If you haven't already noticed...we have given our website a bit of a face lift.  We hope this helps with its ease and usability.  A few things to point out:

*You can search our offerings directly from the homepage.  Just type in the coffee you are looking for in the header and BAM!

*Beanologies are now front and center.  Many of our customers find the information that we put into a "Beanology" very helpful in marketing their beans.  You are welcome to use any and all of the info that we provide to your benefit.

*Stay tuned for a "Roasters Corner" where we will be uploading info on blending, roasting, cupping, brewing, storage, harvests, and even and FAQ.

We hope you like our new look and please feel free to give us any feedback!  Cheers!

A Note from the Shipping Guru

I’ve managed to find flat pallet rates to the West Coast (from Café Imports’ warehouse in Saint Paul) as well as pallet rates from Continental Terminals in NJ to several East Coast states. Also, as many freight companies are vying for my attention our business, several have dropped their rates and given incentives in order to get us to ship with them.

Pallet rating is especially helpful for our customers ordering 5 or more bags of coffee*. Where most shipping companies would charge, for example, $230 for 800 pounds of coffee to Seattle, a pallet rate would be the same, and sometimes lower, for up to 1600 pounds (sorry, we can only put so many bags on one pallet).

Some of our carriers have lowered fees, or waived the charges altogether, for accessories such as hydraulic lift gates, residential deliveries, and notifications (call-before-delivery); these can be substantial charges, so this is a great incentive. Below are some of our pallet rates; a standard Fuel Service Charge (FSC) still applies. 

Cafe Imports Goes Biodegradable With Sample Bags

We have some exciting news about our new sample bags arriving in May.  As most of you know, as a green bean importer, we go through a ton of sample bags per year.  We believe it is important that our customers have the ability to sample coffees before making important purchases, but we weren't liking the fact that our large amount of poly sample bags are having a big negative impact on the environment. 

Our new bags are made out of a material called "BioPlus".  BioPlus is a blend of resins with a biodegradable agent which allows the degradation of the film when in contact with soil, water, or compost.  While the degradation varies depending on temperature, oxygen, exposure, moisture, and climate; these bags typically are completely composted between 1-3 years. 

This is a big step in plastic technology, and we are very proud to be on board with this movement.  While we already are a carbon nuetral company, we believe that this move allows us to do our part on eliminating things that plan on sticking around our landfills for thousands of years. 

Keep your eyes peeled for the bags in May!

As we drove through the coffee country and it started to rain we could smell the potato in the soil.  A number of practices may contribute to potato. One of which is tilling the coffee fields and intercropping food crops like beans and other items.  It seems tree health is one of the first steps in stopping the bacterium or mould from reaching the coffee cherry.

This was Belgian territory at one time.  Between Rwanda and Burundi there are many similarities.  Language and ethnic groups (Hutu and Tutsi) which were arbitrary designations by the Belgians of wide nosed and bantu type people and tall thin nosed people (more European).  They have been taking revenge on each other for a long time in a cycle of retribution for  the positions bestowed upon the Tutsi as societal administrators and the Hutu as underlyings and then revenge for killings.  The last rebel group was brought into parliament and there is a relative peace there now.  It feels pretty safe out there but there was a clear mandate to not be on the roads at dark by our hosts.  I saw a couple of hard looking young men in the city that scared the pants off me.  These are the child warriors grown up and working the streets of Bujumbura.  The emptiness in their eyes is startling, deep and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. This legacy of violence and terror as a means of controlling both the perpetrators with their guilt and the victims with fear is the real challenge to Burundi moving forward.

Buziraguhindwa. Mill altitude: 1941 asm

Alt:1900-2000m

Varietals: Jackson, Mbirizi, Bourbon

Harvest will be early this year.Cassien has over 20 years in coffee.He worked for Sogestal Kayanza for 15 years including during the height of the conflict.  He worked for Sogestal Kirimiro until taking this position and has a year with Coopac in Lake Kivu region of Rwanda. The area around Buziraguhindwa is both coffee and tea which is typically the best area for coffee to grow.   The mill was on deck before the Sogestal WS develop system was halted and Cassien selected this area for the new mill.  The inconsistent amount of cherries from tree to tree was shocking.  In one field they would be laden and the next there would be no cherries.This amplitude in production volume cycle is brutal for the farmers.The cycle is from 10% with 2009  being the most drastic drop in recent history to 100% expected this year.  Renewal of old tree stock and proper care of the fields will help this and one could expect the healthier trees to produce cherries less prone to potato. The mill is state of the art and has all the things that we wish every mill in Burundi had.  Cassien is a major asset who has lots of experience and only one project to focus on.  He has clearly learned many things in managing other Sogestal washing stations. Pre sorting will happen after flotation in small tanks by individual farmers.  They take the floaters and rejected cherry home. To the right of the flotation tanks is the water for the processing.  The small tank near Cassien to the right is the recycled pulp water for pulping.   The left is fresh water which is taken from a local river and run through rock filters the same as the filtration system for waste water and the water in which secondary fermentation is done.   This is the only station in Burundi that I visited that has a legitimate wastewater system. Water quality for pulping water will be closely monitored. The cherries will be sorted for ripeness after selection at sorting tables and then they will be weighed and dumped into this receiving bin.The growers will then turn around and get paid the base price on site.  Burundi has a base price for cherry and then premiums are paid to grower, wet mill and dry mill with appr 50% going to grower and the other part split between the processors.   We pay a big premium and it is traced back to farmers per government regulations.  Currently separate farmers are not paid differently but the organization of grower groups in associations and cooperatives is underway and will allow more specific coffees to be rewarded if successful. The coffee then goes to a secondary flotation tank under construction in photo at right.  The coffee is submerged in water.  The under ripes and over ripes float and are siphoned off through a pipe in the top of the tank.  Those go to the tertiary side of the second pulper (coming up later) This tank is smaller and will require less water than many which will allow it to be fully utilized.   Water shortages are real during the dry season when coffee is harvested.   The coffee is then pulped in a 3 disk Mckinnon pulper.  The distance between the disk and the side is adjusted to control how much of the cherry is pulped.  This is an art and someone will be assigned to manage pulping. Each side of the disk is pulping the coffee from a different channel and the new type has a slightly triangulated tooth pulping surface which is purported as an improvement over the rounded tooth disk model.  The pulper is also a sorting machine.  Each stage separates pulped coffee from coffee that did not pulp (coffee that is not perfectly ripe) and the pulp. The screen at right lets the coffee pulped in the primary pulper drop through and go into the channels to the A1 fermentation tanks. Each stage is set up to give options for coffee to fail.  Each of these potential failure points can generally be adjusted so that the amount of coffee making it through is either max or minimum.  This includes picking, floating, pre-delivery sorting and the de pulping process.  This continues all the way to green coffee.  For the best coffees we add lot segregation and cupping into this and only a small percentage of coffees will reach the final stage.  It is like an elimination tournament in basketball.  All coffee ultimately finds a home with the least valuable staying in the local markets in most producing countries and the coffees above 78 or so going to international market for various applications. Burundi coffee is still a relative value. The secondary and tertiary pulpers are combined at lower right.  Each side of the disk is a grade.  The coffee that was siphoned off the top of the 2^nd flotation tank goes to the right (A3 or thirds) the coffee that did not get pulped in the primary pulper (A2 or seconds) goes to the left.  Each type is then channeled separately into fermentation tanks.There are 12 tanks and the A1 from each day is always kept in a separate tank.  If there is a shortage of space the A2 and A3 may be combined in a tank.  Fermentation is dry for the primary fermentation. This is 18-36 hrs. depending upon weather. Processing manager is responsible for determining if the coffee is done fermenting. Typically they can tell by feel how the coffee is behaving.   Coffee leaves the primary fermentation tanks through the pipes at left and goes to the washing channels.  The coffee is aggressively agitated and the heavier coffee stays further up the channel and the lighter coffee floats off or moves to the end of the channel first.  This is another part of selection and the best coffee (the densest) is put into a separate secondary fermentation tank. The coffee spends 24 hours in fresh water prior to going to shaded pre-drying tables and then to the screens. 

The drying beds are being built and the sense of anticipation at this mill is high.  The building of the mill is putting money in the pockets of the local farmers who are building it and the proximity of the mill to the growers will reduce the walking with heavy bags of cherry on their heads by many kilometers. Most things are carried on the head in Burundi.  Bikes are also in use.There is a school up the hill from the mill and 85% of children attend primary school to 6^th grade.  Only 10% go to secondary school but considering the war just ended here that is fairly impressive.  Our tax dollars via USAID have funded schools and more importantly springs every mile or so that are enabling the kids to go to school because they are not sick from bad drinking water.  Without fresh water the attendance rate at school can be as low as 10%.  With clean water it can top 90%. 

The sense of hope in Burundi is palpable.  The end of the conflict has ended a period of war and bloodshed and recriminations that was keeping this country in the stone age.  Aid is pouring into Burundi and the better part of it is going to projects that will enable them to feed themselves.  The average farmer has 200-600 trees and can produce appr 1 kilo cherry per tree in a good year.  That means that they produce only 1-3 bags of green coffee. This is a supplement to the food they grow and the goats they raise.  Farmers grow beans, corn, tomatoes and a variety of bananas including plantains, eating bananas and some for making banana beer.  Seemed like the beer bananas dominated the yards of most farmers.  They make bricks and tiles for roofs and have better houses than many in Africa.  Like Rwanda there is a lack of rampant trash and water bottles are cherished.  It feels weird to toss a water bottle out to a bunch of kids, but it is how they carry water to drink and enables them to take fresh water with them.  There are a lot of adults missing from this country and coffee is 80% of exports for Burundi.  650K farming families with an average household size of 6 relay on coffee for a part of their livelihood and cash to purchase simple necessities.  2.1 million out of a population of 8.5 million are growers of coffee.  Another large chunk of the population is employed in the milling, processing and movement of coffee.   

Ethiopia 2010

Ethiopian govt was approaching a problem with illegal activity amongst exporters. 50k tons of coffee which was supposed to be exported was either blended with lower grade coffees and sold into the local market at better prices or substituted with lower grade coffee and exported. Profits on selling into the local market were above 30% at times. Additionally the act of buying from your own company when they are not legally separate was everywhere. It was something which was technically not supposed to happen but the transactions were being allowed. Prices for direct coffees were very high. The govt was revising its auction system and the CLU (coffee liquoring unit) to address transparency to producers and improve the integrity of the quality grading at CLU.

The great bulk of coffees out of Ethiopia were simplified but also homogenized by this process. When the Prime Minister heard of the illegal local selling of export grade coffee he arrested and shut down many exporters.

The result is that unless you are a union or cooperative or association of growers with a license to sell to foreign buyers or a large farm with the resources to sell via the second window, you cannot export your coffee as a specific brand or specific to a location beyond the ones the ECX has. The coffee is delivered to an ECX warehouse and catalogued and then auctioned as one of many regional types on the ECX. It is still illegal for an exporter to buy their coffee if they are also involved in milling.

The DST is the Direct Specialty Trade capability of the ECX. It is an auction system developed to allow buyers to cup the coffees they want to bid on and to buy directly from a producer who will then elect a Service Provider (formerly known as exporter) to export the coffee. The auction was a success for the project in terms of the prices received but the great majority of coffees did not move.

Many Coffees were submitted and paid just above the going rates from the Unions. The opportunity to have growers organize into groups and be able to assign a good miller to represent their coffees is still in progress. Very few have been successful.

I visited Idido and Beloya with Johannes from Bagersh. It should be a 6 hour drive to yirga but it ended up much longer. Obstacles are many.

The road is basically swarming with dogs, goats, people horse and mule drawn carts. And vehicles of every imaginable type. There is a built in survival mechanism in almost every animal that lives near this road. This Hyena likely was bolting across the road at night. They are not well liked by the locals as evident by the stones and fruit that the kids pelted its corpse with.

Johannes is the manager of Idido and Beloya. The stations (both washed and natural special prep) are managed by a manager also. Currently the stations are idle and the amount of top natural coffee coming out is nil. Small bits have made it to the auction and also to a couple of US buyers. Some of this special natural was auctioned off by Bagersh and raised $2.95/lb FOB Djibouti. This coffee was intense but potentially edgy with a lot of edgy fruit. Some buyers apparently liked it very much. Ultimately I think this was a fair price for this coffee.

The Idido mill is located Southeast of the town of Yirgacheffe. The coffee comes from 1850-1980 masl (meters above sea level). Half of the mill is devoted to sun dried coffee (all of which is ripe and carefully selected) which can produce a total of 4-5 containers/year. Currently the mill is only producing washed coffee as the ECX has made this the only option. Specific coffees are still unattainable via the ECX unless it is from a producer group that has elected to organize and gain access to the export market via the second window. If Idido were to produce top natural coffee it would be homogenized into a yirgacheffe natural and blended. The specific origin of the coffee would be erased.

The near side of this picture is where the drying beds would go for the washed coffee. One crosses a small bridge over a stream to get to the area for the drying beds for the natural coffee. This is one of the great coffees of Ethiopia and the pinnacle of cherry red production. Abdullah Bagersh is really the pioneer of this coffee and his techniques in dry milling are secret and increase the capability of removing the quakers from this coffee.

The coffee at left is just regular sun-dried coffee. It is better than much of the sun-dried coffee in Ethiopia but still a grade below what we would need. The coffee is dried in the cherry to appr 12% moisture and then it is milled to remove the hull. This milling process results in a very mixed quality of coffee which needs to be separated by gravity tables, catadors (vertical air sorters) and by hand in the dry mill.

The dehuller operates with a stone or a metal rotary press against a pressure plate which can be adjusted. All of these processes can be adjusted to allow some sorting along the way. What comes out of this particular de-huller is likely a traditional grade 4 Natural Yirga which needs to be further sorted for export.

As with most processes in Ethiopia the coffee is moved by hand. Labor is available and the processing of coffee is a major supplement to the income of farmers in any given area. Women will sort coffee on the drying tables and men will do the moving of coffee in the mills as it is processed.

We had a bit of coffee in the coffee hut at the mill. Buna Arbol is the first boiling of the coffee. Buna Baraka is the second. This is a tradition in Ethiopia. The local consumption is high and it is competition for the coffee that we buy as the local price is competitive with export levels.

We hope is that the grouping of producers who make great coffee and enabling them to lease milling capabilities will allow them to sell their coffee direct. We are a bit dubious as to the potential of organizing these groups for 2010 harvest.

3 options exist for buying coffee in Ethiopia.

Unions such as Oromia, Sidama, Yirgacheffe (recently FT re-certified) or private estates with grower groups surrounding them such as Mordecofe which can access the second window.

ECX coffees which are regional in designation, but not geographically specific.

These coffees have lower value as a result of their lack of specificity so we have to be careful where we buy.

Or

DST coffees from the auction which are specific small lots from producers. These seem to be mostly coffees from Coops at this point and this was not the opening up of direct trade with producer groups we hoped for. It did create the framework for this process but we will have to wait and see how it progresses for the 2010 harvest beginning this autumn.

The Next DST Auction is on April 29, 2010 and samples should be available around the time of this writing.

The winner of the first EVER Coffee Conservation Award was announced prior to the SCAA Anaheim conference last weekend.  We want to say congratulations to Finca El Porvenir of El Salvador on demonstrating such ecologically and socially responsible farming techniques while contributing to and conserving their on-farm forest and animal habitat.

Finca El Porvenir is a group of farms 1000-1600 meters in elevation on the slopes of Cerro El Tigre, part of the isolated Sierra Tecapa Chinameca range in Eastern El Salvador.   

Cafe Imports is proud to be the sponsor of this incredible award.  We believe that efforts like this program incentivize farmers to take steps to preserve their farm's wildlife, and ultimately contribute to the quality of coffee coming from the farms.  Happy trees, happy birds, happy animals, and happy soil translates to a positive environment for people to work in, which means happier employees.  Flat out, we believe that farm conversation quality helps to improve quality of life for all people involved. 

Finca El Porvenir now recieves a $1000 cash prize, a pair of high-end binoculars, and also a feature story in Roast Magazine.  For more information, please visit:

http://www.roastmagazine.com/coffeeconservationaward/Coffee_Conservation_Award/Welcome.html

A few weeks ago, a group of us from Café Imports were graciously hosted by Bill Waddington and Michael Lannier of TeaSource, a specialty tea importer here in the Twin Cities. Bill is a world recognized authority on specialty tea and has been involved in the tea business for over 20 years.

We discussed the differences and similarities between tea and coffee importation and discovered that our two fields have much in common. Tea purveyors face many of the same challenges when educating consumers about social certifications, the health effects of caffeine, and proper preparation.

Like fine coffee, the world’s best specialty teas are a relatively inexpensive culinary experience, when compared to wine or other noble beverages. Even the most exquisite tea that costs $100.00 per pound only costs 50 cents per cup brewed, but many consumers still think of specialty tea (read: tea that actually tastes good) as a beverage for connoisseurs and thus out of reach for average consumers. Like coffee, the tea has been grown into a global commodity and mass-marketed in a way which has created falsely low consumer expectations for both quality and price. Much of the tea Bill imports, however, is still grown in family-owned gardens and is expertly cultivated and processed using traditional and regional techniques. And the proof is in the taste!

As Bill and Michael prepared examples of for us to taste, they educated us about proper brewing, growing, harvesting, processing, and firing techniques. We tasted examples from all six categories of tea: black, green, oolong, white, puerh, and a newly-recognized category called dark tea. Everything was delicious and subtlety complex. The most surprising aspect of these teas to me was the huge range of mouthfeel they presented. Some were incredibly creamy and thick while others were silky and delicate with just a hint of dryness. In our cupping room, we have often used the words “tannin” or “tea-like” interchangeably to describe a particular dryness some coffees possess, so I was surprised when Bill mentioned that contrary to widespread belief, tea does not contain any tannic acid.

The cupping method for tea is similar to coffee, with special rituals and guidelines which are used for evaluation. Bill and his staff evaluate 2,000-3,000 samples at TeaSource each year. Samples are evaluated by brewing in a special cup and then slurping the brew with ceramic spoons. They judge not only depth of flavor and aroma, but also a tea’s brewed and un-brewed appearance. Bill explains that a lot can be determined about the quality of a particular tea by simply examining the appearance and preparation of the leaf.

We had a great time, and are excited to return the favor when some of the TeaSource staff will join us for a comparative cupping of specialty coffees.

To continue your own tea education, visit TeaSouce.com, or better yet, buy Bill’s tea sampler, and taste for yourself.

More photos of our outing can be seen by clicking here.

My week in Chiapas with Grounds for Health absolutely flew by, as do most trips far from home that you are genuinely enthralled in. After taking a quick break from reality to catch up with friends in Mexico City, I caught an eeaaaarly morning flight to Tuxtla Guiterrez, Chiapas, took a taxi.. to catch a bus.. to the sweet old colonial town of San Cristobal de las Casas where I grabbed another cab to meet a pen-pal-co- GFH volunteer at a small hostel. We eagerly made one another’s acquaintance and quickly set off on foot to explore the charming zocalo (town square) and poke around the local Mayan Medicine Museum. I welcomed the wonderful warmth and light of the sun, a natural wonder I had been deprived of since last September. An hour in the direct sunlight at breakfast, however, was enough to leave me with an instantaneously painful burn that lasted the rest of the week. Yikes! – Fortunately, that was the greatest inconvenience of the trip. The same afternoon, my new friend Alanna and I took a taxi, to a bus, to a cab, to the airport, to pick up and unite with August, the GFH executive director. Three and a half hours on a bumpy, dirt mountain road later we had finally arrived to Jaltenango de la Paz, Chiapas where the CESMACH Coop is located and where I will be spending June and July this summer providing continued support to the work described below! 

Oh but the day wasn’t over! Due to high winds, two other members of the GFH team had been delayed for two days, stuck midway between their Vermont origin and Mexican destination.…with all of the training campaign supplies. We settled into our hotel and began to innovatively develop an alternative training plan for the next two days of ‘capacitaciones’, or trainings, of the peer health educators (PHEs).  Diving into day one of the trainings, we were so pleased to see the room filled with 25 women from the surrounding CESMACH communities who had come to learn about advocating for their own and their peers’ health.

Before going any further, I must stress the imperative role that the CESMACH Coop plays in making this a successful relationship. They are the ones who take time away from their already full work schedules to recruit women  and medical providers from their participating communities to come to the trainings, arrange transportation and lodging for them in addition to meals for everyone each day of the training. Throughout the week, I was impressed time and time again as I saw CESMACH’s dedication to holistically bettering the quality of life of their members. They join efforts not only with Grounds for Health but also Heifer International to provide livestock to community members in addition to other various programs aimed at meeting their basic nutritional needs. They are also dedicated to environmental sustainability. In case you missed my last post, our FTO Mexico El Triunfo Biosphere comes from the CESMACH Coop. The biosphere is home to many of Mexico’s wildlife species and the largest watershed in Mexico is located there as well. A portion of the premium paid for this coffee goes towards the preservation of the biosphere.  

The two peer health educator workshop days were packed full. We discussed the basics of reproductive health, the risks of cervical cancer and its development process as a result of persistent HPV in addition to cervical cancer screening and corresponding treatment methods. Once the participants grasped an understanding of these key points, we moved on to teach effective communication skills and how to go about organizing and facilitating a ‘charla’, or a chat with a friend or group of peers regarding these topics so as to encourage their peers to go to the clinic for a free screening.  

Quick Facts:

∙ 80% of the general population will contract HPV at some point in their life

∙ 90% of those infected will self-cure within two years

∙ 10% will have persistent HPV which will lead to cervical cancer in a small percentage of women if gone untreated

∙ Pre-cervical cancer develops from 5-10 years of initial HPV infection

∙ Cervical cancer develops from 10-20 years of initial HPV infection and is often fatal if not treated early 

The Good News:

Due to its slowly developing nature, cervical cancer can be prevented with the early detection of precancerous cells! The trick is getting women to the clinic for a screening. 

The second half of the week was spent in a clinical training with local health providers. 13 clinicians representing nine different health posts attended. We presented in detail on the same topics discussed in PHE training in addition to how to perform the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) screening procedure and the Cryotherapy treatment procedure. With the help of a little white vinegar, the VIA procedure reveals immediate results by turning pre-cancerous lesions on the cervix white, these changes are visible with the plain eye and a good flashlight. In the event that a woman has these lesions, she can be treated with Cryotherapy during the same visit. Cryo is a quick process that freezes and kills the precancerous cells. This method of screening and treating is referred to as the Single Visit Approach and eliminates the need two month process of traditional pap-smear. After a pap is taken, the slides are sent to a far off place to be read and the results are mailed back to the clinic. After such a long wait, many women grow tired of anxiously awaiting their results (that may or may not ever arrive) and are much less likely to take necessary follow-up measures as a result.   

Quick Facts:

∙ VIA is performed in less than 5 minutes and is as effective as a pap-smear

∙ Cryotherapy can be administered the same day as the screening and is successful in killing precancerous cells

∙ Calculated cost of the single visit approach per woman? 25 cents  

My spring break was only a week long, unfortunately, and I wasn’t able to participate in the actual clinical campaign during the following week where the providers would put their newly acquired knowledge and skills to practice. They saw 376 women throughout the week and treated 33 of those women with Cryotherapy. Nine of the providers completed the entire training and clinical practice requirements achieving VIA competency and six of those went on to complete the Cryo competency, allowing them to continue the single visit approach once the GFH campaign was over. Before leaving, GFH made sure to leave full tanks of CO2 and N2O, necessary components of the Cryo process, enabling providers to continue it as necessary.  

My time with CESMACH and the GFH team was a tremendous experience! Not only did I gain a great deal of knowledge by participating in each of the trainings but I was also humbled and honored by the privilege of meeting and working so closely with some of the women who produce coffee that we buy at Café Imports and with the rock-star team at CESMACH who is so indisputably dedicated to their coop members. Stay tuned in June and July for updates and highlights on my time in Chiapas. 

 Interested in making a difference with GFH?

∙ Check them out at www.groundsforhealth.org

∙ Participate in their annual green coffee auction fundraiser June 2^nd-4^{th :} http://auction.groundsforhealth.org/