Producers ask us many times how they should name their coffees on Algrano. Not because they don't have a name for their coffee, but because they're used to selling locally or on commercial markets, where coffee names are a collection of grades and standards.
For example, NY 2/3 is a defect count. Supremo is a screen size. SHB is about altitude.
Every large buyer knows what those stand for. Specialty buyers without a commercial background might not. That's why people come up with more specific, descriptive names depending on the type of buyer they're talking to.
On Algrano, you get both types of buyers. So you can choose how to name your coffee depending on who you're focusing on.
Going beyond standards and grade names
Say you're an Ethiopian exporter selling Grade 1 Washed coffee. Lots of buyers know what Grade 1 means, and there's demand from both large and small roasters. Grade 1 should absolutely be in the name. It's a strong quality indicator.
But don't stop at Sidamo Grade 1. That's not specific enough.
The impression it gives is that you're selling a large generic Sidamo blend. Which might be traceable, fine. But you might as well swap out the coffees that go into it, because all you're really delivering is a quality standard. That's how the blends sold by traders normally work. It's not what roasters come to Algrano for.
So what do producers who sell here actually do? At the very least, they'll name a coffee like this:
Washing station + region + processing method + grade
That is immediately more traceable. Immediately more distinctive.
Identity and uniqueness
Roasters care about how specific the lot naming is for two reasons.
The first is identity. Roasters like to know where the coffee comes from. Guji and Sidamo are not different only in flavour profile, and roasters are genuinely interested in learning about that.
There's mystery and romance in a local landscape they're discovering. It's why coffee is interesting in the first place. Why do people put the name of a nearby mountain on a coffee? Yes, it signals altitude, but it also puts the roaster in a physical place they've never been.
The second is competition. Specialty is a brutally competitive market, and every roaster wants a coffee nobody else has. That's how they differentiate. If everyone is selling Sidamo Grade 1, how do I, the person buying a bag, decide where to buy it?
In the second coffee wave, roasters differentiated mainly through their signature blends. It didn't matter if the coffee was replaceable, because the recipe was unique.
That still exists, obviously. But roasters now differentiate far more through the uniqueness of what they source. Making sure your offer shows what's unique about your coffee is the easiest way to meet that need. Definitely easier than testing a new processing method.
Producers who are closer to the communities they work with in Ethiopia, Kenya, or Rwanda will often add a local word to the name. Akagera. Amahoro. Intego.
These carry a meaning you can weave into the story of the coffee, and they add local flavour to the offer. Plus, they're not used everywhere the way grade names are. The coffee is instantly more unique.
How roasters read coffee lot names
Other than uniqueness, roasters look to the coffee lot name for basic information. A descriptive name is super helpful because it tells a roaster what the coffee is straight away. But what does a descriptive name look like?
Familia Pacas Finca Santa Sofía Bernardina Natural
Producer + farm + variety + process
That first slot could just as easily be a producer group, the region the coffee comes from (the more specific the better), or the name of the plot within the farm.
Even if I don't know this farmer, the name tells me it's a single-farm coffee, it's an exotic variety, and it's going to be sweeter and rounder. If I know the country well, I know Natural isn't their typical process, so it's scarcer. If I know the family, I also know there's heritage here, because Bernardina is a variety the Pacas family "discovered".
Another example:
Birbirsa Cooperative Jimma Grade 1 Natural
Producer + region + grade + process
This gives me an exact location (though there could be a woreda or community name in there too) plus the region and the flavour associated with it, the grade, and the process. As a roaster, I look at this and I have a good idea what I'm getting.
Four to five name elements
Look closer and you'll notice both of those names have four elements. You could add a fifth to make it more specific. More than that and the name gets too long. Fewer and it doesn't deliver enough information.
Think about names like Honey Huila, Natural Parainema, Washed G1. Two words. Could be produced by any number of people. Almost no sense of identity.
We’re not saying they won't sell. Coffees like these do sell all the time. But you're not giving the coffee the best chance it has. And if you're selling a special micro-lot, you should really invest in the name.
Look at this one:
Mount Elgon Arabica — Sironko Station "Pure Natural" Microlot A+
Region, the specific washing station, the producer's own name for the process, the lot size, the grade. Five elements. Six if you count the species, which makes sense here because Uganda also produces Robusta. Extremely specific.
Or:
Sidama Betibiroti Thermal Shock Natural Hybrid Micro-Lot
Region, the exporter's project name, processing method, lot size. And if I know a bit about processing, I also know Thermal Shock comes from Latin America and isn't commonly used in Africa. Bonus points for scarcity.
Balance creativity with information
A good name combines something unique with something descriptive.
So, when you’re naming a lot, think about what you can use to make it distinctive. If you're selling a blend of a traditional process, that's not going to make it unique, but it's still important information and it should be there. The question is what else you can add.
- Use your terroir and your geography. You don’t share those with that many producers.
- Use local words that mean something to you or your culture. But avoid made-up words that don't, especially when they’re not accompanied by descriptors.
- Use plot names and people's names.
- Balance creativity with information.
And if you want inspiration, or you want to see how different origins name their coffees, go and read through importers' offer lists.
These structures have become familiar to roasters because they see them constantly, and many lists are freely available online (though rarely with pricing information, of course).
You can break any convention you like. Just have a good reason for it, and don't lose sight of what the name is actually there to do: marketing and information
