PT’s Coffee Roasting Co will be closed Friday, July 3rd. Any orders placed after 9:00 am, July 2nd, will be roasted and shipped on Monday, July 6th.  Have a wonderful 4th of July!

Gombe Coffee Project: Kanyovu Coop 2009

We were still hours from our destination, Kigoma, Tanzania, when we told our Rwandan driver, Saidi, to keep the Land Rover in the “ruts of the road.”

It appeared to be the safest place to ride. The “road” was really more of a trail left by Chinese contractors creating a new modern highway through the heart of Tanzania. But that dream of a road is three to five years from being finished. There are no caution signs in this part of the world. No orange cones to mark the way or flagmen to tell you which direction to travel that is the safest. This was nothing more than a rain soaked trail of orange clay that was often as slick as an oil spill on a glass plate. Unless we stayed in the ruts of the road, it was nearly impossible to stay on the road.

Moments later the unstoppable Land Rover, in 4-wheel drive, veered from the rut we had hoped to guide us and came  to an abrupt halt in the ditch to the left side of the road. We were stuck; no, we buried the front left side of the vehicle.

When in the middle of Africa, American style tow-trucks are not really an option. We were still hours from our destination, and our vehicle was buried so deep, I didn’t think we had any chance of unearthing it in a short period of time. This was officially the first time in two weeks of traveling through Africa I had a moment of trepidation. It didn’t look good.

A month earlier I was told the story of a group of Europeans who were traveling along this same road.  They hey were robbed of everything, including their clothes, and left naked with nothing but their pride. This was the worst case scenario that was coming to my mind. Hopeless in Tanzania; a long way from Kansas! But since I knew the worst case scenario, it was time to try and improve upon that scenario. We needed to dig out and quick!

Fortunately, a mini-van loaded with locals behind us had come prepared with shovels for just such an occasion. Apparently, this was not the first time this has happened. Our new friends quickly offered up assistance and nearly an hour and $20 later, we were back in our rut and safely on our way.

That $20 bill is close to a months wages in Tanzania but it was worth every penny to us. Kigoma and a warm bed awaited after a 14-hour drive that was easily the longest 4-wheel drive adventure I’ve taken to date. Sleep never came so easily as it did that night. Day one in Tanzania was under our belts and day two would be filled with beautiful coffee trees and new friends. Surely nothing so eventful would happen again.

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Mubanga Primary Society

As the sun rose over the sleepy town of Kigoma, the rains from the previous day seemed miles away. My friend and colleague Sara Morrocchi, of Sustainable Harvest Kigoma, met me at the hotel ready to lead the way.

Morrocchi, a young Italian woman, is Sustainable Harvest’s Tanzania Office director. She has a master’s degree in Peacekeeping from Universities in Italy and the U.K. and somehow found her way into the African coffee industry. She’s fluent in four languages, including Spanish and Swahili which comes in handy every day in Tanzania. Many locals speak English, but in the more rural parts, English is rarely spoken and Swahili is the standard language.

Her leadership and respect is apparent as she is able to quickly befriend almost everyone she meets. As we get closer to our destination, neighbor children shout her name as we pass by - “Sara, Sara” - the children scream as they run towards the vehicle. It’s very charming even though Sara seems slightly embarrassed by the whole event.

Morrocchi is charged with assisting the Kanyovu Coffee Cooperative.  She represents nearly 5,000 Tanzanian farmers who work in one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. She is helping them improve coffee quality, decrease pressures on the landscape and achieve a profit for their harvest, creating a sustainable income for the Cooperatives members.

This project started a couple of years ago when members of the coop sought assistance for improving their coffee .  Farmers were not receiving a sustainable price for their coffee. The price the farmers were receiving was directly tied to the quality of the coffee they produced. Unfortunately, they had little knowledge of proper coffee farming techniques and a lack of water complicated the task even more. With the help of Sustainable Harvest and a group of coffee roasters from the United States(including PTs Coffee Roasting Co.) , training is being implemented and quality is improving.

The Kanyovu Coop is an umbrella organization that represents 10 smaller primary societies in the Kigoma region. The washing station that I was visiting, Mubanga Primary Society, is next on the list for upgrades in water conserving processing equipment that simplifies the process for farmers and reduces the loss of this precious natural resource. This area is one of the most remote and impoverished regions in Tanzania. However, it possesses all the essential elements needed for quality coffee: high altitude, fertile soils and heirloom varietals called Bourbon.

Until the new equipment arrives later this summer, the washing station is still processing coffee with a hand operated de-pulper and using the traditional method to ferment the coffee. (see Video) With technical assistance provided by Sara and her staff, quality has improved enough to garner a higher price, and this higher price has already improved living standards of the people in this region.

I arrived just before noon and waited as the producers began to arrive with the day’s harvest. In order to receive a higher price for their coffee, a lot has been required of the coffee producers. They can no longer simply strip the trees of all fruit; selective harvesting and proper sorting techniques are a must. Sustainable Harvest is holding a ripe cherry competition this season where the farmer with the most ripe coffee cherries will collect an additional sum of money.

Producers weigh their harvest using a hanging scale that checks total weight of the coffee. Then the coffee cherry must  be sorted to select only the ripest of red fruit. Under-ripe or over-ripe cherries are not permitted and are rejected if not sorted properly. This system is not perfect, but the coop is a work in progress. And progress is being made on a daily basis.

Specialty Coffee of the nature we purchase requires attention be paid to every detail of the harvest. We don’t purchase coffees where corners are cut, mills are left dirty or selective harvesting is not employed. This may seem harsh, but it is the nature of the specialty coffee industry. One cherry that has mold can ruin an entire day’s harvest for every member of the cooperative.

Since I visited on the first day of harvest, there was indeed a lot of unripe cherry that was harvested. Sara and her staff have their work cut out for them, but they are up for the task and have indeed shown great progress in other regions.

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Jeff

The coffee growing regions of Sumatra are famous for the unique flavor profile of their coffee. You can always tell when a good Sumatran coffee is on the cupping table. At its best, Sumatran coffee will be sweet and juicy and have a beautiful spice. This unique flavor profile is brought about by numerous factors, namely terroir (soil, land, elevation, etc), a special bean varietal and primitive processing methods. Our Sumatra Harimau Tiger harnesses all of these unique features to create a flavor profile dominated by a sweet spice and bold notes of roasted peppers. This incredible coffee will please lovers of this unique region. Order Sumatra Harimau Tiger here!

In the past couple of years, naturally processed coffee from the areas surrounding the Ethiopian villages of Beloya and Aricha have created a huge stir in the coffee world. These coffees raise eyebrows and cause you to question your taste buds. Is that a strawberry? Was the coffee soaked in blueberries before it was roasted? Are you sure that there isn’t any flavoring added to those beans? Well, the answer to all of these questions is no, there is nothing except exquisite coffee in those beans.

These coffees are “simply” exceptionally well processed natural Ethiopian Yirgacheffes — Now that is a mouthful. In short, when the coffee cherries are picked, dead-ripe, the fruit on the outside of the bean is allowed to dry on the bean. During this drying process, tons of sweetness and berry-like notes soak into the coffe bean. This process, when it is done exceptionally well, creates this eye-popping, eyebrow raising coffee experience. For a limited time, we have lowered our price 14% on our Ethiopian Beloyas.  Try this new coffee experience here!

Brewing good coffee at home can be a surprisingly intimidating task.  Measurements always seem to be relative to one thing or another…   Are you measuring water in cups, tasses, or ounces? Are you measuring coffee in tablespoons, grams or generic scoops?  And once you have the measurements figured out, you still have to match the grind to the brewing method.  To help make brewing good coffee at home more accessible, we have created a new coffee brewing guide that we will include in every order from PT’s Coffee.  For now, enjoy this preview of our French Press brewing guide, with a couple of photos to match.  We hope this will help you enjoy great PT’s coffee even more!

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Brewing Guide

French Press: A French Press uses the immersion method of brewing coffee. Using a French Press will produce a rich, full bodied cup of coffee.

Necessary equipment:

French Press

A quality coffee grinder

Water Kettle

Tablespoon measure (or a gram scale)

Timer

Fresh-roasted, PT’s coffee

Filtered, but not distilled, water

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Step 1 – Measure out one rounded tablespoon of coffee (6.25 grams) for every 4 ounces of water. Your typical 4 cup French Press will hold about 16 ounces of water.

Step 2 – Boil the filtered water in the kettle and set it off to the side. It will need to sit about 45 seconds before it is ready to pour over the coffee.

Step 3 – Grind the coffee on a coarse setting so that the grounds are just large enough to be filtered by the screen of the plunger.

Step 4 – After the water kettle has sat for about 45 seconds and reached a temperature of 195-200 degrees F, aggressively pour the water over the coffee grounds in the Press and start the timer. You want the Press to be a little below full.

Step 5 – After the coffee has brewed for one minute, stir or swirl the coffee. The stirring helps to evenly saturate the grounds.

Step 6 – Carefully put the lid onto the press while allowing the plunger to rest just under the surface of the coffee.

Step 7 – When the coffee has brewed for a full four minutes, slowly press the plunger down.

Step 8 – Pour and serve!

Have the intricacies of tasting coffee always escaped you?  Do you read descriptions of coffees and think, “How in the world do they get orange citrus from that coffee” or “I don’t even know what starfruit tastes like.”  Well, PT’s Coffee is out to help people experience coffee in a new way.  We will be leading public coffee cuppings every week at our coffee shop in Topeka, KS.  We will be cupping different coffees at each session, eventually covering all 28 of our single-origin coffees and possibly some of our spectacular blends.  This is a coffee experience that you do not want to miss, so here are the details -

Where: PT’s Coffee at Barrington Village 5660 SW 29th, Topeka, Kansas 66614

When: Monday and Wednesday at 6 pm and Saturday at 1 pm

Starting: Monday, June 8th

Jason Johnson, a PT’s Coffee’s employee, was visiting Hacienda La Esmeralda during the auction.  Here is his first hand account:

I got up this morning at 6 am with nervous anticipation.  Daniel was picking me up around 7 and then we were going to the farm to watch the auction.  This year’s crop production was down because it was hit by some high winds, but there was also a new part of the farm that was producing enough to be sold as a separate lot for the first time, so there was a lot of excitement around that.

We got to the house and had a quick breakfast, then it was short walk to the office.  The auction began at 8:30 a.m., and it was obvious that there was not going to be a repeat of last year’s marathon.  People knew there wasn’t a lot of the Geisha, so no need to mess around.  As we watched the screen Daniel told me how the auction worked.  The Geisha was separated into 7 batches and those batches had various lots of 300 pounds, for a total of 47 lots or 14,100 pounds.  As we watched the prices go up across the board, Daniel Peterson was very excited.  In the next room all of the workers were talking excitedly in Spanish, and Rachel Peterson continued to message Daniel with things like “everything is above 20, unbelievable!!” The whole auction lasted for only a couple hours, but it must have seemed like years to the buyers.  The low coffee received an incredible $24 a pound and the high was $117.50.  After it was done, the family got together for lunch.  Monday the staff had asked if there was going to be a bonus this year, the answer at lunch was… “Yes!”

While you wait in eager anticipation of the new crop of Esmeralda Special, be sure to try out the current crop while it is still available!  You can purchase a bag here!

- Jason Johnson

The excitement level at the roasting facility always rises when we receive a large, white envelope (or box) filled to the brim with green coffee samples.  This white envelope represents a great potential; it represents the great potential for amazing coffee.  Needless to say, when said white envelope arrived from Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, a low buzz resonated among the staff.  “When are we going to cup the samples?  When is the auction?  How are these coffees going to compare to last year?  How will the newer harvest areas compare to the traditional Esmeralda Special areas?” 

 

For those of you who are unaware of the significance of samples from Hacienda La Esmeralda, let me fill you in on a little bit of the back-story.  In 1996 the Peterson Family bought a coffee farm in the Jaramillo region of Panama.  They knew that the farm contained many different varietals and that it produced an overall good quality cup.  In 2002, Daniel Peterson had the idea that the overall “good” quality of the cup might be due to one spectacular variety of coffee or area of the farm bringing up the overall quality of the cup.  That year, Daniel went around cupping the coffee from different sections of the farm.  Much to his excitement, he discovered that one section of the farm, and specifically one special varietal, produced an amazing cup.  This special varietal was an Ethiopian varietal called Geisha.  When the Peterson’s entered their Geisha coffee into the 2004 Best of Panama competition, the judges were stunned.  That year it sold for record prices, topping $20 a pound green.   The buzz around this coffee did not stop after that year.  It continued to win ALL the possible awards in the specialty industry, distinguishing itself as one of the best coffees in the world.  Just last year, the top lot sold for another mind blowing record price of $130 a pound green.  We have been fortunate to purchase this coffee for years, and this year we are looking forward to another great crop.

 

Back to the samples…  During the last 2 years, the Petersons have withheld their Esmeralda Special from the Best of Panama competition in order to give other farmers a chance.  Instead of using the Best of Panama competition and auction to sell their coffee, they have created their own auction system, dividing their Geisha variety coffee into separate batches that represent different parts of the farm, different altitudes and different harvest times. 

 

Last week, we roasted and cupped this year’s Esmeralda Special harvest samples, and we were blown away.  We do not want to give away too many specifics, but we were very happy with this year’s harvest.  Most of the batches that we cupped were bursting with flavor.  There were beautiful floral notes abounding.  Strawberry, bright orange citrus and peach highlight these coffees.  It looks like we will have another year of astounding Esmeralda Special.  The auction is coming soon, May 19^th, and we will keep you updated about which batches we purchase and when we expect them to arrive.  If you would like to watch the auction live, go to http://coffee.stoneworks.com/auction/index.cfm on May 19th.

 

You can also learn more about this coffee by visiting their website, here.

Last night, the Topeka Chamber of Commerce hosted an awards reception for PT’s Coffee where it presented Jeff Taylor and Fred Polzin with the Business of Excellence Award.  Food, drinks and macchiatos were had all around during this two hour celebration held at PT’s Coffee Roasting Co’s Roasting Facility.

 

PT’s Coffee’s very own Jeff Taylor was recently the feature of Channel 49 News’ Ben’s People.  He explains the origins of PT’s Coffee Roasting Co and how the relentless pursuit of great coffee has led him all over the world.  Check out the video here!