South Africa - Sukkot Coffee Coffea Racemosa

Sukkot Coffee, founded by Marlene & Frans Cathey, lies near Hluhluwe on the Elephant Coast of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a narrow, low-lying coastal belt where the wild Coffea racemosa species grows. Departing from specialty coffee cultivation’s customary markers, it grows below 200 metres, with the tolerance to thrive through heat & seasonal drought. Scarce among the coast’s dunes & sand forests, it flourishes on rare patches of deep red Hutton soil, like the one beneath Sukkot’s plantation.

Marlene’s fascination with coffee began with an Arabica tree gifted by a neighbour in 1985. In time and with research, her attention turned to Racemosa, the coffee native to her own coast. Believing Racemosa to be at risk of being forgotten, deserving to be revived &, more so, celebrated, she made its rescue a personal mission. In 2003, venturing into the Mozambican bush, she found three trees, & from their cherries sowed the first seeds at Sukkot, the farm she shares with husband Frans.

Racemosa, in Marlene & Frans’ 25 years’ experience, is a demanding crop. The shrub-sized trees ripen asynchronously & yield few, small cherries that require selective hand-picking & meticulous sorting. Nonetheless, the Catheys persevere, finding fulfillment in keeping a rare coffee species, emblematic of their home, alive & sharing its distinctive cup with a specialty coffee community that values the place, purpose, & passion that produce the rarest coffees.