Companion Coffee.

We may not have been able to do much travelling over the past year, but that hasn’t stopped us daydreaming of our next adventure and seeking out ways to scratch the itch of curiosity when it comes to travelling. For so many of us, coffee shops are a place of sanctuary and fascination. We wanted to find a way of incorporating the experience of discovering a new coffee in a new café, even though we’re still struggling to get out into the world. 

Our answer is the new WatchHouse guest series; Companion Coffee. Each month, we’ll be choosing a different leading international roastery to feature in our Houses and online. Their coffee will be available to explore in store, served exclusively on V60, or as a duo of whole beans; our guest selection paired with a coffee from the WatchHouse Roastery.     

Monogram Coffee. Calgary, Canada.

Introducing Monogram - wonder and warmth.

To kick things off, we’re delighted to introduce Monogram as our first global companion. We’re long standing fans of the excellence and humility throughout their work; from sourcing, roasting and their approach to hospitality, to their presence within the international competition scene. We’re looking forward to getting to know them a little better, enjoying a coffee that is a perfect example of Monogram’s commitment to fostering long term and meaningful relationships with producers. 

Monogram started over six years ago as a pop up coffee cart in an art gallery in Calgary, Canada. Three friends, Benjamin Put, Jeremy Ho and Justin Eyford, came together from roles within specialty coffee in different cities with the purpose to positively impact people’s lives through coffee. Their mantra? Coffee should inspire wonder and warmth. 

Since their coffee cart days, Monogram has grown to four cafes and a global wholesale program, benefitting from a strong showings at the World Barista Championships (their first hire Jill Hoff became Canada’s first female Champion at the beginning of 2020.) They have a far reaching community impact down to their approach to coffee and hospitality; whether developing operations in their cafes or working with producers across the coffee belt, their brand values are the current throughout; 

Community: Fostering connections through meaningful relationships.

Serving Others: Understanding the needs of others and finding a way to serve them.

Stewardship: Leaving things better than when we found them.

Quality: Excellence in everything we do or make.

Wonder: Always be exploring.

The coffee.

The coffee we have chosen is a super exciting lot in terms of process and flavour, and a brilliant example of Monogram’s ethos when it comes to sourcing. They have cultivated a truly meaningful relationship with producer Luis Choquehuanca, making long term investments that have provided Luis the financial stability to focus on elevating the quality of his farm’s output. A great example of the benefits of commitment from both sides. 

 Luis Choquehuanca at his farm. Caranavi, Bolivia. 

Monogram were first introduced to Luis through the Sol de la Mañana; a comprehensive educational programme designed to support producers improve quality, yield and earnings from coffee farming with an overarching goal to reverse the decline of Bolivian coffee production. Looking to support Sol de la Mañana, their first trip to Bolivia in 2018 saw Moogram blind cupping at a table of coffees from producers in the programme. It turned out that four of their favourites came from Luis. With that, their partnership flourished. 

The team visited Luis and his family at their farm, and spent time getting to know his needs and challenges as a coffee producer. Since their first meeting, they have bought his entire production for three consecutive years, watching Luis’ produce go from strength to strength. Monogram’s approach of listening to producers’ needs, and working in a way that supports their development is fundamental to their operation. Their backing has allowed Luis to build a new, more direct road to the processing mill which vastly improves the quality of his coffees, and provided the financial security to support his family whilst continuing his journey as a producer.

Luis Choquehuanca Lot 1 Filter.

Origin: Caranavi, Bolivia

Variety: Java. 

Process: Anaerobic. 

Tasting Notes: Floral | Peach | Orange. 

Luis and his family on their farm. 

“Year after year, Luis tries new ways to process his coffees, which allows us to keep wondering through his various lots…His coffee this year has only gotten better, and he is growing some of the best tasting Java we have ever tasted - truly world class coffees. This is a great example of how sticking to our relationship with a producer who shares the same values can produce something amazing.”