Lehmus Roastery's winter seasonal coffees have arrived in stores and on Satamatie today, Friday.
This year, alongside our old favorites, the medium-roasted Kettu coffee and Dark Kettu, we have created a completely new product for the first time in the history of Lehmus Roastery. So, can we introduce you to the spicy Kettu!
In addition to coffee, you can taste the authentic aromas of the season at Mauste-ketsu
The packaging of Mauste-Ketu is inspired by the back ramparts of Lappeenranta Fortress. The city foxes that live in the city also live in the hiding places of the back ramparts.
At Mauste-Ketu, we have used genuine Ceylon cinnamon and cardamom to give the coffee the aroma of the Christmas season.
Flavored coffee has been on the agenda at Lehmus Roastery for a long time.
"It was obvious to us that the spice ingredients had to be authentic, we could not and did not want to use any essences. We also have the same logic in our Oligark series: the aroma in those coffees also comes from a real drinking barrel," says Visa Tuovinen, roasting master at Lehmus Roastery.
Spice-Kettu has a Christmassy aroma. The coffee is roasted to a medium roast, and after roasting and grinding, cardamom and cinnamon are added to the coffee.
"We have tested coffee in different ways, and we found that by adding milk or oat milk, the Spice Fox is a dessert in itself," Tuovinen says.
The rear ramparts of the Lappeenranta fortress. Behind the rear ramparts, Lake Saimaa can be seen. The city of Lappeenranta originated on the shores of Pallonlahti Bay, where markets were held in the 16th century and later, with good transport connections and a sheltered bay.
Flavored coffees are a bit of a tough nut to crack for roasters, as the coffee's own aromas are easily completely covered up by other spices. The idea behind specialty coffee is that the coffee itself tastes delicious, so other aromas are considered completely unnecessary.
Lehmus Roastery also went through the discussion on the topic. There has been so much demand for spiced coffee that the roastery decided to take on the challenge.
"It's a different game in a way. We don't feel like we're ruining coffee here, but rather creating new experiences. In addition, we only use genuine, valuable spices, so respect for the raw material is evident throughout."
We also create various seasonal products for the café, so why not build spices around coffee at the roastery as well," says Tuovinen.
The development of the spice fox began with choosing spices. Cardamom and cinnamon are traditional spices and scents of the Christmas season, so they were used to start the development.
Different amounts of spices were mixed into the finished coffee, and they were extracted and tasted in parallel. The goal was to create a coffee in which the spices would taste sufficiently strong, but where the aroma of the coffee would not be completely covered.
" The goal was to make sure the spices were clearly present."
Eventually, a suitable amount of spices was found, and the fox pack gained a new member, Spice Fox.
Kettu coffee's raw beans come from the same farm and grower for the third year in a row
Luiz Paolo is the owner of Fazenda IP. His father, Isidro Pereira, founded the farm in 1967.
At Fazenda IP, coffee is grown in a row format.
Lehmus Roastery has been using coffee from the same farm in its Kettu coffee for the third year now. Located outside the city of Carmo de Minas in southeastern Brazil, Fazenda IP cultivates coffee at an altitude of 950-1250 meters.
The coffee has a typical South American flavor. Chocolate and nuttiness are present, as well as a soft mouthfeel. This year's harvest also has a fruity acidity, more specifically orangey.
A small change is the processing of the coffee beans, which has changed from honey processing to natural processing. In honey processing, the skin of the coffee berry is removed, but the so-called silver film surface is left on the bean, allowing the bean to absorb additional sweetness during drying.
The Natural treatment is similar to sun-drying: the coffee berry is left to dry as is in the sun, allowing the bean to absorb even more sugars from the berry. The skin and membrane covering the bean are only removed after drying.
Medium roast fox is cooler than before
The first version of Kettu coffee, which is being sold for the third time, is inspired by the large fir trees located along the Vyborg Fortress Gate, which can be seen in the background of the picture. The fir trees grow next to Pusupuisto. Pusupuisto can also be found in the Lehmus Roastery selection.
In the picture, a fox rests on the monument to the Battle of Lappeenranta, which took place 277 years ago during the Little War. The pedestal of the monument itself was built 200 years ago. As a result of the battle in 1741, Lappeenranta passed from Swedish rule to Russian rule. Fox coffee is an independent soul.
Natural-processed coffee usually tastes a little smoother in all respects, but this time the coffee from this harvest has gained a little more freshness and acidity than before.
"When you work with the same farms for years, you get to follow the development of the crops year after year. It was interesting to notice that even though the processing changed, the taste was still fresher than we had expected," Tuovinen says.
So the classic Kettu has gained a little pep in its step, but the taste is familiar from previous years.
The dark fox is lurking in the city again
The dark fox is observing the situation in front of Lappeenranta's newest high-rise apartment buildings, as can be seen from the label and the image. In the background, the eight-story tower blocks (on the scale of Lappeenranta) reach into the heights, bordering Maria Square.
The tamest city foxes also thrive on these paved streets, brave as they are.
The taste of the popular dark roast coffee was not affected as much by the change in bean processing as the taste of the medium-roasted, so-called original coffee.
The urban dark fox still has a pleasant sweetness, the softness brought by the darkness, and the cocoa and caramel nut aroma.
"This year's foxes are very pleasant, cunning and, if we take the fox metaphor to its extreme, also downright healthy and shiny-furred individuals, just like the real city foxes roaming the ramparts of the fortress, which we watch from the window of the roastery," Tuovinen says.
Foxes on a hike.
Many photos have been taken in Lappeenranta in recent years from these corners of the railway tracks running behind the fortress cape, as the dens of city foxes have been located in these areas.
From here, the foxes also wandered to the Lehmus Roastery roastery on the other side of the fortress, and these foxes on the ramparts have also inspired the entire Lehmus Roastery Kettu coffee series.
In addition to well-stocked grocery stores, Foxes are available in our online store, welcome to shop!