....from Alex

Central Valley
Costa Rica


COOP NARANJO


Burmas del Zurqui, the farm I wrote about here, is a great example of a small producer having success by taking quality into his own hands. The benefits of having a beneficio, or micro-mill, are many. However, many farms are too small to have their own mill, in which case their best bet is to participate in a cooperative. Coop Naranjo, in Costa Rica´s central valley, is proof that being a large coop does not prevent being progressive and focusing on quality.

Jose Antonio, who overseas coffee operations and quality control, cheerfully explained the numerous facets of the Coops large operation. Coop Naranjo processes over 40,000 bags of coffee a year, making it one of the largest coffee collectors in Costa Rica.

I asked, but Jose would not let me play with the colored balls. Maybe next year.

The Coop is progressing in different ways. They are active participants in the Cup of Excellence, and are currently creating new systems for locating and separating out more quality lots of coffee to participate in future auctions. They are also exercising their green thumb: below is a picture of Jose in their nursery, where they are attempting to cultivate arabica coffee plants which have been cross bred with Robusta seedlings to give the plants stronger, heartier root systems.

We will likely be sampling coffees from Naranjo in the coming months, as they are planning to send beans to our friends at Royal Coffee in New York....good news for us!

from Andrew,

Today we played with the Clover and it was fun. We (the roasters a few Chesterfieldians and a Demuner) selected one of our favorite coffee to cup on the cupping table and we put the Clover to the challenge. The coffee we selected was Kenya AA Mirundi which on the cupping table has a distinct blackberry acidity with chocolate covered walnut finish, we love it. To begin our journey we started with a dwell time of 45 seconds; a weight of 28g which is proportional to standard brew ratios, the 'metal filter' setting on the ditting; and a brew temp of 203 F, which is closer to a cupping temp.

• The first round results were slightly sour and thin.

Second round, we increased the weight to 32g (+4g) and the dwell time to 48 sec. (+3)

• resulting in a little more sweetness; slightly more body and a little more character in the finish but no where near cupping standard.

Third round, we only increased the weight to 38g (+4g)

• resulting in an increased acidity in addition to the imporvements of the second round

Fourth round, Tyler kept wanting more coffee, so we increase the weight to 40g (+2g); extended the dwell time to 50 sec. (+2 sec.) and coarsened the grind.

• resulting in an improved acidity and sweetness and starting to bring out the berry and chocolate.

Fifth and final round, again we increased the coffee 42g (+2g) and increased the temp to 205 F.

• We felt this recipe resulted in something very close to what we get on the cupping table. The tweeking will continue, but we felt the berry and chocolate walnut was present.

Next week we will look at the effect of different roast profiles for espresso.

from mike...

blind cupping - 10.12.07
Today, we hosted a blind cupping of East African coffees. Standouts were the tangerine-sweet Ethiopia Sidamo and the pinch-hitting Papua New Guinea that threw us a loop. Thanks to all of our guests who attended. Your palettes are marvelous.

By the way, the Ethiopia Sidamo we cupped is fairly new (maybe a month into production). If you haven't tried it yet, get over your grieving from Harrar's sudden death and get on the Sidamo train. I thought I had tasted it all, but this coffee is my new favorite. No joke, it's like putting a box of clementines into your cup. Do it.

Next week we'll pass up the cupping table and head to the Clover where we'll brew a select few coffees and see how they measure up on this modern marvel. Don't miss it.

Clover Taste Test
Friday, Oct 19, 2007
Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company
700 St. Bernard's Lane
StL
2pm

From Alex…

Costa Rica

Central Valley

Every year coffee production in Costa Rica decreases by 5%, a significant amount considering coffee is the country’s second largest export. Farmers can often sell their land to real estate developers and instantly receive more money than decades of coffee production would ever yield.

Juan Ramon Alvarado comes from a family with deep roots in coffee. Since 1880 his family has farmed coffee throughout the central valley. Once numerous, all his families' many farms have now been sold. A few years ago, Juan made the difficult decision not to sell the last remaining tierra in his family, dubbing it Brumas del Zurqui.

Juan chose to continue the tradition of farming coffee, and his decision was a good one: last year Brumas del Zurqui took first place in the Costa Rica’s Crop of Gold auction(now called Cup of Excellence). He is now able to get consistent prices for his coffee, good enough to earn a living and provide generous wages to seasonal and permanent workers.

What is Juan up to this year? He is busy planting dozens of geisha trees!

These low yielding, high-maintenance trees will start to produce their delicious fruit in 3 to 4 years.

Juan and I spent a terrific morning at Brumas del Zurquis, discussing the workings of his farm and it’s hopeful future. Juan adamantly refused to let me pay for lunch, and his hospitality did not stop there: he offered me a geisha seedling to take back to the states! Of course, I could not accept it. Even if it did make it past customs, Missouri in winter is no place for a geisha tree. It belongs in the fertile soil of Brumas del Zurqui.

from Andrew,

Just a quick update. Espresso Mania was a great time, thanks everyone for attending. I will soon write a follow up to this tasting.

This Friday will be the "Seed to Cup" presentation. If you missed the Barista Jam and all your heard about was how great the presentation was, now is your chance to catch it. Bring your binoculars since it will not be presented on a projection screen, but a laptop. See you here...