The beans dance and bounce in the transparent grinder, the intense aroma penetrates the nose. The senses are immediately seduced: You can't help but order a coffee. But not just any coffee - a specialty coffee from miró. SWISS visits the Zurich café on World Coffee Day. In this simple, glass building with an industrial touch, the small family business miró roasts and grinds the coffee that SWISS offers in Economy on short-haul flights. 

More than ten years after the company was founded and established, the brothers Dani and David Sanchez are still rolling up their own sleeves. They are standing in the light-flooded back room of the café, where they offer workshops. Several coffee machines and roasters are lined up next to each other, and various types of coffee beans are laid out on the long table in the center of the room. With their long-time colleague Ivan Pepe, the brothers reminisce about the days when they worked double shifts to roast coffee beans for SWISS guests here in the heart of Zurich. Their production limit used to be between 150 and 200 kilograms of coffee per day, but the production facility has since grown along with the company. But miró's top priority has always been consistent quality: since day one, miró has exclusively used specialty coffee beans. This term covers all green coffee beans that meet certain quality standards and score at least 80 out of a possible 100 points. The points system, which tests the sensory and physical quality of the beans, was developed by the non-profit organization Speciality Coffee Association (SCA). 

From field to cup in two months?

It is precisely this sense of quality that makes miró coffee so special: The product range changes up to 16 times in a year. Seasonality is a priority, so they make sure that only fresh beans reach the consumer. This is one aspect that makes good coffee, emphasizes Ivan Pepe - the freshness of the base product and the roasting process. At miró, the period between roasting and sale are limited to one month. In the best case scenario, it only takes two months from the coffee harvest to consumption. From field to cup in eight weeks: This is a short period of time considering that coffee is a commodity traded on the stock exchange. The reason for this is the global demand for the beans, economic interests, currency and weather fluctuations. And yet we count on this stimulant every day: in Switzerland, coffee lovers drink around 1069 cups of coffee a year, which equates to around three cups a day. The most popular preparation is café crème. Although many people mix coffee with milk or sugar, coffee ambassadors David and Dani Sanchez recommend drinking it straight. “That's the best way to taste the full aroma,” says Dani Sanchez. But they don't want to preach, but rather be accessible: “We call ourselves coffee ambassadors because we stand for the enjoyment, diversity and transparent value chain of coffee,” says David Sanchez. Miró has long-standing partnerships with the producers. “Speciality Coffee is not just a term, but a movement that campaigns for fair pay for farmers, for the preservation of the rainforest and for greater quality awareness,” says David Sanchez.

Freshly brewed coffee above the clouds

Quality awareness and enjoyment - this is what SWISS stands for. Economy Class guests on short-haul flights lasting more than 50 minutes will find miró coffee from Santa Rosa, Honduras, on the SWISS Saveurs menu. The roasting of the organic coffee from the Capucas cooperative was developed by SWISS and miró exclusively for enjoyment above the clouds. Similar to a French press, the coffee is freshly brewed for each guest directly at their seat. Thanks to the SuprLid® cup, the fresh coffee with its nutty, balanced aroma is filtered as it is drunk. Guests are transported to a new place full of flavors during the flight.