MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Huracan Coffee

Vilnius, Lithuania
ACE member since 2005

Huracan Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster that started in 1999 when Vytautas Kratulis rented a tiny 16 square meter space and started roasting coffee. He began by purchasing 7 bags of Colombian Excelso and it was a success. When a new harvest was available he bought a few more bags but was shocked to find that it tasted completely different! And so began his journey.

Vytautas has spent 19 years learning, improving and exploring different regions and farms and it shows in their coffee. Huracan’s coffee comes direct from farmers. Vytautas believes it is not enough to just use specialty coffee beans. At Huracan Coffee, they searched to find the best quality products – roasters, espresso systems and grinders and seek out the equipment that helps them achieve the best coffee possible.

Since 1999, the Huracan Coffee family has grown to 75 members and 10 locations with an 11th café scheduled to open in the heart of Vilnius city center any day. Besides their loyal customers who visit their cafes every day, they work with hotels, restaurants and other cafes. “We picture our coffee drinkers as people who are willing to stand out. They prefer the process instead of the result because they enjoy what they do.” Vytautas goes on to say, “If you prefer a beautiful life, you will most likely end up drinking our coffee”.

Huracan Coffee has been an ACE member since 2005.

Huracan joined ACE in 2005 and Vytautas participated on his first COE International jury in Nicaragua. Vytautas states that “COE was a real eye opener in terms of everything – quality and understanding that there is not only one country’s coffee profile —I started to understand the difference in Honduras’ regions or a Costa Rican Honey or a Pacamara variety. COE for me is not only a family which I am dedicated to … it gave me a broader understanding of how good coffee can be.”

Visit Huracan at huracan.it or on Instagram (@HuracanCoffee), Facebook (@SvieziaKava) and Twitter.