Melanie Leeson’s ‘exciting’ coffees

Originally from Alberta, Melanie Leeson branched off from her studies in psychology to work in the world of coffee. Today, she is considered to be one of the best buyers of green coffees in the industry and, since 2020, Montreal roasters (and consumers!) have benefited from her great expertise.

In search of rare pearls

If, twenty years ago, we did not ask ourselves too many questions about what was in our cup, we know today how complex the little energizing seed is (as well as the whole economy attached to it). The specialty coffee sector has become competitive and people are snatching up the best “origins”, the fruit of the most caring farms, the product of the most innovative fermentation processes.

Melanie Leeson is here to find the rare pearls, the best value for money, the most ethical plans, etc. It helps small independent roasters to develop their coffee “menu”, so that they have an offer that looks like them and stands out. She also provides training in cuppinga way of tasting that makes it possible to identify the qualities and faults of a sample.

Its main employer is the Canadian Roast Company (CRS), where brands like Myriade, Ambros, Micro Espresso, Structure, Traffic, Melk, Jungle and many more store, cook and bag their beans. Not all CRS members use the buyer’s services, with the majority preferring to do their own “shopping” and build their own relationships, but they do the sourcing for all the private labels that are produced on place, for some cafes and restaurants.

The coffee path

Before being the little brown bean with the intoxicating scent that we know, coffee is a greenish bean that hides its potential well. The roaster thus receives it, at the end of a long way from the shrub. After picking, there is sorting, pulping (except for so-called “natural” coffees, which ferment inside the cherry), washing and fermentation, drying, storage and refining, removal of the parchment, export, etc.

Mélanie Leeson systematically orders samples of the coffees she plans to buy for her customers, roasts them on her very small machine and tastes them (cupping) to identify qualities and defects. She will never buy without tasting. And she is not fooled, knowing full well that the little “taste” sent to her is not always representative of the whole batch.

And we come to these “exciting coffees” that Melanie Leeson is delighted to find. These are usually more niche, more expensive beans that challenge drinkers, surprise them with their unique tastes. Let’s say we are a long way from the comforting Italian espresso. It’s for connoisseurs or for those who want to get out of their usual zone. Melanie Leeson herself didn’t drink coffee before discovering the “third wave”. It may recall the phenomenon of “natural wines”.

“From a taste point of view, the palette I’m looking for tends more towards citrus fruits, berries and flowers such as violets and jasmine. It’s bright, with a marked acidity, but in balance. »

The buyer becomes feverish when she comes across “local varieties” (landraces in English) Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, on certain varieties developed a hundred years ago for the Kenyan soil by Scott Laboratories (SL28 and SL34) or on small UFOs like the Colombian pink bourbon.

This little seed that we took for granted for a long time, entrusting it above all with the mission of getting us out of the arms of Morpheus, is just beginning to be appreciated at its true value. And when it comes to ‘value’, Melanie Leeson’s ‘exciting coffees’ are often the most profitable for producers. “We basically pay a lot more for these special grains, which benefits the families who grow and process them. »

Changing the world one grain at a time

The one who has always had equity and social justice at heart has found in this industry a way to change the world while having fun. Like the world of artisanal wine, specialty coffee tends to attract seekers of meaning and authenticity. At the Canadian Roasting Company, Melanie Leeson rubs shoulders with coffee enthusiasts from the most diverse backgrounds, whether it’s IT or Thai boxing!

For her, it all started as a part-time barista job at Transcend in Edmonton. “I wasn’t even drinking coffee until I tasted my first ‘third wave’ coffee,” reveals Melanie Leeson. Three years later, she was managing the company’s three coffee shops, after having dabbled in roasting and made a trip to the origins, in Honduras.

Taking a very keen interest in the sector, Melanie Leeson then crossed the Atlantic (and the North Sea!) to settle in Norway, a mecca for specialty coffee for the past twenty years. She helped set up the Collaborative Coffee Source import business and worked there as its director of marketing and development for six years. “My dream job fell on me,” she says.

In parallel, the eternally curious also completed a master’s degree in environment and sustainable development at the University of Oslo. She was interested in the impact of the specialty coffee industry on the economy of Burundi. “I found that the workers there were strongly encouraged and motivated by the interest that the rest of the world had in their coffee. »

Today, Burundi remains a very desirable origin, even if it is affected by a persistent coffee tree disease (potato defect or PTD). “And there is still a long way to go to ensure that salaries allow workers on farms and processing stations in Burundi and many other countries to feed their families,” says Melanie Leeson.

Some coffees to discover

Only beans from the Myriade Roasting Co. have been selected by Melanie Leeson, in the following list of coffees. But all of these suggestions are among the most “exciting” coffees on the market right now. There are plenty of other coffees to discover at the Canadian Roasting Company, which is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, and at other Quebec specialty coffee roasters.

Extra Extra from Traffic

This coffee is a 100% typica, one of the oldest varieties of arabica (the finer of the two main families of beans, the other being the robusta). The typica is today rather uncommon, because it is difficult to cultivate. This one is from Hacienda Sonora, Costa Rica. It has undergone a “yellow honey process”, a treatment that lies between the “natural” and “washed” processes and consists of leaving – during processing – a little mucilage (honey) around the grain for fruitiness and sweetness.

Kenya Kii by Za & Klo

Comprised of the SL28 and SL34 varieties, highly prized among specialty coffee connoisseurs, this coffee has a classic Kenyan citrus and red fruit profile. Ruiru has largely replaced the more delicate SL28 and SL34 for disease resistance and yield reasons in recent years. So it’s nice to find pure “vintages” of SL, those strains developed by Scott Laboratories a hundred years ago.

Chelbesa de Micro Espresso

This Ethiopian “natural” from Yirgacheffe – the grain stays inside the cherry, which ferments and dries for three to four weeks – has notes of peach and white flowers. This is a fine example of a coffee made from this dry method that has no nasty fermentation flaws.

Cabanas from Myriade Roasting Co.

It’s rare to find naturally-processed coffees in Honduras, but a reputable trio of producers from La Paz decided to give it a go. The result is an explosion of fruit, with a dominant of orange and apricot.

San Agustin de Myriade Roasting Co.

Because it has a big pink grapefruit on its label, this bag scares lovers of chocolate and nutty coffees. But if you like to make very bright and fruity filters, this pink bourbon from Colombia is to try.