Sub Rosa is a dark espresso blend featuring super high-grown Colombia coffee paired with complementary cohorts that can handle a dark roast profile. This coffee delivers bold flavors of chocolate covered cherries, burnt sugars, and dulce de leche, with bittersweet chocolate and dark caramel notes. The beans are roasted to keep the coffee oils just under the surface, allowing them to express outside the presence of heat for a bold, sweet cup.
Origin
Colombia
Flavor Notes
Chocolate Covered Cherries, Burnt Sugars, Dulce De Leche, Bittersweet Chocolate, Dark Caramel
Nathan Wyss and Josh Magnani founded Contraband Coffee in San Francisco, opening their original Larkin Street location on Christmas Eve 2010. SF Weekly named it Best New Cafe in 2011, and a second San Francisco location followed in the SoMa district in 2017. Roasting takes place at a facility on 81st Avenue in Oakland, where a vintage Probat and custom built equipment allow each coffee to be approached with its own specific profile. The name carries through to the lineup, with blends like Black Market, Smuggler's Blend, and Sub Rosa alongside single origins from Ethiopia, Colombia, Guatemala, and Rwanda. Contraband sources exclusively through cooperatives, small farmers, and ethical organizations, refusing to work through middlemen.
