Coffee Update 7-22-10



I think I will start with the good news. Our new crop Ethiopia Yirgacheffe should arrive sometime next week and hopefully I have bought enough to last us through the year this time around. In my defense, I think it only fair to point out that last year I had forecasted the amount before one of our clients in Boulder who had previously been only using our espresso began using the Ethiopia as one of their brew offerings, thus absorbing the lion's share of the roasts. This year I have factored them in the mix, so there should be enough to go around! New crop Mexico Chiapas El Triumfo is arriving this month as well. This has been one of our Cafe Femenino projects and a real favorite here at the store.

We have received confirmation for our Sulawesi Toraja White Eagle but do not yet have shipping info. That is mostly good news - it means it's in the pipeline at least. For reasons we have yet to find out, the cooperative lost their Fair Trade status but still have their Organic certification. I decided to go ahead and follow through the purchase despite the Fair Trade situation. We have experienced such situations in the past where a cooperative loses their Fair Trade status for reasons that are out of their control and in the end have their status restored. Part of being a Fair Trade roaster is a commitment to buying from a cooperative over the long haul and not leave them hanging year to year. So, we will continue to support this cooperative and trust that the situation is resolved in the near future. Without a confirmed shipping date it is difficult to speculate when the coffee will arrive but I wouldn't expect to see it until the first part of September.

Probably the most disappointing news is that we have yet to see a sample of our Washed Gayo Mountain coffee from Sumatra. There have been some managerial issues with the mill and the parent company that appear not to have been sorted out yet. Consequently, I am fearful that we may not see any Washed coffee from Sumatra this year. As far as I know, this is the only wet mill existing in Sumatra and I have become so spoiled on the clean flavor that I have trouble even cupping dry processed coffees anymore. We only have a limited amount of current crop Gayo's left in stock which I'm sure will be running out soon.

As a peace offering I have bought a small amount of a very nice Fair Trade coffee from Papua New Guinea. It cupped out very nicely on the sample roaster so I have good expectations for it once we get it into the production roaster. Papua's have always been a hit and miss kind of coffee for me so I am not promising that we will have it for the long haul but it might be a nice stop gap until we know more on the Sumatra's.