I’ve been traveling for the past two weeks assisting Marty Curtis with administering the Q Grader Exam. The Q Grader exam is the only comprehensive professional accreditation for specialty coffee graders and cuppers. We gave two tests, one in Arkansas at Combustion Systems and one in Boston at Coffee Solutions. The test itself lasts 5 days and includes over 20 different sensory and proficiency tests related to cupping and assessing green coffee quality. I’ve posted some pictures over in our photo blog. If you want to learn more about this program, please visit the Coffee Quality Institute’s website.

Last week I traveled to Pereira, Colombia to participate as a sensory judge for the Cup of Excellence program. Pereira rests in a small valley that descends from the western Andes mountains, placing it in the heart of the major coffee growing regions. For those who are unfamiliar, the Cup of Excellence is a rigorous evaluation process that seeks to separate and reward exemplary lots of coffee and return fair premiums directly to the individual farmers responsible for producing them. Of the hundreds of lots submitted to the competition each year, only the finest are selected for evaluation by an international jury of skilled cuppers.

After a week of intensive cupping, the jury and the producers gathered together for the announcement of the final selections at the awards ceremony. For many farmers, this may be the only time that they will be recognized and appreciated publicly for their hard work and commitment to quality. As you can imagine, it is an emotional event for everyone. Winning top honors is a life-changing event for many farmers and their families. This year’s awards ceremony was held in conjunction with Salon Internacional del Cafe. During the ceremony, each finalist was brought on stage and introduced individually. For me, this is one of the best things that the Cup of Excellence program accomplishes—it connects a human face to the producers whose lives we depend upon for our own livelihoods.

This year, top honors were awarded to Alejandro Florez from finca El Porvenir. Mr. Florez has been growing coffee since age 14. His coffee from the Meta region scored 91.6 points. Runner’s up included Javier Sanjuan Gomez and Leonte Collazos Rojas. The auction for these coffees will be held April 23, 2009. More information about this program and the other finalist can be found at www.cupofexcellence.org.

Be sure to check out some photos of the event posted in our photos section.

You can view all of our current COE coffees here.

I’ll admit it. I have always found Costa Rican coffee bright, clean, fine acidity, and rather boring. It sounds like a strange combination, but when you look at the history of coffee in Costa Rica, they had always done it “right.” During the 1970’s and 1980’s, Costa Rica had raised the bar for world coffee production by making a very consistent high quality, relatively massed produced, homogeneous product.

My very first origin trip was to Costa Rica in March of 2002, and I’ve been there many times since, but returning this year, on the 200th anniversary of the introduction of coffee into Costa Rica was a great time for a homecoming of sorts. I knew something different was going on down there, that the status quo was changing, as last year, we’d finally cupped some coffees that, in my terms, had “personality.” What’s personality in a coffee? It’s that uniqueness of a cup that can take it from a very respectable 85 to 87 to over the 90 level on the cupping table.

So what was going on? One word (maybe one compound word), Micromills. Traditionally in Costa Rica, and most of the world, coffee is raised by farmers who sell it in some various state of production to someone else, who process it some more, and sell it to someone else, who collects coffee from many many people, who do something else to it, and then, finally, put it in bags to ship abroad to us. As you can tell, the farmer gets lots along the way. Brand names trump farmers, exporters trump farmers, even collectors (often referred to as coyotes in Central America) trump the farmer. The farmer does not often know the real value of the coffee and where ultimately the coffee goes. It’s just loaded up on a truck and heads off down the hill and around the corner. This type of coffee production is commodity production. Whatever special care the farmer does with his coffee, it recedes into the mass production of hundreds to even thousands of such farmers. His hard work and passion has become a standardized product.

The Micromill revolution changes all of this. The farmer tenderly grows his coffee. He carefully picks it now, picking only the ripest cherry, as his coffee will represent him now. He mills it at his own micromill. He lays it out to dry carefully, and when it’s at the right level of moisture and perfect in the cup, sells it under his name to importers and roasters who seek out the nuanced cup that can now exist.

Micromills allow micro production that allow us, the coffee drinker, to taste the region, the micro region, the farm, the varietal, and even the altitude. Costa Rican coffee used to be only Costa SHB EP (Strictly Hard Bean European Preparation) or Maybe Costa Rican Tarrazu SHB EP. Now, Costa Rican Tarrazu San Martin de Leon Cortes, Finca Cafetin, 1800 meters and over, Villasarchi varietal, is possible. Wow, too much information, eh? Absolutely not!! It matters, it all matters. Last Friday, the 13th of March, we cupped 65 samples of coffee starting at 9 am and cupping, only with some saltine crackers and fruit to starve off hunger, until 6 pm that evening. I’ll admit that was the limit of what physically we could take, but every coffee had a face to it. In the cup, and often in the other room, waiting eagerly for us.

Are these micromills the solution to all of coffee’s problems around the world? Yes and no. Yes, when the altitude, soil, and varietals, along with the farmers care, can produce a superior cup. ICAFE, the Costa Rican Coffee Institute estimated the cost of production was $1.20 per pound green for the average farmer in Costa Rica. A rough estimate from many of the Micromill farmers that we spoke with was $1.60 per pound. Quite obviously a micromill located at 800 meters with Catimor would not make much sense, but for a farmer high up on the mountain at Chirripo who’s at 1600 meters and above who unfortunately in the past had to sell his coffee down the mountains into an area know for lowland cheap HB (hard bean – under 1200 meters) production, it could be a wise investment for a hard working farmer.

And these Micromills are big investments. From the farmers that we meet who had gone out and built one from scratch, we are talking $120,000 to $150,000 investment. This is in a country with a GDP of $6,500 per person. These farmers are small, independent farmers who are investing their money and their life to make their coffee better. Many farmers did not build at once, but built up over a few years, as cash allowed. We met two brothers who named their mill after their mother who had gone up to the U.S. to work and raise money, who then returned home and started La Lia.

The Micromill revolution started back five to seven years ago when the commodity price for coffee was so low that the farmers thought they’d save a few dollars processing, and do it themselves. This probably was not a good idea, as the economies of scale were against them, yet it allowed the farmers, who had great coffee to start with, to sell their coffee as it came from the earth, not combined with everyone else’s. These farmers are from farms such as Herbazu, Cafétin, Helsar, Don Mayo, and many other now famous names.

The sustainability of these farms is without par. Some farms are certified organic, as a few within the Helsar family, but all are family ran, using traditionally farming, that use and re-use all they can. The Micromills use mechanical pulpers that run from 20% to 5% of traditional wet processed coffees. These farmers live on the land, sell their own coffee, and run them for the long term. Profitability is a necessity, but over the long run, they are not just maximizing it for short-term overseas shareholders of the large multinationals. True sustainability is social, environmental, and economic. These farms have all of these intertwined into a degree that transcend simple certifications. Are the farms paying fairly? Yes. Are they environmental? Yes. Are they economically sustainable? Yes. It all comes down to the cup. True sustainability is only possible where social, environmental, and economics come together. Come cup the revolution!

Grounds for Health Trip
Jinotega, Jinotega, Nicaragua
November 10-November 18, 2007

Thanks to the support of Café Imports and Grounds for Health, I was given the unique and wonderful opportunity to serve coffee producing women in the Jinotega region of Nicaragua this fall. Grounds for Health is an non-profit focused on providing health care to women of coffee growing communities in Central America. They aim specifically to detect and treat cervical cancer.

In November, I met up with a team of talented volunteers and spent five days at the Guillermo Matute Health Center in Jinotega examining as many women as we could fit in each day. Our team consisted of doctors, physicians’ assistants, registered nurses, pathologists, cytologists, laboratory professionals, and an up-for-anything, go-to-gal coffee lady, Yours Truly. When word got out that I worked for a coffee importer, it wasn’t long before I myself was receiving ‘walk-in visitors’ at the clinic. However, they weren’t from women seeking exams but rather local coffee farmers who were anxious to tell me their coffee story and see about exporting their coffee to us!

As this was Grounds’ first campaign in Jinotega, flexibility, expecting the unexpected, and rolling with the flow was imperative. When we arrived bright and early Monday morning and found an unanticipated gathering of 100 women from the community hoping to see a doctor, we had to think and work quickly as we already had 100 women on their way down from the mountain for their scheduled exams.

As the week progressed, we examined an average of 100 women each day and were thrilled to find that the new method of cervical cancer pre-screening that we were using was highly successful AND easily taught to the providers already serving at the clinic. We were also able to perform chryo-therapy treatment on those women who needed it, another method that the local providers easily caught on to and are now able to continue to practice at the clinic.

I spent a fair amount of time at the check-in/registration table in the front of the clinic greeting and registering the women who had arrived for their exam. For me, this was a joy. Speaking with many of these women face to face, learning their names, answering basic questions, helping to calm their nerves and truly, above all, sharing a big smile was such a personal and practical way to connect with and serve these women who work so hard to produce the world’s favorite beverage. I felt that it was finally my chance to give back to them for all they’ve given to so many of us.

One evening at dinner, I was fortunate enough to learn that the daughter of Angelina from Angelina Estate, worked near our site. By even better fortune, I happened to walk right by her office on my way to the clinic and found her inside. No sooner had I introduced myself when she warmly embraced me and fervently thanked me for everything we’d done for them. By six the next morning we were trucking our way up the mountain to Angelina Estate where breakfast and hot coffee, of course, awaited us and where I also met a few farm employees and friends. By foot we toured the forested paradise while taking in the miraculous beauty and freshness that accompany the rising sun of each new day. As we left the Estate, we stopped and greeted the students outside the school that was built with coffee proceeds. Their wide, toothy smiles and energetic waves good-bye were yet another reminder that I am definitely in one of the most exceptional industries around.

We had accomplished so much in such a short period of time; we had worked cohesively and positively as a team to examine nearly 500 women and had established a positive and functional relationship with the coffee coop and the local providers. Despite the fact that saying good-bye to all of the providers, coop employees, and the other volunteers was a bit dismal, we were able to depart very content, feeling confident in the skills and techniques that had been passed on to local providers to continue to meet the needs of local women. The chance to share in this campaign and represent Café Imports was truly a humbling gift of learning, growing, and serving and I am exceedingly grateful to have had the support and encouragement to pursue this rewarding opportunity.

For more information about Grounds for Health, please visit their website at www.groundsforhealth.org

Ethiopia is its own universe. It has its own language, own time, own calendar, own Church, and as we all know, its very own unique coffees.

As with all travel, you bring some pre-conceived baggage along with you. Along the way, you shed what you expect, and see what is really there, picking up experiences that are always amazing. The conjunction of you, the place, and that time, come together in a way that the photographs that you take can at best only serve as a flash card to spark you memory to say, “oh yea, we were . . . .”

On this trip, this was even more so, so I will split this travelogue into two parts. In a country that is claimed to be both the birthplace of man and coffee, it is easy to be swept away with superlatives. The first will focus on the coffees lands of Sidamo and Yirgacheffee, and the second on the trip.

The Coffees Lands

After spending two days at the East African Fine Coffee Association 4th annual meeting (Café Imports attended last year, and has joined EAFCA as a member) we set out from Addis to head south to Sidamo and Yirgacheffee. Leaving Addis through its construction sprawl and lack of stop lights (and stop signs) was a bit of a trip. Once outside of the city heading south, it’s a dry greyish plain. Off in the distance you can see high ridges, as we are driving in the valley of the Rift Valley, and that was too cool. To make it bit more exciting than already was, seeing baboons playing in the distance added that “I’m in Africa” feeling that is so intoxicating. Oh well, okay, back to the coffee.

After a many hour drive, we start to arrive in Sidamo coffee growing region. We have driven up for a long way, and are in a green world unlike the valley floor behind us. The altimeter says it’s about 1800 meters and the landscape is truly a wave of green. Big buckles of land that slowly wave up, and down, in gentle rolling hills. Along side the road and out in the fields you can see the familiar round Sidamo huts.

We stop a coops along the way where we have purchased coffee before, or cupped their samples. The coffees have been spectacular and finally in the specialty market, you are finding roasters who respect Sidamo for itself, as a region, and not just a “lesser” Yirgacheffee. Many of the washed coffees have that fine citrus Ethiopian characteristic running through them, and in some, that apricot flavor that seems to be unique to this area. One of our very top coffees that we imported last year was a naturally processed Sidamo. Wow, it was amazing.

The varietals of coffee in Ethiopia are mind blowing, as you would expect in the origin of coffee. (Theoretical one, though, as this has not been proven beyond all reasonable doubt, and I heard a very strong and logical argument about Yemen being the birthplace of coffee while I was in EAFCA.) Most people are familiar with typica, bourbon, caturra, caturri, mundo novo, and a few other, but Ethiopia might have hundreds of varietals. The much sought after geisha, well, I have now seen three different very distinct geisha now, and who knows what this valley, or that valley holds in terms of varietals to be sought out. It’s like the quest for the Holy Grail. The search itself might be the very purpose. (Another aside, I have seen seven yemen varietals now too!)

All is not great, in coffee land, however, as many (read all) of the coops we visit have not received their pre-financing from the larger coops. This is a real surprise, as you always assume that pre-financing goes against specific contracts, and of course the actual coops must receive the money. The coop managers are adamant that they have not received any pre-financing, and some of them have to sell their coffee to the local buyers vs. direct to the coop, or they are choosing to do so, as a protest. This trend continues along the various coops that we visit.

Not surprisingly when I return I get informed by Transfair that Sidama Coffee Farmers Union is suspended from FLO, and a few days later, the same with Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Union.

I do not have any details of what is wrong, other than the flow of funds, and transparency obviously was not there. Is this paper work issues? Bookeeping, something more? Who knows, but hopefully it will be resolved fairly and quickly.

Heading further south, we leave the rolling green hills of Sidamo and arrive in Yirgaceffee. It’s still green, but the landscape has changed, as the hills become more vertical and rolling hills start to approach rolling green mountains. We park our vehicle and are hiking through a village where we come across a woman that states that she is 110 years old. Her husband died a few years back at 97. Off the main street through town, the Saturday evening street market starts to form, with every color of ground pepper from black to red to orange appears in little containers almost as a visual condiment to the full array of vegetables. It is an amazing feast of colors. Dark green of the hills, setting sun, and the color of the market.

After three days in the field and many coop visits, it was time that we headed north back to Addis and that evening my flight home. Back in the office, we are doing all the cupping and logistics for our coffee that is afloat, or soon to be, and we are searching for more top gems from among the hill of beans.

Trip and Miscellaneous

Okay, if I have already expressed this already, this was a stellar trip! I arrived in Addis at 7:00 am after 2 days of travel, and a nice 11-hour layover in the Paris airport. (I was stuck with my luggage, so I could not hop into a taxi to go to down town Paris and watch people smoke at outside cafes under the Eiffel tower. Instead, I watched people smoke at faux indoor cafes at the airport, and got to pay about 27 dollars for a small and rather greasy quiche like substance) Back to Addis. Addis is, I am told, the third highest capital in the world at 2250 meters. It’s sunny and 85 during the day, and 55 at night, rather perfect. It’s an incredibly safe city (or least that is what I thought) as I walked the city from about 9:00 am till about 2:00 p.m. by myself. I saw the bones of Lucy, from 3.18 million years ago, at the National Museum. Wow! I have a few photos on our website, but I am not really a photographer, and the room was dark enough that could not see Lucy without a flash, and with a flash, the light reflected from the glass case, but either way, there is something magical about being 3 feet away from Lucy in the basement of the National Museum. Also in the museum is the large, almost oversized carved wooden throne of Haile Salase. Hailse Salase was the last emporor of Ethiopia. A line that they claim goes back to the days of Sheeba and Salomon (we are talking Old Testament here!) Haile Salase was most likely murdered by the Derg, the communist in 1974. That ended that line, but for those of you not familiar with Haile Salase by name, he was also know by his given name of Ras Tarafari, and was worshipped by the Rastafarians as the messiah. This was a position that Haile Salase was never comfortable with, as he was a devout Christian. Okay, after the museum, I headed off to the St. George’s cathedral, assisted by some local guides that I could not quite shake off but were very friendly and actually added to the experience. The Cathedral is in the shape of a hexagon, and looks like a few synagoes that I have seen. This is not surprising when you realize they Ethiopia has been Christian since about 360 AD This is old time Christianity. It was lent when I was there, and the Ethiopian Christians take lent seriously. One meal a day for 40 days, and absolutely no meat, or animal products (butter, dairy, etc) This is old school lent, and much closer to what Catholics observed to until lent was “watered down” in recent years. If fact, there are something like 250 fasting days for priests in Ethiopia, and about 180 for the flock. Our coffee traveling group loved the fasting foods, as all were vegetarian, and very good.

I had mentioned Ethiopia’s own calendar above, the Ethiopians use the Julian calendar, which was introduced in 46 BC and it was used by the Romans, and eventually Christian world till a mathematical error was discovered, and the Gregorian calendar came into use around 1582. The correction was about seven years at the time, and leads to the joke that the travel agents like to use, “come to Ethiopia and be seven years younger”. The calendar is just another historical thing of interest in Ethiopia.

Ethiopians speak amrachic, which is a semetic languge, and it sounds a bit like a soft and more lyrical Hebrew or Arabic.

Time, Ethiopian time is actually quite clever. 7:00 am “our time” is 1:00 in the morning Ethiopian time. It’s the first hour of the morning. 1:00 at night, is 7:00 pm “our time”, and the first hour of evening. This works quite well for a country very near the equator, but as I was discussing with my taxi driver one day, would not be too good for us way up north, as the swing in the sunrise goes from 5:27 in the summer to 7:48 in the winter.

Lastly, the trade mark issue. Trademarks vs. certificates of origin. Big legal issue here, and with all complex legal issues, the devil is in the detail, but one thing for sure, EVERYONE in Ethiopia is aware of this issue. My taxi drivers, the doorman, the man and woman on the street, EVERYONE. To them, it is simply a case of Big powerful economically advantaged countries not wanting to pay Ethiopia for it’s natural treasures. I let them know that I strongly supported Ethiopia’s right to control the name of it’s very unique coffees, and that I felt that the U.S. and Europe should work hard to make sure the legal framework that Ethiopia deserves fits into the world legal code. Just stating that trademarks are a disaster for origin certificaitons, and not valid is not enough. Terrior is extremely important in coffee and other fine foods. Coffees from Sidamo should be labled as such. Legal hurdles such as trademark vs. origin certifications are important, but semantics. Right now, Europe and the U.S. look like colonialist that are looking to buy cheap natural resource and exploit the locals.

--Jason Long jason@cafeimports.com

Since we started the Spectacled Bear program in the fall of 2005, we have donated $2121.90 to the Wildlife Conservation Society. This money is earmarked to study and help save the Spectacled Bear, endangered in Colombia.
Thank you for supporting this program!

During the month of February, Emily and I had the opportunity to escape the treacherous Minnesota winter and travel to Guatemala with a group of our clients. Leaving behind wind chill temperatures somewhere around negative 20 degrees, we packed our bags and didn’t look back. Little by little the group trickled into the capitol, Guatemala City, where we spent our first night shaking off the hustle and bustle of the world we left behind and settling into a more laid back adventurous mind-set.

We’d all packed lightly under the impression that we’d be scrunched like sardines into the bus that would become our second home for the next three days. So when a lovely, spacious coach bus pulled up with plenty of room for us each to have our own row, we were beyond pleased with the vehicle change. We all piled in expecting to travel two and a half hours or so non-stop, we were a bit befuddled when the bus pulled to the side of the road and our guide disappeared as he cracked a joke about stocking the bus with beer. Joking he was not as he returned shortly thereafter with a cooler full of beer, ice cold bottled water, and plenty of ‘chuchería’ (junk-food/snacks) to go around.

The countryside on the way to Mataquesquintla, a small pueblo south east of Guatemala City was a sight for sore eyes as most of us had not seen lush green in months and for many, the presence of mountains all around is something we’re not graced with at home. We arrived at our first coffee stop. Wide eyed, we poured out of the bus. We were immediately drawn to the facility where the washing and de-pulping of the coffee was done. Before we could take a real look, however, we were herded onto several different trucks, many of us in the open bed of the trucks ready for a safari-style adventure through the countryside. Off we went to a local school (El Pajalito) where many of the farmers’ children attended classes. Singing, clapping and big smiles from the children greeted us as a very warm welcome. They even sported body-sized signs and heart cut outs to express their gratitude for our visit. It was enough to melt anyone’s heart. These children are schooled, fed, and visited weekly by a doctor as a result of the coffee earnings.

Upon returning to the mill, we were fed an abundant delicious home made meal and offered more than enough spirits to go around by our gracious hosts, the Gonzales family. By the time we finished, local farmers began to arrive in their trucks filled with the fruits of hours of exhausting labor. The coffee cherries were weighed and dumped into large tanks to be washed, separated into ripe and under-ripe groupings, de-pulped, and laid out to dry on the patio. We were like children in a candy shop as we observed the processing of this agricultural product that has brought us all together from such different places and walks of life.

Later in the evening, we had the opportunity to stop at a drying facility between Mataquescuintla and our destination of Antigua. We found a warehouse full of enormous coffee driers responsible for tumble drying tons of coffee beans (fueled by pergamino). They were heated by the most intensely hot furnace I have ever seen. Opening the door to the furnace, the guide whispered, “this is the closest thing to hell you’ll ever see!” and as the flames roared and the heat poured out in waves, I had a hard time not believing him. To further emphasize the caliber of heat we’re talking about, as the furnace door closed again, I checked out the thermometer and watched it reach 1,140 degrees C.

Exhausted and ready for dinner, the bus couldn’t have picked a better time to get a flat tire. Luckily we were at the drying facility and not stranded somewhere on the mountainous highway. We were also very thankful for our faithful and tolerant bus driver, Romero, who quickly repaired it without a single complaint.

Day two we awoke in the old capital of Antigua in all its glory. When an earthquake leveled much of the colonial city in 1773, the capital was moved to Guatemala City, the nation’s fourth permanent capital. A very short bus trip brought us to the farm and mill La Azotea where we perused a coffee museum learning more about the processing of coffee and even got a chance to reach into a mound of coffee and grab a handful of the slippery fermenting beans. Blehk! Just like at the mill in Mataquescuintla, the men were hard at work lifting and moving sacks full of coffee as well as combing through the coffee on the patio under the strong burning rays of the sun.

Another few hours on the tour bus (a bonding-mobile we had become semi-fond of by this point) ended as we disembarked at a wet mill in Santiago Atitlan just in time to behold the gentle citrus colors of dusk as they danced upon the mountain peaks giving way to the purple of the starry night sky. A familiar sight of farmers, one after another in their pick-ups full of all the coffee they could pile in, paved the way as we approached the mill. The same process ensued as farmers unloaded and weighed their harvest only this time, we had the chance to check out the de-pulping process up close and personally. Three men stood knee-deep in the pulp, raking it out of the way and getting it ready for other local farmers to come and take away as fertilizer. I smiled at them and vocalized our excitement to observe the processing of coffee at origin and how much their hard work means to folks like us. Asking permission to shoot a photo, they gladly agreed and smiled back as they posed, chests puffed out. Despite the difference in culture and the fact that the workers were on the opposite end of the industry as we were, it is coffee that we have in common and a simple smile that made a personal connection. With night now fully upon us, we slowly made our way back up to the bus, taking our time to enjoy the same twinkling sky that I usually neglect to notice from home. Life is so very sweet.

Five minutes or so later, we’d reached the heart of Atitlan, where we’d spend the night. The big bus of gringos that couldn’t seem to make it up and over the hill seemed to be the most excitement the town had seen all day as locals emerged from the dark streets and wandered towards us, unsure of whether or not to smile or make eye contact. It was like being caged animals in a zoo, peering out of our little window openings at the faces below. With the help of a few boys working a street side hot dog stand, we finally made it and were released from captivity. The night was spent around the spacious tables of the lodge at our hotel sipping Zacapa (the world famous Guatemalan Rum) and Gallo (the national cerveza) and the night just wouldn’t have been complete without a salsa lesson and some jitter-bug moves (that we fortunately caught on video).

The sight the next morning, which happened to be Valentines Day, was astounding. Gazing out onto the majestic waters of Lake Atitlan nestled in-between mountains and even a couple of volcanoes, we were again reminded of the indescribable beauty and diversity of the world we live in. A double-decker boat carried us to the charming town of Panajachel on the opposite side of the lake where we consumed large numbers of ridiculously huge and delicious pancakes and wandered the streets carefully choosing which mementos we absolutely couldn’t live without. A dry mill in Guatemala City was next on the list but unfortunately, due to construction and traffic on the way back, we weren’t able to make it. Needless to say, after visiting 4 towns in 3 days, we couldn’t grumble for long. We cleaned ourselves up and made ourselves pretty for our last dinner together.

Being my first trip to origin, I was blown away by so many aspects of the experience and by the immense amount of labor and sweat that go into producing and processing the world’s finest coffees. The warmth of the people and the charm of the culture will undoubtedly lure me back and the beauty of the countryside was a much needed reminder that the world is so much more than the sky scrapers and freeways amongst which I live each day. Before embarking upon our adventure, each of us knew that we were in for an exceptional treat but I do believe that looking back on the trip, our hopes and expectations of the experience were abundantly met and surpassed.

--Amanda Eastwood (amanda@cafeimports.com)

Boiled Potatoes and Goat Cheese: Peru 2006

Of course one of the greatest perks of working in the coffee industry is the opportunity to travel to far away places and meet people on the other side of the business. These working relationships are the backbone of Café Imports’ mission in the world of coffee and without them, we would not be able to do our jobs effectively. Consequently, for most of us traveling means being away from our families and homes and inevitably returning to piles of paperwork on our desks. It is a tradeoff that typically keeps us going back to origin time after time. The task of discovering great coffees and maintaining positive relationships at origin is never ending and it is with great pride and humility that we continue the quest for the best coffees from the best producers in the world.

This time it was myself, Jason Long, Mark Ballering from Steep and Brew in Madison, Wisconsin and Alex Varner from Higher Ground Roasters in Leeds, Alabama. None of us had ever visited Peru. We had never traveled together. Alex had never met any of us. This was going to be an interesting trip! The late night flight to Lima was typically uncomfortable and uneventful. We landed and got to our hotel around 2am. After 1.5 hours of sleep, we were up at 3:30 am to catch a puddle jumper flight to Ayacucho. The trip to Ayacucho by road, while I’m sure quite breathtaking, would have taken us 8 hours, while the flight lasted about 1.5. The sun rising over the Andes at 20,000 feet is indescribable. Known as the city of 37 churches, Ayacucho was founded in 1540, but traces of human existence have been found here from as long as 15,000 years ago. Just outside the city stands the site of the glorious battle of Ayacucho, where Simon Bolivar’s troops defeated the Spanish army and in turn sealed the independence of Peru in 1824. This is a gorgeous town filled with history and incredible mystique. No time for site seeing however, we left the small air strip and jumped into the Toyota van that would become our home for the next 8 hours on the journey to San Francisco and the Apurimac River Valley.

I used to live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I’ve climbed 14, 000 foot peaks there. The Rocky Mountains are small. I knew the Andes would be massive, but driving through them is like exploring another planet. The microclimates change faster than you can add or remove clothing. The switchback roads are not wide enough for 2 trucks, yet our driver passes, sometimes on the right. He is a professional, like I’ve never seen before. It takes about 4 hours for me to trust him and keep my eyes open. We stop halfway in the town of Tabo for a traditional lunch of boiled potatoes, goat cheese, and grilled chicken sandwiches—delicious. This was arguably the best meal we had in Peru and I couldn’t wait to come back through Tabo on our return 3 days later.

Arriving in Ayna, just an hour outside San Francisco, we are greeted by waterfalls, rainforest, and the most inviting welcome from a coffee cooperative I have ever experienced. Ayna is a small farming community nestled in the river valley at about 1300 meters. Coffee grows here between 1300 and 1800 meters and most of our Fair Trade Organic coffee is produced in this area. The coffee trees grow on very small farms—less than 5 hectares—and under a vast canopy alongside avocadoes, oranges, and other fruit trees. In Ayna we met most of the key members of CACVRA who had traveled many miles to greet us. The women prepared an incredible meal of fresh trout, plantains, and rice, which was followed by an original presentation depicting the roles of women and children in everyday life and how they assist in the production of coffee. There was singing, dancing, and big smiles. Keep in mind, this was still our first day in Peru, but the reception was characteristic of all the people that we met during the next few days. The members each stood up and spoke about their involvement in the coop and what CACVRA’s success means to their families and their community. They thanked us for our visit, which was the first to their community by any coffee importers or roasters from the United States.

I met Israel Pitesky at the 2004 SCAA show in Atlanta. He was in attendance with the director of CACVRA, Pedro Ruben Pineda Palomino, and exhibiting as part of the Transfair booth. At the time Israel had just been hired by the cooperative to assist in sales, marketing and general management. His English was rough, as was my Spanish, but we managed to make a connection that has developed into one of Café Imports’ strongest relationships with origin. CACVRA, or Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Valle Rio Apurimac was established in 1969 as a means of uniting cocoa and coffee growers in the Apurimac River Valley. This picturesque river valley unites the two growing regions of Ayacucho and Cuzco. The town of San Francisco lies directly on the Apurimac River and spans a bridge connecting the two regions. San Francisco also is the home of CACVRA’s main offices, cocoa receiving warehouse, and coffee cupping facility.

The bustling marketplace of San Francisco would become our home for the next 3 days. Our modest ‘hotel’ overlooking the main intersection in town was the perfect vantage point for the entire town’s commerce, the central taxi stop, and general late night flare. The bridge crossing the Apurimac River, connecting the provinces of Ayacucho and Cuzco, is like a gateway between two distinct commercial centers. The bridge itself is at night, dark and a bit spooky. The cars, motorbikes and 3-wheeled taxis do not necessarily slow down nor pay respect to the large numbers of pedestrians crossing back and forth. Below the bridge along the riverbanks lies an underground community of merchants, small restaurants, and gentlemen’s clubs. It’s about half way across to Cuzco that we notice a typical Friday night gathering on the bridge. A large group including men, women and even young children, are gazing off the bridge into the dark night. We assume there is a fight, or maybe a boat or someone in the river. Moving closer we discover that this point on the bridge is actually a free peep show. The pedestrians stop and talk and smoke or make out with their lovers while hoping to catch a glimpse of one the ‘professionals’ down below as she passes in front of the door, not necessarily in full clothing. Talk about a cheap date.

We spent the remaining 3 days visiting cooperative producers on their small farms and cupping various micro lots from some of the higher elevations. We were pleased to find several of these coffees to be exceptional, while all were above average. All of these coffees are organically grown on very small farms, by producers who take great pride in their work. Most farms have their own small washing station and drying patios, and the cooperative employs several technicians who are constantly visiting and working with the farmers to ensure quality and consistency. We found all of these coffees to present generous sweetness with hints of caramel and chocolate. A few of them displayed exceptional brightness and deep, rich body. It was refreshing to taste this type of quality from Peruvian coffees, which have historically been considered mild replacements for High Grown Mexicans. We are excited and anxious to continue examining these individual coffees and work with CACVRA to eventually separate some of them out to offer as very unique Fair Trade Organic coffees. After a formal meeting with the leaders and several members of CACVRA, we remain confident that our relationship in Peru will continue to yield exceptional, specialty coffees and lifelong friendships.

After having my ‘hotel’ room involuntarily relinquished to make room for a much larger, and clearly more important man, I personally couldn’t wait to get back to Tabo for some more boiled potatoes and goat cheese. The drive from San Francisco back to Ayacucho was long, but with less vomiting. We spent the night in this historic mountain town and had a chance to explore some if its many churches and museums—incredible. The history and architecture in Ayacucho is overwhelming and definitely a recommended stopping point for any visitor to Peru. Our final day was spent in Lima hanging out at Israel’s export office and also visiting the dry mill where our coffee reaches its final stage of processing and bagging. We were pleased to see two of our shipping containers parked outside the facility and two of our lots having just been milled and bagged. The facility is loaded with the most modern sorting equipment and the production is streamlined and very impressive. The management was gracious enough to setup a cupping of the two lots which had just been milled and both were fantastic! It should be said that CACVRA is one of our most reliable and consistent shippers. Our coffees are grown and processed with the utmost respect for the environment and the people involved, and they always ship on time. We look forward to our next journey to and through the Andes and continuing our strong relationship with this great cooperative.

--Matt Hupton matt@cafeimports.com

As we all know from the story of Kaldi and his dancing goats, coffee originated in Africa, in Ethiopia to be more specific. Why then am I amazed at the infancy and the new hope that I felt among the participants of the EAFCA conference this year in Arusha, Tanzania, at the base of Kilimanjaro?

The newness is specialty coffee returning home. Yes, we all know that Kenyans are specialty, and fine Ethiopians have been coming out for a long time, but in many parts of Africa the very concept of boutique coffees is just starting. This is an undiscovered continent, even though coffee has been cultivated here for centuries.

At the cupping pavilion, there were coffees from Madagascar and Malawi alongside old favorites, like Kenya and Ethiopia. There is even coffee grown in South Africa and Zanzibar. The latter I had while on vacation; it had been grown at an altitude of 20 meters. (The cardamom and cinnamon brewed with the coffee were not only exotic, but quite necessary!) Many of the coffees we cupped at the pavilion were not quite ready for prime time, but they had potential, they truly had some amazing potential.

While we all rhapsodize about farmers cupping their own coffee, we have to be realistic and realize that many small subsistence farmers aren’t cupping, and aren’t going to cup. It quite simply does not make sense for a small farmer with 15 coffee trees to cup. All hope is not lost, however, as the market develops for these coffees, cupping is being instituted at the mill level. In late July or early August, I am planning on returning to a co-op to cup all the small regions and help separate out what we are bringing in at a nice premium to the standard “washed African” market the rest of the coffee has been dumped into.

Sitting at a table at dinner one night, and talking about a Malawi that we bring in, a member of the Malawi coffee board said, “You sell the coffees as Malawi? When you are over cupping, will you give a presentation about this to our members?” Not that all coffee can be sold as boutique or specialty coffee, but just the idea that some of their coffee can be specialty coffee was almost foreign, it seemed. The Malawi that we have brought in the last three years is grown at 2000 meters, with some very nice varietals that, until quite recently, were all blended together with Catimors and other less-than-yummy variatiels (the Malawi just arrived at our warehouse, FYI).

Wow, 2000 meters, many amazing varieties, volcanic soil, and now, better processing facilities. What is the limit to the potential here for these coffees? If we can separate out top lots and pay a premium for these, and especially if we do not degrade the remainders that are sold as just washed coffee, what’s not to like?

After the conference, I went to Zanzibar to dive and explore, and as I was sitting, watching dhows (small sail boats) go up the coast, as they have for hundreds of years, carrying goods including coffee, I thought about the old ways of coffee in Africa, and the new beginnings and could not help but smile. (I was also on vacation, and it was 88 degrees and sunny; it’s now 35 degrees and grey in Saint Paul.) But even with this obvious setting, the new potential and exploration in the old world of coffee fills me with excitement.

—Jason Long (Jason@cafeimports.com)

In January, Emily and I traveled with a few customers to Costa Rica. Once again, we were lucky to have our good friends from The Coffee Source as our hosts and guides.

We spent the first day traveling within the Central Valley to Poas and the Doka Estate. This is an award-winning coffee that we have carried for several years, so it was great for those of us who had never seen the estate. We had a wonderful lunch at Doka and then traveled just a few miles away to La Hilda Estate. Both of these Estates were fairly quiet as the harvest in Costa Rica was about a month early this year.

The second day we visited a very nice estate called La Laguna in the region of Trés Rios. We were surprised to see the extent of development in this well known coffee region. The new real estate developments are literally bordering some of the larger coffee plantations. La Laguna happens to be one of the oldest estates in the region dating back to the early 1800s. The wet mill is actually housed in one of the original buildings. This is a beautiful estate with alot of history as well as some very state-of-the-art sorting equipment. The afternoon of the second day was spent traveling to the region of Tarrazu and the small town of Santa Maria.

After an incredible home cooked meal at a local establishment, we walked across the street to the Dota cooperative. Dota was established in 1960 by a small group of farmers in the region and is now represented by more than 700 growers. This cooperative has a long standing reputation for producing some of the best coffee in the country and is now run by Roberto Mata, the son of the original director. It was great for all of us to see coffee processing on a very large scale from very small producers. Dota is a great example of the cooperative coffee system at work in terms of fair prices, environmental concern, and coffee quality. After a long day in Tarrazu, we rode back through the clouds to our hotel in San José.

The third day, we continued our tradition of the canopy tour, where everyone conquered their fears and flew high above rivers and water falls through the rainforest canopy. For those of you who have considered one of these zip-line tours, but haven’t had the opportunity, we strongly suggest going for it! We spent the last evening discussing our travels and coffee issues over an incredible meal and strong drinks on an outdoor patio...perfect!

We would like to thank our friends at The Coffee Source, as well as our customers from Dry Creek Coffee in Hill City, S.D., Roaster Direct and Caffe Amoré in the Twin Cities, Great River Roasters in Pepin, WI., and Burgies Espresso in Ames, IA., for joining us on this incredible adventure.

—Matt Hupton (Matt@cafeimports.com)