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

May 10 Cuppings in Gothenburg

Last Thursday Da Matteo roastery graciously hosted Collaborative cuppings for roasters interested in buying incoming coffees from Honduras and Panama. Since Giancarlo was also in Sweden at the time, Virmax took the opportunity to present on varietals in Colombia - specifically in the Santander, Valle del Cauca and Huila regions. El Roble is a state-of-the-art farm Kaffa started buying from last year and during this cupping, we presented three varietals from this farm (caturra, bourbon and typica), as well as a geisha from Cerro Azul Estate and a caturra from Omar Viveros' farm.

In attendance were representatives from Åre Kafferosteri, Johan & Nyström, Kahls kafferosteri, Dear Coffee, I Love You, Coffee and Memories, First Degree Coffee and Kaffemaskenin. From Santa Barbara in Honduras, 18 lots were cupped; 6 lots from the Los Angeles, Helsar and Don Mayo Mills in Costa Rica were selected; 1 lot each from the Yukro and Hawa Yember washing stations in Ethiopia were sampled; and finally, a variety of coffees from the Don Pepe, Lerida and Esmeralda farms in Panama were presented.

In general, cuppers were very excited about the Honduran and Ethiopian lots and felt that the Costa Rican lots were very clean but perhaps lacking in distinctness and character, in comparison to some of the others. Also of interest, and leading to much discussion, were the differences in cup profiles of the different varietals coming from El Roble, as well as the naturally processed geishas from Panama. Cuppers felt the Honduran coffees presented cleanly, distinctly (i.e. varietals as well as locations), with many exotic fruit notes, intensity and sweetness.

With respect to the geishas, we decided to dedicate a table to coffees from Esmeralda, specifically from the Jaramillo farm. Back in 2006, Robert asked the Petersons to begin separating lots from different areas of Jaramillo and year after year, he has preferred coffee from "Mario's area" (Mario is one of the people who live on this part of the farm). Even more specifically, Robert has cupped at various times this year and is most interested in pickings from February and March.

So, based on feedback we've received from last Thursday's cuppings in Gothenburg and in addition to prior organizing, we are in the process of finalizing shipments from Honduras and Panama. To allow for further contribution, we are hosting a cupping in London this Friday at Prufrock so that UK roasters can participate. News from this event to follow...

Until then,

Melanie

SCAA and Omar Viveros' visit

Cupping with Exclusive

It's been a busy, eventful and educational last few weeks at the Collaborative with our jurying at Best of Panama, participating at both the Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) annual event in Portland and Omar Viveros' and Giancarlo Ghiretti's visit from Colombia. With everything said and done, it's now time for us to communicate with you all about these happenings because much work has been done over these last weeks to establish relationships, build upon existing ones and to learn more about how specific partners are contributing to this community of quality-focused coffee professionals.

SCAA

When we talk about partners we are not only referring to original cherry producers or end coffee buyers/roasters. There are many people along the way that contribute skills, knowledge and equipment to the green coffee a roaster receives. The number of partners that contribute depend on many things: geography, the particular skillset of a farm owner and the equipment/facilities available on his/her farm, how a miller and/or exporter works with both producers and the coffee, etc., etc.  So while the work done on the initial product, from agricultural practice to picking, is of utmost importance, the work done after picking up until the coffee is delivered is almost, if not just, as important. Thus it isn't enough to have great relationships with just cherry producers or coffee farm owners; a coffee buyer must be able to trust those milling and exporting coffee.

Right now we are buying from approximately eight coffee producing countries and are looking to reestablish buying relationships in one or two more. Within these eight countries, we are buying coffee from a minimum of 70 individual cherry producers. So even if we have the chance to visit each and every one of these partners in a given season, it is not possible to get all the work done in those short visits as is necessary to establishing and maintaining meaningful contact. The regular contact and work done with each of these producers is one of the many reasons our exporting partners at origin need to be acknowledged.

I had the privilege of meeting the majority of our export partners at this year's SCAA event in Portland. I've "met" and worked with them a lot over the last few months through email but nothing replaces face-to-face contact. I learned much from these meetings and conversations, amongst which were: 1. A bit of context about the producing region each exporter works within; 2. How each exporting partner works with and views the relationship between cherry producer and exporter; and 3. Where they would like to see the industry go and how they plan on innovating and growing within their own region and context to see through this vision. In some cases we were able to talk about more but these were the most significant parts of the conversation for me, as a communicator and facilitator between/amongst partners throughout the coffee chain.

Robert has been working with these partners for several years and has assessed the work and merits of them. This made it easier for me to just talk with them about the current season and to begin planning for the next. All of us are excited - many ideas flew about during those four days. Now that we're all back home, it's time to work on these ideas. The work has already tangibly begun with our partners in Colombia.

Cupping with HiU

Omar's and Giancarlo's Visit

Omar Viveros is a cherry producer who we've been buying coffee from with the help of  Virmax, our exporting partners in Colombia, over the last two years. He is a producer who works hard, is innovative, is becoming a model for neighbouring producers and simply produces clean, excellent coffee. Virmax work with the most quality-focused coffee producers in Colombia and even amongst these dedicated producers, Omar stands out.

A few days after SCAA ended, Omar and Giancarlo Ghiretti, one of Virmax's founders, travelled to Oslo to lecture at Kaffefestivalen (the annual Norwegian coffee show) in Haugesund and so Omar could meet some of his end customers and see how his coffee is brewed in coffeebars in Norway. Omar's visit was educational for everyone who participated. For us at the Collaborative, a lot was learned about what it takes to produce excellent coffee in Pitalito. For Omar, it was inspirational and instructive to see how the many things he chooses to do on his farm have an impact on how the final consumer experiences his coffee. He also had the chance to see what is done in between, during the roasting process, at KAFFA.

Amongst the many things the Collaborative learned during Omar's visit, the following details kept reemerging as practices Omar follows to ensure the highest quality in his coffee:

• He pays his pickers well and provides bonuses in order to keep them. Once a good picker is found - someone who understands what a ripe cherry looks like and consistently picks ripe cherries - you don't want to let that person migrate elsewhere.
• The common practice in Colombia is to allow cherry to dry ferment for 18-hours before it is depulped and sent for delivery. Omar has found, through experimentation, that soaking cherry in water for 24-hours provides much better temperature stability, which allows for a more even fermentation process.
• Omar's drying facility is constructed so that some areas have more or less shade, so that coffee can be rotated at specific times, for an optimal drying process.
• Omar is constantly looking for new ways of doing things to improve quality. He follows through on the advice of Virmax's  agronomists and is a member and participates in a growers' association that provides education and training.

As a result of educating himself, experimenting and listening, Omar has learned that certain varieties cup better, thus receive higher scores and prices, than others. Currently his farm is half made up of the Caturra variety and the other half is made up of the Colombia and Castillo varieties. The Colombian government promotes and encourages the planting of Colombia and Castillo because they are "hardier" plants. But (without getting into a long debate about it) Caturra cups better. We'll leave it at that for now because not enough is understood/known about this topic for us to make statements about the whys and hows of this.

We will write more about Omar's visit. He and Giancarlo lectured at both Kaffefestivalen and at KAFFA about what it takes to be a great coffee producer in Pitalito. When we described the work we do to Omar, he wanted to find ways that he can engage more. One of his ideas is to livestream activities on his farm, so we'll be working on how to do that over the coming weeks.

Omar and Silje

Tasting his coffee as competition coffee

Cupping his and other Colombian coffee

Upcoming at the Collaborative

This month, we receive shipments from Kenya, Brazil and Guatemala. We are cupping in Gothenburg today and are arranging cuppings in other locations, which are yet to be determined.

If you would like to be involved/would like to attend a cupping, or you're part of a group of roasters wanting to work with us and would like to cup as a group, email Per or me.

Until next time,

Melanie

Collaborative Cuppings: Oslo - Malmö - Paris

Cupping at Kaffa

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to cup some of our samples from Kenya together with roasters and members of the coffee community in London. Soon after we started planning another cupping at KAFFA in Oslo, where we cupped more samples from Kenya. This time we included samples from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Ethiopia and Brazil, as we are working on bringing coffee in from these regions. Again we managed to invite not only roasters from Norway, but also roasters from Sweden, Finland and Russia. Quite an international cupping! We decided to do more Collaborative cuppings not only because it is important for us to meet roasters and share our coffees but also because it is very important for roasters to get together, cup together and share their thoughts and ideas.

So, after the Oslo cupping and on quite a short notice, we managed to put together two more cuppings the following week. First in Malmö, Sweden and then in Paris, France. Several enthusiastic roasters got together on both occasions and cupped some very interesting lots. I especially enjoyed cupping the coffees from Bella Vista in Antigua, where I was able to taste the fruit of Bjørnar's work during his visit to Guatemala.

Overall, the cuppings were interesting. Some lots received more attention than others but I personally enjoy every coffee we carry. I also truly appreciate meeting with engaged roasters and to hear feedback on the Collaborative Coffee Source.

I would like to thank all the roasters that took the time to come and cup with us in Oslo, Malmö and Paris. And special thanks to Dan, Johan and Jonas at Solde kafferosteri and David and Nicolas at Télescope for hosting the cuppings for us!

Where will we cup next time? We don’t know. Maybe you do?

Per

Omar Viveros in Oslo

Omar Viveros

We are very happy and proud to announce that Omar Viveros will be in Norway this week and next to speak about his experiences as a coffee producer in Colombia. He will present at both the Norwegian Coffee Festival & National Barista Competition in Haugesund and at KAFFA roastery and lab in Oslo.

Omar's farm is located in the village of Pitalito, near San Augustine in the far south of the Huila region. Coffee producers in this region enjoy great growing conditions and produce high quality coffee but changing weather patterns are becoming more and more challenging for producers each year.

During the past few years in particular, producers have experienced unpredictable rain patterns (e.g. rain during typically dry periods), which has led to the damaging of coffee bushes and subsequently made it difficult to dry beans evenly. Omar is, however, both an ambitious and conscientious producer and has found ways of working within these challenges. He understands that in order to receive a higher price for his coffee, good cupping scores (i.e. 86+ points) are required. In order to achieve these scores and prices, he must consider many things: plant species (in Omar's region, caturra produces the best quality), sound agricultural practices, careful picking and processing and good drying systems, amongst many other things. Omar’s lots show his understanding of these practices; his coffee is exceptionally clean and fresh compared with other lots in this region.

The first lecture takes place on April 26th at 1pm at the coffee festival and barista competition in Haugesund and at 5pm at KAFFA roasterty and lab on May 2nd. Hope you can make it!

Farm Profile: La Esperanza

Hector raking

Farm Name: La Esperanza
Owner: Hector Artunduaga
Size: 7 ha
Height: 1,700 masl
Varieties: 80% caturra and 20% castillo
Processing: Washed

Description

Hector Artunduaga is married to Maria Yanit Sanchez and they have 2 children: Hector Mario and Laura Camila. Hector and Omar Viveros (another Collaborative partner) are neighbours. 50% of the farm is planted with coffee and the rest is a native forest that he does not want to cut. La Esperanza also produces plantain and yuca mainly for family consumption. Hector produces about 12,000 kg of dry parchment per year, equivalent to about 120 bags of green per year. In addition to coffee producing, Hector has studied and holds a bachelors degree in Economics.

Best of Panama 2012

Robert has been in Panama this week reprising a role as Head Judge for Best of Panama. The first couple of days were spent cupping with the national jury, to decide what to present for the international jury with cuppings for this panel starting today and continuing through to Saturday.

For those of you unfamiliar with this competition, Best of Panama began "in 1996, during the crisis of low international prices of coffee and the beginning of Special Coffees category and a high global demand, a group of 7 coffee producers from the areas of Boquete and Volcan – Candela got together to form the SCAP to promote Panama's excellent coffee."

This year is groundbreaking due to the splitting up of the competition, into three separate, based on processing and/or varietal:

1. 16 washed submissions (all varietals)
2. 10 washed submissions (geisha)
3. 12 natural submissions (of which 4 are geisha)

The above submissions have made it past the national panel and will be cupped by the international one.

Panama has been a special origin country for us and KAFFA has been buying and establishing good relationships with partners here and the Collaborative is looking forward to benefitting from these. Stay tuned for news about this week's competition from Robert.

The calm before the cupping storm

Price Transparency

It hasn't been perfected, but below is an example of what we provide to roasters as part of their invoice when they buy coffee from us. When we originally discussed doing this, we thought it would be fairly simple to get this information. As it turns out, and perhaps as we should have expected, getting this information takes quite a bit of time because of the number of (necessary) parties involved. All of us (from origin country to here in Oslo) are not used to explicating each of these items but everyone involved believes this is the way to go and we're more than happy to go through the efforts necessary to provide these breakdowns to you, dear roasters.

The items in this example are fairly common but there are more or less items depending on the origin, as is to be expected. The numbers in this example are accurate for this particular coffee. In this case, our partners in Kenya are working on providing the "price to farmer" item.

What are your thoughts on this?

Melanie

Cost Breakdown

COFFEE ID	PRICE TO FARMER (USD)	PRICE TO EXPORTER (USD)	INCL. SHIPPING (EXW) TO NORWAY	LBS TO KG	USD TO EUR	CUSTOMS CLEARANCE	CCS SERVICE FEE	PRICE PER KILO (EUR)
Karagoto 17CK0243 AA	?	5.86	6.09	13.42	10.08	0.01	1.40	11.59

Farm Profile: Gerais

Name/Brand Name: Gerais Farm
Name of Farm Owner: Mr. Maridalto
Address (Producing Region): Chapada Diamantina Region
Coffee Growing Area (Hectares): 2,5 hectares
Annual Production: 100 bags
Processing System (Natural/Washed): Pulped Natural
Variety of Trees: Red Catucaí
Altitude (Meters): 1.300 masl
Harvest Season: June to September
Exporter: Agricafé LTDA

Special Features and History

This farm is dedicated to the production of specialty coffee and is located in Piatã (Chapada Diamantina Region). At this location, the weather is ideal for growing coffee: high altitude and enjoyable temperatures throughout the year. The coffee variety cultivated is red Catucaí. Mr. Maridalto is the producer and the farm is managed by his family and they hand-pick harvests themselves. The lots in the farm are dried in terraces, then moved to the mill warehouse. The family started the plantation in 2002.

Farm Profile: El Roble

Morning at El Roble

We are proud to present El Roble - a farm we've been working with and buying from over the last few years. Bjørnar is there now and sends this overview:

Region: Mesa de los Santos, Santander

Farm geography/description: 1,700 masl. The entire farm is relatively flat.

322 hectares, of which 281 is dedicated to the cultivation of coffee.

1 060 000 coffee trees, 66% Caturra, 13% Bourbon, 20%Typica, 1% Colombia

History and Overview: The owner of the farm is Oswaldo Acevedo. Oswaldo and his cousins inherited El Roble from their uncle  but Oswaldo bought out his cousins in 1995. Coffee has been cultivated on this land since 1976 and Monica Fuentes, who is now manager, has worked at Roble for more than two years. In the last few years, El Roble has really begun to focus on the quality of the coffee with much help from Virmax. Varietals are now separated, as well as day lots. Every lot is cupped; this year alone Virmax has cupped about 400 lots/samples.  Virmax have also initiated training programs for pickers, so there is more of a focus on picking for quality. All parchment is stored in grainpro to protect from outside moisture and humidity, as well as for general protection.

Output: Normally, El Roble produces 5000 bags of coffee per annum, but in the last few years they have averaged about 2000 bags because they are renovating (i.e. they are pruning and replanting), leading to a lower output.

Harvest/Season:  From October to December; one crop per year.

Processing: Depulping, dry fermenting approx. 18 hours, washed and then sundried.

Certifications: Smithsonian Bird Friendly, USDA Organic, JAS Organic and Rainforest Alliance.

Description: El Roble is a fantastically beautiful farm, located two hours away from Bucaramanga, in Santander, northern Colombia. One of the most special things about this farm is its canopy of shade trees. Like an enormous roof, this canopy covers the entire farm. The ecology on this farm is diverse with many different animals living on the farm. Thanks to reforestation processes, the management have found new water sources and the organic farming practices combined with the shade canopy have contributed to creating a home for several types of animals, including 125 identified bird species.

The farm's water sources include five lakes and two creeks/rivers.

El Roble planted an experimental coffee garden with 72 varietals. This garden has provided the possibility to plant new varietals on the farm, for example, Mocca and Geisha (HR-61 and HR-62). The garden also provides the opportunity to see how different trees react to a specific climate and terroir.

Incoming Coffees from Bella Vista

Good afternoon, good coffee people!

It's already been close to five weeks since Bjørnar left Oslo for Antigua. He's been cupping furiously during this time and he's put together a container of fantastic coffees processed at Bella Vista by Luis Pedro Zelaya and his team. He's also been mastering Spanish during this trip - his language course was one of the main reasons for his going away.

Very soon, he will post stories, information and photos of his cuppings, farm visits and travel adventures. For now, here is a list of farms we've bought coffee from:

Hunapu Felicidad Buena vista Dario Hernandez Potrero Colombia Folie Pulcal Santa Cruz

I realize this doesn't tell you much (unless you've bought or tasted coffees from these places before). Bjørnar and I are hosting a cupping on April 4th from 13.00-16.00 at KAFFA for those of you who are interested in tasting these coffees yourselves. The container will be shipped next week and will hopefully arrive first week in May. At our cupping, we will also sample the Kenya coffees that will arrive this month. Let me know if you're coming! Hope to see you then.

Melanie

Antigua

Senor B

Kenya origin cupping in London

On Thursday, Robert and I had the pleasure of sharing some samples of Kenya coffee that will soon arrive in Oslo. We had six short days to pull everything together but with the help of Jeremy and his great colleagues at Prufrock, we were able to pull it off. There were some great and interested participants from all over the London coffee community in attendance.

We had 10 samples of current crop and for comparison, we brought two of KAFFA's production roasts from last year's crop. Interestingly, Robert thought the past crops were tasting best on the table. Goes to show you there's more to cup quality than what prevailing thoughts/theories assume about crop age. Also interesting to compare sample roasts v. production roasts. This was a difficult table, in some ways, as there were pairs/trios of coffees that differed only in picking dates. A great table overall though - we're very excited and eager to get this shipment from Mombasa.

For those of you who weren't able to make it and have expressed interest in receiving Kenya samples, I'm organizing a cupping at KAFFA. Several of you have requested samples (I will email you about this) but we simply don't have enough to send out to all of you. So if you're available to come to Oslo in the next couple of weeks to cup, this will guarantee that you have a chance to taste incoming coffee. Having said that, I will do my best to send you samples if you can't make it. I'll be in contact with you shortly.

To cap this post off, I'd like to send a sincere thanks to the fine folks at Prufrock Coffee. Your café is beautiful, your coffee tasty and your people wonderful. Looking forward to doing this again soon!

Melanie

Who's Involved?

Transparency is a term that is thrown about a lot these days. When intentions are sincere, the communicator is trying to find a way to convey to the reader/audience the "behind-the-scenes" goings-on. The case of coffee is no different - the process of getting coffee cherry to the end coffee drinker is a long, complex and varied journey. It is our intention to be transparent and to us, this means breaking down what happens at origin, including providing information about which people are doing what. It's different in each region - we are dealing with a living product that goes through many people, after all. In some regions the cherry producer is the same person/people that do the wet processing (as is the case of some producers in Indonesia). In other regions, the cherry producer only produces cherry and all the processing and milling is done by other parties.

In the near future, look for variations of the above image for each region we partner with (except with real names, not just labels, of course!). Stay tuned for what transparency means from a price standpoint.

Farm Profile: Ouro Verde

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Farm Name/Brand Name: Fazenda Ouro Verde
Name of Farm Owner: Mr. Candido Vladimir Ladeia Rosa
Address (Producing Region): Piatã - Bahia (Chapada Diamantina Region)
Farm Size (Hectares): 1150 ha
Coffee Growing Area (Hectares): 550 ha
Annual Production: 11500 bags
Processing System (Natural/Washed): Natural and Pulped Natural
Variety of Trees: Catuai
Altitude (Meters): 1120 masl
Soil: Sandy soil
Annual Rainfall: 11200 mm 1600 mm
Harvest Season: June through September
Exporter: Agricafé Ltda
Processing Mill: Coopmac - Cooperativa Mista Agropecuária Conquistense

Special Features and History

Candido Vladimir Ladeira Rosa’s father acquired Fazenda Ouro Verde at the end of the 1980s. His purpose was to invest in a property to obtain stable family income. Candido Rosa learned from his father how to take care of the farm’s coffee plantations. He provides continuous work for the families that have been working on the farm since the time his parents were the owners so that they have an income that allows them to continue living in the rural area with good living standards. Great care is exerted to produce quality coffees, from adequate preparation of the soil, to planting nursery trees, to careful processing and storage.

Cherry is picked manually into a hand-held basin. Twice a day tractors transfer cherry to the pulper area in order to prevent fermentation. Coffee is dried on terraces, where pulped coffee is spread in thin layers of 4cm and revolve approximately 20 times a day.

After drying, the lots are numbered and kept separately in a warehouse that has proper conditions for coffee storage. Mr. Rosa is always paying attention to new techniques to improve the quality of his coffees and he invests in the most good equipment in order to obtain the best final results.

Farm Profile: Cafundo

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Farm Name/Brand Name: Fazenda Cafundó
Name of Farm Owner: Mr. Pedro Santana
Address (Producing Region): Piatã - Bahia (Chapada Diamantina Region)
Farm Size (Hectares): 28 ha
Coffee Growing Area (Hectares): 5 ha
Annual Production: 200 bags
Processing System (Natural/Washed): Pulped Natural
Variety of Trees: Catuai 144
Altitude (Meters): 1360 meters
Soil: Sandy soil
Annual Rainfall: 1200 - 1600
Harvest Season: June Through September
Exporter: Agricafé Ltda
Processing Mill: Coopmac - Cooperativa Mista Agropecuária Conquistense

Special Features and History

Fazenda Cafundó was acquired by Pedro Santana from a friend in 1989, a quiet place where he wished to live together with his family. He invested in coffee cultivation, taking advantage of the 1,360 m altitude of the property lands.

The altitude and the climate alone already contribute to the coffee plantations. The soil is adequately prepared to receive the nursery trees. In addition, cherry is picked selectively, and the coffee is pulped by the wet natural system, aiding in the preservation of the coffee’s best properties.

Technical monitoring occurs periodically and soil analyses are carried out so that fertilization is made correctly. Coffee is harvested selectively; Cafundo produce Pulped Natual and Natural coffees. Leaves and green beans are separated before the drying process and the dry coffee is processed and appropriately stored in order to maintain its quality.