Look up, and the mountain is intimidating. Look back, and you see the miles already behind you.
Every climber knows there's a moment when you stop, catch your breath, and turn around. The view changes. The trail you were afraid of is now a line winding up through the trees, and every step of it is yours.
This quarter, we stopped and turned around.
We see a new roaster that came up our driveway on a pallet, plus a few long nights and a lot of hope. We see four interns who showed up as strangers and left as family. We see new coffees, new events, and an award for the community voices we care about most. We see an expansion we have been building toward quietly for a long time. And through all of it, the same promise we made at the very first step: every cup stays connected to the farmers and families who grew it.
None of it happened alone. You were on the trail with us the whole way.
Thank you for climbing with us. Here's what happened.
On the World Stage: MMC at World of Coffee Brussels 2026
Europe's Biggest Coffee Stage. Our Farmers' Handshakes.
Picture it: 14,400 people from 142 countries. 445 exhibitors. Espresso machines hissing, roasters calling out tasting notes in a dozen languages. From June 25 to 27, Brussels Expo became the center of the specialty coffee world, hosting the first World of Coffee ever held in Belgium and the largest edition Europe has ever seen.
Our founder and owner, Churchill Elangwe-Preston, was there representing Mbingo Mountain Coffee.
But the best moment of the trip didn't happen at a booth. It happened in a crowd, when Churchill spotted familiar faces: smallholder farmers from Rwanda, Ethiopia and Uganda. These are the people who grow the coffee we roast in Waterville, Maine.
There were no emails, no spreadsheets and no supply-chain jargon. Just handshakes, hugs and long conversations about this year's harvest, their families and what comes next.
This is what "Uplift Your Mood, Uplift Lives" looks like up close. It's not a slogan on a bag. It's a promise you keep in person.
One more reason to celebrate: Uganda was named the show's Portrait Country, putting its coffee and its growers in the spotlight in front of the whole industry. We've been proud to buy from Ugandan farmers for years, and seeing them get that recognition on the world stage was special.
"You cannot claim a relationship with a farmer you have never met. So we go."
— Churchill Elangwe-Preston, Founder
Uplifting Lives: Elangwe-Preston Youth Center, Limbe, Cameroon
A Boy Who Couldn't Read. A Girl Who Had Never Passed Math.
This is what your coffee did this year.
In Limbe, Cameroon, there is a small building where something remarkable is happening.
When the Elangwe-Preston Youth Center (EPYC) opened its doors in January of last year, many of the children who walked in were quietly falling behind. Some could barely spell their own names. Some had stopped raising their hands in class. Some had already started to believe that school just wasn't for kids like them.
Then someone sat down beside them.
A tutor who stayed after the lesson ended. A mentor who knew their names, their struggles, and their dreams. A room where mistakes were met with patience instead of shame, and every small win was celebrated out loud.
One year later, those same children are reading aloud with confidence, solving problems they once feared, and moving up to the next grade with honors. They're not just catching up. They're excelling.
Their parents saw it first.
"Before EPYC, my son was struggling to read even the simplest words. Today, he reads aloud with confidence and talks about becoming a teacher one day. This center gave him more than education. It gave him back his future."
— A grateful parent
"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my daughter's math test results. She's always struggled with math and had never passed before. But now 28 out of 30 points! May God continue to bless the effort of those driving EPYC."
— Another proud parent
Read those again: "It gave him back his future." "She had never passed before."
That is what a cycle of poverty looks like when it starts to break. It doesn't take a miracle. It takes a tutor, a pencil, a safe place to learn, and someone who believes in you.
And here is the part we want you to know: you made this possible.
Every bag of Mbingo Mountain Coffee you buy and every gift you give goes toward the tutors, books, supplies, and safe space that changed these children's lives. Your morning cup is quite literally helping a child in Limbe learn to read.
We have more children waiting to walk through those doors. With your help, we can open them wider.
Uplift your mood. Uplift lives.
Out in the Community: Trek Across Maine, 20 Years in the Saddle
180 miles. 3 days. 20 years. One very tired, very happy founder.
Twenty years ago, Churchill rode his first Trek Across Maine. Mbingo Mountain Coffee didn't exist yet. The hills were just as steep.
This June he did it again, for the 20th time. He traded the roaster for a saddle and pedaled 180 miles from the mountains to the sea to support the American Lung Association's work on lung disease research, clean air and tobacco-free communities.
Twenty treks add up to 3,600 miles. That's farther than Waterville to Seattle, by bike, for clean air.
He wasn't alone. More than 600 cyclists rode this year and raised about $750,000. Thanks to you, the MMC community contributed over $2,000 of that.
To everyone who sponsored a mile, cheered from the roadside, or rode alongside: thank you. You carried us up every hill.
All smiles at mile 180. Rider 424.
Coffee grows on mountains. Turns out we like climbing them too. Here's to year 21.
New Arrival: Burundi Kayanza, Washed
Meet the women behind our newest single origin.
High in the hills of Kayanza, in northern Burundi, smallholder women farmers grow coffee between 1,650 and 1,850 meters. Their washed lot is now roasting fresh in Waterville and ready to ship.
The cup: calm, grounded, and beautifully balanced. Earthy and cocoa-toned, gently sweet, with soft, low acidity and a smooth, round body that finishes clean. It doesn't shout. It just keeps getting better, sip after sip. For the every-morning, cream-or-black, one-more-cup crowd.
Washed · Harvest 2025–2026 · Cupping score: 89 points
Every bag helps make sure the women who grow it are paid a fair price for their work, money that supports their families and strengthens their communities.
Coming Soon: Ethiopia Grade 1
Two Coffees. One Origin. The Top of the Crop.
Ethiopia is where coffee was born. These two lots are among the finest it has to offer, and they're almost here.
SIDAMO GRADE 1: The Elegant One
Bright, clean, and floral. Lift the cup and jasmine reaches you before the first sip. Then come lemon blossom sweetness and a hint of vanilla. It finishes silky and tea-like, and it lingers long after the cup is empty. For the slow-morning, pour-over, drink-it-black crowd.
GUJI GRADE 1: The Bold One
Ripe blueberry, juicy stone fruit, and dark chocolate, wrapped in a thick, syrupy body. It's big enough to shine black and rich enough to stand up to milk. For the latte lovers and anyone who likes a cup with a personality.
Why "Grade 1" matters
Grade 1 is Ethiopia's highest export classification. Only the best beans of the harvest earn it: hand-sorted and defect-free. Add shade-grown, ethically sourced, and roasted fresh here in Waterville, and you have Ethiopian coffee at its very best.
Landing in the next few weeks. The first roast always sells out. Waitlist members hear first and get first pick before these coffees go on sale to everyone. Don't wait for the restock.
More From This Quarter
Built for You: Growing to Meet You, Our 2026 Expansion
You bought the coffee. We built the capacity. Here is what is new at MMC this year:
- A bigger roaster. More volume per batch, the same small-batch attention, and shorter waits when your favorite origin sells out.
- Additional industrial grinders. Consistent grind across every order, from single bags to wholesale pallets.
- A new delivery truck. Fresher coffee, faster, to cafes, grocers, and offices across central Maine and beyond.
- A new packaging and assembly setup. Cleaner seals, quicker turnaround, and room to launch new offerings like the incoming Sidamo and Guji Grade 1 lots.
Every upgrade traces back to the same promise: more coffee bought from our farmers, more freshness in your cup. Thank you for fueling the growth.
Honored: Churchill Named an "Elevating Voices" Recipient
Big news from home. Our founder and owner, Churchill Elangwe-Preston, was nominated and selected as a recipient of Elevating Voices.
The program spotlights and celebrates all types of diversity in business across Maine, and the importance of that diversity to the state's current and future economic and cultural vitality. Honorees are featured in stories that shine a light on the value of diversity and its positive impact on the fabric of our Northern New England communities.
For Churchill, the road ran from coffee and cocoa farms in Cameroon to a micro roastery in Waterville, connecting Maine cups to African growers along the way.
"This recognition belongs to every farmer, grocery store, cafe partner and customer who believed in the idea first."
End of Summer Interns Gratitude BBQ
MMC organized an end-of-summer gratitude BBQ on Saturday, September 12, to celebrate and thank our summer interns, Will McKnight, Alex Holmgren, Jacqueline Mbaya and Nancy Winston, for their meaningful contributions to Mbingo Mountain Coffee, and to wish them well in their next chapter. The BBQ was a great success with over 40 people in attendance throughout the day. A special thank-you to Gino Suya BBQ, who flew in all the way from Michigan to run the grill and keep everyone fed all day.
Find Us: New Retail Outlets in Maine
Our shelf space is growing, and so is our presence on Amazon. You can now find Mbingo Mountain Coffee at these recent additions:
- Farmington Food Co-op, Farmington, ME
- Portland Food Co-op, Portland, ME
- Lois' Natural Marketplace, Scarborough, ME
- Good Tern Co-op, Rockland, ME
- Wild Oats Bakery & Market, Brunswick, ME
- Royal River Natural Foods, Freeport, ME
- Borderlands Cafe, Waterville, ME
- 18 Below, Waterville, ME
- Tiller & Rye, Brewer, ME
Plus more stores across Maine, with our Amazon listings expanding too. Own a shop, cafe, or office and want to carry us? Get in touch. Our wholesale team would love to hear from you at sales@mbingomountaincoffee.com.
Every bag you buy reaches further back than you might think. To a farm in Kayanza. To a classroom in Limbe. To a handshake on a show floor in Brussels. That is not marketing. That is just how this works.
With gratitude and warm regards,
Churchill Elangwe-Preston
Founder/Owner, Mbingo Mountain Coffee
Shop MbingoMountainCoffee.com today →
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UPLIFT YOUR MOOD, UPLIFT LIVES