It's a long one...read on.

Honduras 2006. Journal of Emily Naber.

Arrival in San Pedro Sula on 30 April, 2006.
It was HOT when I arrived in SPS. I was overdressed because I always freeze on the plane. Found the driver to the hotel with relative ease. We communicated in my broken Spanish and I learned that José has 4 kids and likes to spend his weekends at the beach with his family. He even pointed out his house.

Nearing the hotel, there are 3 Pizza Huts on one block, two on one side, one on the other. There’s an Applebee’s, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts… the people are very proud of this. José pointed these out to me, proudly. I smiled, although it made me sick. But, who am I to say how these people should live their lives and what should make them proud?

When I arrived at the hotel, Arnoldo Paz greeted me. I took a nap and then met the group for dinner.

1 May. First day of CoE.
I was a little bit nervous about being a judge at the Cup of Excellence. It was my first event of the type, and having been in the industry for a year, was not confident of my cupping abilities, with the likes of many industry veterans. After our calibration exercise the first morning, though, I found that I was well-calibrated with the group and trusted my abilities.

A bit more awake today and began getting to know the other jurors. We have jurors from the US, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Canada and Colombia. What a great group!

2 May. First day of cupping CoE contenders.
Already sick of buffet food. Had a great first few rounds of cupping the competition coffees. Finding some nice coffees in the bunch. Lots of chocolate and nice fruit flavors.

Went on a field trip today to La Fe, Coffee Research Center and had dinner at Finca Las Glorias, on Lake Yojoa. I wished that it wasn’t dark out when we got to the Lake. With the program, Trees for the Future, we planted over 80,000 trees in this region as part of our becoming ‘carbon neutral’ (see www.treesftf.org for more information). It would have been great to see, for myself, the geography of where our trees are planted.
It was nice to interact with the other jurors over a few cervezas.

3 May. Intensive cupping day.
Three full rounds of cupping today, 10 coffees per round. We took another bus tour to visit the beautiful Finca Buenos Aires. Our driver happened to be my friend, José! Afterwards, we visited Cactril, a coffee cooperative.

Joel (of Stumptown) and I went out to a local bar with Arnoldo and Miguel Pon of IHCAFE. We ended up at a place called ‘The Spur’ and began drinking Flor de Caña and paying the Mariachi band to stay and play at our table. I couple of the others joined us out and we made a night of it. We had a great time, and I was even fortunate enough to play one of the Mariachi’s guitars.

4 May. Cupping all day.
Another all day cupping marathon… It’s challenging to stay fresh when you’re cupping 50 coffees per day, from the same origin. But, when we keep the program and the objective in our minds, it makes it a bit easier. Whoever we grant the Cup of Excellence to, could really have a life-changing experience. They’ll receive top dollar for their coffees and open up opportunities for future relationships with buyers. This means everything to the farmers. Cup on!

5 May. Final day of the competition.
Another buffet. I am feeling like quite the sloth from all of this eating… that, and the treadmills in the ‘modern gym’ are not working. I need some exercise!

Today we cupped the top 10 coffees, to establish an order and determine the #1 coffee in the competition. After this session, we had an open discussion with the coffee growers who are in the top 10. It was a bit overwhelming. They all want to make contacts with importers that can buy their coffee long-term. Upon hearing that I am an importer, I got flocked. I did my best to communicate our needs and what we’re looking for to the farmers and gave out a stack of business cards. It’s great to see the excitement of the farmers and sad, at the same time, to see the desperation of many of them. I hope that this truly opens up doors for them.

The award ceremony was held at the hotel, outside in a tent. So much energy in the tent, and nervousness amongst the farmers, many of whom had to travel all day to be at the ceremony. Was an emotional ceremony, to see all of the farmers winning their awards and see the disappointment on some of their faces. This disappointment was especially apparent when the top prize was awarded. The winning farmer was not a poor farmer (like many there), and is apparently the owner of a couple of Dunkin Donuts franchises in the country. But, can’t let this disenchant us too much. This competition is conducted fairly and all samples are cupped blindly. …some people just have an unfair advantage. There is always next year, though, and this competition gives the farmers something to strive for, and rewards them for greatness.

The group went out for dinner tonight and out to a karaoke bar afterwards. We had a few singers in the group. Some went out clubbing late-night, too. I opted for sleep.

6 & 7 May. Travel day.
On my way to the island of Utila. I had to catch a bus to La Ceiba and found it to be quite the challenge. When I asked one of the program coordinators about the bus to La Ceiba, they said that it left every hour and that it would be no problem. I was set to catch the afternoon ferry to Utila and had my lodging booked in advance (which wasn’t at all necessary, as I found out when I finally got there…).

When I arrived at the bus station, I asked what time the next bus to La Ceiba left. I was informed by the attendant (who found this very funny) that it didn’t leave till 3:45. It was 10 a.m. at the time… ! In my best Spanish, I asked if there were another bus company who went to La Ceiba earlier. Yes, there was a company across town that had a 2 p.m. bus. I decided to go for it and try to catch the afternoon ferry.
I missed the ferry by half and hour and then had the problem of where to stay for the night. I met a nice woman, Liz, from the UK and she and I decided to try and find a cheap hostel. We found it. $5/night. It came complete with bedbugs! Aargh.
Finally got to Utila the next day, round noon. Got in an afternoon dive.

8 May. On Utila.
Early a.m. dives. Saw some great rays, nurse sharks and nice coral. Not a lot of fish, though. Over harvested. The sea was quite rough and I was really motion sick. I decided, once I made it back to land, to cancel my dives for the next day in attempt to enjoy some time on the island and not feel dizzy for my travels back to the states.
Had a great, cheap dinner on the island and read for hours.

9 May. Utila.
Set out today to find out about flying off of the island to try and avoid the troubles on my way out to the island. I had to walk across the island to this woman, Helen’s, house. She’s the island travel-agent. I could fly off the island into SPS for $100. I was sold. Had to walk back to my room, get money, and then back to her to pay cash for the ticket.

Spent the afternoon sea kayaking around the island, walking, and getting attacked by biting flies. Read some more and had beers with a new friend, Brad, that I met on the island. Read some more, took a nap… Ahhh, vacation! I am so glad that I spent $4/day for air conditioning in my room. My lodging was $12/day with air.
Early to bed. 6am flight off the island.

10 May. Back to reality.
The airport on Utila is a tin-roofed shelter on top of a hill. Six of us waited there for an hour-and-a-half for our plane to show up. It was an hour late. We finally got on our way, though, and stopped in La Ceiba and then off to SPS. I was glad to be heading home!

A few roasters and I went to Colombia last month to visit farms and meet with growers in the region of Huila. We flew in to Bogotá, where we met a couple of guys from the Colombian Coffee Federation (FNC) who are the exporters for most of the boutique Colombian coffees we import. We spent the next five days getting up early and going to bed late. We flew and drove and cupped coffee...and drove and flew and ate a lot... and drank Aguardiente and cupped coffee and drove and flew some more. It was truly fantastic!

Over the last few years, Café Imports has brought in many coffees from the region of Huila such as Campo Alegre, Glorius, Huila Select and the Super Decaf (EA), so we thought it fitting to tour this region. We have found the coffees from this part of the country to be high in acidity, intensely fruity, and sweet.

Our first stop was the Colombian Coffee Federation office in Bogotá, where we were given an overview of the history of Colombian coffee and the intricacies of the FNC. It is an old and democratic organization of coffee farmers that provides technical assistance and purchasing stations, builds infrastructure, schools and health clinics. That afternoon we boarded a small plane and headed South to the interior of Huila, where it was 100 degrees and where we spent the next few days visiting producer groups and farms.

The most striking thing about this part of Colombia is the natural beauty of the countryside. It is primarily rich, green jungle with small farms etched across the mountainsides. There are two mountain ranges that meet in the region of Huila, with the country’s largest river flowing in the valley between them.

Colombia is one of two coffee producing countries in the world that harvests two crops in the same year. The north harvests in the fall and the south in the spring. Huila is located in such a remarkable micro-climate that they get harvests from both ranges and harvests.

The Huila departmental coffee committee, that we met with for a round table discussion, believes that they have a “gift of nature in the outstanding quality of their coffee.” They say that “coffee is life”. Farmers in Huila, through the efforts of the associations and the FNC are very aware of the effects on the environment from processing coffees. The technical farms use a type of Aqua-pulper to remove the meat from the cherry. The old style requires 40 liters of water per kilo and the new improved technical type, an earth saving 1.5 liters! Many farmers are actively converting to Rainforest Alliance (RA) and welcome the structure it gives to what they have always believed in: protecting their resources. They state their challenge as “to be sustainable and to increase quality”.

In quality competitions over the last few years, Huila has fared exceptionally well. In the Cup of Excellence they had 16 of the last 25 coffees. In the Illy competitions they were in the top 5 over the last two years; in 2002 they took 1st through 5th place.

In the town of Pitalito we met with the association and discussed our coffee philosophies and theirs. We asked and answered questions and then concluded the meeting with a round of applause and a few cases of beer. We then climbed in to the back of some trucks and jeeps and headed up the mountain to a farm at nearly 6,000 feet where they had prepared a feast for us. The Mayor arrived and everyone feasted.

We took a tour of the facility, a recent RA certified farm and were shown the improvements in processing and conservation, including domiciles for the employees and a water and septic system. Afterward the Mayor and his brother stood on the patio and entertained us with traditional music and a band of youth danced for us in traditional Huilanese fashion.

Afterwards, they let us ride their motorcycles down the mountain, of which I cannot share photos or my insurance agent and wife will be clamoring to choke me. Wow, what a day!

These people were fantastic. They were friendly, happy, proud and kind. They have a beautiful and rich country and are blessed, I believe.

—Andrew Miller (Andrew@cafeimports.com)

Welcome to the new Cafe Imports website. We've been working very hard to make this a valuable tool for our roaster clients. The photo bit will not be up-and-running for about another week, so please check back on that. Do notice, though, the offering sheet. This will be updated daily. Here, you can take a peek at our cupping notes, too. You can also subscribe to an RSS feed of our daily blog.
We welcome your feedback on the site. Please email emily@cafeimports.com with praise or concerns. Thanks.

I'd like to thank Kristin, Jamie and the rest of the MARRG gang for their hospitality last weekend. They had their second meeting out on the east shore of Virginia and asked that I come and give a talk about the coffee market, changing prices, contracting coffees, and the like. We had a great talk (which I hope was helpful) about things green, and had some nice lunch and conversation afterwards. It's nice to see these regional roaster groups taking off.
For pics of this event, please see http://coffeeslinger.smugmug.com/gallery/2069487
These are courtesy of Russell of The Easy Chair.