Royal New York

RNY Trader Picks: Washed Coffee + New Tea!

Out of all the specialty coffee & tea cupped over the past few months, our traders rounded up their favorites. From fresh natural and washed coffee arrivals to new tea and more! Check out their picks for the best green coffee and tea of Q2 2023!

Coffee Trader Picks

Trader Picks from El Salvador

Joe Borg trader pick specialty coffee

This coffee’s crisp, citrus acidity balanced with its softer fruit-like sweetness is what makes it attractive. Its versatility in roast profiles also helps this coffee’s appeal. With a lighter roast profile, you’ll find that the acidity shines through a little more, whereas if you were to push it to more of a full-medium you’ll see that the sweetness is brought about to cut that acidity down creating more of a balance in the cup. Either way, this coffee is a standout on the cupping table!

Typically, this coffee cups great as a lighter roast option single origin since it has a great deal of citrus notes upfront and a sugary and clean profile on the backend. I have also seen this coffee work well as a blending component for a house blend, espresso blend and, more recently, as a cold brew (darker roasted) to bring out the chocolate and brown sugar notes. Because of its versatility, I’m a big fan and hope you are too!

Shop Joe’s Pick RNY # 52591 (NJ Warehouse)

Shop Joe’s Pick RNY # 53895 (FL Warehouse)

Camilo Yubank trader pick specialty coffee

A sweet cup with many flavors, citrus, and raspberry notes, with caramel and honey sweetness, makes this coffee unique among their country peers and other origins in our offering. The complexity of flavor separates them from traditional profiles but still is approachable in a medium roast for the average cup of Joe drinker.

We’ve been working with the Lima brothers for over five years, and every delivery is better than the previous one; it’s great to see their name becoming a staple in our El Salvador offering and synonymous with high-quality coffee.

Shop Camilo’s Pick RNY # 53423 (NJ Warehouse)

Trader Picks Washed Coffee from Guatemala

Evan Kluender trader pick specialty coffee

This coffee is sourced from Ciioerativa Rio Azul, located in a town call Jacaltenango in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Q’Anil or Kanil comes from the name of a hill in the municipality of Jacaltenango where the members and the neighboring people can go to for a ceremonial site.

This coffee is ridiculously sweet and rich with heavy caramel/toffee notes, but with top notes of stone fruit and citrus to brighten and balance out the cup.

Shop Evan’s Pick RNY # 54179 (NJ Warehouse)

TJ Salvatore trader pick specialty coffee

Finca Las Moritas comes from the Gomez family in Guatemala. Jose Gomez and his wife, Aura Gomez Garcia, established their first coffee farm in 1988, with about an acre of land within a small community composed of a few potato farms. After many years of hard work and dedication to their passion for coffee, they grew their farm to about 150 acres, and in the process, their community grew as well. Many families started to settle within Las Moritas to work on the coffee farms and after some time, they built a school and started to open up other businesses as well.

This coffee’s crisp, citrus acidity balanced with its softer fruit-like sweetness is what makes it attractive. Its versatility in roast profiles also helps this coffee’s appeal. With a lighter roast profile, you’ll find that the acidity shines through a little more, whereas if you were to push it to more of a full-medium you’ll see that the sweetness is brought about to cut that acidity down creating more of a balance in the cup. Either way, this coffee is a standout on the cupping table!

Shop TJ’s Pick RNY # 53767 (NJ Warehouse)

Shop TJ’s Pick RNY # 54664 (WI Warehouse)

Trader Picks Washed Coffee from Honduras

Mike Ward trader pick specialty coffee

It’s always a pleasure to see fresh crop offerings on the table from the Manos de Mujer group. The initiative started back in 2013 with the goal of improving the living standards of the women of COMSA. I love the initiative and look forward to cupping these offerings every year.

The cup profile is bright and incredibly sweet. In terms of flavor notes, I get notes of dried red apple, caramel, and peach. This offering works exceptionally well as a single-origin drip option and makes for a refreshing cold brew or flash chill.

Shop Mike’s Pick RNY # 53801 (NJ Warehouse)

Andrew Blyth trader pick specialty coffee

This is the coffee for everyone. Whether Organic and FT certifications have a home in your line up or not, this coffee should be tried. It’s the ultimate crowd pleaser, a coffee that can take a wide roast spectrum and still impress. Currently, we have many lots, but if I have to choose a favorite, give #52428 a try! It has clear and classic note of a dense central American. Clean, sweet and chocolaty with some subtle and sweet citrus notes.

Shop Andrew’s Pick RNY # 52428 (NJ Warehouse)

Trader Picks Washed Coffee from Ethiopia

Rick Borg trader pick specialty coffee

Worka Sakaro is located within the Gedeb district and is sourced from 410 farmers who cultivate coffee on their very small farms and deliver their cherry to the Worka Haro washing station. The cherries are carefully hand sorted , then depulped and fermented for 48 hours. The parchment then moves thru water channels and washed again. The parchment is placed on raised beds and is constantly hand raked and covered on a daily basis and dried over a period of almost 2 weeks.

The consistent notes of meyer lemon, floral and raspberry well define the Yirgacheffe region.

Shop Rick’s Pick RNY # 52826 (NJ Warehouse)

Trader Picks from Kenya

Mike Romagnino trader pick specialty coffee

Over the last week I have been making pour overs of a natural offering from Thunguri Estate in Kenya. A group of small-scale specialty farmers in Nyeri County, Kenya handpicks these ripe cherries and delivers to Thunguri Estate where they are processed. This coffee is unique to me because it is the first time I have had the opportunity to drink a natural processed coffee from Kenya. Previously, I had only experienced washed coffees from Kenya. This coffee has a beautiful flavor profile with a delicate mouth coating texture accompanied with light, crisp acidity highlighted with complex notes of grapefruit, pomegranate, papaya, and cranberry. Kenya Natural Thunguri Estate will compliment anyone’s current offering menu.

Shop Mike’s Pick RNY # 54644 (NJ Warehouse)

Tea Trader Picks

Caitlin Normann trader pick specialty tea

Mango Black is a fruity blend with a ceylon black tea base, perfect for the summer! If you’re looking for something tasty and tropical, this is the one.

Perfectly fruity without the addition of sugar, this tea is delicious and refreshing. Add alcohol or sparkling water to take it one step further!

Shop Caitlin’s Pick Mango Black!

Angelica Cordero trader pick specialty tea

This summer, we are excited to add Organic Lemon Myrtle to our tea offering! Lemon myrtle, also known as sweet verbena tree and “queen of the lemon herbs”, is a flowering plant endemic to Australia. As the name suggests, it has a powerful, crisp citrusy taste and aroma like lemons. Aside from being delicious as a tisane and in tea blends, it can also be used in sweet and savory dishes. It pairs well with meat, fish, pasta, and vegetables, as well as breads, cakes, and other desserts. This herb does it all!

Shop Angelica’s Pick Organic Lemon Myrtle!