KOSSA GESHE 5

This will be our 5th year in a row offering the Kossa Geshe coffee from producer Abdulwahid Shareef, and we are excited to be featuring his coffee again.

Abdulwahid has expanded his farm, by leasing 50 new acres from the government. He currently leases the land that the farm sits on now, and because the farms have had a great impact on the community, the government has given him additional farm land.

So, a refresher about his farm. It is located in Western Ethiopia, more specifically the region of Limu. The farm itself sits adjacent to the protected Kebena forest, which has a rich ecosystem of animals and plants.

All of this leads to healthy coffee plants. His farm is about 80% shade grown, and is completely organic. Many of these shade trees are ancient avocado trees. There is a small spring on the farm that is the water source for the coffee nursery, and drinking water for the staff on the farm. The forest makes for a lively place with birds and monkeys all around. We have visited his farm twice in the past 5 years, and it was always a special treat to share a meal with everyone, and take in the sights of the farm.

In addition to the farm being a special place, Abdulwahid has always been about improvements. In the five years we have been buying coffee from him, he has built two small classrooms for kids to go to school while their parents work on the farm. The first school is still operating as a day care for the children of the year- round workers. The second one came about because many of the seasonal workers who would previously travel to the farm couldn’t make the commute because of the protests and the heightened security in the region. So Abdulwahid funded and built an additional school in a nearby town. Worker housing has improved dramatically since Geoffrey and I were first there in 2017. There is electricity, proper out-houses, and new floors. Abdulwahid is a man of action and it has been a pleasure to see all these changes at the farm.

While we offer Kossa Geshe all year round, it is still exciting to receive the fresh crop. This allows us to tune in to what's new on the farm while making sure this year's coffee still tastes great.

Notes: Strawberry, BlackBerry, Honey, Chocolate

loup garou

This fall, we are celebrating the season with the return of our Rougarou blend. In Cajun legends, the Rougarou is said to prowl around the swamps of Southern Louisiana. If you see a Rougarou in the swamps, don't tell anyone about it, because you might turn into one! The legend of the Rougarou has been spread for generations and we are excited to build on this tradition. It has quickly become one of our favorite seasonal blends!

The blend is made up of Honduran and Peruvian coffee. The Honduran portion is grown by the same Roger Dominguez from our single origin offering, although this coffee is washed and from a different farm. It is very clean and has a fudgy sweetness that pairs nicely with the well-balanced Peru. The Peru portion is grown by many small holding producers in the Cajamarca region.

The Rougarou is not as light and bright as Summer Buzz, rather it's a true medium roast that highlights those lower baseline chocolate notes. It should pair really well with any milk you choose. While the weather might not be cooling down, the calendar moves on! So cheers to slowly but surely making our way out of summer and into fall.

Additional tasting notes include sweet chocolate brownie, praline, and caramel.

Kenya Kiambu

Kenya is an enigma. It occupies a top spot in specialty coffee--Kenyan top lots are always amongst the most expensive of any harvest. Despite this status in the world it's a country where coffee production is dropping year over year. Kenya is a place where traceability is given, but knowing what you want and how to get it are two different things. Finding an importer that can navigate producer and partner loyalties is vital in procuring a top scoring lot. That is why we are very grateful to Crop to Cup Importers for making life easier for us. Kenya’s unique auction system, where all the coffees are bought and sold, adds an additional layer to their diverse coffee economy. Once we start talking about marketing agents and auction systems we are now speaking the language of coffee in Kenya--this is a country that already knows how to coffee. So let's get into it!

The Kenyan coffee economy is completely different from neighboring East African countries and from anything we have encountered in Central/South America. Almost all of the coffee growing regions are around a 1-2 hour drive outside of Nairobi on paved roads, which is not the norm in East Africa. Access to farms is quick and easy... “Colonial Benefits” if you will. Kenya was a former Colony of the British Empire and the British quickly realised the potential of Coffee as a cash crop for export. The Government has put laws in place that separate the farmers from the buyers and force them to go through an auction process. The auction is held once a week after harvest season. What this does is concentrate supply and demand into one day a week, and as result prices are very high. In one sense, the government has added a ton of value to coffee as a crop, and to the farmers. On the other hand, it has made it very difficult to build and form farmer relationships, as the coffee must go through the auction every year creating a significant gap between producer and buyer. It is harder to find traceability and sustainability with producers, but with a little extra work it’s still possible. Currently, 90% of all the coffee is sold via auction, with the remaining 10% sold directly to private international buyers.

If a Kenyan farmer or a local co-op wants to sell their coffee, there are three links in the supply chain in place that the coffee has to pass through before being exported. The first is a marketing agent. A marking agent is a group that helps the farmer sell its coffee, by marketing their coffee to buyers, giving money advances of up to 14 days to farmers and connecting them with the right buyer. They bring the coffee to auction with a buyer in mind. They often advise the producer on a price for their coffee. If it is not sold for their desired price they can simply relist it on the auction the next week. The marketing agent takes 2.5%. These marketing agencies are also in place for other crops in Kenya such as tea, and corn.

The second link in the chain is the dry mill. Once the coffee is sold at auction, it then must go to a dry mill to be sorted, cleaned and processed for export. The marketing agent often works with certain dry mills and handles those logistics for the producer. The auction process backlogs the supply chain with coffee, often waiting weeks before being milled. 29,000 bags is the maximum amount sold in one auction day. The largest dry mills can store about 100,000 bags so it can take up to 4-5 weeks before it's moved from dry mill to exporter. During the busy season the mill is running 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The mill’s QC lab will receive upwards of 3,000 samples a week.

The third link in the chain is the Export Company. The dry mills must be separate from the Export Company. The coffee is driven from a dry mill to a specific exporter who then makes the connection to US/European Importers and moves the coffee out the country. Sounds clean and simple, right? What has happened is that three of the largest exporters have simply bought their own version of the other 2 supply chains, the dry mills, and the marketing agents, making the process convoluted. So, three companies essentially export and control almost 100% of all coffee sold in Kenya. There are three different supply chain companies under one roof, creating “paper walls” inside their own facilities, each having their own marketing agent, dry mill, and export company. The three export companies are the Kenyan owned and operated Dormans, the German owned Nuemans, and the multinational Sucafina.

It makes me wonder, what’s the point of the bureaucracy? Why have so many middle men, only to have them all get swallowed by the biggest companies? Why not allow small farm holders to export their own coffee and foster relationships with international buyers, so the farmer gets the most money for his coffee. In Central America, the farmer takes home almost 80% of the price of coffee before export, and here in Kenya the farmer is taking home closer to 60%. Understanding all of that is essential in making purchasing decisions and helps explain why Kenyan coffee prices are so high, and why relationships are harder to maintain. It also explains why you don’t see many Natural or Honey processed coffee, the farmers can get a great price for washed processed coffees, so why experiment with something new. Natural’s are 5% of the total export number.

All of that brings us to this year's offering from the Kiambu region. It comes from the Thiririka Farmers Cooperative. Founded in 1995 the cooperative is made up of over 2,000 small holding producers. To get more specific, within this Cooperative is the Ndunda Factory, which is a 600 member cooperative, which is where our selection comes from. Cherries are handpicked before being pulped using water from the nearby Theta River. Parchment is floated, fermented overnight, washed, floated again, handpicked and then dried on raised beds for 10-12 days. A reminder here that floating is an easy technique to discard unripe cherries. The Cooperative provides essential resources and impactful oversight for each of the 600 members, ensuring quality standards are in place through the year. The diligence from both cooperative and producer is evident in the cup quality. This coffee is fantastic! It is a really great example of Kenyan coffees. For me what makes Kenyan coffee so special, and so sought after is the combination of Acidity and Body. Not only is the coffee big and bright but it has great structure and packs more of a punch compared to Central American coffees. This is evident when making a pour over, even after it's been filtered there is just more body in the cup when compared to coffees from other countries.

WE ARE TASTING: PINK LEMONADE, TART CITRIC ACIDITY, CANDIED LAVENDER, AND SWEET RAISIN.

REGION: KIAMBU
VARIETY: SL 28, SL 34, AND RUIRU 11
FARMER: NDUNDU FACTORY, THIRIRIKA FARMER COOPERATIVE ALTITUDE: 1898 MASL
PROC. METHOD: WASHED

Son of a Saint

Every year we select a local nonprofit organization to highlight during the Mardi Gras Season. Our goals is to help spread awareness of the hard work and dedication of those working everyday to improve our community. Over the past 10 years Son of a Saint has supplied mentorship sessions that are designed to aid in the academic, personal and overall development of the boys.

THANK YOU!

To everyone that purchased a bag of Big Chief this year. We have donated a portion of the sales to help aid in their mission.

Brazil: Carlos Renato Braga

““For us coffee means everything. Coffee pays for our food, our clothes, our bills. It keeps us going!” ”

This quote is from Carlos Renato Braga’s mom, Simone. Carlos and his parents Simone & Jose own and operate their farm Sitio Pedra Batista. 

In 2017 Carlos entered some of their coffee in the Brazil Best Cup auction. His parents were very skeptical. It was their first time entering in an auction and they had no idea what to expect and they were a bit nervous about how they would do. They managed to get the coffee entered less than 24 hours before the deadline. To their surprise they placed 3rd in the auction and we were lucky enough to be the ones purchasing their coffee.

Ever since then we have worked with the Bragas buying their coffee year after year. Carlos credits that auction as the moment that changed their family’s trajectory. For them, 3rd place felt like they had won 1st; that's how excited they were. The auction incentivized them to focus all their efforts on specialty coffee. They started mapping out where to plant new trees, and they built a greenhouse with raised beds to dry the coffee. They put in overhead fans for better circulation while the coffee was drying. Carlos continues to explore better processing techniques and longer drying times to achieve better results.

Carlos Renato is very proud of his farm's history. It was purchased by his great-great-grandfather in 1940, then passed down through the generations to Carlos Renato, though coffee wasn't always a primary focus. The Braga’s originally grew tobacco, beans, and corn, mostly. The farm has no workers besides the family, and Carlos Renato himself does most of the daily duties around the farm. He has learned about quality from his grandfather, who would tell him stories about "specialty coffee".

This year's coffee is really smooth and clean with some great fruit acidity. We are excited to grow with Carlos Renato Braga and share his coffee with everyone.

Farm: Sitio Pedra Batista

Region: Pedralva

Variety: Red Catuai

Altitude: 1150

Proc Method: Natural

Tasting Notes: Wild Cherry, Mixed Berry, Grape Syrup

Peru Gilmer Mejia

Sourcing coffee this past year has looked a little different than in years past. Instead of traveling to origin and getting a first hand account of the year’s harvest and how the coffee’s are tasting, we have done everything from the lab on Telemachus st. Relying on samples being sent, and WhatsApp messaging to get a feel for how the pandemic has affected our producing partners. Having these existing relationships has been very helpful during the pandemic, allowing us to continue to procure the best, freshest coffee. Since May we have been WhatsApp’ing with Gilmer getting updates from the farm. It was a challenging year for him as it was for everybody. Below is an updated overview of Gilmer’s Farm.

Gilmer Meija’s 7 hectare organic farm is a testament to his family’s commitment to quality coffee and being good stewards of the land. This level of quality is transparent in the cup.  For the past four years we have purchased his coffee and this year we are excited to have purchased nearly his entire harvest from Finca Ecologica.  While we weren’t able to visit with Gilmer this past year, we have visited his farm on several occasions in the past.  In the fall of 2019 we got to spend the entire day with Gilmer and his family on the farm, connecting and learning more about their operation. 

The respect they have for the land is also a way of life, with Gilmer and his brother referencing Pachemama as a guiding influence in their work. In Incan mythology Pachamama is a goddess worshiped by indigenous people of the Andes.  She is also known as Mother Earth presiding over harvesting, and planting.  This is evident in the way they work and live on the farm. About 30% of the organic farm is covered with shade trees. To create a healthy ecosystem, the Meija’s only use about 4 acres for coffee and the rest is left for other fruit trees.  On the farm there are cedar trees, pineapple plants, and guava. 

It is then washed and dried on raised beds in a covered environment.  This allows you to control the temperature of the drying.  Typically it takes about 25 days to dry.  They turn the coffee 2-3 times a day, for even drying.  If this crucial step is not performed the coffee might develop a fungus that would taint its flavor.  Long and slow drying times at this altitude allows for better cup scores and the sugars are more concentrated and more consistent.  Gilmer has built some new drying beds, to ensure all his coffee can dry evenly on the farm.  

Finca Ecologica, sits right below a forest, creating a very biodiverse and healthy ecosystem.  The top of the forest above Finca Ecologica sits at 8,400 feet above sea level, and as you go down the mountain and into Finca Ecologica the elevation is 5,550 ft, which is on the high end for growing coffee.  The Meija’s farm is a shining example of small holding producer coffee in this region.  The land is extremely fertile, with the soil being very rich.  La roya, or leaf rust, which has decimated large parts of Central American coffee farms has not been found in the Cajamarca region of Peru.  The mountains around the valley of Jaen are rugged, jutting straight up, making access difficult.  In general this area of Peru has less infrastructure and is less developed than in neighbouring Colombia.  However the land feels more wild, with delicious coffee growing organically.  Peru still has tons of potential to produce more specialty coffee.  We are seeing improvements every year.  It’s clear there is a symbiotic connection with nature and the Meija family.  We are very proud and excited to be working more closely with Gilmer year over year.  

Colombia Cauca

The latest Grand Cru offering is from the Cauca region in Southwest Colombia. It is a blend of coffees from eight different producers in the Cauca region, and is naturally processed. What makes this particular offering unique is the micromill where it was processed. This new micromill is operated and managed by our friends at Banexport. Banexport is a local company based out of Cauca that exports specialty coffee. All of our Colombian coffee comes from Banexport, and they work with hundreds of individual farmers. We have been purchasing coffee from them for over five years and have loved working closely with them. In this case, with some strategic processing methods in place at this mill, our friends at Banexport have created a blend that is greater than the sum of its parts.

So, let’s get into the Manos Juntas Micromill. The entire concept of this micromill is based on simplifying tasks and responsibilities, for both producers and Banexport. This particular offering was first purchased in cherry form when delivered to the mill by eight local producers on the day of harvest. Upon arrival, the brix and Ph are recorded, and the cherries placed in large hermetic tanks for a five-day long anaerobic fermentation. After this, the cherries are taken to raised beds under a parabolic dryer to begin their 30 day process of slowly drying. Once dried, the coffee is cupped and samples are sent to us. Once approved they are milled and shipped.

With this new mill, Banexport is now paying farmers upfront for delivering cherries. Typically, producers won’t get paid until months after harvest, which leaves them in a very tough spot financially. Having to wait months for your paycheck is hard on anyone. With this new program, farmers are now getting their well earned money much faster. In addition, the sale of the ripe cherries is based on weight. The riper the cherry the heavier it is. This encourages better harvest practice that directly correlates to higher quality. Banexport is also guaranteeing to pay producers a fixed price well above market value for these cherries

This model also allows producers to focus on healthy production of speciality coffee, while the meticulous work of sorting, processing, drying, and storing is managed by the Banexport team. Especially during Covid 19, when it has become harder and harder to find more people to help producers process their coffee, this model has simplified all of that, and made it much easier on the producer.

The producers that are involved in this mill are all from surrounding farms, this means they need to only travel a short distance to deliver coffee as opposed to driving many kilometers into town. So this lowers the producers transportation costs as well as labor. Also, coffee infrastructure like drying beds, fermentation tanks, and depulpers can be very expensive to purchase and maintain. With this model, farmers can forgo all of this hassle and simply focus on maintaining healthy trees.

Banexport believes there are two main factors that contribute to quality. Broadly speaking, 50% is determined by crop production (fertilization, pruning, and proper harvest of cherries). The other 50% is determined by post harvest processing (fermentation, pulping, drying and storage).

Banexport has been meticulously studying the breakdown of these things for the last 5-7 years. When we first travelled to Colombia in 2016 we watched Banexport give a presentation on these exact practices. So this is the result of many, many hard years in the making.

Based on this understanding, they have decided to establish the Manos Juntas micromill, in which they purchase cherries from producers and manage the processing, drying, and storing themselves. The result is making life easier on the producers: they receive a fixed price they can rely on and they get paid much more quickly than in the past. Manos Juntas literally translates to Hands Together. There is no doubt Banexport wants to elevate the producers they work with as much as possible. We are very excited to be one of the first companies to be involved in purchasing coffee from this mill.

BIG CHIEF IS BACK

Mardi Gras as we know and love it may not be happening this year, but this doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it with our seasonal Big Chief offering. This year the Big Chief blend consists of a natural El Salvador, a natural Ethiopian, and a pulped natural Brazil. We are really excited to offer this unique, funky, triple natural blend to pair with the Mardi Gras season. As in years past, we will be donating to a local non-profit organization.

This year we are donating $1 for every bag sold to a local organization called Son of a Saint. Son of a Saint exists to enhance the lives of fatherless boys through extensive mentorship and support.

“Growing up without a father is a challenge facing thousands of boys in New Orleans. For too many of them, the challenge will prove overwhelming. Son of a Saint exists for these boys, providing mentorship, education, recreation, camaraderie, cultural enrichment, emotional support and helping to fill the void for dozens of fatherless young men in New Orleans ”

This year we wanted to highlight Son of a Saint, and its founder Sonny Lee III for being a Big Chief in his community and promoting the enhancement of fatherless boys. Big Chief blend is a celebration of this special time of year in New Orleans.

Rwanda Origins

RWANDA KININI VILLAGE

Rwanda is an origin that we don’t have much experience with, so we wanted to go deep on this origin report. Let’s start from the beginning. Like most East African countries (with the exception of Ethiopia), coffee trees were planted by the colonial government in the early 1900’s. Coffee in Europe was booming at this time and in order to supply the growing demand, high yield, low cost varieties were planted all over the country. The intention was for coffee to be a cheap commodity available in abundance. The colonial government held strict mandates on taxes and exports over the farmers, practically enslaving them to the industry.

While coffee became the staple agricultural export by the 1990s, its production, along with the national economy in general, was devastated by the genocide in 1994. Nearly 1 million people were killed in the national tragedy, which stalled development and slowed progress for nearly a decade. In response to this terrible tragedy, targeted programs initiated by the government in the early 2000s encouraged Rwandans to use specialty coffee as one of the means to recover and to create a new agricultural market. A pathway out of poverty. The construction of the first washing station with international support was in 2004, and the country was the first to host a Cup of Excellence auction, bringing international recognition to the “Land of a Thousand Hills” as a potential producer of exceptional quality.

Today, this tiny country (roughly the size of Maryland), has a reputation for special quality and unique characteristics. We need to also note the incredible story of its development as a specialty-coffee origin since the genocide, which has made Rwanda a stand out among African origins. It is under this context that we get to zoom in and learn about the amazing story of the Kinini Coffee Cooperative. We are extremely excited to be offering a coffee from this Cooperative and can’t wait to share it with everyone.

Dreamers. That’s what everyone called Jacquie Turner and Malcom Clear when they wanted to start a school for children of Eastern Rwanda 10 years ago. Driven by the desire to help the children of the genocide, they made that dream a reality. As they got to know that community they realized that these children needed much more than just education, and consequently they lobbied the local government and international donors to support the construction of a local pharmacy, micro-finance credit institution, and other services to support the community that supports these children. What these two have accomplished for that community would be more than enough for any of us to hang our hat on and rest on our laurels, but they were not satisfied. Jacquie wanted to do more to help her fellow Rwandans.

So she and Malcom started dreaming again, and started to dream this time of coffee. They wanted to find a way to have generational impact on communities without having to continually fundraise money for aid projects. At this time they didn’t know anything about coffee, but they knew that the Rwandan government was supporting a transition towards specialty coffee and wanted to see how far they could leverage that goodwill towards helping a community.

They spent years soliciting advice from experts across the coffee industry and traveled all over Rwanda to look for a community that was interested in such a venture and was conducive for growing good coffee. After countless hours walking around farms with agronomists and soil scientists, they settled on an area just an hour north of Kigali. That is not only stunning for its views but its high elevation that dwarfs even the well-known Lake Kivu region. There was only one issue: there wasn’t much coffee being grown here.

So they dreamed up a solution. What if...they gave farmers coffee to grow? What if... they gave farmers technical support on how to grow good coffee? What if...they gave farmers a washing station to process it? What if...they gave farmers a dry mill to further process it? What if...they set up an export company in Rwanda to sell it, and an import company in the UK to own it even further? What if...10% of the profits went directly to development project investments (in education, health, etc). What if...they helped organize these farmers so they could manage themselves and eventually the business without them? What if.... It was a lot of dreaming that was met with a lot of doors being slammed in their face. Setbacks that would deter the most resilient of us did nothing to dissuade these two from their goal. After years of lobbying the local government, the Development Bank of Rwanda, farmers themselves, and countless other parties, their project was finally green- lit in 2014.

The structure of this project was unprecedented. Kinini Coffee signed a “lease” on parcels of land owned by various farmers throughout the area. This lease stipulated that Kinini would provide all these farmers with coffee trees, training, and organization. All the farmers had to do was agree to deliver these cherries to the Kinini Washing station when they fruited in the future, for which they would be paid. The parcels chosen were for the most part on unused land that wasn’t being farmed yet.

The due-diligence done on this lease (printed in triplicate for every farmer) by the lawyers at the local and federal government to make sure farmers were not being taken advantage of, took over a year. They had never seen anything like it. Malcolm and Jacquie started distributing coffee seedlings to farmers, setting up trainings, building their washing station, and organizing farmers. Their learning curve was meteoric. They had no idea how their coffee was going to taste, but they poured their heart and soul into it anyway.

The result? An incredibly delicious coffee that is very complex and structured with wonderful tasting notes of cantaloupe, orange, vanilla fluff, passion fruit, and brown sugar. All the care taken at the farm, at the washing station, during cherry collection and on the drying tables paid off. We are so excited to be a part of this project, and share it with everyone this holiday season. In my 7 years of buying coffee I have never seen a project like this. This coffee is literally years in the making, and we are honored to showcase the coffee and this incredible story.

HOW ITS GOIN' MID CITY

HOW IT STARTED

Our newest New Orleans location has been in the works for few years now. It has endured challenges and delays due to unforeseen obstacles like hurricanes and this years COVID 19 pandemic. We are excited to finally share this new space with you all.

 

Holiday Soup Recipe

Big shout out to Michaela and the whole Memphis Team for developing this tasty vegan Butternut Squash Soup. This soup is full of flavor and available just in time for the holiday season.

Butternut Squash soup (vegan)

1 large butternut squash (approx 5 lb) peeled and chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
10 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup EVOO
1 TBsp salt
1 TBsp thyme
8 turns cracked black pepper
1 TBsp vegetable base
5 cups water

In a large pot, cook squash, onions, and garlic in EVOO covered over medium heat until very soft
Stir in salt, pepper, and thyme
Dissolve vegetable base in water and stir into the pot
Simmer for 20 minutes
Remove from heat
Blend with immersion blender

Garnished with toasted pepitas and a sprinkle of fresh thyme

GUATEMALA OVIDIO RAMIREZ

This lot is from producer Ovidio Ramirez’s small farm in the famed coffee growing region of Huehuetenango.  Ovidio Ramirez and his community are almost entirely supported by a coffee economy.  This will be the second time we have offered a coffee from Ovidio Ramirez, and we continue to be impressed with the quality of coffee he produces. The name of the farm is Guachipilin, pronounced Gua-chi-pi-lin, it means “timber tree” in Spanish and is a common tree on the farm.  His small 3.5 hectare lot has several varieties, such as Caturra, Bourbon, Catuai, and Pache.  After being picked, this coffee is fermented for 18-24 hours.  It is then washed 3 times and then dried on raised beds for 8-10 days.

French Truck has been to Guatemala several times and gotten a feel for the coffee economy in this region.  Huehuetenango is the most well known coffee growing region in Guatemala, because of its altitude, quality, and volume. When driving around Huehue it is common to see nurseries off the side of the road, where they are nurturing young coffee plants in the shade.  Farmers are constantly planting fresh trees and different varieties to have as much coffee diversity as possible.  One of our findings in Huehue is an exporting company called K-finos.  Similar to Banexport in Colombia, they specialize in exporting smaller, high quality lots while supporting producers with growing information, seeds and processing techniques.  Their cupping lab in Huehue is very helpful for tasting and selecting fresh lots, and it's a place where farmers can connect and get feedback on their coffees.   All of our Guatemalan coffee of the past few years has been from K-finos and with the help of Cafe Imports we hope to continue supporting them for years to come.  Their eye for quality is instrumental in helping us connect with a producer like Ovidio Ramirez.

Tasting Notes: Cherry, Lemon, Chocolate, and Smooth Mouthfeel. 

KENYA RUKERA

Kenya is an enigma. It occupies a top spot in specialty coffee--Kenyan top lots are always amongst the most expensive of any harvest. But yet it’s a country where coffee production is dropping year over year. Kenya is a place where traceability is given, but knowing what you want and how to get it are two different things. Finding an importer that can navigate producer and partner loyalties is vital in procuring a top scoring lot. That is why we are very grateful to Crop to Cup Importers for making life easier for us. Kenya’s unique auction system, where all the coffees are bought and sold adds an additional layer to their diverse coffee economy. Once we start talking about marketing agents and auction systems we are now speaking the language of coffee in Kenya--this is a country that already knows how to coffee.

Kenya is a country where history comes to life in the form of coffee, and this year’s offering is no different. In 1944 the colonial government acquired Jacaranda Estate to establish a Coffee Research Station. In 1949 the government acquired the Rukera Farm that lies adjacent to Jacaranda. In the mid 60’s the two farms were transitioned over to the Independent Republic of Kenya and the research station is now known as the Coffee Research Institute. ​The CRI now uses the two farms as demonstration farms and uses their production to generate revenue to support research. The institute conducts research in all areas of production, processing and marketing.

This year’s offering is from the Rukera Farm. During​ harvest season, the farm’s staff swells from 5 to 300.​ Cherries are pulped then fermented in tanks for 12-48 hours before washing through grading channels. Then the cherries are dried on raised beds for 7-14 days with regular turning to ensure an even drying process. The varietals on the farm include the well known SL28, SL34 and newer ones like K7, and Ruiru 11. Our lot is a blend of all of these varietals. The result is a classic Kenyan profile, with sparkling acidity and big sweetness. We are thrilled to be offering this delicious coffee as well helping promote coffee research in Kenya!

REGION: NYERI / FARM: RUKERA

FARMER: COFFEE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

ALTITUDE: 1600-1700 MASL

VARIETALS: SL 28, SL 34, K7, RUIRU 11

Seed to Cup

So you love coffee, and you may have seen certain phrases around your favorite coffee shop like Seed To Cup, Crop to Cup, and so forth. But what does it mean?  Well, simply put, it refers to the process your coffee has undergone, from the beginning, the seed, to the end, your cup. But there’s some more to unpack here. For instance, did you know that the coffee bean is, in fact, a seed? And what are the other steps in this journey, from seed to cup?  We are happy to explain. A large part of our industry is about Quality -- that means traceable, transparent, and farmer focused; this is the essential idea behind the seed to cup mantra in our industry.

So let’s begin:

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The Seed

The beautiful beans you see in your bag of coffee are actually seeds. They typically come two seeds to the coffee cherry. The “cherry” is the berry, the fruit, of the coffee tree.  In the picture below, you will see a coffee seed still covered in mucilage and other protective layers. Once this is processed and roasted, we can begin the brewing phase.

The cherry is quite tasty, but it is much more valuable to the farmer when the seeds are exported to become a coffee beverage.

At this point, those fancy tasting notes -- bergamot, citrus, grapefruit, etc -- should make more sense. Being of a fruit, “fruit-forward” coffee is an understandable part of the flavor spectrum, from fruity to chocolatey to earthy; this makes coffee such a complex and wonderful beverage.

After they are hand picked, we need to remove all those layers of cherry off the seed. The process each farm uses to remove these can dramatically affect the final flavor in the cup.

Depending on the country, region, and farm, the process might be a Washed Process, Natural Process, Honey/Pulped Natural Process, Anaerobic/Carbon Maceration Process, and variations in between. While there is too much to go into for this post, know that specialty coffee farmers put great care and attention into this stage in order to preserve the quality of their crop.

These processes essentially filter out bad cherries, strip the cherries of the outer layers, and in the end dry them to the proper moisture content. This stage begins on the farm, and after the cherries are dried they will make their way to a dry mill. Here, additional sorting and quality control will remove any visual defects and the outer shells of the seeds, revealing green, unroasted coffee, ready for transport.

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Export/Import

The farming and processing may involve a number of agents. For example, the farmer may bring their crop to a central processing hub if they don’t process their own. The farmer will typically have mutually beneficial agreements in place with an exporting company. The exporter, in turn, has incentive to know the farmers and their offerings, and help grow and showcase the community. These exporters will either work in tandem with an importer or directly with a buyer. 

This is the stage where farmers, exporters, importers, and buyers will meet to test the quality of the beans in question. They will scour them for defects, assign flavor notes, and give them quality ratings. Extra clean and sweet coffee will get a higher score and a better price. In specialty coffee, we pay a premium for that quality; thus the farmers have incentive to go the extra mile.

From this stage, the coffee will make its way to port, and from there it’s about a month's journey to the buyer.

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Roaster, Cafe, Cup

Passionate roasters and baristas from all walks of life assist in the final quality control of this precious commodity. The roasters will “dial in” the roast level to get the best from the beans, highlighting the characteristics of the bean’s region that make them unique. 

The barista will dial in the brewing equipment to extract just the right amount of bitterness and sweetness; and they will communicate with the customer to deliver the perfect beverage.

The result is the lovely, aromatic experience that millions of people enjoy every morning, around the world. 

Next time you are in one of our cafes, feel free to talk to your barista about their favorite offerings, or send us a line at Hello@frenchtruckcoffee.com with your coffee questions and comments.

“Stay Dialed.”

COLOMBIA Pink Bourbon

REGION: PITALITO, HUILA | FARM: LA ESPERANZA | FARMER: ROBERTO CARLOS | VARIETY: PINK BOURBON | PROC. METHOD: ANAEROBIC ALTITUDE: 1600 MASL

Our latest Grand Cru is an offering we found on our sourcing trip to Colombia back in early February. We are so glad it is finally here! This is our first time working with Producer Roberto Carlos, although he has been working in coffee for over 20 years. His farm is just outside the small coffee producing town of Pitalito, in the Huila region of southwest Colombia. Finca La Esperanza sits at an altitude of 5,250 feet and is about 4.5 Hectares. When Roberto Carlos first began farming he only had 1,000 coffee trees and after that first harvest he used that income to invest back into the farm. He has been doing that every year and now he has a little over 15,000 trees. His dedication and hard work are evident in the quality of coffee he produces.

One of the special things about this coffee is its varietal. The Pink Bourbon has received more and more attention over the last few years because of its floral, fruit forward flavor profile. In particular the region of Huila has become known for its Pink Bourbon. Many in the coffee industry think this particular trend will mirror the wine industry, and just like Bordeaux, France is known for its wines, Huila, Colombia will be known for its Pink Bourbon. The Pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of the red and yellow Bourbon varietals. It can occur naturally, and some farmers were waiting for the cherries on their farm to turn red and fully ripen only to realize it was a completely different varietal that is ripe when it is light pink. Roberto Carlos is always looking to improve his farm with varietals like this or with innovative processing methods.

The other unique thing about this coffee is its processing method, which is called Anaerobic, meaning it was fermented in a tank without oxygen. So after the ripe cherries are picked, instead of being depulped and washed, they are dry fermented. According to Roberto Carlos, first, the coffee cherries receive a dry fermentation for 12 hours in woven polypropylene sacks. After this step the coffee is depulped and prepped for its second round of fermentation. Here the anaerobic fermentation is implemented for an additional 24 hours where the coffee is covered and sealed in plastic tanks to ferment, and to stop the circulation of oxygen. After these two steps the coffee is slowly dried on raised beds for about 20-25 days until it has reached the 10- 12 % moisture content. Roberto Carlos learned this method from his neighbors who are also coffee farmers with a lot of experience. This processing method can be tricky because it is easy to over ferment and have a coffee that tastes like vinegar instead of delicious fruit notes. Some producers would not want to risk such experimentation and potentially lose out on their main income for the year, however, Roberto Carlos did a great job and obtained a product with more positive attributes.

The end result is a really wonderful coffee that we are very excited to share with everyone. This is a unique combination of varietal and processing method that have come together in a very expressive coffee.

BE LOUD AGAINST …

Little Truckers

While everyone is parked at home we decided to offer a family fun activity. Print this French Truck Coffee Citroen cutout and build your own fleet!! Color and customize your trucks and tag us in some creative photos.

Free Cellphone Wallpaper

( Save wallpaper image to your phone photos and set it as your background )

FESTIN' AROUND THE HOUSE

While we won't be able to fest next to each other this year, we can fest from home and share this wonderful blend together.  Enjoy this playlist and show us how you are Festin from home, or on your front porch.  While these are uncertain times, we hope to brighten your day just a little bit with Festin Blend.  Like in years past, it's a blend of fresh crop Colombia and Peruvian coffee, so please enjoy this coffee with us!

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