Earlier this month, Gab Tan, Brand Ambassador, and Jack Allisey, Head of Coffee, travelled to South Sumatra, Indonesia, to visit Finca Ali. What they brought back is going to shape some of the most exciting coffees we've released in a long time.

On the ground, they sat down with Raymond Ali and Gavin Suryo from Finca Ali to go deep on lots, processing, and potential. The kind of conversations that only happen when you make the trip.

This wasn't a quick site visit. It was days spent walking the rows of yellow bourbon and kartika coffee trees, cupping through the harvest, and working out, together, which lots had something worth bringing home.

The People Behind Finca Ali

Every great coffee starts with a relationship, and Finca Ali is no exception. Raymond Ali and Gavin Suryo have spent years building the farm into what it is today, and meeting them in person changed the way Gab and Jack understood the coffee itself.

It's one thing to taste a sample on the other side of the world. It's another to stand in the rows where it grew, hear how it was processed, and talk through what's possible for the next harvest, face to face, with the people who make it happen.

That's the difference an origin trip makes. The coffee doesn't just get better. The story behind it does too.

Gab's World Championships Mission

The stakes are high for Gab right now. He's heading to the World Barista Championships in Panama this October where he is representing Australia, and South Sumatra is where he found his milk course coffee selection.

Cupping through lot after lot at Finca Ali, Gab was searching for something specific: a coffee that can work harmoniously with milk and dazzle in front of judges who taste for a living. After days at the farm, he locked in the selections he believes can do exactly that.

We'll be sharing more about those coffees, and what Gab's doing with them, as Worlds gets closer. But this is where the story starts.

Jack's Microlot Hunt

While Gab was focused on competition lot selection, Jack was working the Finca Ali lots with a different goal in mind: the Veneziano single origin program.

He came home with multiple microlots secured. Each one is traceable, distinctive, and not quite ready to talk about yet. These are the kind of coffees that need to be introduced properly, not rushed out the door.

Watch this space.

What's Next

This trip was about more than one harvest. It's the start of a deeper relationship with Finca Ali, and with Raymond and Gavin specifically, that we expect to keep showing up in our range for years to come.

As Gab's championship campaign builds and Jack's microlots get closer to release, we'll keep you posted. For now, consider this the first chapter.

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