Lavazza will introduce its first Slow Food-accredited coffee in UK next week, marking its debut in the segment.
Marking the 14th edition of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, where Lavazza is a sponsor for the fourth year, Etigua will be served to chefs for the first time at the prestigious Chefs' Feast at Fera, Claridges on Sunday 31 May and at the World's 50 Best Restaurants ceremony at London's historic Guildhall the following day.
Produced in very small volumes, solely for restaurants, Etigua is a unique, limited edition blend of Arabica beans sourced ethically from the highlands of Huehuetenango in Guatemala and Ethiopia's Harenna Forest.
David Rogers, managing director, Lavazza UK, says the Etigua project celebrates the values of Slow Food and Lavazza's 120 years of blending expertise to deliver a good, responsible and sustainable coffee.
Lavazza UK managing director David Rogers said: "Etigua is truly a unique tasting experience. Having the ethical guarantee of a global movement such as Slow Food, who we've been working with for 20 years, reassures customers that every step has been taken to ensure its tradition and authenticity is preserved.
"These are the values on which our partnership with Slow Food has been built since 1996. It is a strong bond which culminated last year's 2015 Lavazza Calendar, The Earth Defenders, and now Lavazza's first Slow Food-accredited coffee".
The concept of Etigua could be likened to a wine of cru classification with the Arabica beans of superior quality sourced from a specific region. The cherries are hand-picked one by one, and are not washed or milled. Instead, the beans are extracted by hand within four hours of picking and dried in the sun for three days, being continually raked and turned by hand.
The beans are then gently roasted by enveloping them in hot air, producing a velvety smooth aromatic blend with notes of ripe fruit and honey and an aftertaste of caramel and biscuit.
Slow Food UK executive chairman Shane Holland said: "Being certified Slow Food tells the consumer that all aspects of the product have been looked at: is the product traditional in that area, has it been grown with respect to the environment it is grown in, has the worker been paid a fair wage, has the farmer received a fair price, has the end consumer paid a fair price?"
Etigua will be the official blend served the World's 50 Best Restaurants ceremony at London's historic Guildhall on Monday 1 June where guests will enjoy a bespoke coffee cocktail, Coffeetail No 50. It will then be available to restaurants throughout the UK.
