon tart, ginger ale and toffee, to a honey processed Central Valley varietal from Monte Brisas in Costa Rica with notes of grapefruit, pineapple, and matcha.
The filter coffees in this month’s rotation include a black honey processed Catuai varietal from Pa-O in Myanmar with notes of goji berry, ganache and carob, and a natural Ethiopian varietal from Kotowa Estate in Panama with notes of elderflower, muscat grape, and acai.
“Our filter coffees are tiered from a pricing point of view, starting with a cheaper option through to a special release 100- gram premium filter coffee. This month the Panama single origin is our high-tier filter,” Danny says. “This coffee is from the freshest crop of Kotowa Estate. We had to airfreight it over to Sydney as we wanted to receive it straight away and ensure we had it in time for the release.”
All other coffees are available in a 200- gram bag and one-kilogram for espresso. Danny says the single origins are carefully selected to best represent the Toby’s Estate brand and describes this month’s rotation as “the all-stars line-up”, with coffees from origins the team has enjoyed working with over a long time.
“We cupped each of these coffees and the Panama single origin definitely stood out for its unique and high-quality flavour. The Costa Rican coffees were also some of our favourites, and it’s exciting to be able to offer this as we have been working with them for almost four years and have a great relationship with them,” he says.
Danny says the value of Toby’s Estate’s single origin program lies not only in the quality of the coffees, but also in their affordability.
“When people hear high-quality, they automatically think expensive, but the beauty of our monthly rotations is that we always have a mixed price range along with different origin and processes. Having seven different coffees each month isn’t very common in the coffee industry, and we want to make sure we’re capturing a variety of options for our consumer,” Danny says.
Toby’s Estate’s single origins aren’t the only limited-edition coffees available from the roaster. It also offers a Flavour Savour series dedicated to flavour- focused blends.
“This year we released three coffees in our Flavour Savour series, including Marshmallow Brownie, Banana Split, and Blueberry Crumble,” says Danny.
“These coffees are always very successful due to their intensity and easily distinguishable flavours. When we were roasting Blueberry Crumble, our warehouse smelt like blueberries for a whole month due to its strong aromatics.”
With the Flavour Savour series, Danny says Toby’s Estate is bridging the gap between the general consumer and specialty coffee, making it easier for people to understand the value of coffee.
“The focus is to elevate the market. People in the industry always talk about how we need to charge more money for coffee, but we can only do that if the customer knows what they’re paying for,” Danny says.
“We want to get them excited about tasting different coffees, so when the next Flavour Savour comes out, they can taste it and feel comfortable to order more. Then, they might ask for a single origin on milk, or even a black coffee. We want our customers to be curious and to experiment, not be intimated to know more about coffee.”
To embrace the Christmas spirit, Toby’s Estate will also feature limited-edition Christmas packaging and gift packs throughout December.
“The last few years we’ve adopted the theme of ‘naughty or nice’ to showcase both sides of Christmas, and it was very well- received by customers. When we speak of Christmas packaging people automatically think of cheerful, light-hearted images, but we wanted to think outside the box and ride a little bit of tension. On our Christmas packaging, you can see Krampus stealing Santa’s present sack and replacing it with rubbish,” says Danny.
The limited-edition packaging will be available in 200-gram and one-kilogram bags.
“We also have limited edition takeaway cups and are bringing back three of our previous Flavour Savours in a limited- edition gift pack. For each pack, it will have three 200-gram bags of Watermelon Cake, Lamington Cake, and Butterscotch Pudding,” Danny says.
“Butterscotch Pudding was the first release in the Flavour Savour series from Toby’s Estate in 2020. The response was super positive, and I think that’s because we approached it as a unique milk-based option. People would talk about the richness of the coffee, and how the sweetness and silkiness from the milk made it almost cake-like. We landed on butterscotch pudding as a descriptor, and it just clicked with everybody.
“Watermelon Cake combines fruity flavours of watermelon, rose petals, and mango nectar with traditional notes like crème brulee, dark chocolate, and vanilla cake. Lamington Cake features flavour notes of dark chocolate, coconut and strawberry jam, mirroring the iconic Aussie favourite.”
To create milk-based coffees with holiday- inspired flavours, Danny says the team knew it would need strong, rich fruity flavours.
“Whatever we put on the bag, the customer should be able to taste it or can relate to it,” he says.
For more information, visit www.tobysestate.com.au
This article appears in the December 2023 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
