Every summer Extract Coffee Roasters release a limited edition summer espresso, Funka. A fruity, funky natural process coffee to brighten your daily brew.
Funka is a coffee that's great with milk. Great without. It's vibrant fruit flavours mean Funka also makes a mean iced latte, cold brew coffee and a delicious espresso martini or affogato.
Our incredible summer espresso, Funka is now sold out for 2023 and will return in Summer 2024. In the meantime, check out our latest range of single-origin coffees for more delicious espressos to try.
Natural coffees are some are some of the most exciting coffees to drink and known for having unique and unusual flavours.
Many of the Extract team have had an "I never knew coffee could taste like that" epiphany when tasting their first natural coffee.
We created Funka to get more people trying natural processed coffees, we wanted to create a funky natural espresso which could be enjoyed by anyone.
This year's Funka espresso is ethically sourced from the Kisinga Washing Station in Rwenzori, Uganda. This delicious coffee tastes jusr as good black as it does with milk. As an espresso or americano we taste the sharp acidity of damson jam. With milk this softens to sticky sweet candied pecans and bubblegum to make a truly epic flat white!
This will be the third time we've bought coffee from this washing station. We love their exceptional quality coffees and the social investment they're making to support the coffee growers in their community.
Red, ripe coffee cherries
Natural Coffee drying on raised beds
'Naturals', or natural-process refers to a way of processing coffee, leaving the fruit of the coffee cherry to ferment around the bean. Natural coffees are loved for their funky, fruity flavours.
Coffee cherries are handpicked by skilled coffee pickers who can judge the perfect ripeness. Ripe coffee cherries are then sorted by weight and density.
The cherries are dried in their natural state, with the skin and the pulp or fruit of the coffee cherry intact.
For a pulped natural, the skins of the coffee cherries are removed but the sticky mucilage (the fruit of the cherry) is left.
As the fruit of thre cherry dries, it ferments, imparting intense fruit flavours and lots of sweetness. It's not unusual for natural process coffees to even taste a bit boozy.
Farmers have to turn the coffee beans during this process and closely monitor moisture levels as over-fermentation or mould results in the entire lot being lost.
Once dry, the coffee is dry-milled to remove any remaining fruit. The final stage is for the coffee to be sorted, graded and then sold ready for roasting.
We explain more about the different coffee processing methods in this blog post.
Our 2023 Summer Espresso, Funka is a juicy natural process from one of our favourite partners, Cafe Tuxpal, in El Salvador. A blend of bourbon and pacas varietals give this coffee the rich flavours of Blood Orange Marmalade, Jammy Dodger & Cardamom.
FARM: Cafe Tuxpal
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: Blood Orange Marmalade, Jammy Dodger, Cardamom
This year’s Funka is grown in the Western Ugandan Mountains where dizzying altitudes, fertile soils and regular rainfall mean coffee grown here matures slowly, developing rich, complex flavours. These flavours are further enhanced by the natural process creating a coffee with bold fruit flavours which we love.
FARM: Smallholders, Kisinga Coffee Station, Kasese, Rwenzori, Uganda
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: DAMSON JAM, CANDIED PECANS & BUBBLEGUM
2021 marked 10 years of Funka. 10 years of funky, fruity coffees produced by Extract Coffee Roasters.
We decided to mark the occasion with a new social campaign and donated £1 from every bag sold to funding LGBTQ+ allyship training with Stonewall Charity for 100 hospitality businesses, creating safer more inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ team members and customers.
We also made the choice to change 'Unkle Funka' to just 'Funka'. Removing -binary terms from the coffee name is a small step towards creating a more representative world for people who identify as non-binary.
FARMS: Carlos Meija (Honduras), Gems of Araku (India), Grass Roots (Papua New Guinea), Jowan Coffee Traders (Kenya), Worka Wuri (Ethiopia)
PROCESS: NATURAL, WASHED
IN THE CUP: Strawberry Cream, Gooseberry & Lime Soda
In 2020 we returned to long-time partners, La Marianela in Cauca, Colombia. We brought the funk into the 80s with a fruity espresso. Think funky pineapple fruitiness, apple-sours, boozy brandy-cream and cocktails on the beach Miami-Vice style.
FARM: LA MARIANELA, CAUCA, COLOMBIA
PROCESS: KILN DRIED NATURAL
IN THE CUP: APPLE SOURS, BOOZY BRANDY CREAM
2019’s Unkle Funka Espresso was a blend of two African coffees. Mkulima Kwanza was the first and only Co-Op in southern Tanzania to specialise in natural-process arabica coffee and brought the vibrancy of crisp apple and sticky fig. We blended this with a sweet, floral coffee from the Hama Cooperative in Ethiopia with notes of strawberry and stewed fruits.
FARMS: Mkulima Kwanza, Tanzania, Hama Cooperative, Ethiopia
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: RED APPLE, FIG ROLL & STRAWBERRY TART
After successful experimental lots and regular visits to La Marianela in Colombia, the Dorronsoro family were able to invest new machinery to increase the production of our exclusive natural-process coffee. We were stoked to use this in 2018’s Unkle Funka. Flavours were straight outta the pick n’ mix aisle with flavours of red liquorice, blueberry and violet.
2018 also saw an epic coffee-beer co-lab with Bristol craft brewers, Wiper & True. Together we created a delicious Unkle Funka Pale Ale.
FARM: LA MARIANELA, CAUCA, COLOMBIA
PROCESS: KILN DRIED NATURAL
IN THE CUP: BLUEBERRY, RED LIQUORICE & MUSCOVADO
2017 was a dramatic year for Funka. When the coffee arrived, it wasn’t funky enough! We went back to the drawing board and found two amazing coffees from a farmer in Nicaragua. Carefully controlled fermentation produced an intense boozy sweetness. Flavours of floral quince, sticky raisin and rum mellowed to a summer pudding of ripe plums and vanilla with milk.
FARM: Jinotega, NICARAGUA
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: quince, rum & raisin and vanilla
In 2016 we visited San Pascual, part of the Santa Barbara Estate in Colombia to see the processing of this speciality coffee. A mix of Colombia, Bourbon, Typica and Castillo coffee varietals slowly dried to create intense fruit flavours. 2016’s Funka was as sweet as summer punch with flavours of raspberry, strawberry and hibiscus.
FARM: SAN PASCUAL, SANTA BARBARA ESTATE, ANTIOQUIA - COLOMBIA
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: PINK PEPPERCORN, RASPBERRY & HIBISCUS
In 2015 we returned to the Wahana Estate in Northern Sumatra for an Unkle Funka encore. The espresso was delicately roasted to highlight the tropical fruit sweetness and subtle acidity. Flavours of lychee, pomegranate and kiwi combined to make a punchy fruit cocktail softening to a Pina Colada with flavours of vanilla and coconut in milk.
FARM: WAHANA, NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: LYCHEE, POMEGRANATE & KIWI
2014’s Funka was from the Sonora coffee farm in Costa Rica. The Guardia family is committed to environmental sustainability. Coffee is shade-grown, biodiversity encouraged and wild forest protected. The farm creates its energy from a nearby stream and turbine and provides free accommodation for workers and their families. As an espresso, this had all the flavours of an afternoon tea with strawberries, Assam team and cocoa softening to marshmallow and strawberry milkshake with milk.
FARM: SONORA FARM, POAS VOLCANO, COSTA RICA
PROCESS: NATURAL
IN THE CUP: STRAWBERRIES, ASSAM & COCOA
After huge success in 2012, Unkle Funka was back for summer 2013. The fermented fruitiness of the Buena Vista needed balance and we found this in the El Chollo from Honduras. The result was an explosion of summer fruits, sweetness and sharp acidity. As an espresso it tasted like boiled sweets, cherryade and summer cocktails mellowing to a summer pudding with milk.
FARMS: BUENA VISTA, GUATEMALA & EL CHOLLO, HONDURAS
PROCESS: WASHED & NATURAL
IN THE CUP: BOILED SWEETS, CHERRYADE & SUMMER COCKTAILS
Our first-ever iteration of Unkle Funka brought big fruit flavours and sold out so fast we had to release a B-Side Funka from a second farm to keep those funky coffees pouring all summer long.
First up was a blend of Alto Del Obsipo, Colombia and Wahana Estate in Indonesia. Wahana is an estate at the forefront of good coffee-growing practice, producing shade-grown coffee using exclusively organic fertilisers (made from manure and composted coffee pulp cherries). We're still buying coffee from Wahana estate today!
After the first release flew out of the roastery, the Red Bourbon from Finca El Retiro in El Salvador made an epic B-side.
A SIDE: WAHANA ESTATE, NORTHERN SUMATRA & Alto Del Obispo Farmers, COLOMBIA
B SIDE: FINCA EL RETIRO, EL SALVADOR
PROCESS: NATURAL
Take a look at our latest coffees, freshly roasted and available to buy online now.