Within a coffee farm, micro-climates create a unique character and a higher quality than the rest of a crop - this could be due to soil, shade, sun, selective picking or coffee varietal.

These so called (micro lots) can be separated out and an extra degree of processing, drying and sorting can take place making the lot even more unique. In the most basic form take one lot of coffee and process half of it by pulp natural method and the other half by washed method the cup profiles will end up being completely different, so defferent you may think you are drinking two different coffees. The same can be said for growing areas 100 meters apart - one may have more sun, this will affect the cup profile.

Certain areas on the farm and certain coffee varietals will shine out above the main crop and thus these areas are processed as mirco lots. This also means the farmer can get more money for these crops as the quality in the cup is higher or unique. Being able to cherry pick individual lots is also somewhat of collaborative effort, and costly, for the producer and us the roaster.

We are working at the moment with a farm to produce a pulp natural Pacamara micro lot from a washed processing farm  - which we should have in by May 2011. In basic terms it equates to the ‘quality pyramid’, as the quality goes up, production is small making up the top tier of the pyramid. Being able to select and feature mico-lots recognises coffee quality because of the producer’s skill and the roaster's relationship with smaller scale growers and co-ops - Coffee Real have somewhat built up our reputation on these small lots and also unique coffees. These lots could make up several 69Kg bags, too small for larger commercial roasters to be interested and really small roasting companies who can not afford nor have the relationships with the farmers to purchase them.