Hair Bender is a complex blend featuring coffee from all three of the major growing regions; Latin America, East Africa and Indonesia. We devote constant attention to Hair Bender and are proud of its status as our most popular coffee. We often say our dedication to coffee at the farm level, including how the coffee is grown, picked, separated and processed is what sets Stumptown apart. The Hair Bender is no exception to this rule.
Unlike many other espressos of the world, Hair Bender features fully washed coffee as its backbone, and can have five to eight different coffees at any given time. We hand select these coffees to provide clarity along with the sweetness and complexity we are seeking. We continually taste this blend and each of its components (on the cupping table as well as espresso) to maintain the balance of flavors.
Hair Bender is designed with several goals in mind—namely floral aromatics of jasmine and lavender, ripe fruit notes of cherry or citrus, a caramel-like body and a lingering, sweet finish. Hair Bender relies on multiple growing regions to achieve a complex flavor profile combination of sweet citrus, milk chocolate and caramel. Hair Bender well serves the old adage ‘the sum is greater than its parts’. Each of the coffees that comprise this blend can stand strongly on their own, though the relationship between their flavors is what defines the cornerstones of our espresso blend.
LATIN AMERICA: This is the framework for the whole blend; select Latin American coffees give us the delicate citrus flavors, syrupy mouth feel and clean finish. Cherry flotation, extended fermentation, soaking and proper storage are key steps to providing the perfect bright, clean Latin American coffees found in Hair Bender.
AFRICA: Home to extremely clean and floral Heirloom varietals growing at the highest altitudes, our African coffees provide the complex floral aromatics critical to the first impression of the blend. The African coffees we buy benefit from extended fermentation and a meticulous process that bring a ‘sparkling’ element to the cup.
INDONESIA: The Aceh Province on the Island of Sumatra provides us with the excellent, semi-washed coffees that round out the Hair Bender cup. Indonesian coffees serve to give the weight, body and mouth feel that balance the other flavor elements of the blend. They are the sweet, syrupy type that becomes fudge-like in the espresso, and give it a velvety mouth feel.