Lock up your inhibitions and throw away the key – it’s time to get weird. The multi-award winning Shropshire-based roasters Hundred House Coffee have scoured the furthest reaches of the caffeinated universe for Freak & Unique, a new curated ‘curiosity collection’ of the most off-the-wall coffees they can find. The limited edition releases see each coffee ‘paired’ with a specially created artwork, designed to reflect the character, eccentricity and downright abnormality of each release in the Freak & Unique collection.
Released as and when the Hundred House team discovers them, a Freak & Unique coffee might have zingy notes of bubblegum and the comforting warmth of buttered popcorn or the exceptionally elegant aroma of strawberries and jasmine. Each coffee is a sensory journey to be savoured and remembered and, like all Hundred House’s coffees, the Freak & Unique series is fully traceable and ethically sourced, celebrating the farmers, their rigorous production techniques – and the extraordinary results that these can bring out in the cup.
The first series launches this month with a Geisha varietal (£28 for 150g) – an unusual but exquisite coffee, combining notes of jasmine and cherry lollies with hints of raspberry leaf and raspberry syrup. Grown in the Cauca department of Colombia by Diego Samuel, whose deep knowledge in the production of speciality high-end coffee results in distinctive and almost unparalleled taste and flavour profiles.
Each release of Freak & Unique coffee comes with a limited edition framed and numbered screen print, created for the first coffee by Liverpool-based illustration and design duo Toucan Tango. The pieces have been designed to ‘pair’ with the uniqueness of each coffee, with the intention of providing a lasting memory of the Freak & Unique. Dedicated connoisseurs will be able to collect the full set of artworks as each new series is released.
