When I was a child, mango season was something to look forward to. For a few weeks, from around mid-May into June, we ate mangoes every day. Then the season ended, and we waited for it to come around again.
Now I can find many fruits in the grocery store throughout the year. They come from different places as growing seasons change.
A conversation with a customer made me think about coffee in the same way. Coffee has a harvest season too. So how can your favourite Crickle Creek coffee be available all year?
The short answer is that we plan our green coffee purchases around the harvest and the time it takes for the next shipment to arrive. Coffee cherries are picked seasonally, but the seeds are processed and dried into green coffee that can be stored before roasting. We buy enough for our regular lineup, pay attention to the coffee’s quality as we use it, and roast it fresh for your order in Calgary.
When is coffee harvested?
There is no single harvest season for every coffee-growing country. Timing varies by origin and can vary within a country because of elevation, weather and local growing conditions.
Harvest is only the beginning of the trip to our roastery. After the cherries are picked, the coffee must be processed, dried, prepared for export and shipped. Samples may be assessed before a purchase is approved. That means a coffee can be harvested in one season and arrive in Calgary months later.
I think of a coffee harvest calendar as a useful map, not a delivery promise. It helps us anticipate what may be coming, but weather, processing and shipping do not always follow the neat little boxes on a chart.
If harvest is seasonal, how do you keep my favourite coffee available?
We plan ahead.
For coffees in our regular lineup, we purchase enough green coffee to help carry us through until the next suitable shipment arrives. That is part of how we keep the cups people know and love available throughout the year.
Green coffee has been processed and dried for storage before roasting. But storage is not a free pass: its quality can change over time. We pay attention to how a coffee tastes rather than assuming a lot will remain at its best indefinitely. When the next harvest becomes available, it still needs to make its way through processing, shipping and our own assessment.
Then we roast the green beans to order in Calgary. The harvest is seasonal. The roasting is fresh.
That distinction matters. “Freshly roasted” tells you when the coffee was roasted; it does not mean the cherries were picked last week. And buying enough green coffee for your favourite bag does not mean leaving roasted coffee on a shelf for months.
Can the same coffee taste a little different from one harvest to the next?
Yes. Coffee is a crop. Growing conditions change, even when a coffee comes from a familiar place. That is why keeping a dependable lineup takes more than ordering the same name again.
We want someone who loves our Colombia coffee to recognize the balanced cup they come back for. With a blend such as Sunnyside, we also care about how its components work together in the finished cup. We taste coffees and make decisions with that experience in mind.
Consistency does not mean pretending every harvest is identical. It means doing the work to give you a coffee you can look forward to again.
Then why do you offer coffees for a limited time?
Because discovery is part of the pleasure of coffee.
Our regular coffees are there for the Tuesday morning when you know exactly what you want. Other lots give us a chance to share something new: a different origin, producer, process or flavour. The harvest calendar helps us look ahead, but a coffee still has to earn its place by tasting good.
I like having both choices. Some days I want the cup I know. Other days I want to see what a new coffee can teach me.
If you are in that mood, browse the coffees we are roasting now. If you would rather follow one harvest more closely, read what harvest season looks like on our family farm in El Salvador.
Does fresh green coffee matter as much as fresh roasting?
They are different parts of the same quality story. Green coffee’s condition matters before it enters the roaster. Once roasted, its aromas and flavours also change with time. Choosing and caring for the green coffee does not replace roasting with care, and a recent roast date cannot fix a green coffee that no longer tastes good.
That is the thought behind our calendar: plan well enough to keep your favourites close, stay curious about what each harvest brings, and make sure the coffee in your bag is one we are happy to brew ourselves.
Mango season still makes me happy. So does the moment a new coffee arrives at the roastery. But I also understand the comfort of knowing your everyday favourite will be there when you reach for it.
Enjoy,
Alejandro