In the Grinder - Our Daily Coffee Weblog

Cafe Imports' Bolivia Trip, July 2010

Boliva for those who have been there is an amazing and diverse country.  It is actually more like 5 countries smashed into one, and once you feel you begin to grasp the complex local cultural customs and politics you move into a new area and then have to start learning them all over again.   It is at once, the richest country in the America's in natural resources and yet one of the poorest.  It has produced some truly exceptional coffees yet it has been incredibly difficult to get them to market in any volume or consistency.  This was my second trip to the coffee areas to try to get the best coffees for export and reward the producers for quality.   The 8 hour trip to the coffee country in Yungas along the "Death Road" is not for nervous people, as our driver told us.  Nervous people get people hurt out here.  There is truth in this as you drive the one and a half lane dirt highway skirting cliffs dropping of to the river 100 ft below with trucks flying around blind corners honking to tell you to get out of the way.  It is the only road in and the only way to get coffee out.

When we arrived in the frontier town of Caranavi, we found the police station had been recently burned down after some protests and that the government had cut off the gas supply to the town in return.  Caranavi was not under any law at the time and we had to buy gas at double the price off the black market to make sure we had enough to make all our visits. Just a taste of the difficulties coffee people face all the time.

We then headed off deeper into the coffee country and into the area where there are smaller towns called colonies.  This is where the government is building roads deeper into the jungle and mountains and inviting poor people from other areas to come and clear and settle the land.  These colonies are actually opening up new areas for coffee but also for coca, which is legally grown and farmers can earn 4 times more for coca than coffee.  Coca is also much easier to transport and harvest than coffee and is the main reason to the decline in coffee production where the two over lap. Luckily the best coffee areas are above where cocoa can grow and are dedicated mostly to coffee. These are the areas we headed into.

Our first stop was at the farm and micro mill of VICOPEX - Copacabana Estate.  1400-1600 meters. We carried their very nice coffee last year and have been developing a long term relationship with this organic farm.  Since it is a private micro mill they can not certify under the fair trade regulations.  This was my second trip there and they are making improvements to increase their quality, which we saw in the very nice cuppings of this harvest.

We went to the P-4 section of the farm, the highest part of the farm, where they have to send the coffee by a cable wire stretched over a valley to get the coffee out.  We even found a few fruits of a strange beach ball hybrid coffee. A cross between yellow catuai and a possibly a red caturra or typica.  They promised to plant them and see what coffee might taste like in 3 years.

The harvest was very low across Bolivia and exporters are scrambling to get good coffees.  So the local market prices are high and unfortunately the quality of coffee goes down since people are happy with the local price and do not pick as good. Next year is looking better.

We headed deeper into the jungle to visit the well known and COE winning CENAPROC mill.  This mill has had a great reputation over the years but has slipped lately.  We went to find out why and how we could help bring up the quality.  We were welcomed in grand style with music from pan flute and drums played by the farmers.  CENAPROC is actually off the grid and runs everything with a giant diesel generator and propane gas.  It is very expensive to get trucked into there area. After a meeting to speak with all the producers and explain to them about how Café Imports rewards quality and CENAPROCS potential we took a tour of the mill.  There are issues at all mills and we exchanged ideas and observations but saw nothing that was not easy to fix and would help increase quality.  Bolivia has no coffee extension service and most coffee groups are working in isolation doing their best under difficult circumstances to improve quality.  The long trip was worth it just to give advice and share technical knowledge on the spot with the people doing the day to day work.  Reminding them that quality depends on their actions and even though we may not see them hard at work all the time, we can taste it in the cup and we are happy to reward that with better prices.    

As we were meeting with top producers, many who had placed in the COE auctions, we heard the 2010 Bolivian COE had been cancelled.  We quickly let them know that we set up a micro lot program to pay producers great prices based on cup for those lots they had been saving for COE.  This is no substitute for the benefits of the COE but gives a stable alternative on short notice in the hopes of keeping farmers enthusiasm high on special lots.

We cupped many fantastic coffees and we selected out some great lots with more to come as the harvest advances.  Bolivia is not going to increase its volume of specialty coffee like Peru did, but there are those trying to select out the best of what is already there and keep it from getting mixed away.  The quality is there for sure so it is still just finding best way to get more of it out and with more traceability for the farmers.

Saludos!

-Tim O

Cafe Imports is Proud to Announce that 2010 Has Been By-Far the Biggest Year Ever for Microlots!

What is a microlot?  We define a microlot as a specific harvest of coffee, usually 10-75 bags that contains exceptionally cared for beans with an elevated level of traceability back to the farm where it came from.  We believe that microlots are some of the world'd best coffee because of the care and attention given to them.  

This year we have brought in nearly 5x as many Microlot containers than last year.  At the end of the year, we anticipate having successfully imported over 25 containers of microlots. 

What is a container you ask?  Well, our lingo, what we call a "container" or a "box" is a ship loaded freight container that holds around 270 bags of coffee.   If we estimate that each bag is about 150 pounds, then each container would hold about 40,000 pounds of coffee.  Wowza!  How many pounds in 25 containers? 

1,000,000 pounds of microlot coffee! 

We are very proud of this year's achievement in helping create a market for well grown, beautifully processed, and delicately handled, small lots of the world's best coffee beans.  And thank you guys for buying these beans and continuing to raise the bar in the industry.  

So what is on hand now?  

Right now we have:

Brazilian Microlots

Costa Rican Microlots

El Salvadorian Microlots

Guatemalan Microlots

Kenyan Microlots

Nicaraguan Microlots

What is coming yet this year??

Colombian Microlots are on their way!

Sulawesi Microlots are soon to ship!

Feel free to ask your sales rep all about current or upcoming microlots, or email sales@cafeimports.com

Cafe Imports wants to congratulate Helsar de Zarcero on being first micromill with a CCA Certification!

From CCA:

We are proud to announce the 1st. micro mill to be certified CCA (Climate Change Action) by Control Union Certifications:

Helsar de Zarcero Micro mill, Llano Bonito de Naranjo, West Valley Region, COSTA RICA.

Definitely, Helsar de Zarcero is an example to the world of coffee, about how a small company is taking responsibility and actions to measure and compensate its carbon footprint, in a region highly vulnerable to climate change such as Central America.

Therefore, the fact of having a Direct Trade Relationship with Helsar creates a system of climatic solidarity, between you and Helsar de Zarcero Micro mill contributing both towards carbon compensation and environmental investment.

Cafe Imports is proud to say that we have imported over 20 different microlots from Helsar this year, and the outlook for next year is looking even more optimistic.  You guys loved these lots, and they moved out of our warehouse very quickly.  We do however still have one lot of Helsars left, ID P2618.

Congrats Helsar!   

This weekend Noah and Jamin took off to Skamania Washington for the 2010 Roasters Guild Retreat. We really enjoyed visiting some of our friends and their shops in Portland before the event and checking out the city Minneapolis ousted at the #1 bike friendly city in the US. I could go off on a tangent about this, but honestly, Portland shut down a main road in the city and made it a bike lane permanently, so I highly doubt any city can top that, including my beloved Minneapolis.

The retreat itself was an amazing experience. The backdrop of the Skamania Lodge looks like it was just cut out of a postcard. As Jamin so eloquently put it, "Oh this is what Pandora is like". What a great spot in the Colombia River Gorge.

The variety of classes and workshops at the retreat were extremely insightful. We were able to brush up on Q skills, Roasting, Grinding, and other coffee related topics. I personally found the breakout session round table discussion extremely eye opening. We were broken down into tables and asked to challenge a number of topics like the future of Fair Trade, the supply of specialty coffee, and how relationship coffee can survive plus $2.00 prices to name a few. There were other greenies like us, roasters, shop owners, and others that made up an extremely wide cross section of our industry. I loved hearing perspectives from everyone.

The other really fun challenge was being broken up into 12 teams of 8 and asked to roast and blend an award winning mix of Guatemalan Coffee graciously donated by ANACAFE. Our team made a blend of creamy Coban (25%), intense Acatenango (50%), and sweet San Marcos (25%). We were pretty proud of our blend, but came up just short of the glory. We got 2nd place. Next year we are going to take it all.

What a great weekend and great experience.

We cannot wait for next year! For more information on future Roasters Guild events, visit www.roastersguild.org.

On Sunday, Mt. Sinaburg erupted for the first time in over 400 years on the island of Sumatra.  Reports show smoke and ash shooting more than 5000 feet into the air above the giant volcano.   

 (Photo from www.theepochtimes.com)

We just wanted to extend our thoughts and prayers with the island.  Mt. Sinaburg is on the Northern end of the island, about 60 KM away from the Capital of Medan.  First reports show no damage to the coffee growing regions of Sumatra, but smaller fruit and vegetable farmers near the volcano were seriously affected.  

Right now only two people have died, but many more have been displaced.  We are thinking about all of our friends in Sumatra right now and hope for a quick recovery. 

Sincerely,

The Cafe Imports Team