London Centrals Cupping: Thursday 27th September

After the overwhelming success of our last London cuppings, we have decided to come back and present our latest coffee gems in the shape of Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama (Geisha).

We will be hosted by the wonderful people at Prufrock coffee on Leather Lane and will be joined with a skype link to the Collaborative founder Robert Thoresen who will introduce us to the coffees and regions and lead the discussion after cupping.

Date: Thursday 27th September

Time: 5pm

Location: Prufrock Coffee,  23-25 Leather Lane EC1N 7TE

The timings are as follows:

16.45 Arrival

17:00 Introduction to the coffees with Robert Thoresen via Skype

17:30 Cupping Honduras, Costa Rica & Panama Geisha

18:30 Discussion including Robert via Skype

19:00 Ends

Farm Profile: Don Amado

Jose Amado Fernandez Farm Name: Don Amado Micro Region: Las Flores Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 3.7 hectares Variety: Yellow Catuai Altitude: 1550 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

Jose Amado’s father, Don Amado (Jose’s farm’s namesake), divided his farm into four lots – one for each of his sons. While all the brothers share facilities, each owns their own equipment and each farm’s lots are processed separately. Jose’s yellow catuai variety won the Cup of Excellence competition in 2010, with 91 points, and we bought the remaining three bags from his harvest that year.

Since then, we have visited the farm 1-2 times per year and have encouraged Jose to invest in more processing facilities. One planned future investment is drying beds, which will lead to higher quality coffee and better prices for his coffee. Jose has shown clear merits as a dedicated and conscientious producer and his coffee was one of Kaffa’s favourites from Central America in 2011. This particular lot was consistently clean and maintained its quality throughout the year.

The villages Cielito, Cedral and Las Flores follow one after another along the mountain range in Santa Barbara. Grown on this hillside is mostly Pacas, a coffee species akin to Bourbon, as well as Yellow Catuaí and Pacamara. It is challenging to process coffee cherries in areas like these, which are close to the jungle and thus, to rain. The drying process, in particular, is especially demanding. But when these processes are precisely controlled, seemingly problematic factors (like drying under challenging conditions) are what make coffee from this area particularly interesting. The coffee produced here cups with flavour attributes not found anywhere else in Central America.

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established here began during the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize that there are exceptional producers from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers.

Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy from Santa Barbara. Over the past several years, one particular hillside has become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours on this hillside and they help each other to refine the best of their lots.

There exists an eagerness here; a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships – that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. One of the biggest assumptions within specialty coffee is that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibits these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates. In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience “freezing”: the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But clever and prescient coffee farmers, like the ones we collaborate with, invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.

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Producer Profile: Jesus Moreno

Jesus Moreno Farm Name: El Filo Micro Region: El Cedral Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 1.05 hectares Variety: Pacas Altitude: 1580 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

The Moreno Brothers: Miguel, Mario, Danny, Jesus, Gerardo, and Olvin inherited their farm from their father Daniel, who divided El Filo into lots for each son. More recently, Miguel’s son Dolmin was given his own plot on El Filo to manage. Together, the family has built a wet mill, raised beds, and solar dryers to process and prepare specialty grade coffee. The Moreno brothers are model producers in El Cedral, as well as the wider region. Together, the Moreno family helps and motivates neighbouring farmers to produce and prepare better quality coffee through the sharing of their collective knowledge and facilities.

The villages Cielito, Cedral and Las Flores follow one after another along the mountain range in Santa Barbara. Grown on this hillside is mostly Pacas, a coffee species akin to Bourbon, as well as Yellow Catuaí and Pacamara. It is challenging to process coffee cherries in areas like these, which are close to the jungle and thus, to rain. The drying process, in particular, is especially demanding. But when these processes are precisely controlled, seemingly problematic factors (like drying under challenging conditions) are what make coffee from this area particularly interesting. The coffee produced here cups with flavour attributes not found anywhere else in Central America.

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established here began during the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize that there are exceptional producers from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers.

Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy from Santa Barbara. Over the past several years, one particular hillside has become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours on this hillside and they help each other to refine the best of their lots.

There exists an eagerness here; a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships – that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. One of the biggest assumptions within specialty coffee is that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibits these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates. In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience “freezing”: the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But clever and prescient coffee farmers, like the ones we collaborate with, invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.

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Farm Profile: La Tigra

Martir Muñoz

Farm Name: La Tigra Micro Region: El Sauce Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 3.5 Hectares Variety: Caturra Altitude: 1550 masl Processing: Washed

The Muñoz family has been growing coffee for many years, but this year is the first they have focused on producing and processing specialty grade coffee. La Tigra is a plantation of Caturra bushes and the plants are young – just three-years old. The Muñozes process their coffee at their own wet mill, which is then dried on their patio.

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established here began during the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize that there are exceptional producers from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers.

Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy from Santa Barbara. Over the past several years, one particular hillside has become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours on this hillside and they help each other to refine the best of their lots.

There exists an eagerness here; a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships – that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. One of the biggest assumptions within specialty coffee is that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibits these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates.

In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience “freezing”: the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But clever and prescient coffee farmers, like the ones we collaborate with, invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.

pdf version

Farm Profile: Jazmin

Edy Neptaly Bautista Farm Name: Jazmin Micro Region: El Cedral Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 2.10 hectares Variety: Pacas Altitude: 1500 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

Neptaly lives on the border of El Cedral, very close to El Cielito, where he owns another small plantation, planted with Pacas bushes. We first met Neptaly at San Vincente in 2009 and have bought from him since. Throughout our partnership, we have had several discussions about how the potential of producing even better quality coffee through investments in his own facilities, especially drying beds. We have seen improvements each year in the quality of the green coffee coming from Jazmin and this year is no exception - the quality of his coffee has improved substantially this year. We have known each other for several years now, and it has become a good friendship and sustainable partnership for both of us.

Neptaly is one of the greatest representatives to exemplify the wonderful improvements in Santa Barbara in recent years.

Husbandry and processing work and improvements: - he has the resources to buy the fertilizer he needs and he applies it in timely fashion, which is very important. - he does all the pruning and field work himself. He has a small farm and he is a very proud farmer (and wants to do as much as possible himself) - he manages the picking team of 12 seasonal workers (cherry pickers) during harvest to ensure a good quality. Red picking is key and in working with Neptaly, the pickers really understand the importance of quality! - he has built his own processing facility after he decided to do it by himself, not with his brother in-law as previously. He now with full control. - he has built a new parabolic/solar bed for drying his coffee, just like the Moreno brothers, so he is more in charge of that process too. - he has bought a new little piece of land so he can plant more coffee trees. - he has built a new house in the city so his children can go to college there. - he doesn't own a car but he has just bought a motorcycle so he can get around more easily.

Neptaly has two farms (less than 1ha each). The one that has the best coffee is an hour’s walk away from his farmhouse. So during picking season, cherries are transported by mule to the processing facility.

Background to Santa Barbara

The villages Cielito, Cedral and Las Flores follow one after another along the mountain range in Santa Barbara. Grown on this hillside is mostly Pacas, a coffee species akin to Bourbon, as well as Yellow Catuaí and Pacamara. It is challenging to process coffee cherries in areas like these, which are close to the jungle and thus, to rain. The drying process, in particular, is especially demanding. But when these processes are precisely controlled, seemingly problematic factors (like drying under challenging conditions) are what make coffee from this area particularly interesting. The coffee produced here cups with flavour attributes not found anywhere else in Central America.

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established here began during the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize that there are exceptional producers from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers.

Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy from Santa Barbara. Over the past several years, one particular hillside has become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours on this hillside and they help each other to refine the best of their lots.

There exists an eagerness here; a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships – that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. One of the biggest assumptions within specialty coffee is that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibits these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates. In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience “freezing”: the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But clever and prescient coffee farmers, like the ones we collaborate with, invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.

pdf version

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Farm Profile: Los Yoyos

Eulogio Martinez Farm Name: Los Yoyos Micro Region: Las Flores Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 0.7 hectares Variety: Pacamara Altitude: 1400 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

We met Eulogio in 2008, while visiting producers at San Vincente we were already working with. We are always looking for new, innovative and diverse producers and because Eulogio was the first producer to develop the Pacamara variety in Santa Barbara, we were interested in cupping his coffee. His coffee proved to be quite unique with a lot of acidity – albeit unbalanced – not found in any of the other coffees produced by our other partners in Honduras. We decided to buy his lot that year, both because of the potential we saw in it and because we did not want to see it wasted by going into an export mix.

Each year since, we have visited with Eulogio and discussed processing and quality – specifically the need to be even more selective in his cherry selection than before. His coffee has shown tremendous improvement and is cupping more balanced this year. We look forward to even better quality in the seasons to come.

The villages Cielito, Cedral and Las Flores follow one after another along the mountain range in Santa Barbara. Grown on this hillside is mostly Pacas, a coffee species akin to Bourbon, as well as Yellow Catuaí and Pacamara. It is challenging to process coffee cherries in areas like these, which are close to the jungle and thus, to rain. The drying process, in particular, is especially demanding. But when these processes are precisely controlled, seemingly problematic factors (like drying under challenging conditions) are what make coffee from this area particularly interesting. The coffee produced here cups with flavour attributes not found anywhere else in Central America.

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established here began during the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize that there are exceptional producers from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers. Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy from Santa Barbara. Over the past several years, one particular hillside has become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours on this hillside and they help each other to refine the best of their lots.

There exists an eagerness here; a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships – that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. One of the biggest assumptions within specialty coffee is that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibits these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates.

In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience “freezing”: the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But clever and prescient coffee farmers, like the ones we collaborate with, invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.

pdf version

Farm Profile: El Pozo

 

Edwin Pineda Farm Name: El Pozo Micro Region: El Sauce Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 0.35 Hectares Variety: Pacas

El Pozo is located in the micro-region of El Sauce and Mr. Edwin Pineda has decided to focus on producing high quality/specialty grade coffee. To this end, processes his own coffee at his father-in-law’s wet mill, located in the town of El Dorado, Santa Barbara. In addition, he has invested in raised beds and dries his own coffee – a practice not yet commonplace amongst the farms in Santa Barbara.

El Sauce is a micro region that is increasingly becoming renowned for high quality coffee within Santa Barbara. It is a region that has been represented well at Cup of Excellence. Edwin is a newer partner for us and we believe he has the drive and ambition to produce ever-increasing quality coffee, as evidenced by the investments he’s made in his facilities and due to the care he’s shown in the processing of his coffee.

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established here began during the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize that there are exceptional producers from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers.

Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy from Santa Barbara. Over the past several years, one particular hillside has become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours on this hillside and they help each other to refine the best of their lots.

There exists an eagerness here; a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships – that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. One of the biggest assumptions within specialty coffee is that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibits these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates.

In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience “freezing”: the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But clever and prescient coffee farmers, like the ones we collaborate with, invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.

pdf version

Burundi - Part II

[gigya src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" width="700" flashvars="offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=/photos/kaffa1/sets/72157631279228920/show/&page_show_back_url=/photos/kaffa1/sets/72157631279228920/&set_id=72157631279228920&jump_to=" allowFullScreen="true" ] Burundi is geographically and politically divided into provinces, municipalities and hills.

A hill or a big hill (as it often literally is) defines rural communities. One’s life is often defined by the hill s(he) lives on –  the way the land is shaped informs the way one lives.

As mentioned in the last post, the whole country is in use, and farms are glued to the terrain, along the hills, or at the bottom of them (the area between hill formations). In some areas, over 500 families live per square kilometre (!), making for extremely cramped conditions.

I spent the last of my days in the country familiarizing myself with Burundi's northern coffee regions. The country is small, so you can travel around very quickly, but everywhere are rock formations that must be manoeuvred and the roads are always full of people. Bicycles, mopeds, cars and trucks must all push forward into the stream of people along the roads. Bujumbura is located within 800 meters of Lake Tanganyika. The drive into the country ends here and within a short time, you’re already up in the mountains. Just north, toward Kayanza, one first passes the known tea regions in Teanza. The hills here are covered in tea bushes, as though covered with green velour carpeting. At around 2000 meters, one notices the climate is fresher, wilder, the wind gusts through the treetops.

My hosts and I travelled to the Coffee Washing Stations (CWS) in Kayanza, where presumably the best coffee in the country is processed. Several of the CWS here delivered the best lots to Burundi's Prestige Cup last year. Prestige Cup was predecessor to this year’s Cup of Excellence. This year the winning lot at Burundi CoE also came from Kayanza.

A little background on CWS

Burundian coffee farmers use their land to grow sustenance food for the family, as well as coffee bushes. The people of Burundi have little tradition when it comes to coffee consumption and sell their coffee cherries for cash to buy clothes, school books, and other things. Farmers no longer process their own coffee cherry; they sell them to CWS, which then processes them into green coffee. But a farmer can be a member of a cooperative that owns a processing station. One typically belongs to whichever CWS is closest to his/her hill or hillside. Cherries are transported daily to the processing station on foot (more accurately, on one’s head) or by bike. After a few hundred farmers supply their daily pickings, everything is mixed and processed the same afternoon. The coffee cherries are then fermented, washed and dried together to represent one day’s production.

This year's winner is “Businde” but we visited neighbouring Mpanga at 1750 masl, which came in second place at Prestige Cup last year. Jean Clemént built Mpanga three years ago, after having worked for over ten years as head of several CWS in the district. He took out loans, partnered with a good colleague and built a CWS as he thinks it should be. But Jean Clément does not speak English, so I got to know him through his cousin, Jeanine.

Jeanine is a graceful woman in her forties who speaks very good English, having lived all over the world throughout the years. She left Burundi just before the first ethnic executions began in 1988 and until a few years ago, she had not seen or heard from her cousin. The last she’d heard of him was that he and his siblings had managed to escape into the woods, as rebels stormed their home and took the lives of all the adults in the house. Now the cousins are ​​reunited and Jeanine has set out to tell the world – in English – about cousin Jean Clément’s work and success. I was all ears.

Over 3,000 families/farmers sell their coffee cherry to Mpanga. Everything is right: altitude, climate, soil and varietal. Each family delivers an average of 500kg per season and Jean Clemént insists on red and ripe cherry. If cherry to this standard is not delivered, it’s sent back to be well sorted. The wet processing technique, which has been common in Burundi since the early 1980s, was reportedly implemented with pressure and support from the World Bank – because it gives coffee value. This is the first time I have seen the use of this technique: after removing the pulp, the coffee is initially fermented for 18 hours in its fruit. The next day the coffee is fermented further in fresh water for an additional 18 hours, but without having been washed. Then the coffee is cleaned in the classical method of washing in channels of fresh water, before it is finally soaked and dried, as is the standard practice in Kenya. For many, this double-fermenting technique has died within the last 2-3 years. If not due to the privatization of CWS, or to allow for less work, then for other causes, which I do not yet have clarity on. But it was difficult to have clarity, when I encountered representatives from the entire coffee industry: members from all levels. Everyone I met was hungry to know what coffee professionals outside the country want and think. It is both strange and wonderful to know that we now discuss how coffee cherries should be processed - to achieve desirable flavour attributes. It's a conversation coffee roasters and coffee farmers could not have had just a few years ago. At least not in Africa.

Jean Clément is provisionally willing to continue with both techniques, at least as long as he has buyers who want one or the other. According to him - I have yet to taste it for myself, and he did not have empirical experience for this - double fermented coffee tastes sweeter, while single-fermented coffee has more acidity. If anything, I would have thought it was the other way around. But the point is that Jean Clément, a farmer and coffee processor in an African country, holed up in a mountains, far off the beaten track, with no means to communicate other than in French; only now has he come in contact with a market that he can communicate with (via his cousin) - and produce the coffee you want.

The future has arrived.

Jeanine (aforementioned cousin) has also helped set up an export company so Jean Clément can send coffee out of the country directly to the buyer and be left with all the profit of his work.

A little number crunching: a farmer delivers and therefore sells his/her own coffee cherries and this is the source of income for the family. Last year the minimum paid for cherries was, on average, 600 BFR or $0.45 USD per kilogram of cherry. If one has 500 kg of cherry per harvest, the annual income is 1250 BFR ($225 USD). Keep in mind that 5 kg of cherry yields about 1kg of green coffee.

During my last visit, I hung out with Angéle, a very hands-on and lively woman. She was born and raised her four children (now almost adults) in Bujumbura. Previously she worked with buying and selling green coffee on the commodity exchange, but in the last six years, has acquired some pieces of land in Kirundo, her home district. She knows the people here and is confident that she can run coffee farms, even though she still lives in Bujumbura. The layout of her farms is drastically different from what one typically expects from coffee plots of 100-300 trees and she will soon have 30,000 coffee bushes on her land (a 12 hectare plot). The "oldest" part of the farm is five years old and produces about 10 tons of Bourbon. She wants to make her coffee operation organic, through the use of organic fertilizers and compost, active farming and frequent maintenance of her coffee bushes.

A few months ago she bought four CWS in the area. We visited Gasura CWS in Kirundu province, which receives coffee cherry from about 1700 farmers and their families, living on 10 different hills. She is currently double-fermenting but wishes to stop using this technique.

Stay tuned for my next post, where I discuss my visit to the Gitega region in the south, where 7 of the 17 CoE winners are from. I talk about cup profiles in this coming post.

Robert

Introduction to Santa Barbara, Honduras

Since 2005, the region, Santa Barbara, and the small producers living and working there, have shared the distinction as the place and the people producing exceptional coffee within Honduras. Our work and the beginning of the on-going relationships we’ve since established all began with the purchase of a microlot from Mr. Benitez when he won the 2005 Cup of Excellence. We came to realize, through working with him, that there are more exceptional producers like him from this small area. And since that inaugural year, we have purchased from over twenty different Santa Barbara producers.

This year we have chosen coffee from 16 smallholdings located along one hillside in Santa Barbara, where the villages Cielito, Cedral and Las Flores follow one after another. Grown on this hillside is mostly Pacas, a coffee species akin to Bourbon, as well as Yellow Catuaí and Pacamara. It is challenging to process coffee cherries in areas like these, which are close to the jungle and thus, to rain. The drying process, in particular, is especially demanding. But when these processes are precisely controlled, seemingly problematic factors (like drying under challenging conditions) are what make coffee from this area particularly interesting. The coffee produced here cups with flavour attributes not found anywhere else in Central America.

Santa Barbara is the name of a region in Honduras, but it is also the name of the mountain range that stretches through this part of the country. Located in the village of Pena Blanca is coffee exporter San Vicente – the company that coordinates the coffee we buy.

The one special hillside mentioned earlier has, over the past several years, become the largest supplier of CoE winners in Honduras. The most successful farms with the smartest and most innovative farmers are neighbours who help each other to refine the best of their lots.

On this hillside exists an eagerness – a willingness, motivation and ambition to produce the best coffee in the country. But there are also large differences amongst the farmers and our purpose is to be close to this special coffee community and get to know the most ambitious of the farmers here; the ones we can develop something with. In order to build relationships - that allow both parties to have a common understanding of quality coffee – there must be frequent and long-term presence.

To produce coffee that tastes fruity is not very complicated. But to produce coffee that is clean, clear, fresh and fruity – that’s an art. Assumption number one is always that coffee from high-altitude areas naturally exhibit these characteristics. But high elevation can lead to potential problems, even in tropical climates. In the highest areas of Santa Barbara, up to and over 1800 meters, producers can experience "freezing": the combination of temperatures between 4-5C and rainfall that combine to cause cherries to not ripen and leaves to die on the bush. These conditions create a cold and humid climate, which is hazardous for processing and requires steady and reliable drying conditions for coffee so quality will not deteriorate. These natural conditions, of course, cannot be evaded. But a clever and prescient coffee farmer can invest in drying systems that minimize the risks associated with weather.
 

Moreno Brothers

Of the people we have been working with in Santa Barbara, our work with the Moreno brothers is one of the longest standing. It is amongst our coolest relationships anywhere. In previous years, the Morenos preferred selling their best lots through the Cup of Excellence auction because they always achieved good results and prices. But in the last few years, however, they have decided to trade differently because they are now confident that they can produce all their coffee to CoE quality standards, and thus prefer to sell directly, knowing they will receive good prices and a stable working relationship.

In our agreement with them, we have determined that after the best lots have been identified for the season, we will cup to verify that they meet our quality standards, and then pay a higher base price than their already higher-than-average price. For lots cupping even better, we will pay more. We only buy coffee we score at 86-points or higher. For coffee scoring between 86-88 points, we have decided to pay an additional 25% premium on top of the established base price. Coffee scoring between 88.5-90 points receives a 50% premium and, if coffee scores higher than 90-points, the Morenos receive a 100% premium! We believe the Moreno family, in the future, will produce more coffee of better quality (i.e. lots of 88-90-point coffee). The family is very motivated by the outlined agreement and we are very happy and excited about this partnership.

Stay tuned for soon to come posts on our other Santa Barbara partners!

Teaser to Borém Presentation - Le Carnaval du Café

As mentioned in our post about the upcoming event in Paris, Flávio Borém from the University of Lavras, Brazil, will be joining us to present his groundbreaking work on natural processing and coffee quality.  This will be the first time Flávio will present his work in Europe and is a unique opportunity to put yourself at the forefront of coffee research. Because of its status as the world's largest producer of arabica, Brazil is a producing country that is always in focus. In recent years, the coffee trade has become more and more about targeting specific markets, whether micro-region, species variation or processing method.

"Natural processed" coffee represents 80-85% of all coffee exported from Brazil. But much of this coffee is disregarded as inferior in quality and taste, compared to coffee processed through other methods. Yet there are, increasingly, more and more examples of fantastic natural processed coffees. To such an extent that roasters are beginning to pay more attention to naturals and the Cup of Excellence program arranged its first naturals competition this year. We now have increasing experiential evidence that very clean and interesting naturals can be found in Brazil, but this leads to some important and fundamental questions: What factors are contributing to these superior lots? How, specifically, can producers change and control their practices in order to produce great naturals?

Over the last three years, Mr. Borém has been collecting and analyzing data about how a coffee's processing environment affects cherry development and maturation. He and his team have been looking at many different variables (e.g. whether coffee bushes are grown on the sunny or shady side of a slope; effects of different altitudes; different humidity levels in dried coffee; temperature of coffee during drying, etc.) and how these affect the final cup profile. During his presentation in Paris, he will focus on the role of processing - and some of the many factors involved - on quality and flavour. The processing of high quality naturals is a very complex endeavour - something that may seem evident due to the fact that it has been difficult to find high quality naturals - but if certain variables are taken into account, it is possible to manipulate specific factors in processing, to yield better quality coffee.

Flávio's research and the questions it raises (as well as addresses) have some very important and practical implications for the coffee industry in Brazil. For one thing, natural processing represents a potential risk to the farmer, should he/she choose to process this way. But if it's risky to produce naturals, why devote time, effort and study to it? Amongst many reasons, natural processing has a long history and tradition in Brazil, while mechanical wet processing was not common before about 20 years ago. A very practical reason for natural processing is that there exist many places where it is necessary to process in this way, due to a lack of water resources. Perhaps most importantly from a buyer's perspective, naturals can possess very good characteristics such as intense aromas, sweetness, fruity flavors and a rich mouthfeel. The list of factors and debates related to this topic are truly endless.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to hear more about and debate on this important and fascinating research! Contact info@collaborativecoffeesource.com for more details on how you can participate.

Background to Burundi and CoE Burundi 2012

Baby Bourbon

Burundi is a tiny country in the heart of Africa and extends almost 30 miles in one direction and about 30 miles the other way. The land is mountainous and the characteristic hills roll, resembling a beautiful quilt. With the exception of a few national parks, each square meter of land is in use. Burundi shares a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo along the Tanganyika lake in the west, Tanzania is neighbour east and to the south, Rwanda borders north. Once upon a time, all this was one kingdom. These days, the countries represent the "new" promising coffee countries in East Africa.

With 200 people per square kilometer, Burundi is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. This puts great pressure on land resources, which can hardly be called virgin forest after all the clear-cutting done for firewood and for the grazing of cattle. All this has amounted to, literally, eaten up vegetation. The country is rich in fruits, but the population is impoverished. Of a population of 9.8 million, over 600,000 families earn their livelihoods from coffee cultivation. Coffee is the cash crop. An average coffee farm is in reality a garden with 2-300 coffee bushes, yielding a harvest of about 2-4 bags of green coffee per year. Whether the market pays $3 or $6 per pound for green coffee, matters a great deal, both for a family's living conditions and the country's economy as a whole. Burundi is first and foremost an agricultural country, and coffee and tea exports, together, represent 90% of the country's export income.

Burundi gained independence from Belgium in 1962, but ethnic conflicts that followed the genocide in 1993 (following the course of the genocide in Rwanda) and rebellion have impoverished the people in every sense. In 2009, the country signed a ceasefire between the government and rebels. The Tutsi ethnic group, a minority of the population, has dominated the coffee trade in Burundi. Hutus, the ethnic group representing the vast majority of the population, have been sitting in government over the last few years and have been working to re-build the country. The incoming generation recognize that ethnic conflicts are politically created; these are not conflicts based on race nor are they legal in nature. Tutsis and Hutus have more in common than differences. Nevertheless, Burundi is one of the world's poorest countries, life expectancy is an average of 46 years, half the population is under 15, and half the population over 15 cannot read and write.

Gross domestic product is about $175 USD per capita and the coffee sector, already an essential part of the culture and economy, is also proving to be a cornerstone in the building of a more prosperous future.

Café du Burundi

Politicians at all levels and many organizations, including aid agencies and the World Bank, have worked actively for Burundi to become a producer of specialty coffee. The highlands, climatic conditions, soil quality and plant material go a long way, to this end. Historically Burundi produces OK coffee, but the market has not appreciated its potential. There are three basic factors that always need to be addressed in order to produce specialty coffee: processing techniques must be fine-tuned, the infrastructure and logistics of moving coffee must be in place, and the market must be established and informed.

The former government sector that processes coffee cherries in Burundi, Coffee Washing Stations (CWS), has, over the last few years, been privatized. Of the 175 CWSes, over a third are held by private companies. According to local sources, people in Burundi are more enterprising than in neighbouring countries. The coffee sector, with organizations such as the Alliance for Coffee  Excellence (ACE), has taken over the challenges of processing, logistics and marketing. ACE, owner and organizer of the Cup of Excellence program, seeks to find the areas of the country that demonstrably produce the best coffee. The first step is to train a squad of qualified coffee tasters who can evaluate what the country actually has to offer. This work started four years ago, partly with the support of the agriculture department at the University of Michigan in the US. Paul Songer, head judge for CoE Burundi this year, studied sensory perception at UC Davis and helped educate a dozen proud coffee tasters. These cuppers received over 300 coffee samples from processing stations around the country this year. Of these, 150 were found worthy of sensory evaluation at the national jury level and finally, 60 of the best coffee were selected for evaluation by the international jury.

During the first five days of competition we tasted the submissions in three sections. After the final day, only 17 lots were left, all scoring over 85 points, and two lots having scored over 90 points. I visited the two areas where winning coffees come from and will, in the following post, further describe the country, articulate more on how the coffee trade operates in Burundi and also introduce the people behind these operations. The coffee industry, after all, is a people-centered industry.

Stay tuned,

Robert

Le Carnaval du Café 2012: a Parisian Cupping Extravaganza, 26-27 October 2012

Collaborative Coffee Source Presents: small dogs; BIG COFFEES

Move over vin et fromage - le cafe: c´est arrivé!  That´s right light-roast lovers: no more the robusta filled double espresso, non!  Never again the frothed-to-butter café au lait, sacré bleu! Because for two days only the culinary capital of the world will be transformed into coffee´s The  Place To Be.  O la la!

Over the 26-27 of October, we will be holding a two-day coffee extravaganza in the world´s most romantic city.  Come, stuff yourself silly with crumbling patissiere whilst cupping some of the most delightful coffees your bouche will ever be amused by.

Cupping spoons and notepads at the ready!  The programme will focus on the following areas:

1. Sourced by The Collaborative; roasted by You A unique opportunity to cup, compare and contrast coffees sourced by the Collaborative and roasted by individual specialty roasters across Europe.

2. Presenting: BRAZIL The Collaborative will be accompanied by Cup-of-Excellence-history-making producers. Together we will showcase the newest, freshest and boldest coffees available to Collaborative customers from the regions of Carmo de Minas and Piatá.

3. The Enlightenment Series: Processing! Varietals! We have invited leaders in their fields to come and talk to us about their research on the effects of different processing methods on the quality of coffee and cup profile, and the advantages and disadvantages of pioneering varietals.  This is the cutting edge of agronomy and coffee production and an exclusive opportunity: don´t miss it!

Plus plenty of time for getting to know fellow specialty roasters from across the continent, award-winning producers and researchers from Latin America and of course The City of Lights in all its autumnal glory.

So: dust off your can-can shoes, practise your verb conjugations and loosen your belt a notch or two: nous allons à Paris!

Places are limited so get in there quick! info@collaborativecoffeesource.com

Carmo de Minas - Summary of First Visit, 2012 Season

Although coffee is an old commodity in Brazil, over the last 10-12 years, the country has showcased its very best coffee and it is only in the last 7-8 years that coffee in the Carmo de Minas municipality has been particularly noted.

Carmo is one village among twenty in the Mantiqueira region, south of the Minas Gerais county, in Sul de Minas. In the same way that Burgundy is an important name in the French world of wine, Carmo de Minas has become a destination in the Brazilian coffee world. Some of its distinction can be attributed to topographic and climatic conditions, but as always, there are people engaged in farms - from picking coffee cherries to processing, which are crucial to the quality of the product. People are the difference!

Although many of the farms in this area have won awards and garnered attention in recent years, there has not really been radical changes in farming and processing methods. Not even in terms of picking. I dare say that the area has achieved its status with a little luck, good growing conditions, good plant material - mostly Bourbon - but otherwise quite ordinary craft. However, good coffee has come out of all this and as a result, Carmo has experienced a "clean sweep" in Cup of Excellence competitions. But the quality can be even better and the amount of the best coffee can be increased. More on that, but first a little aside.

Over the past decade, Brazil as a nation has experienced fantastic economic growth in every field, with higher purchasing power and an ever-increasing standard of living. At least 20 million people have risen over the poverty-line and the middle-class has grown by 40 million in, relatively, few years. The value of labor has also increased; Brazil now has full employment and rising wages. All of this naturally affects the cost of coffee production in general, but it especially affects labor-intensive coffee (read: new processing methods with even higher costs). In some cases it is difficult to find labor at all, especially for farm work. Incentives must be strengthened in order to keep people at work within coffee! As the world's largest producer of coffee, Brazilian coffee is the main component in blends all over the world and the price is a reflection of the fact that coffee from here is considered a base product. In parallel with fluctuations in world markets and in the pricing of coffee in general, the specialty coffee segment has established its own price dynamics.

Handpicking in Sao Benedito

We want quality coffee. People notice differences in quality and the best must be paid for accordingly. Price according to quality will allow for further differentiation in price in the coming years. Brazil's macroeconomic situation will not change for the worse, rather the contrary.

Jacques Pereira Carneiro represents the new generation in Carmo. Together with cousin Luis Paulo (who currently is president of Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA)), he runs the coffee export firm Carmo Coffees. The boys are 5th generation coffee farmers and oversee 12 farms, with 6 processing stations - altogether known as the Pereira family. They are members of the cooperative Coca Rive which offers members courses on taste evaluation, distribution of fertilizer and storage facilities. Coca Rive has 400 members and is the smallest of the smallest cooperatives in the Carmo region, with its 8000 coffee farms. Previously Coca Rive worked almost exclusively with commercial coffee in this area and a few years ago it was a challenge to fill even one container (300 bags) of specialty coffee. Last year Carmo Coffees sold 150 containers of coffee over 80-points. We expect true specialty coffee from 86-points but know that this proportion is also increasing.

Carmo's reputation is so well established that there is an ever-increasing demand for more coffee of this quality. But quality coffee does not just happen. Carmo Coffees works to provide coffee from farms outside the family's and from other districts. Pedralva, for example, is just a few miles from Carmo de Minas and many of the farms here are good, with altitudes up to 1400 meters above sea level. The work now is for a few farmers to push the idea of working a little differently to achieve better quality. With higher prices in the specialty coffee segment comes the motivation to do better than before. According to Jacques, this change can be facilitated, but the first challenge is to pick a technique. On top of this are the added associated costs. Historically, the picking technique has been picking the coffee bush clean (stripping) during one picking and one harvesting season. Most people do this and even use partially mechanized equipment to do the job, which is more time-effective. But to get the sweetest coffee, you have to pick the sweetest, ripest cherries.

Minimum wage has increased to about $500 per month and although this is a low salary on any scale, these wages mean that the work of selective hand-picking coffee cherries represents up to 2/3 of the total cost of coffee production, even when coffee is sold at a 100% premium over commodity coffee.

Season 2012

The rain that has fallen in the ripening season has led to production that, as a whole, will be somewhat less for 2012 than in 2011. But first and foremost, this is a problem for the best coffee: there is significantly less of it.

Many areas are now being harvested in one picking that is not selective nor 100% mature, either because the cherries ripened at once, or because there is so little crop that it does not make sense to go out and pick several times. Despite this, the best coffee in Carmo is hand-picked. The first picking started in May.

Grandma "Vovo" - matriarch of the Carneiro family - is always out when the season's first harvest is initiated. Because there is often a difference between the degree of maturation of the cherries early in the season, the first pick has to be particularly selective. For botanical reasons, Bourbon ripens first and often the best cherries come from just the first picking. Other species in Carmo include Catuai, Acaia, Catucaí and Icatu.

Tasting sessions, to date, confirm that we should maintain relations with the Sao Benedito farm, which produces Sweet Bourbon coffee, both red and yellow varieties. We will also buy from several other farms in Pereira-Carneiro family including Sertao and Santa Ines, both of which are frequent Cup of Excellence winners. We're likely to take in some selections of natural-processed coffee as well, because we have secured some of the best so far this season: Red Bourbon from a plot on Sertao, with 100-year-old bush-material, very selectively picked and dried to perfection (it's not always easy to estimate how a processing of a batch of naturals will end).

Finally, we will continue the search for new coffee from skilled farmers in Pedralva and other surrounding areas.

All stages of the process

Yellow Bourbon on Fazenda Sertao

Warehouse in Coca Rive

Back in Carmo II, July 2012

The day is over (at least the part of the day with natural light). The sun sets earlier here than in Oslo and the night is young. The rain began just after lunch and the clay-like soil on the farms make the roads slippery and almost impassable. But we still made it up to Fazenda Sao Benedito today. The farm is known from Cup of Excellence and is one of the crown jewels of Carmo de Minas. Sao Benedito grows mostly Bourbon - yellow and red and production is about 10 containers per year (i.e. about 3 000 bags). This year it is estimated that the production in Brazil will go down due to climatic conditions, but it is also because of cyclical causes. A good production year typically follows a bad; the coffee bush taking a "sabbatical" and coming back stronger next year, so to speak.

Interestingly, following Carmo de Minas district's own cycle often proves the opposite of the country's tendency, which means that a moderate production year in Brazil often means a good year in Carmo. For coffee prices, this means that when the country as a whole has low production and prices of Brazilian coffee skyrockets in the world market, Carmo experiences an extremely good year and can sell their coffee at affordable prices. Price dynamics in the specialty coffee market now exhibit more and more pricing layers than in the commodity market. It's a trend we welcome! We want to pay a good price for good coffee from a good place and from a team of good people. It's only fair!

Sao Benedito is a good place. The farm's coffee bushes are arranged smoothly around the top of a hill, one of the many hills dotting the landscape in Carmo. The terrain is more rugged than in many other coffee regions in Brazil which creates microclimates from farm to farm and even within the same farm. Research done at an agronomic university, here in Brazil, has found distinct differences in sensory attributes of natural processed coffee grown on different slopes within the same farm. Some in the coffee industry have believed this to be true for some time, but now there is evidence. Presumably one would think that coffee cherries with the longest period of development give the most interesting flavour profile but the results are opposite.

Earlier this year I participated in a blind tasting at this university and was surprised that I preferred the natural coffee coming from  coffee species with typically lower acidity and grown at low-lying areas on farms. In other words, the exact opposite of growing conditions you'd want for washed coffee. The natural I preferred was very clean with fresh fruity attributes and exhibited a far more balanced mouth feel. It was this type of coffee that won the Cup of Excellence coffee auction for the naturals category this year. Most of the winners were from Carmo de Minas, farms of Jacques' and his family, which I am here to visit now.

Visits to fazendas like Sao Benedito, Santa Ines, Sertao and many others of the family's farms date back to our very first meetings with Carmo Coffee in 2005. On tasting sessions this morning, it was particularly a Sao Benedito lot that stood out as a favourite, and we are tasting coffee from many more farms tomorrow. The main purpose of the trip is to see what they do on the farms during harvest and to learn more about how processing methods of the best lots of natural coffees lead to the great results in the cup. We want to introduce a coffee of this processing method from Brazil that is extraordinary. (Most of the coffee drunk in Norway, in industrial mixtures at least, comes from this processing method in Brazil. But it always tastes so rough and inelegant.)

Now it is evening and dinnertime. Then, a delicious espresso in the Jacques' and his wife's new coffee bar. Good Evening!

Back in Carmo, July 2012

Here in Brazil, south of the equator, it's winter and raining when it should be dry, not least on the coffee farms which are in the midst of harvesting coffee cherry.

Heavy rains also occurred earlier in the harvest season, a few weeks ago, so now it is estimated that production in all of Brazil will be 10-20% lower than expected. The consequences of rainfall is, firstly, that it is impractical or impossible to pick at all. The trucks do not deliver either people or cherry. In addition, rained on cherry that falls to the ground must be picked up in order not to attract harmful insects (read: Broca). Rain also means that weeds are springing up all around the coffee bushes which takes away nutrients from the soil. Finally, the rain and subsequent moisture lead to poor drying of coffee on the patio after processing.

Fair or not, today is a day of new farm visits and the following days will be used to visit the well-known and beloved - and eventually award-winning - coffee farms around the village of Carmo de Minas. But today we start, well, actually resume, contact with small farms in the neighboring district of Pedralva. There are many farms here with very good conditions for producing coffee of the same quality as in Carmo, but it takes some time to put new systems and new working practices into action.

Producers in Pedralva have watched the success of the farmers in Carmo, through their Cup of Excellence merits, and these successes are rubbing off! We bought a lovely batch of coffee from the Fazenda Furnas farm a few years ago, which was then a farm that had made its mark in the CoE. Furnas is now the centre for processing coffee cherry from several farms in the area and we are looking at the opportunity of working with several of these farms - many of which boast good coffee species and altitude - to provide greater diversity in our offerings and help the development of a new appellation. Classic coffee work.

But first: Tasting of what has been picked so far this season. Early in the season, the coffee tastes very fresh, but can provide a good indication of what we'll have in store ...

Farm Profile: Cerro Azul

entrance

Farm Name: Cerro Azul
Owners: Rigoberto & Luis Eduardo Herrera
Size: 20 ha of which, 17 ha dedicated to coffee
Height: 1,700 – 1,950 masl
Varieties: Geisha; 35,000 trees
Annual Production (46kg bags): 300
Shade: Eucalyptus
Processing: Dry fermented then washed
Processing Facility: La Esperanza
 

Description

The Herrera brothers come from a traditional coffee-growing family but studied engineering abroad in the 70s before returning to Colombia in 1998 in order to reconstruct their grandfather’s hacienda and to begin coffee growing. Cerro Azul is one of several farms owned by the Herreras.

Based on the growing conditions at Cerro Azul, the Herreras chose to grow geisha. This location boasts ideal altitude, climate (especially night temperatures), soil composition, access to light, amongst several other attributes, that contribute to excellent growing conditions for this varietal. The farm is separated by a hill: one side with foggy and cloudy conditions, the other, more sunny and clear. These differences lead to two different growing conditions, as well as differences in the cup. One interesting thing to note about the elevation in this region is that at 1600 masl, a tree yields 900g of parchment, while at 1850 masl, 280g of parchment is produced.

500 of the best trees are marked for replanting and the cherries harvested go directly to the nursery. There are two sub-species of geisha: bronze tipped and green tipped. These sub-species are mixed amongst the 17 lots. The seeds for the trees at Cerro Azul come from one of the Herreras’ farms in Panama and the first were planted in September of 2007.

La Esperanza is the processing facility for Cerro Azul and it also manages two other geisha farms. 40% of the coffee is harvested and processed between January to June; 60% from July to December.

Roaster Profile: da Matteo

da Matteo Roastery

da Matteo opened in 2003 after previously operating under the name “Caffè Espresso”. There are currently three locations – all within walking distance of one another, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Each space is unique: the original is a charming “hole-in-a-wall”, the second boasts a big open courtyard with many food options and the last, a combination roastery/bakery/café, is rustic, with stone walls and cobblestoned flooring.

Matts Johansson, founder of da Matteo, is a coffee pioneer in Sweden. He previously worked as a chef and opened his first café in the early-90s. Coffee represents an exploration of flavour and the meeting of people to Matts, and this is what inspired his move into coffee.

da Matteo Courtyard

From the very beginning, Matts’ aim was to make roasting the core of da Matteo’s business and in 2007, a café/roastery was added to da Matteo’s line-up. The roasting side of the business quickly outgrew the location’s capacity, so in 2010, roasting operations moved to its current location, a large old 19th century stable. This facility also houses a bakery/café, which is separated from the roastery. 2010 also marked the year da Matteo’s slogan “Craftsmanship, Meetings and Stories” was released and this philosophy emphasizes da Matteo’s focus on freshness, quality and honest and simple products. As quoted (then translated) from da Matteo’s website: “We want more people to drink good coffee. We do that through craftsmanship, openness and sharing. These are the ways we build a good coffee culture.”

When da Matteo began roasting, the micro-roastery movement was just taking off in Sweden – they were one of the first quality-focused roasteries in the country. da Matteo continues to be a leader within specialty coffee in Sweden and it aims to push as well as build and develop this community.

Cupping at da Matteo

The Guatemala Box. It's Here!

Bjørnar and the Guate box

Right now I am sitting by the cupping table at Kaffa and Josh Hockin, from Transcend Coffee in Edmonton, is serving me an espresso. It’s Thursday, the 7th of June and he is preparing for the World Barista Championship in Vienna next week. The Collaborative Coffee Source, in Oslo, is about to receive its first container from Guatemala.

In the container are 375 x 46kg bags (approximately 17 000 kg) of green coffee and about half of this will be shipped out to different roasters all over Europe within a week.

My first visit to Guatemala occurred this winter. The purpose of the trip was personal: I wanted to vacation and learn Spanish, but I also went for the Collaborative, to source coffee. I stayed in Antigua, a city about an hour outside Guatemala City for five weeks.

Antigua is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve been to and part of its beauty stems from the ruins and cobblestoned streets. Antigua was once the capital of Guatemala for more than 200 years but after an earthquake in 1776, the capital was moved to its current location, Guatemala City. Antigua is surrounded by three volcanoes, the closest one being Vulcan de Agua (“the water Vulcan”). Near the foot of the volcano is a beneficio (i.e. mill) called Bella Vista. Bella Vista, run by Luis Pedro Zelaya, is both a farm and a wet and dry mill. All of our Guatemalan coffees this year were processed here.

Luis Pedro started working at Bella Vista after being educated in Honduras. It has been in the family for generations and is now owned by Luis Pedro’s father who also is called Luis Pedro. Together they have grown the company, beginning with the managing of their own farms: Bella Vista, Pulcal, Candelaria, Buena Vista, Chuito, and Santa Clara and over time, they began to manage other farms in the Antigua region. The Zelayas have always had a focus on quality and six years ago they began separating lots. The results haven’t led to an increase in quantity but there has been a significant rise in quality, leading to increases in price. At Bella Vista, cherries are received everyday, both from farms owned by Luis Pedro and his family, as well as farms managed by Luis Pedro. Bella Vista also processes coffee for nearby farms; Luis Pedro buys coffee from these farms, processes at Bella Vista and then sells this coffee.

At Bella Vista I cupped many hundreds of coffees and ended up buying from just a handful of farms in the Antigua region: Buena Vista, La Folie, Santa Cruz, Felicidad, Potrero, Colombia, El Rosario and also a coffee called Hunapu. Hunapu is the original name of Vulcan de Agua, in the native language K’iche, which is one of the most prominent of the native languages in Guatemala. Hunapu literally means "mountain of flowers” and is the brand name for coffee processed at Bella Vista. It is a blend of coffees received at the mill and it is separated by day-lots. Most of the coffee is of the bourbon varietal but there can also be a mix of other varieties, like caturra. The reason the Zelayas have chosen to make this a blend is because it is only within the last couple of years that the speciality coffee industry has focused on seperating lots and talking about varieties. The Hunapu blend is made up of coffee picked on the same day by different producers and is based, in part, on the amount of coffee delivered from each farm. It is simply not sustainable for Bella Vista to process two bags of cherry from each producer. However, the Hunapu blend is changing; one of the biggest deliverers to the Hunapu blend, Dario Hernandes, is now beginning to separate his own day pickings. We bought four bags of Dario’s coffee this year and are encouraging him to separate everything for next year’s harvest.

I was fortunate to spend a lot of time at Bella Vista and by spending so much time with one producer, I learned much about how things work, not only Bella Vista and the wider Antigua region but also within the coffee industry as a whole in Guatemala. It has been an interesting learning experience and I am looking forward to the continuation of this relationship. Four months after my visit, I am sitting here awaiting the container I helped organize during my trip.

While in Guatemala in February, I also spent a weekend at El Injerto in Huehuetenango, the winner of this and previous years Cup of Excellence competitions. El Injerto is truly a magnificent farm which has, in the last year, begun to organize its own online auction. This year the Collaborative Coffee Source will coordinate buying from this auction which will be held on Tuesday, June 19th.

At the end of my five weeks away, I briefly visited Colombia, Costa Rica and San Fransico and was back in Olso for only a month before going back to Guatemala in May as part of the international jury for Cup of Excellence. It was really nice this time because I got to cup coffee, wonderful coffee, from all over Guatemala, rather than just from Antigua. Overall, I would say these past months have initiated a good basis for understanding a new origin for me; an origin that we at the Collaborative will work with a lot in the coming years, with our espescially skilled partners at Bella Vista.

Josh has now dialed in his espresso and it is a complex one with a fresh, crisp acidity that reminds me of lemon candy. I wish him all the best in the competition.

It's now time for me to pull up my sleeves and stack 375 bags onto pallets with the help of my good colleagues… and maybe Josh as well.

Looking forward to see all the nice Guatemalan coffee on shelves all over Europe, maybe we can all taste them together one day soon.

Bjørnar

"Micromills of Costa Rica and Best of Best of Panama" cupping

Hello Good Coffee People!

Last Friday Lars Huse, coffee lover and illustrator extraordinaire, released "Coffee A-Z" - a delightful little book filled with coffee information and accompanying illustrations. As the title succinctly describes it, the book informs and visualizes the world of coffee according to Lars. The event was held at Protein by DunneFrankowski, a minimalist coffee-bar-within-art-gallery space. Prior to the festivities, Robert hosted a cupping with a focus on micromills in Costa Rica and the best of Best of Panama.

To provide you with a bit of background on the Costa Rican coffees, Robert has been partnering with Exclusive Coffees over the last several years to first establish relationships and then buy coffee from quality-focused farms and micromills. Some of these micromill partners were represented at this cupping: Helsar de Zarcero, Don Mayo, Herbazu and Puente. Our approach within each country we buy from is focused and targeted, so when we met with Francisco and Juan Ramòn of Exclusive to discuss present and future strategy, we decided that rather than offer our customers "everything", we would focus on a handful of micromills and a handful of farms whose coffee is processed within each micromill. This allows for better relationship building, easier and more transparent communication and for better planning for future seasons.

So what did cuppers think of the coffees presented? 9 coffees were cupped and there were several varieties presented from each micromill. Sometimes Villa Sarchi presented more intense acidity but the Caturras also proved citrusy. The standout on this table came from the El Sur farm from the Puente micromill - this coffee had a lot of acidity but it was nicely balanced with sugary sweetness.

From the Best of Panama auction, we selected what we deem to be the "cream of the crop" from all three categories (i.e. geisha, natural, traditional) including natural and washed processed caturra, natural and washed geisha, washed pacamara and natural catuaì. Representative farms included Mama Cata, Los Lajones, Kotowa, Don Julian, Don Tito and Santa Teresa. There was some lively discussion about this table due to the varietals, processes and regions represented.

Many of you know about the Jaramillo farm located in Boquete and owned by the Peterson family. The geisha produced on this farm is well-known for being delicate and floral with prominent lemon citrus and jasmine flavours - people have come to love these attributes and it has put this farm and region on the map and the Petersons now hold their own successful auction. This year's geisha winner also presents the above-mentioned attributes but it comes from Volcán, a region not as ubiquitous for this varietal and these flavour characteristics.

Another topic that prompted discussion is the processing debate surrounding the geisha varietal. Does natural processing "cover" or "hide" the natural attributes of geisha? In the case of the winner from the "naturals" category, Don K from the Kotowa farm, no, natural processing does not take away from the elegance and cleanliness of the coffee. In the case of the second place winner, from Mama Cata, the natural process is more evident but the coffee is still lovely. Many of the 20 cuppers chose this one as their favourite.

And so, another interesting cupping with the London coffee community has come to an end. Thanks to all who came out to participate and to Lars and DunneFrankowski for providing an event and venue for this. Hope you enjoyed!

London Cupping, May 18 - the lineup

Hello London Coffee! Hope you're ready and excited to cup some fantastic coffee today. Here is the lineup, organized by origin, varietal, then process.

Table #1: Highlights from Central America
 

COSTA RICA, various mills & regions Helsar de Zarcero mill, Arce, Caturra, washed Herbazu mill, Villa Sarchi, washed Herbazu mill, Caturra, red honey

GUATEMALA, Buena Vista mill, Antigua region Hunapu, lot #1, blend Bourbon, washed Hunapu, lot #3, blend Bourbon, washed Felicidad farm, Bourbon, washed Potrero farm, Caturra, washed

HONDURAS, San Vicente mill, Santa Barbara region Juan Pablo Cruz, prod. Pacas, washed Castellanos, prod. Pacas, washed Nelson Ramirez, prod. Yellow Catuaí, washed Mario Moreno, prod. Pacas, washed Miguel Moreno, prod. Pacas, washed Amado Fernandez, prod. Yellow Catuaí, washed

Table #2: Best of...Best of Panama 2012

PANAMA, various producers/mills, Chiriqí region Duncan Organic farm, Caturra, washed (BoP #1) Don Julian farm, Pacamara, washed (BoP #2) Elida farm, Catuaí, washed (BoP #4) Elida farm, Catuaí, honey (BoP #5)

Los Cantares farm, Geisha, washed (BoP #1) La Milagrosa farm, Geisha, washed (BoP #2) Rojas farm, Geisha, washed (BoP #3)

Don K farm, Geisha, natural (BoP #1) Mama Cata farm, Geisha, natural (BoP #2) Casa Ruiz farm, Baby Geisha, natural (BoP #3)

Table #3: Highlights of natural processed coffees from El Salvador

El Salvador, various mills & regions Presented by Graciano Cruz, HiU