Factory Profile: Karinga

Name: Karinga Factory Affiliated to: Gitwe Farmers Co-operative Society (FCS) Province: Central District: Thika Location: Gatundu Nearest Town/Centre: Gatundu Average Annual Rainfall (mm): 1500 Altitude (masl): 1840 Producers: 650 members Average Annual Harvest (kg): 208 520 Drying Method: Sun Harvest Method: Handpicking Harvest Season: Early: April – June; late: October – December Varieties: SL 28 & 34 Soil: Rich red volcanic loam soils

About

Founded in 1983, Karinga factory lies on five acres of land serving Kimaruri, Kariungu, Gachuha and Mugalwa villages.

Karinga Coffee factory is run by Samwel Muteti, who works with six permanent staff along with a changing number of casual staff. Number of casual staff varies from year-to-year depending on harvest yields. During peak season the factory employs about six casuals, while during the off-peak, at most one is retained. Permanent staff duties include weighing coffee, selection and grading of coffee, paying farmers and addressing farmers’ concerns.

Crop production has not been stable at this factory due to poor payment, internal political wrangles and other factors. Most of farmers are tea growers, but management is now encouraging farmers to go back to coffee production because the cherry prices are stabilizing and have been quite high since 2010.

Affiliate members of the factory carry out all agronomic activities associated with coffee production (i.e. sourcing coffee from the Coffee Research Station and planting according to its guidelines). Their
fieldwork also involves weeding, pruning, spraying, and application of fertilizer, mulching and technical advice. Technical advice is offered through farmer training programs and field visits offered by Ministry of Agriculture. Compliance to the agreed guidelines is checked and supervised by the field committee. Amongst other things, this committee checks that coffee is not inter-cropped with maize and beans, though they do allow intercropping with macadamia nuts.

After harvest, coffee cherries are delivered to the factory and undergo wet processing. Water is pumped from the River Rwabura to the reservoir tanks for pulping and recirculation. After pulping, the coffee is stored overnight, is then washed, soaked and finally spread on drying tables. The parchment is frequently turned, and then sorted and stored, awaiting delivery to millers.

To ensure that the processing is carried out efficiently the factory has invested in a pulper, a recirculation system and about 12 conditioning bins.

Background to Kenya

There’s no doubt: Kenya is an amazing coffee destination. Coffees from this origin are known for their powerful aromas, refreshing acidity, flavors of sweet berries, rich mouthfeel, and clean and lingering aftertastes. Years of experience have really taught us how to limit our search at this origin, but we are always open to surprises and are ready for new partners and flavors. Kenya has a well-established and well functioning auction system.

Dormans, based in Nairobi, is where we usually go in order to sample coffees we are interested in buying. Dormans has a reputation for retaining good cuppers. We like them, we trust them, and they rigorously search for the best coffees to offer us. In the peak of the buying/auction season they will screen thousands of coffees each week. Dormans has a license to buy at the auction and they are also partner to a marketing agent/mill—Central Kenya Coffee Mill (CKCM)—where coffee is processed after it finishes drying at the factories.

The washing stations that produce our coffee pride themselves on having some of the best-paid cherry producer members in the country. The system at the Kenyan Coffee Auction is refreshingly transparent in its communicating where coffees come from, its systematic organization of coffee by screen quality (such as size and physical attributes), and in its practice of rewarding cup quality/sensorial attributes.

Most coffee producers in Kenya are “smallholders”. Each producer’s total volume might only be a few bags, thus hundreds of farmers, when living in the same area, are likely to be members of a cooperative, which markets and sells coffee on the whole community’s behalf. Each cooperative typically runs several “factories” (i.e. processing and washing stations) where producers deliver cherries from their farms. Sometimes a producer chooses to deliver to the closest factory but some prefer delivering to a different factory, due to differing management practices. The usual reason for choosing one factory over another is based on the prices a given factory manages to obtain for its cherries.

Good management at a good factory will not allow for unripe or unevenly matured cherries. This is because accepting such cherries damage the potential to receive optimum prices for everyone concerned. We pride ourselves in knowing the factories we buy from pride themselves on ensuring their community of members deliver only red and mature cherries. In Kenya’s market make-up, cherry price is directly linked to cup quality.

In Kenya, a cooperative is a democratically run organization with producers acting as both members and as representatives of the governing board. One key function of the board is to nominate a marketing agent: a body/organization/company that retains a license to sell the coop’s/client’s coffee at the highest possible price. This works in both parties’ interests. Normally a coffee lot is sold at auction, but it can also be sold outside auction if the coop and marketing agent believe they can get an even better price outside auction through selling directly to a customer. That is where we come into the picture.

In the last few years we have taken advantage of the possibility of buying coffees directly from, or at least in understanding and agreement with, the cooperatives. The cooperative is the seller of the coffee and always wants the highest price possible in recognition of: 1. The hard work of quality oriented farmers and factories, 2. Cup quality, and 3. In recognition of the current price of coffees of “similar quality” being sold at auction in Nairobi. Negotiating the price of the best coffees is important to a buyer eager to secure lots before it goes to auction where somebody else might buy it. The price offered has to be high enough for the cooperative to ensure it won’t be sold better at auction, which can, in turn, discourage quality-minded producers. As a matter of fact, all the best coffees are sold this way, thus the only way to get hold of these lots is to be present at origin while they are coming from the mill.

In Kenya, a “coffee lot” is made from a bigger batch of coffee that is delivered to the dry-mill from a cooperative on a given day. When a coffee batch arrives at the mill, it is processed (hulled), analyzed (technically and sensorially), screened (separated due to bean sizes) and given an outturn-number. While the parchment is taken off the beans in the hulling process, the beans are screened and separated due to shape and size.

AAs are flat with screen size 17+. ABs are flat with screen sizes 15 and16. PBs are pea-berries. There are always a certain percentage of lower grades too.

Screen size does not necessarily correlate with quality in terms of flavor attributes. For example, sometimes we find many of the AB-selections to be superior to the AAs from the same lot. In addition, it is not true that PBs are necessarily more intense in flavor or better in quality than flat beans.

Acidity junkies love cupping in Kenya. The questions are much more about “how” and “what kind of acidity” one wants in the coffee, rather than whether one can find it. We work hard to get these Kenya lots in quick and fresh so roasters can have all the acidity you wish to play with. Look for a well prepared, vacuum-packed and clean selection.

pdf version

Factory Profile: Karatu

Name: Karatu Factory Affiliated to: Gitwe Farmers Co-operative Society (FCS) Province: Central District: Thika Location: Gatundu Nearest Town/Centre: Gatundu Average Annual Rainfall (mm): 1500 Altitude (masl): 1883 Producers: 800 members Average Annual Harvest (kg): 200 366 Drying Method: Sun Harvest Method: Handpicking Harvest Season: Early: April – June; late: October – December Varieties: SL 28 & 34 Soil: Rich red volcanic loam soils

About

Founded in 1965, Karatu factory is run by David Kanya, who works with six other permanent staff. The number of casual staff varies from year-to-year, depending on harvest yields. During the peak season the factory employs about eight casual staff, while during the off-peak, one is retained. Permanent staff duties include weighing coffee, selection and grading of coffee, paying farmers and addressing farmers’ concerns.

Crop production started rising during the 2002 – 2003 harvest, which is was encouraging, though not completely offsetting the fact that most farmers are still more active with tea production than coffee. However, management is now encouraging farmers to go back to coffee production and because the price is becoming more stable and is quite high, farmers are thus more encouraged to return to/begin more coffee production.

After the harvest of cherries, the coffee is delivered to the factory and undergoes the wet processing method. Water is pumped from the River Rwabura to reservoir tanks for pulping and recirculation. After pulping, the coffee is stored overnight, washed, soaked and spread on the drying tables. The parchment is then frequently turned, then sorted and stored to before delivery to the millers.

To ensure that the processing is carried out efficiently, the factory has invested in a pulper, recirculation system and about 20 conditioning bins.

Background to Kenya

There’s no doubt: Kenya is an amazing coffee destination. Coffees from this origin are known for their powerful aromas, refreshing acidity, flavors of sweet berries, rich mouthfeel, and clean and lingering aftertastes. Years of experience have really taught us how to limit our search at this origin, but we are always open to surprises and are ready for new partners and flavors. Kenya has a well-established and well functioning auction system.

Dormans, based in Nairobi, is where we usually go in order to sample coffees we are interested in buying. Dormans has a reputation for retaining good cuppers. We like them, we trust them, and they rigorously search for the best coffees to offer us. In the peak of the buying/auction season they will screen thousands of coffees each week. Dormans has a license to buy at the auction and they are also partner to a marketing agent/mill—Central Kenya Coffee Mill (CKCM)—where coffee is processed after it finishes drying at the factories.

The washing stations that produce our coffee pride themselves on having some of the best-paid cherry producer members in the country. The system at the Kenyan Coffee Auction is refreshingly transparent in its communicating where coffees come from, its systematic organization of coffee by screen quality (such as size and physical attributes), and in its practice of rewarding cup quality/sensorial attributes.

Most coffee producers in Kenya are “smallholders”. Each producer’s total volume might only be a few bags, thus hundreds of farmers, when living in the same area, are likely to be members of a cooperative, which markets and sells coffee on the whole community’s behalf. Each cooperative typically runs several “factories” (i.e. processing and washing stations) where producers deliver cherries from their farms. Sometimes a producer chooses to deliver to the closest factory but some prefer delivering to a different factory, due to differing management practices. The usual reason for choosing one factory over another is based on the prices a given factory manages to obtain for its cherries.

Good management at a good factory will not allow for unripe or unevenly matured cherries. This is because accepting such cherries damage the potential to receive optimum prices for everyone concerned. We pride ourselves in knowing the factories we buy from pride themselves on ensuring their community of members deliver only red and mature cherries. In Kenya’s market make-up, cherry price is directly linked to cup quality.

In Kenya, a cooperative is a democratically run organization with producers acting as both members and as representatives of the governing board. One key function of the board is to nominate a marketing agent: a body/organization/company that retains a license to sell the coop’s/client’s coffee at the highest possible price. This works in both parties’ interests. Normally a coffee lot is sold at auction, but it can also be sold outside auction if the coop and marketing agent believe they can get an even better price outside auction through selling directly to a customer. That is where we come into the picture.

In the last few years we have taken advantage of the possibility of buying coffees directly from, or at least in understanding and agreement with, the cooperatives. The cooperative is the seller of the coffee and always wants the highest price possible in recognition of: 1. The hard work of quality oriented farmers and factories, 2. Cup quality, and 3. In recognition of the current price of coffees of “similar quality” being sold at auction in Nairobi. Negotiating the price of the best coffees is important to a buyer eager to secure lots before it goes to auction where somebody else might buy it. The price offered has to be high enough for the cooperative to ensure it won’t be sold better at auction, which can, in turn, discourage quality-minded producers. As a matter of fact, all the best coffees are sold this way, thus the only way to get hold of these lots is to be present at origin while they are coming from the mill.

In Kenya, a “coffee lot” is made from a bigger batch of coffee that is delivered to the dry-mill from a cooperative on a given day. When a coffee batch arrives at the mill, it is processed (hulled), analyzed (technically and sensorially), screened (separated due to bean sizes) and given an outturn-number. While the parchment is taken off the beans in the hulling process, the beans are screened and separated due to shape and size.

AAs are flat with screen size 17+. ABs are flat with screen sizes 15 and16. PBs are pea-berries. There are always a certain percentage of lower grades too.

Screen size does not necessarily correlate with quality in terms of flavor attributes. For example, sometimes we find many of the AB-selections to be superior to the AAs from the same lot. In addition, it is not true that PBs are necessarily more intense in flavor or better in quality than flat beans.

Acidity junkies love cupping in Kenya. The questions are much more about “how” and “what kind of acidity” one wants in the coffee, rather than whether one can find it. We work hard to get these Kenya lots in quick and fresh so roasters can have all the acidity you wish to play with. Look for a well prepared, vacuum-packed and clean selection.

pdf version

Factory Profile: Kaiguri

Name: Kaiguri Factory Affiliated to: Mutheka Farmers Co-operative Society (FCS) Province: Central District: Nyeri Location: Karundu Nearest Town/Centre: Kaiguri Altitude (masl): 1700-1800 Producers: Male: 399; Female: 122; Total: 521 Average Annual Production (kg): 147 594 Drying Method: Sun Harvest Method: Handpicking Harvest Season: October – January Varieties: SL 28 Soil: Rich red volcanic loam soils

About

Kaiguri factory is situated near the town of Kaiguri, in the Nyeri district east of the Aberdare Mountain range. It started its operations in the year 1969 as one of 18 factories in the former Tetu Coffee Growers’ Co-operative Society, which held all 18 factories.  In 1999, the society split into 18 single factory societies. In 2004, the government encouraged the single societies to merge and form a large and economically viable society, resulting in the formation of two societies: Aguthi and Mutheka FCSes. Kaiguri factory services four different zones: Chukuruini, Mutoigu, Karurumo and Karaini.

Cherries are selectively handpicked and delivered to the wetmill on the same day. These cherries are sorted at the wetmill prior to pulping, where ripes are separated from under- and overripes. All processing uses clean river water from the Rundu River that is recirculated prior to being disposed of in seepage pits (to prevent contamination). Once parchment is fermented, it is washed and then sundried.

Background to Kenya

There’s no doubt: Kenya is an amazing coffee destination. Coffees from this origin are known for their powerful aromas, refreshing acidity, flavors of sweet berries, rich mouthfeel, and clean and lingering aftertastes. Years of experience have really taught us how to limit our search at this origin, but we are always open to surprises and are ready for new partners and flavors. Kenya has a well-established and well functioning auction system.

Dormans, based in Nairobi, is where we usually go in order to sample coffees we are interested in buying. Dormans has a reputation for retaining good cuppers. We like them, we trust them, and they rigorously search for the best coffees to offer us. In the peak of the buying/auction season they will screen thousands of coffees each week. Dormans has a license to buy at the auction and they are also partner to a marketing agent/mill—Central Kenya Coffee Mill (CKCM)—where coffee is processed after it finishes drying at the factories.

The washing stations that produce our coffee pride themselves on having some of the best-paid cherry producer members in the country. The system at the Kenyan Coffee Auction is refreshingly transparent in its communicating where coffees come from, its systematic organization of coffee by screen quality (such as size and physical attributes), and in its practice of rewarding cup quality/sensorial attributes.

Most coffee producers in Kenya are “smallholders”. Each producer’s total volume might only be a few bags, thus hundreds of farmers, when living in the same area, are likely to be members of a cooperative, which markets and sells coffee on the whole community’s behalf. Each cooperative typically runs several “factories” (i.e. processing and washing stations) where producers deliver cherries from their farms. Sometimes a producer chooses to deliver to the closest factory but some prefer delivering to a different factory, due to differing management practices. The usual reason for choosing one factory over another is based on the prices a given factory manages to obtain for its cherries.

Good management at a good factory will not allow for unripe or unevenly matured cherries. This is because accepting such cherries damage the potential to receive optimum prices for everyone concerned. We pride ourselves in knowing the factories we buy from pride themselves on ensuring their community of members deliver only red and mature cherries. In Kenya’s market make-up, cherry price is directly linked to cup quality.

In Kenya, a cooperative is a democratically run organization with producers acting as both members and as representatives of the governing board. One key function of the board is to nominate a marketing agent: a body/organization/company that retains a license to sell the coop’s/client’s coffee at the highest possible price. This works in both parties’ interests. Normally a coffee lot is sold at auction, but it can also be sold outside auction if the coop and marketing agent believe they can get an even better price outside auction through selling directly to a customer. That is where we come into the picture.

In the last few years we have taken advantage of the possibility of buying coffees directly from, or at least in understanding and agreement with, the cooperatives. The cooperative is the seller of the coffee and always wants the highest price possible in recognition of: 1. The hard work of quality oriented farmers and factories, 2. Cup quality, and 3. In recognition of the current price of coffees of “similar quality” being sold at auction in Nairobi. Negotiating the price of the best coffees is important to a buyer eager to secure lots before it goes to auction where somebody else might buy it. The price offered has to be high enough for the cooperative to ensure it won’t be sold better at auction, which can, in turn, discourage quality-minded producers. As a matter of fact, all the best coffees are sold this way, thus the only way to get hold of these lots is to be present at origin while they are coming from the mill.

In Kenya, a “coffee lot” is made from a bigger batch of coffee that is delivered to the dry-mill from a cooperative on a given day. When a coffee batch arrives at the mill, it is processed (hulled), analyzed (technically and sensorially), screened (separated due to bean sizes) and given an outturn-number. While the parchment is taken off the beans in the hulling process, the beans are screened and separated due to shape and size.

AAs are flat with screen size 17+. ABs are flat with screen sizes 15 and16. PBs are pea-berries. There are always a certain percentage of lower grades too.

Screen size does not necessarily correlate with quality in terms of flavor attributes. For example, sometimes we find many of the AB-selections to be superior to the AAs from the same lot. In addition, it is not true that PBs are necessarily more intense in flavor or better in quality than flat beans.

Acidity junkies love cupping in Kenya. The questions are much more about “how” and “what kind of acidity” one wants in the coffee, rather than whether one can find it. We work hard to get these Kenya lots in quick and fresh so roasters can have all the acidity you wish to play with. Look for a well prepared, vacuum-packed and clean selection.

pdf version

Washing Station Profile: Rubagabaga

Name: Rubagabaga
Operator: Greenco
Province: Kayanza
Commune: Gatare
Construction Date: 1992
Processing capacity (mt): >1000
Elevation (masl): 1 692
Variety: Red Bourbon
Soil: Hygro-Xéro-Ferralsols with Ferralic
Number of delivering cherry producers: 170
Average trees per farmer: 316
Processing method: Fully washed

About Rubagabaga

Rubagabaga coffee washing station (CWS) was built in the early nineties and collects cherries from micro plantations from the surrounding hills of the washing station. Each plantation manages no more than 350 coffee plants, which grow under natural shade.

In the cup, this coffee tends to have a bright acidity, a tangerine sweetness along with a subtle brownie aroma.

Background to Greenco

Greenco is a subsidiary of BCC (Bercher Coffee Consulting), a Geneva based company established by François Bercher a few years ago.

Mr. Bercher is passionate about Burundi and its coffee and has gained extensive knowledge about, as well as has forged tight links with many key people working throughout the coffee sector, through his many years working as a coffee trader within the country. Since recently settling in Switzerland and starting his own company, François has continued to regularly source coffee from Burundi. In order to source consistently good coffee, he decided to invest his time and resources in being closer to field (e.g. through managing washing stations). In this way, he is able to have more control and influence over his coffees’ quality. This is especially crucial within an infant specialty coffee market such as Burundi’s.

Formerly being a regular buyer of coffee from Webcor (former management company and owner of Yandaro CWS) and thus knowing Webcor's operations very well, François decided to enter into a partnership with them. He knew from past experience that Webcor had purchased and run some of the best CWSs in Burundi, in part by being the first private company to buy CWSes during the country’s first stage of privatization of its coffee sector. It is therefore not surprising that with François' knowledge of Burundian coffee, his working with the best CWSes in the country, along with his high ambitions, that Greenco has had a very successful first year.

Burundi Coffee: Background context

Burundi is a landlocked country in Central Africa bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania. The official languages are Kirundi and French, with pockets of Swahili being spoken mostly in Bujumbura (the capital city), along Lake Tanganyika. Hilly and mountainous, Burundi boasts ideal agroecology for coffee cultivation. The country’s economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends very heavily on coffee and tea exports, which together account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings.

Coffee growing and production began during Belgian occupation in the early 1930s and from 1980 to 1993, Burundi invested heavily in the coffee subsector with the heavy assistance—both monetary and strategic—of the World Bank, which helped implement an ambitious program of coffee washing station construction and tree planting. During these years, the number of coffee shrubs increased from 90 million to over 220 million and 133 washing stations were built and strategically placed throughout the country. Currently, there are over 160 washing stations in Burundi.

Coffee is Burundi’s biggest export revenue earner, making up as high as 80% of earnings. There are 600 000 families, close to 40% of the population, involved in the coffee subsector. Until 2007, the coffee subsector was controlled by the state, with the result that all facilities (i.e. washing stations and dry mills) and exporting were coordinated by the government. Coffee has historically been of low quality, subsequently receiving low prices dependent on commodities exchange markets. However, in 2006, the government started liberalizing the subsector and began allowing privatization of coffee washing stations (CWS) and dry mills leading to a continuing expansion of producer access into high quality specialty markets.

The hilly topography of Burundi has made for how the country is organized politically and infrastructurally. A colline in Burundi (i.e. hill) is like a borough or rural neighbourhood. Ultimately, a certain number of collines constitute a commune (i.e. county). The farmers that live on one colline are likely to deliver their coffee cherries to the same washing station that is located within accessible distance from their farms. The different lots represent day-lots from these wet mills.

The climate in Burundi is predominantly equatorial, but the many hilly and mountainous regions, where coffee is grown, enjoy a moderate climate. Average temperatures vary from 17 to 23C and there are distinct wet and dry seasons: the dry seasons run from June to August and again from December to January; the wet seasons are February to May and September to November. These factors, combined with the country’s agroecology, combine for an ideal environment for coffee growing. Under these conditions, cherries can undergo ideal development due to stable and the relatively low temperatures on the plains. In addition, the distinct seasons allow for a proper blossoming of the plants and good drying conditions for the coffee beans (seeds). The main flowering period runs from October until November and there are two harvesting periods: the main harvest runs from February to March; the secondary harvest from April until May.

pdf version

CCS at London Coffee Week

Collaborative Coffee Source 2014 NEW HARVEST presentation

After extensive sourcing travels to origins throughout the winter we have been making recent presentations of our findings to discerning coffee roasting communities in Russia, France, Germany, USA/NYC, Norway and Sweden.

Now CCS is pleased and proud to be back in London to present a representation of new coffees from our relationships - new & old - in Kenya, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil to our English roasters & friends, during London Coffee Week on Thursday, April 3.

Venues and times TBD. Please email Melanie for details and to RSVP

These cupping events are open to: Green Coffee buyers, Roasters, Cuppers, Baristas, specialty coffee community & friends

Roaster Profile: Belleville Brulerie

Name: Belleville Brulerie People: Thomas Lehoux & David Nigel Flynn Location: Paris, France Services: Roasting, retail and wholesale sales Equipment: Giesen W15 Opening Date: September 2013

About

Thomas and David have been active in the Parisian coffee community for the last four years, working with different people, projects and within various capacities. They started Belleville Brulerie in 2013, finding that none of the then current roasted options in the city served what they were looking for. Paris is an espresso-loving city and being filter coffee lovers, Thomas and David want to provide Paris coffee drinkers with great filter options.

Belleville’s roasting concept is simple: to use high quality green coffee and roast it in such a way that highlights sweetness and leads to an overall tasty experience for the drinker. This means that rather than highlighting a particular roasting style, the goal is to roast in such a way that the coffee’s own merits come through. Underlying all this is the notion that drinking great coffee should be a simple endeavor. Coffee is a complex enough product on its own: brewing tasty coffee need not be. To this end, Belleville doesn’t push its customers to adopt complicated and wide-ranging brew methods: espresso and batch brews can and should produce tasty coffee.

Matching its service concepts, Belleville’s purchasing is based on working long-term with producers that are themselves working hard to ensure a high quality from season-to-season. David envisions working with the Moreno family long term, for example. When the roastery first opened, Jesus Moreno’s coffee was in the initial lineup and the reception of his coffee was overwhelmingly positive: Jesus’ coffee consistently sold out first on the days the roastery opens for retail sales (Saturdays). Evidence that Parisian coffee is more than just about espresso allongé.

CCS Report from AFCA 2014: The Potato Defect

For anyone who has worked with coffee from the Great Lakes region—Burundi, Rwanda, D.R. Congo—the so-called “potato defect” has been the source of much frustration. The vast majority of cherry producers within this region are smallholders reliant on receiving premium prices. The average Burundian smallholder owns less than one hectare of land and because of many and varied social-economic-political realities, the small plots smallholders do have is not all dedicated to coffee production, which can be the farmer’s biggest cash earner.

I have heard a lot of speculation about potato throughout the years and was hoping to zero in on some concrete answers, during last month’s African Fine Coffees Association conference, as to what the potato defect is, as well as how it is being fought.

What is known is that potato defect is actually a chemical: isopropyl-2-methoxyl-3-pyrazine. Pyrazines are nitrogen-containing compounds that have unique aromas: earthiness, potato, mould.  Bacteria (thought to be Enterobacteriaceae) make up this pyrazineandthese bacteria are thought to be carried by the Antestia bug. Yes, I realize this language is scientific and vague. It’s because research into the potato problem is young and there are no definitive answers. However, what research has been done (the best research has come from a French agricultural research centre called Cirad) supports the above descriptions of the problem.

The Antestia bug is thought to infect coffee cherries with bacteria as it comes into contact or burrows into coffee cherries. Some of the biggest contributing factors to the elusiveness of the problem are that it is difficult to see infected cherries; infection is random (and doesn’t occur in great amounts); and it does not tend to be obvious infection has occurred until after the roasting process. You can all visualize how many roasted beans go into just one cup of coffee – it only takes one infected bean to ruin the entire cup, rendering it undrinkable due to its unmistakable raw potato/green peas smell and taste.

The Significance of the Problem

As I mentioned in earlier posts about the AFCA conference, most participation came from the commercial coffee world. Although CCS works with the best and brightest producers, making stellar coffees, I feel it is important to know about the commercial side of the coffee trade because its influence on coffee production (how and what) is too significant to ignore. Especially in countries where specialty coffee has not been present for long, as is the case in African coffee producing countries. During the Potato Panel discussion at AFCA this year, speakers included a representative from Alliance for Coffee Excellence (which oversees the Cup of Excellence competitions), a commercial coffee buyer, a specialty coffee buyer and a researcher studying the potato defect.

When commercial buyers choose to work with coffee from the Great Lakes region, they tend to consider and then compare a general profile and quality. For example, Rwandan and Burundian coffees have been compared to Honduran “high grown” coffees quality- and cup-wise. There exists a distinct price differential between what a Honduras “high grown” can command versus what a similar quality coffee from Rwanda and Burundi can fetch. The potential for potato is not the only contributing factor in such a price differential, but it certainly plays a role. According to one panelist’s estimates, the price differential for a Great Lakes coffee is 20-25 USC/lb. less than a comparative coffee. Taking other factors into account (e.g. logistics efficiency of working in the Great Lakes region versus regions like Honduras), the “potato discount” is estimated to be 10-15 USC/lb., adding up to an estimated $6.5 million USD loss each year for a country’s production yield.

In high quality markets like CCS’, prices are not discussed in terms of discounts, but rather premiums. Buyers of specialty coffee reward quality with premiums and as Great Lakes coffees cup uniquely, specially, as well as are harvested at a good time of the year (i.e. in between other countries' harvests), premium prices are paid for coffee gems found in the Great Lakes region. But potato makes it challenging and somewhat risky to work with coffees from this region. Roasting companies spend a lot of resources working with baristas and wholesale clients on how to detect the defect. Some roasters choose to limit how such coffee is used within their menus (e.g. not blending them with other coffees).

What keeps us motivated and focused on working with this region are the fantastic characteristics of uninfected (which is the vast majority of) coffee from this region. We have been working with truly special coffees from the region. These coffees, unlike in the commercial world, cannot be substituted with coffees from anywhere else.

Management strategies

Certain strategies have been employed by farmers and washing stations to mitigate the potato problem. Just because there are not yet definitive answers about the causes of potato, this does not mean that action is not being taken.

At the farmer-level, insect management to mitigate the prevalence of the Antestia bug has been undertaken. In addition, while selective picking is generally good practice, it helps combat potato because infected cherries are mouldy/bacteria-infested. If only ripe, clean, red cherries are sent to the washing station, there is less potential that infected cherries will move further up the supply chain.There is still a long ways to go in farmer education about these techniques but the best washing stations have been working with farmers on these.

Most action has been taken at the washing station (wet processing) and dry mill (dry processing/hulling) levels. Starting with the transport of cherries to the washing station, there have been less potato problems in lots that have been transported more quickly from the field to the washing station. During sorting, floating has been important in that lots that have had less instances of the defect have generally had denser beans. At the dry mill, extensive lot sampling (looking at density in particular) has led to traceability of lots causing more potato problems.

Other technology and strategies include mould probes (which are have also been utilized in Central America for the Roya problem), aromatic sensing devices programmed to recognize defective beans and ultraviolet light sorting. However, due to the fact that these tools are meant to isolate individual beans, they are quite time and resource inefficient.

If it reads like general best agricultural and processing practices should be employed in the battle against potato, that’s obviously true. Even without the defect, these practices should be standard. But it would be a mistake to go so far as to disregard the potato problem as a real and significant issue. In fact, I would argue that the existence of this problem forces producing regions to be ever more conscious about the necessity of proper farm management and meticulous processing in coffee production.

The specialty coffee community has started to become engaged in finding solutions for potato defect. In addition to a growing number of roasters supporting through purchasing, Cup of Excellence has started to organize the funding of potato defect research. Read more and support here.

- Melanie

The King is in Trouble

 

This post provides the backdrop for the previous post and my recent visit to Kenya where I was cupping and choosing the Collaborative Coffee Source’s lots from the recent harvest. My visit was affected by the current situation in the County of Nyeri, a district that is known for producing the best coffee in Kenya. This is where CCS always has bought stellar coffees from and for that reason happily paid the highest prices every season.  By this we have been rewarding good quality with the obvious means: good money. 

Coffee is an important product in many producing countries’ economy. It represents a source for revenue in foreign currencies and local taxes, thus its production is often heavily regulated and so is the trade of it. Ultimately, it employs many people: farmers and workers, all potential voters. Coffee is Political!

In recent years each County (also called ‘District’) in Kenya has received more explicit governing power, which is probably good for many things, but as we know, politicians can be unwise and plainly populist in their policy-making.

The newly elected Government of Nyeri have made a claim that farmers are not being paid well enough for their product compared to what exporters are making from selling it, thus new and radical policies are seeking to mend that situation namely, the local government in the county of Nyeri is taking full control of the milling and trade of all cooperative coffees* in Nyeri as of this season. In practical terms this means that the farmers’ cooperatives, which own the washing stations, are obliged to dry mill, screen and pack their coffee at the state run Sagana KPCU Mill. Ultimately the Nyeri coffee will be marketed and sold through the same Sagana company.

Is this being done in the name of what is best for the farmers? From history, from experience, from gut-feel: there is little reason to believe that the money will pile up at the farmer’s doorstep after this move.

Regrettably there is no doubt that coffee is generally not well paid for, which has been a sad truth not only in recent months but for decades. Unfortunately, exploitation and corruption in all sectors of the trade can and sometimes does happen. Even in the Specialty Coffee sector when prices are sometimes high, one can argue that not enough of the money paid for the end product is trickling all the way to where it belongs: to the farmer.

To an untrained eye, it may all look the same: coffee is coffee and trade is trade. Yet it should be acknowledged that many people are involved in the making of coffee and making sure coffee moves from the farm gate and beyond. Finding the best qualities requires a system and a lot of additional work (unlike in the commodity world). Developing a market where roasters willing to pay for quality actually have access to quality coffee is part of a system and hard work that ultimately benefits farmers via higher prices, recognition and repeated sales. Within the Specialty Coffee Paradigm, the product is totally traceable when it’s working at its best and the flow of the money is fully transparent.

The newly implemented regulations for trading coffee in Nyeri is now making the trade less transparent when looking for specialty lots from the cooperatives. The coffee business is not always just a commodity business: it is a people business, and within the Specialty Coffee trade, this is even more evident.

CCS only buys coffee from trusted sources and from people we know.

The Collaborative Coffee Source & Kenya Crop 2014

The Collaborative’s approach in Kenya is to add value to the chain by selecting the best lots we can find for our roaster customers. This means frequent visits, continuous searches in known and unknown areas, and extensive cupping and screening.

For many years we have chosen to work with Dormans as our partner in Kenya.

Dormans have set themselves up for accessing the best cooperatives by: defining the best regions and appellations, screening the best qualities from each place, and by even involving themselves in developing quality at the farm and washing station level (through a sister company).

Another key factor in our working relationship with Dormans is their recognizable ability to further process the coffee, which makes for the quality we have now come to expect. This includes dry milling (hulling), screening, cleaning and vacuum packaging.

We have always been offered close follow-ups with the processing and movement of our chosen lots, as well as insight into the distribution of costs throughout. This has enabled us to offer Kenyan coffee with full transparency, from the negotiated “farm gate” pricing to all the costs that add up to the final price.

Under the current circumstances CCS is choosing not to buy Nyeri Cooperative coffees from Sagana. To do so would not be in tune with our principles for transparent coffee trading and it would also be untactful to our longstanding relationships. As explained, in the previous post, this means we’ve had to look elsewhere for our selection of stellar Kenyan coffee this year, more specifically in the neighboring counties of Nyeri, but again with great assistance from Dormans—our partner at source—we believe we have found some great coffees.

- Robert W

* Estate coffee, as opposed to cooperative made coffee, is made at privately owned coffee estates and can still be sold through regular channels. But estate coffees have, for various reasons, always been of lower quality compared to the ones made by the best-managed cooperatives.

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Kenya is King

Imagine: The Royal Couple of Coffee

If Ethiopia is the Queen of Coffee, then Kenya is the King.  What a couple! While she is slender and graceful, with floral elegance and contoured acidity, he is more heavy bodied yet dandy: intensely aromatic, with rich attributes, colorful juiciness and flair. Both have standout personalities that make them unique and irreplaceable in the Word of Coffee.

Coming back to this world:

The Collaborative has been back in Kenya this week, cupping hundreds of samples from the New Harvest from the well-known coffee regions at the foot Mt.Kenya, Embu in the East, and the central counties of Muranga, Kiambu and Kirinyaga.

Yes, the coffee from Nyeri County is clearly missing on this list.

The ‘market’ is up and prices at the Kenyan Auction are going high. The Collaborative Coffee Source is discouraged from taking samples from cooperatives producing coffees we have loved and consistently purchased from simply because we do not know and trust the people that are currently handling the coffee on behalf of the farmers.

It seems the King of Coffee has lost control of its precious yet rebellious county… For Specialty Coffee lovers Nyeri Coffee is the quintessential representative of Kenyan Coffee, but this year we’ve been forced to look elsewhere. Background on this situation will come in the next post.

For the time being we are steering away from Cooperative coffees from Nyeri until the situation is cleared and normal trading principles are put back into practice. Currently the trading of Nyeri coffee is at a standstill, which is a pity, as so far the strategy of “helping the farmers” has been counterproductive. We at the Collaborative Coffee Source are sorry for this situation and hope to be able to present Nyeri Coffee from our long-standing relationships with Relationship Cooperatives to our discerning customers in the future.

Don’t despair!

The nature of searching for the greatest coffees in each origin is basically like looking for the infamous “needle-in-the-hay-stack”. When Nyeri coffee is on the table, there are likely to be more needles in that stack.

The good thing about this situation is that we are encouraged to look elsewhere on the map for the greatest coffees from Kenya this year, which has been a good learning experience and with some very interesting discoveries.

And the winners are…

I am pleased to say that we’ve been able to identify great coffees from Embu, Muranga, Kiambu and Kirinyaga. We look forward to presenting these lots to you shortly. After screening plenty of contenders we’ve come down to a dozen samples – representing lots from 5 to 40 bags – that each have individual personalities, at the same time as exhibiting the finest features we know from Kenyan coffee: Intense aromas, well-pronounced acidity and juicy sweetness from tropical fruits and dark berries, sometimes with a delicate mouth feel, sometimes with a richer body.

Contact us now for cupping event schedule or sample request. Looking for March shipment, coffee arriving at our Antwerp warehouse around Easter.

- Robert W

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CCS Report from AFCA 2014: Robusta on the Rise

I attended the African Fine Coffees Association conference two weeks ago in Bujumbura, Burundi. This report is the second in a series about this conference. Read the intro report here.

Working at CCS, which searches for and sources the highest quality coffees in the world, it’s easy to keep the blinders on to what’s happening in the commercial coffee markets. My world is exclusively focused on finding unique terroir, ambitious and long-term thinking producers and thus working on pricing mechanisms based on quality and the evolution of long-term partnerships. That’s not to say that what we do is immune to market pricing; there has to be a benchmark to start from. So what commercial buyers want (e.g. certification, suggestions regarding agricultural and processing practices, etc.) has a huge impact on not only pricing but more importantly, what coffees are even available to quality-focused buyers. Outside a few established niche regions (e.g. Boquete in Panama) commercial buyers continue to have the largest influence on general trends of world coffee production.

Obviously there is great quality coffee and seemingly more available each year. The number of quality-focused buyers is increasing because more and more buyers are paying higher prices than the market as well as are working very hard in developing true partnerships with producers. As an example, some of CCS’ best partnerships are in Santa Barbara, Honduras. This year, CCS has committed to paying a price for coffee from the upcoming harvest (scoring 86 points and up) that currently represents three times today’s market value for ‘commodity’ coffee in the region. With opportunities like these, there are more and more producers wanting to work with partners like us and produce high quality coffee. But buyers like us are few and far between and from what I saw and heard at AFCA, there is very little representation of quality-focused buyers in Africa. Which can have large consequences.

During the World Coffee Market Discussion at AFCA, I learned many things about the state of worldwide coffee production. The most striking is the fact that consumption trends are making Robusta production more lucrative and that by 2020, if current production trends continue, Arabica will account for just 55% of world production; Robusta 45%. I say just 55% because this will be the lowest ever production of Arabica coffee. This prospect is quite strange to hear from my perspective because being immersed in the specialty coffee world gives the impression that trends should be moving in a more quality-focused direction. And in fact, the same speaker that outlined the increase in need and production of Robusta also talked about the fact that world consumption trends are moving toward “higher status” coffee consumption. In places that previously did not consume much coffee, such as Southeast Asia (in particular South Korea), India, China and coffee producing countries, coffee consumption is quickly becoming embedded as a lifestyle status symbol for the burgeoning young middle-classes.

However, large chains are, in many of these cases, dominating these trends. The private labels of large coffee retailers and chains use 40-60% Robusta in their blends and the consumption of convenient single-serve home machines (e.g. pods and capsules) is rapidly increasing. And despite appearances, many of these consumers are very price conscious, making Robusta attractive for coffee buyers.

The case of Africa is interesting from a Commercial vs. Specialty Coffee perspective: African producing countries have the potential to produce high quality coffee. Ethiopia is dominating Arabica production on the African continent and there will continue to be high demand for coffees from this region. The question I had after the World Market panel discussion was: will other African origins focus their efforts on producing high quality coffee? Right now, the rise in demand for Robusta means that there is a need for countries other than Vietnam to efficiently produce it. In fact, one of the speakers contends that if production levels continue, Brazil itself could satisfy the world demand for Arabica by 2020. He cautioned that if Brazil is to remain competitive in world markets, that it must take note of the rise of Robusta. And since Brazil is the largest, most efficient and best organized producer of Arabica, will other places looking to take after its model want to focus on Robusta markets?

In fact, Africa’s continent-wide problem of low productivity has led to inroads for more potential for high-quality coffee production. The Cup of Excellence program is firmly establishing itself in Rwanda and more recently, Burundi. Kenya becomes evermore attractive to specialty buyers based on its reputation for producing the juicy and intense “Kenya profile”. Some well-funded and successfully implemented agricultural and marketing programs via USAID and TechnoServe (for example), have more recently increased opportunities and availability of high quality coffee in countries like Burundi, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, the Ivory Coast, amongst others. So contrary to one of the speaker’s assertions that “the future is bright” for African producers in Robusta production, should they put more efforts into higher productivity, I rather think the opportunities can be great for more diversity in high quality Arabica (i.e. specialty) coffee coming from not-as-yet established African origins, should the Specialty Coffee community choose to engage.

- Melanie

Previous: Intro to AFCA

Next: The Potato Defect

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CCS Report: African Fine Coffees Association Conference 2014

I attended the African Fine Coffees Association conference last week. AFCA was founded in 2000 and aims to be, “a regional non profit, non political, member-driven association representing coffee sectors in 11 member countries namely Burundi, D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. AFCA members include both private and public sector coffee stakeholders including producers, exporters, international importers, roasters, policy makers, transporters and trade representatives.”

What this seems to mean in practice is that it’s a venue where coffee professionals—producers, buyers, exporters, public stakeholders—involved in African coffee production and sale can get together to network and discuss the issues and development of the member coffee sectors.

In the posts to follow, I’ll focus on three topics/experiences—world coffee markets, potato taste in coffee and my visit upcountry in Kayanza--to give you an overview of this year’s AFCA conference and the potential implications for the coffees and partners CCS works with.

CCS is sourcing coffee from the best producers growing and processing the best quality coffee in their respective origins. Our partners have shown merits through consistently placing well in competitions (e.g.Cup of Excellence) as well as through their commitment and evolving working relationships with us. The coffees we approve are scoring at a minimum of 86 points (based on a combination of score sheets like COE, SCAA and our internal scoring mechanisms) and the quality of the coffees being delivered to us are noticeably better with each progressive season.

Since I am almost exclusively cupping amazing coffees, one experience from the past year that really stands out was a cupping session where I cupped coffees scoring under 80 points. This experience triggered a feeling that not only do I know very little about how most of the world’s coffee is traded, but that this gap in understanding could potentially have big impacts to what we’re able to source due to the amount of buying power and influence that commercial buyers have.

I feel that it is important to understand more about the commercial coffee trade because the mere fact that most coffee is traded through these channels affects the way specialty coffee is produced and priced. For example, although most producers I met at the conference want to produce high quality coffee and work directly with companies like CCS (and in turn with roasters like you), most of them do not possess the know-how to produce and work with specialty buyers. Working with African coffees is very different than working with most Central and South American coffees – most Latin American countries have much better coffee infrastructure, have a longer history of working closely with buyers, a longer history of private investment. Thus commercial buyers have a lot of influence and long-held relations with the cooperatives and washing stations in Africa, so their way of buying coffee and quality standards is generally the rule.

Conference attendance this year was broad enough that I had the opportunity to meet with people representing many different countries, from all throughout the production and supply chain, but also small enough that I didn’t feel like I missed out on meeting at least one representative from most of the participants there (e.g. those with exhibition booths). The vast majority of the people that attended are involved with “commercial coffee” – from price, pricing mechanism (i.e. speculative) and quality standpoints. As this conference is one of the most significant meeting points for African coffee professionals, specialty coffee needs to have more of a presence.

More and better engagement in Africa from the specialty coffee sector will not only benefit producers; it will help roasters expand menus, increase the quality and transparency of the coffee available, and lead to an even more exciting community. While there were a couple of fantastic specialty representatives in attendance (like Paul Songer from ACE and Wendy de Jong from Single Origin Roasters in Australia), leading some of the most interesting discussions in the program, the general vibe of the conference was commercial.

The main themes of the program included women in coffee, a sustainability forum, the case of the African smallholder, the world coffee market, finance, potato taste in coffee, a (large-scale) roaster’s perspective to sustainability, and the African coffee industry. Unfortunately I didn’t arrive early enough to attend the women in coffee meeting and didn’t have enough time while I was there to attend all the lectures and discussions, but I did attend the world coffee market and potato taste discussions, amongst all the networking and meetings with current and potential future partners. It was a really great two days at the conference and then I had the privilege of being taken up-country to the Kayanza region where Long Miles Coffee gave me a tour of their current washing station and showed me the site of their new one. Hope you enjoy the following summaries.

Next post

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Early-Harvest Visit to Honduras, January 2014

It has been misty, sometimes rainy and quite cold. The sky is white and Yojoa Lake has been hidden under a cottony layer of fog for days. Despite the weather, the place remains just as beautiful. Welcome to Santa Barbara.

This is how the weather usually is at this time of year, in the early days of January. However, when the sun and the heat return, when the view of Yojoa is back, it is breathtakingly beautiful in another way. That beauty is reserved for our return in April, the end of the harvest period.

I have spent the last few days visiting farms and meeting with a dozen or more farmers and friends from the villages of Las Flores, Cielito and Cedral – all from the now famous hillside of the Santa Barbara mountain – not far from the town of Peña Blanca. I have also made new acquaintances with farmers from La Paz in the South, close to the Salvadoran border.

The harvest has barely begun; some started picking coffee cherries at the end of December, but most started last week, or will start within the next few days. This means that there is little to cup, but there is always something. We were able to collect enough samples from farmers’ drying beds, storages (sometimes their living rooms) to make for an early preview of what-is-to-come.

The purpose of an early pre-harvest trip like this one is to get an understanding of how the coffee framers experienced last year’s harvest and to hear about what they think of the upcoming one. This is also a good opportunity for us to talk about our expectations, as well as give feedback about our experience with the past crop: its arrival condition and cupping notes.

I must say (and I have made sure to share our gratitude): Last years crop was—generally speaking—the best we have experienced in the 9 years we have been working in this region. In some cases, some lots were the best we have ever experienced from Honduras.

Good and challenging things have happened all at the same time in the past year, but our expectations are nonetheless big and hopeful for the upcoming crop.

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 The much-talked-about-issue: Roya

Upon my return to Santa Barbara this time, I was anxious to hear from the farmers themselves about what has been their biggest challenge in the last year, namely, the Roya fungus attack. Some farms on the hillside are looking hard hit, some look abandoned; it is not a pretty sight! That said, in working with farmers in other similar places (i.e. southern parts of Huila in Colombia) for many years, with climates not unlike the one here, we have learned to have faith in good husbandry. As Alejandro Cadena from Virmax in Colombia explains:

Think of the roya as a cold or flu. It is something that has always been around and will always be there latently. It comes and goes, it sometimes hits hard, sometimes less. The question is always and only going to be: How one is preparing for it.

The weather and other climatic conditions will always make an impact on farming. Plagues may come in cycles and sometimes attack in an epidemic fashion. The huge 2012 harvest that Santa Barbara farms experienced, the year before the 2013 Roya attack, may have made the coffee plants more vulnerable. In other words, there will always be many factors that contribute to the Roya situation.

Roya is manageable. It is not a just question of choosing the right or wrong coffee varietal, not solely. It is also not about bad luck, or about ‘God’s vengeance’. Handling Roya is, for the most part, a matter of farm management. The preferred way is always a proactive approach.

A healthy coffee tree is less susceptible to any disease, really. Good health comes from good nutrition and care: timely application of copper spray (foliage protection agent, often used in organic farming too), timely pruning, shade and wind protection, cleaning of weeds in-between the coffee trees, amongst other things.

Fortunately and not surprisingly, all the farmers we are working with in Santa Barbara have handled Roya well. All the farms I’ve visited look healthy now, but this has not been easy and it has not been cheap. The feedback from all the farmers I’ve spoken to and interviewed about this topic say the same thing: They were taken by surprise but acted upon Roya swiftly. Although many were hit, most managed to take action in time by applying copper spray, even if trees were affected. Affected trees have now either been pruned or taken out altogether. The farms look healthy again; their farmers, happy.

This may all sound easy, but it isn’t. I certainly don’t mean to oversimplify the issue. To be able to handle an unexpected attack like the one we saw last year, one must be present, proactive, and have means readily at hand, particularly financial ones. Some farmers may not have had the experience to foresee what was coming, or weren’t working closely enough with their farm to see it (literally). In these cases, one must be able to trust that the farm’s managers are on top of things.

Even if prepared, there is the matter of access to resources, or lack thereof. Fertilizers and protective sprays come with huge costs: both the products themselves as well as the cost of applying them. In today’s market, with low prices for the coffee itself, it is quite common to hold back on these ‘investments’. The irony is that without investing in the farm, one is even worse off next time around: A vicious circle. All the farmers we are working with in Santa Barbara are saying the same thing: Thanks to the (high) prices paid for their coffees last year they have been able to take better care of their farms, spend more resources on all necessary tasks and are better off than their neighbors that are not selling their coffee in the specialty market. They say that despite last year’s strong efforts in keeping up with the challenges, they are again prepared and well-fit for a new harvest season.

The Collaborative Coffee Source is committed to paying a price for coffee from the upcoming harvest (86pts and up) that currently represents three times today’s market value for ‘commodity’ coffee in the region.

As a matter of fact, all the farmers we are working with (a dozen plus) are expanding. In addition to maintaining their current farms by pruning, making the trees more productive, as well as replanting, they are also buying more farmland and planting new coffee trees. Many farms were on the verge of being abandoned less than a decade ago; today there is eager expansion and strong will to take part in the specialty coffee sector. The days ahead look bright.

Premises for the 2014 Crop Quality

‘Specialty coffee’ is about positive concrete attributes that we find ‘in the cup’, yes indeed. In an ideal world that is the outcome from a set of good natural conditions plus a set of actions made by the farmer: Specialty coffee is man made, it is coming from a set of conscious choices and honest ‘craftsmanship’. But before all else I like to think of specialty coffee as a ‘mindset’ or ‘ambition’ if you will, with which one is able to do all the extra work that it takes to make it. The Devil is in the Details.

When last years crop tasted particularly good, it had to do with a series of little details that were coming together and making for a clear difference from earlier years. This is how we see the premises are laid out for getting even greater coffee quality from Santa Barbara’s 2014 Crop.

Picking

Many years of prayers and preaching the lesson are paying off. The previous culture of accepting unripe cherries and uneven picking is diminishing. I believe this is the result of a combination of factors. Firstly, the fact that the farmers see us as a sustainable and long-term partner makes for trust in the fact that we want to buy their coffee again and again. A fling is one thing; we’ve been around since 2005. But our clear message of the importance of ripe picking, doesn’t really sink in until farmers themselves take part in cupping sessions. Now they do.

Picking coffee is one of the most labor intensive, hence one of the most costly processes in making the coffee we want to buy. To get these results the farmers we work with are paying a minimum of 50-75% premium for the work of picking cherries to their workers. Additionally, they seem to have succeeded in implementing a stricter regime at the reception of cherries before milling. All cherries that are not fully ripened must now be removed from the batch before they can go into the de-pulping process. This has become common practice amongst our partners.

Processing

Even if the coffee parchment looks perfect in terms of no-cracks, etc., I have, at times, noticed slight unevenness in the color. Not a lot, but enough to want to bring it up.

Generally, I think the traditional washing technique in the region can be improved. At least the outcome after the fermentation and washing can be cleaner and more consistent. Most farms have a small de-pulping machine and an open fermentation tank, meaning they can wash the coffee either manually in the same tank, or (better) in a separate (often small) washing channel.

I have suggested a new trial project that may lead to even more clarity in cup profile. Farmers who have agreed will now try to soak the already washed coffee in a separate tank with new clean water before putting it out for drying. Washing is often done in the afternoon, thus if the coffee is put back into a ‘soaking tank’ it will get another 12-18 hours of water contact, plus the obvious benefit of extra mucilage removal.

This is common practice in East African countries, making for the cleanest, most complex, sweet and acidic coffees in the world; it will not hurt to try it in Santa Barbara. We’ve asked for trials and will buy the coffee regardless of the outcome, thus the involved farmers are at no risk.

Drying

Generally, the drying process is the most unknown territory in coffee processing, thus it is the most interesting one to study. Until recently, few farmers had their own drying beds. Now it is mandatory if one wants to be in the specialty coffee game.

In previous years, farmers in Santa Barbara used to de-pulp, ferment and wash the coffee at their farms, then brought the wet coffee in parchment down to a common place for patio drying, run by San Vicente. This meant that another party was taking over the task of processing, hence making the coffee.

The biggest change responsible for elevating the quality of coffee processing in the Santa Barbara region in recent years has been the new drying regime that is now taking place at many farms. Sun drying on beds is, depending on climatic conditions, either done under parabolic translucent cover (for rain protection) or under perforated mesh (for shade), and includes continuous hand raking and picking out of visible defects. This process is gentler than past drying techniques and is probably providing for a better result in the cup. It allows for a better view of the process, and a more hands-on approach.

Most good things come with a cost: When farmers are more involved in making their finished product it is more labor intensive and costly for them, but it provides for the chance to get a better price for their product. This is both empowering, as well as makes one more responsible for the outcome.

The Moreno family has been the role model in the Santa Barbara community this regard, which is probably why they have made the most consistent quality for ten years running. Yet, as of last year, ALL our relationship-farms have committed to this new regime.

Post drying

The handling of coffee post processing and drying is important for maintaining its quality. Our concern goes beyond the fresh flavors from the cupping table at origin. We experienced that the coffees we got from Santa Barbara last year kept well throughout the months of roasting. As a matter of fact, the few bags that are still in roasting production around the world are still cupping impressively well.

Packing the coffee with Grain-Pro bag liners for export has in recent years become common practice internationally. Anything less is now unheard of. Last year our partner at this origin, San Vicente Coffee Exporters, implemented a simple yet important approach in how to store coffee before export and before dry milling: While the coffee is resting, usually for a few weeks, sometimes for a couple of months (waiting for all farm lots to be harvested and collected) the coffee is always kept in its parchment before milling. Usually parchment coffee is kept in woven polyurethane bags. As of last year San Vicente started storing the parchment coffee with an additional Grain- Pro liner. This seems to have stabilized and maintained moisture levels better. The decreased fluctuation of moisture content and resulting decreased impact from ambient moisture levels, has seemingly made for a more stable resting process. Let’s say: a more restful rest. The result is an altogether fresher coffee before departure and upon arrival; a better maintained coffee all the way.

Producer Profile: the Bonillas of La Loma & Don Mayo

Farm: La Loma
Owner: Hector Bonilla
Region: Tarrazu
Micro Region: San Francisco de Leon Cortes
Micro mill: Don Mayo
Altitude (masl): 1850
Varietal: Red Catuai
Process: Fully Washed
 

About

Hector and Pablo Bonilla, owners of the La Loma farm, are also the father and son team behind well-known and widely recognized Don Mayo micro-mill. For several years, this family has been producing some of the finest coffee coming from Costa Rica. The mill processes coffee cherries from several neighboring farms in the increasingly infamous Tarrazu region and in 2009 the micro-mill was behind the production of the winning lot.

La Loma is located at 1800 masl and the Bonillas are well acquainted with our lot preferences based on our long-standing relationship with them. We choose “fully washed” coffees from La Loma because we believe it best represents the varietals grown at La Loma most faithfully. In the fully washed process, the seeds are removed from the skin, pulp and mucilage and are then dried on perforated mats, or directly on to cement, in order to dry slowly under constant raking and further selection process. Since coffee does not ferment in this process, there is one less variable to take into account that could lead to otherwise uneven drying and potentially compromised quality. We find that the lots produced at La Loma are very clean and refreshing.

Don Mayo Coffee Mill was established in 1994 and Héctor Bonilla Cruz is the general manager and founder of Don Mayo. Mr. Bonilla was the general manager of Cooperativa de Caficultores de Llano Bonito R.L. from 1992 to 1998, where, amongst other things, he incorporated the "Fair Trade" market and the beginning of direct sales of the cooperative’s coffee to European and North American clients.

The Bonillas use agricultural practices taken from research-based evidence; interventions that include best practice of soil treatments, shade organization, and coffee varieties. These practices are based primarily on the use of varieties of coffee that have been proven to best match the agroecology of the farms, soil maintenance without the use of agrochemicals, and the use of the controlled shade to incorporate organic matter into soil.

Care of the Bonilla plantations are worked in a personal way: the members of the Bonilla Solis family take care of the plantation themselves and supervise each one of the processes. This allows a more meticulous care of the soils, plantations and varieties of coffee. The family oversees every aspect of plantation management, including pruning, fertilizing and cleaning of the plantations. The family also participates in the milling process, in order to assure a quality product.

In 2005, Don Mayo began the renovating the mill including the addition of more sun drying patios, repainting of the machinery, construction of silos for storage, and mounting another mechanic dryer. These new facilities have been utilized since the 2006-2007 season.

In 2005, as a result of the great acceptance of their coffee and its price among toasters, the decision to continue with the project was made. For such purpose, they proceeded to begin the construction of a totally renewed mill. This included adding more sun drying patios, repainting machinery, constructing silos for storage, mounting another mechanic dryer; all of these to enlarge the processing plant and to have it ready for the 2006-2007 crop.

Situation in Nyeri

Dear CCSers, You may have already been apprised of the news coming out of Nyeri regarding the county’s recent move toward centralization of coffee production. This newsletter is simply a summary/informative piece meant to update those of you buying and/or have interest in Nyeri coffee. As the situation is still evolving, this is not meant to provide any sort of analysis or predictions about what will happen.

In short, the introduction of the new Constitution in Kenya is resulting in a substantial decentralization in power. Subsequently, county governments have quickly taken steps toward becoming more deeply involved within various areas of economic and social society. The Agricultural sector encompasses a large voter base within Kenya and in Nyeri, the recent decentralization of power has allowed the Governor to create a central mill for all Nyeri coffee in order to market it under the company’s name: Sagana. According to the Nderitu Gachagua (Governor), this move is meant to increase the price of Nyeri coffee to its “correct” value; he has expressed hopes that prices will at least double last season’s prices.

The county’s move toward centralization has been swift: an order was issued, within the last weeks that all coffee must be delivered to the Sagana mill. It is now illegal for farmers to deliver coffee to any other mill, even licensed ones. There is some powerful resistance to these changes and 13 of Nyeri’s Cooperative Societies have taken the local government to court the High Court, claiming that they have a constitutional right to choose where their coffee is milled and marketed. This case is not scheduled to be heard until mid-February, however.

Many of you know Nyeri as being a key area from where high quality coffee is sourced; it is where our partners at Central Kenya Coffee Mill (CKCM) are located. We have received news from CKCM that it has been the main target of local government authorities, one of the major consequences of this was that last Thursday, CKCM was ordered to halt its operations.

What this news means for this year’s production and purchasing is yet to be determined. Dormans and CKCM are obviously concerned about the loss of supply of Nyeri coffee, but are currently forced to allow the situation to develop as it does.

We hope that the situation moves toward a resolution that truly takes the interests of the farmers as its main priority. From our perspective, a movement toward less transparency does not seem the best course of action, considering the ever-increasing demand from roasters for increasingly better quality and traceable coffee. For more information, please visit the following links:

Standard Digital News The Star

Mwakilishi

NTV

Factory Profile: Kagumo

Name: Kagumo Factory Affiliated to: Aguthi Farmers Co-operative Society (FCS) Province: Central District: Nyeri Location: Gaaki Nearest Town/Centre: Nyeri Altitude (masl): 1550 Producers: 1302 Average Annual Production (kg): 238 365 Drying Method: Sun Harvest Method: Handpicking Harvest Season: October – January Varieties: SL 28 Soil: Rich red volcanic loam soils

About

Kagumo is located on the western slopes of Mt Kenya and eastern slopes of the Abadare Ranges. Seven committee members – coming from the FCS – manage the washing station, with the secretary manager acting as executive officer responsible for day-to-day management of the coop activities. 60 permanent staff support the executive officer and the wetmill services four villages. In 2004, four factories formed the Aguthi FCS, which Kagumo serves.

Cherries are selectively handpicked and delivered to the wetmill on the same day. These cherries are sorted at the wetmill prior to pulping, where ripes are separated from under- and overripes. All processing uses clean river water from the Rundu River that is recirculated prior to being disposed of in seepage pits (to prevent contamination). Once parchment is fermented, it is washed and then sundried. The dried parchment is then milled and bagged at Kofinaf mills and either sold through the Nairobi auction or directly to international buyers.

Background to Kenya

There’s no doubt: Kenya is an amazing coffee destination. Coffees from this origin are known for their powerful aromas, refreshing acidity, flavors of sweet berries, rich mouthfeel, and clean and lingering aftertastes. Years of experience have really taught us how to limit our search at this origin, but we are always open to surprises and are ready for new partners and flavors. Kenya has a well-established and well functioning auction system.

Dormans, based in Nairobi, is where we usually go in order to sample coffees we are interested in buying. Dormans has a reputation for retaining good cuppers. We like them, we trust them, and they rigorously search for the best coffees to offer us. In the peak of the buying/auction season they will screen thousands of coffees each week. Dormans has a license to buy at the auction and they are also partner to a marketing agent/mill—Central Kenya Coffee Mill (CKCM)—where coffee is processed after it finishes drying at the factories.

The washing stations that produce our coffee pride themselves on having some of the best-paid cherry producer members in the country. The system at the Kenyan Coffee Auction is refreshingly transparent in its communicating where coffees come from, its systematic organization of coffee by screen quality (such as size and physical attributes), and in its practice of rewarding cup quality/sensorial attributes.

Most coffee producers in Kenya are “smallholders”. Each producer’s total volume might only be a few bags, thus hundreds of farmers, when living in the same area, are likely to be members of a cooperative, which markets and sells coffee on the whole community’s behalf. Each cooperative typically runs several “factories” (i.e. processing and washing stations) where producers deliver cherries from their farms. Sometimes a producer chooses to deliver to the closest factory but some prefer delivering to a different factory, due to differing management practices. The usual reason for choosing one factory over another is based on the prices a given factory manages to obtain for its cherries.

Good management at a good factory will not allow for unripe or unevenly matured cherries. This is because accepting such cherries damage the potential to receive optimum prices for everyone concerned. We pride ourselves in knowing the factories we buy from pride themselves on ensuring their community of members deliver only red and mature cherries. In Kenya’s market make-up, cherry price is directly linked to cup quality.

In Kenya, a cooperative is a democratically run organization with producers acting as both members and as representatives of the governing board. One key function of the board is to nominate a marketing agent: a body/organization/company that retains a license to sell the coop’s/client’s coffee at the highest possible price. This works in both parties’ interests. Normally a coffee lot is sold at auction, but it can also be sold outside auction if the coop and marketing agent believe they can get an even better price outside auction through selling directly to a customer. That is where we come into the picture.

In the last few years we have taken advantage of the possibility of buying coffees directly from, or at least in understanding and agreement with, the cooperatives. The cooperative is the seller of the coffee and always wants the highest price possible in recognition of: 1. The hard work of quality oriented farmers and factories, 2. Cup quality, and 3. In recognition of the current price of coffees of “similar quality” being sold at auction in Nairobi. Negotiating the price of the best coffees is important to a buyer eager to secure lots before it goes to auction where somebody else might buy it. The price offered has to be high enough for the cooperative to ensure it won’t be sold better at auction, which can, in turn, discourage quality-minded producers. As a matter of fact, all the best coffees are sold this way, thus the only way to get hold of these lots is to be present at origin while they are coming from the mill.

In Kenya, a “coffee lot” is made from a bigger batch of coffee that is delivered to the dry-mill from a cooperative on a given day. When a coffee batch arrives at the mill, it is processed (hulled), analyzed (technically and sensorially), screened (separated due to bean sizes) and given an outturn-number. While the parchment is taken off the beans in the hulling process, the beans are screened and separated due to shape and size.

AAs are flat with screen size 17+. ABs are flat with screen sizes 15 and16. PBs are pea-berries. There are always a certain percentage of lower grades too.

Screen size does not necessarily correlate with quality in terms of flavor attributes. For example, sometimes we find many of the AB-selections to be superior to the AAs from the same lot. In addition, it is not true that PBs are necessarily more intense in flavor or better in quality than flat beans.

Acidity junkies love cupping in Kenya. The questions are much more about “how” and “what kind of acidity” one wants in the coffee, rather than whether one can find it. We work hard to get these Kenya lots in quick and fresh so roasters can have all the acidity you wish to play with. Look for a well prepared, vacuum-packed and clean selection.

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Producer Profile: Rivera family & Puente Tarrazu

Farm: La Pena
Producer: Mr. Rodolfo Rivera
Region: Tarrazu
Micro Region: Santa Cruz de Leon Cortes
Micro mill: Puente Tarrazu
Altitude (masl): 1650
Varietal: Caturra
Process: Yellow Honey

About

Tarrazu is one of the best areas in Costa Rica for coffee cultivation. In addition to optimum soil and climate, the coffee producers in this region are known for producing excellent cherries. La Pena is located at 1650 masl and Puente Tarrazu is the name of the micro mill that processes the cherries from La Pena. Along with the Mendez, Rivera (another Rivera family) and Naranjo families, the Rivera family runs and processes all their coffees at Puente Tarrazu.

At Puente Tarrazu, cherries are processed using the “yellow honey” method – a method similar to how “pulped natural” coffees are processed in Brazil. In the honey method, the fruit skin is removed from the seeds/beans, but the pulp remains. This highly sugary material, when handled properly, adds sweetness to the coffee that translates into more sweetness in the cup. Without careful handling, however, this sweetness can overpower a coffee’s clarity and elegance. The Puente Tarrazu team has been perfecting this processing technique, with the result that the coffees processed at the mill are elegant, sweet and transparent.

Producer Profile: Hernan Solis & Helsar de Zarcero

Farm: Solis
Owner: Hernan Solis
Region: West Valley
Micro Region: Llano Bonito Naranjo
Micro mill: Helsar de Zarcero
Altitude (masl): 1700
Varietal: Villa Sarchí
Process: Fully Washed

About

Every time we meet with Mr. Solis, we are impressed with his eagerness to do whatever it takes to produce great coffee and are humbled to see all the work that is required in order to achieve the quality the farm produces. "Solis" is located in Naranjo, West Valley, at about 1700 masl. Once coffee cherries have been harvested, they are taken to Helsar for processing, which is located in the same neighborhood. Processing is vital to achieving clean and delicious coffee. The Helsar mill is also committed to being carbon neutral, and is certified as such.

Helsar is one of the most successful and well-regarded producers of specialty coffee in Costa Rica, as the result of the partnership between Ricardo Perez Barrantes and brothers Marvin and Felipe Rodriguez. Both Villa Sarchi Solis and Helsar are exemplars of excellent and forward thinking producers. We believe that the Villa Sarchí species is particularly interesting because it developed in Costa Rica and adapted to the climate and growing conditions unique to Costa Rica’s coffee regions. This varietal is now known for its great freshness and refreshing juiciness, which reinforces our belief that Villa Sarchí and the microclimates of the farms delivering to Helsar are made for one another.

The Helsar mill processes for over a dozen growers (including the production of the owners’ own farms). Each coffee is processed separately and to the exacting standards of each grower. The patios at Helsar are covered, in order to dry coffee more slowly (heat is increased and the covering prevents rain damage). In line with sustainability considerations, the mill uses the latest in low impact aqua pulping machinery. Ricardo Pérez Barrantes has exhibited a broad understanding of the effects that pulping, fermentation, and drying have on coffee. Helsar’s willingness to work closely with buyers, combined with Ricardo’s skills as a processor, allow Helsar to present amazing coffees year-to-year.

hernan solis

Producer Profile: Danny Moreno

Danny Moreno Farm Name: El Filo Micro Region: El Cedral Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 2.46 hectares Variety: Pacas Altitude: 1550 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

The Moreno brothers: Miguel, Mario, Danny, Jesus, Gerardo, and Olvin inherited their farms from their father Daniel, who divided “El Filo” into lots for each son. More recently, Miguel’s son Dolmin has been managing his own plot on El Filo. Together, the family built a wet mill, raised beds, and solar dryers to process and prepare their specialty lot. Working together and sharing their facilities with their neighbours, the family has helped elevate the El Cedral community to produce and prepare better quality.

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: Santa Maria

Crescencio Izaguirre Farm Name: Santa Maria Micro Region: El Cedral Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 0.70 hectares Variety: Pacas Altitude: 1600 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

Crescencio is one of the smallest producers in El Cedral area. He process his coffee at the Moreno family’s facilities, utilizing their wet mill and raised beds to prepare and dry his coffee.

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: Flor de la Peña

Jose Luis Delcid Farm Name: Flor de la Peña Micro Region: Las Flores Region: Santa Barbara Farm Size: 4.22 hectares Variety: Pacas, Bourbon, Catuai, Geisha, Pacamara Altitude: 1550 m.a.s.l. Processing: Washed

Jose Luis Delcid moved to Las Flores for the express purpose of cultivating specialty coffee. We have known Luis for several years and met him through San Vincente—the exporter that organizes and ships all our coffees from Santa Barbara. Luis has been an employee (truck driver and handyman) for San Vincente for over 30 years and as a result, has gained a lot of experience and knowledge about coffee producing through his work with, observations of and interactions with other producers.

Luis acquired Flor de la Peña a few years ago has developed five different varieties on his farm. This farm benefits from high altitudes but has only just recently yielded enough coffee to sell. The 2012 harvest was a mixture of these varieties, but this year, Luis has separated his lots – the 2012 harvest was quite small and Luis could not afford to pay his pickers to separate the different varieties of cherries. In addition to variety separation, Luis has invested in and built his own fermentation tank, using profits from last year’s harvest.

We see much long-term potential at Flor de la Peña and Luis has already shown dedication and care through some of his techniques, such as drying his own coffee on patios. He is currently in the process of building solar dryers on his farm.

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