With all of the excitement surrounding the 2011 Hacienda La Esmeralda coffee auction, we felt that it is time to announce the final roast of our 2010 Mario San Jose auction lot.  After tasting each lot, we knew that there were two coffees that we had to have: Mario Carnaval and Mario San Jose. Both of these spectacular lots are harvested from the region that traditionally produces the best geisha lots from Hacienda La Esmeralda. There is something about these spectacular micro-climates that creates a flavor profile unlike any other.

Mario San Jose was harvested at the end of the harvest season: March. On the cupping table, Mario San Jose surprised us.  It was big, it was bright and it was incredibly sweet. When we tasted it, notes of strawberry and grapefruit filled our mouths. Its sweet and juicy character made us long for more.

We are trying to get our hands on another lot from Hacienda La Esmeralda.  We will keep you updated on the results of the 2011 Auction.  The final roast of Mario San Jose will be Monday, May 23rd.

I was enjoying a rare day off at origin today - in Panama City this time - when all of the sudden I began to get these nagging feelings of guilt about not updating our PT’s blog more often. I hate it when that happens! A self imposed guilt trip ruining a perfectly good day off with my wife in Panamanian paradise. But, the nagging feelings hit home because so much has happened on this trip that I really wanted to tell you about.

Here I am trying to decide where I should begin updating you on the origin trips this year, which have resulted in reaffirming our already strong relationships with our origin partners…

So, about 2 weeks ago I embarked on a trip through El Salvador, then Panama and last but not least, Guatemala tomorrow night. I’ll try to hit a few highlights and maybe show you a few pictures from the trip to bring you up to speed.

First: El Salvador - Trip 2 - 2011

This was by far my shortest stay in any country this year. But it is all that was needed. I flew into San Salvador two weeks ago, leaving the cool mid-50’s Kansas weather behind for a balmy 90-degrees. But not to worry, this trip was as short as planned- in Sunday night and flying out by 3pm on Monday.

I spent the night with the wonderfully accommodating family Ortiz of Finca Las Mercedes after they met me at the airport. A short night indeed as I arrived around 8pm. Following an hour drive home, quick dinner, hugs from the Ortiz children Adreanna, Andreas and Gabby then some conversation over a Zacappa or two, it was off to bed for me as we had a lot of coffee evaluation to do first thing in the morning.

The Ortiz and our friends, the Ticas of Finca Los Planes, were indeed a little nervous as this was the trip to approve or disapprove lots for purchase in 2011.

Meeting up with our friend Mike we were up early on Monday and heading towards the cupping room to sample the 2011 crops. Mike and I were excited, but Lucia was just nervous I think. hahahaha!!

Well, not to belabor the point, all of the coffees we wanted to purchase were outstanding. Lucia and Sergio had nothing to worry about. They both manage their farms very well, maintaining strict standards on processing and drying. You should look forward to Finca Los Planes Pacamara 2011, Finca Las Mercedes El Pepinal 1 2011 and the return of Don Roberto Espresso Reserva which is a blend of coffees all from Finca Las Mercedes. We hope to have these coffees by early June. You’ll love them!

NEXT STOP: BEST OF PANAMA CUPPING COMPETITION

Getting to Boquete, Panama involves a series of choices. If you fly through Panama City, you must stay over-night to catch an in-country flight to David, Panama which is just a 45-minute drive from Boquete.

If I chose to travel through San Jose, Costa Rica - which I often do, because I can visit farms in Costa Rica as well - I can catch a direct flight to David, Panama and avoid the Panama City crush of traffic and development that has been taking place here over the past 5-years.

But on this trip, I chose Panama City. Our new Director of Quality Control was meeting me there and we planned to travel together to Boquete for the Best Of Panama Competition.  Maritza Suarez-Taylor,  has recently left her position as Quality  Assurance Specialty Coffee for the SKN Caribecafé Ltda (A member of Neumman Kaffee Grouppe) to join our team at PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. and was traveling from Bogota, Colombia to meet me in Panama City (Did I mention she is also my wife?  ).

After a short stay in Panama City, we met with 14 other coffee professionals in from around the world (from Sweden to Costa Rica) to judge the Best of Panama Coffee Competition in Boquete. B.O.P. is always an exciting competition as Panama is well know for it’s Geisha variety coffee, from Hacienda La Esmeralda, which can be some of the best coffee in the world.

This years competition I was really looking forward to. It was about 6 years ago the first lot of Geisha was discovered. With an initial crop production time, at high elevation, of around 4-6 years to get a good harvest, this chould be the year more Geisha variety would be entered into the competition from surrounding farms. You see, after Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered Geisha on their farm and earned a world record price for the coffee at auction, it was almost immediately that area farmers began to plant the prized, high-dollar variety on their farms.

Since that time, Hacienda La Esmeralda has held the top spot in the Best Of Panama Coffee Competition winning year after year, only losing one time to another Geisha. This year as we began to work our way through the 29 coffees entered into the competition it was immediately clear there would be more than one Geisha in the competition. And several of them were very, very good. As the week progressed the judges began to deliberate following cuppings about the different varieties of Geisha. One seems to produce a sweet stone-fruit like flavor. While the other produces a more floral, high-toned, sweet citrus flavor profile. Which one would win as the final table of 8 coffees were cupped?

Well it was indeed close. Two Geisha variety coffees were vying for the top spot and were only separated by 1/2 point in the final analysis when all the scores were tallied. No one, including the judges knew the answer. That would be revealed at an Awards Ceremony held at The Laderda Hotel on Saturday night.

To top off the intensity of the evening, did I mention this was the 15th Anniversary of the competition? Or did I mention it was the 100th anniversary of Boquete? Both celebrations were taking place on the same night and anticipation was at a fever pitch.

After the Mayor showed up to honor all of the producers, Robert Thoresen, Head Judge from Oslo, Norway, began to read the winners list. “Fifth place….”, “In Fourth Place…” and “in Third Place,” still Hacienda La Esmeralda’s name had not been announced and no one was really surprised as it was almost an automatic win in previous years. Thoresen continued: “In second Place….Hacienda La Esmeralda!” We would have a new winner in the Best of Panama, but who would it be?!

The winner of the Best of Panama 2011 is Finca La Valentina with a Geisha Variety. Benjamin Osorio, representing his family, accepted the award in front of the stunned crowd. Everyone, including the Peterson family of Hacienda Esmeralda, was happy for this humble, quiet and unassuming Civil Engineer who lives with his family in David.

Benjamin lost his father earlier in the year. As he began to speak to the crowd, he wanted to mention the rough year without his father’s presence, but it was too much for him and he stopped short, fighting back the tears of pride for his father. Only thanking the crowd of fellow coffee producers and his family before stepping off to the side to gently hug his wife. “Gently” hug his wife, because only two short days earlier he had also undergone an emergency appendectomy. An incredible evening was the perfect ending to a long week for Benjamin and his family.

Benjamin Osorio of Finca La Valentina won the Best of Panama 2011 by 1/2 of a point over Hacienda La Esmeralda. Hardly a crushing victory, but a win none-the-less.

NEXT STOP - GUATEMALA AND FINCA EL SOCORRO….

Look forward to updates in the next few days!

Warm Regards from Panama

Jeff Taylor

PTs Coffee Roasting Co.

Coffee Buyer and Co-Founder

When developing a strategy for our new mainline blend, a lot of discussion and trials took place. After a year of exploration of different blending styles, single origins as espressos, playing with parameters and percentages of extraction, and just tasting what else is out there, we wrapped our heads around all the different versions, ideas and possibilities of espresso. It was a fascinating exploration of what espresso has been, is, and could be.

Southpaw is a well rounded expression of much of what we have come to enjoy and require of a house espresso.  Much of the challenge in creating a “balanced” daily use espresso is achieving a complex and sweet flavor profile in a straight shot that will manage to have enough body to punch through in milk based beverages (the majority of drinks sold in the US).  In Southpaw we have accomplished this.  It has a sparkling tangerine acidity, juicy cherry sweetness, all grounded with rich milk chocolate and cocoa notes.  The texture is syrupy and dense, lending itself well to combining with milk, creating a malty milk chocolate flavor.

The official launch of Southpaw is Friday, February 18th at CoffeeFest Chicago.  If you are planning on attending the show, stop by booth # 718-720 for a shot!  For those of you not attending CoffeeFest, the first orders will be sent out on Monday the 21st.

CoffeeFest is a great chance to meet some of the people from PT’s.  Account Representatives David Amos, Robin Seitz, and Kasey Klimes will all be in attendance as well as PT’s owners Jeff Taylor and Fred Polzin.

We are searching for an energetic student that specializes in Marketing and/or Graphic Design.

This is a Part-Time or Full-time internship that has a flexible schedule to work around class schedules.  This is a unique opportunity to diversify your experience and credentials.  There is potential for future employment in 2012.

Responsibilities:

1) Research - Graphic and Marketing concepts and proposals.

2) Graphic Design - Marketing material design and ongoing development, Photoshop/image editing, image design for website usage, brand imaging, product imaging, and customer support.

3) Marketing Strategy - Managing current email databases for focused utilization and brainstorming new ideas to help build sales online and offline

4) Office/Administrative Assistance - Assist the office staff with handling file work, organization and shipping

5) Potential for international travel

This is an unpaid internship with real potential for growth opportunities and employment.  We have hired interns in the past.  Interested applicants can contact us by phone or email.

The internship is located at our roasting facility and office at 929 University Blvd., in the Forbes Industrial Park in Topeka, KS.  For more information regarding this opportunity contact Steven at 1-785-862-5282.

A printable application form can be found here.

The New Year is upon us and we thought it would be a great time for a review of the past years coffee’s, with an update of what’s to come in 2011.  Last year was an exciting year for us at PT’s Coffee Roasting Co..  We made new coffee discoveries, in Brazil and Guatemala, and received great reviews for coffees that have become favorites for many.  The New Year brings an new excitement of new-found coffee discoveries and fresh harvests. We’ll continue our outstanding relationships with the current Direct Trade Farms and develop a few new relationships that we hope will become just as rewarding.

The Year In Review - 2010

In January our classic offering, Moka-Java Organic Blend, received a 90-point review.  And that was just the beginning of what would become our all-new Organic Line of Coffees.  If you haven’t checked these coffees out yet, you’re missing some wonderful Single Origin Organic and Blended Organic coffees.

One of our goals last year came to fruition around mid-year when some of our blends took on a new look and others got new names.  The Moka-Java Organic Blend is now called “OLD 93″ in honor of our company founding February 3^rd, 1993.  Another popular blend, Kansas Sunrise, became an immediate hit with its new name – Farm Girl Blend.  And Rolling Thunder changed to Thunder Road.  Same great coffees, just some updated branding.

In March, another of our 2010 discoveries, Ethiopia Sidama – Ardi, received a 92-point review from Ken Davids of Coffee Review.  We also developed the Ardi as a Single Origin Espresso and Robin Seitz featured it in the Midwest Regional Barista Competition and United States Barista Competitions.

2010 was a good year for espresso as well.  Through dogged determination, experimentation and discovery, we launched Flying Monkey Espresso. With a flavor profile that is gently fruit-filled and an undercurrent of licorice and aromatic wood, Flying Monkey Espresso has become extremely popular in it’s first year. In addition to Flying Monkey, Jeff Taylor, co-founder and coffee buyer for PT’s, and Holly Bastin, staff Barista Trainer, developed our first Seasonal Espresso Offering - Don Roberto Espresso Reserve from Finca Las Mercedes, El Salvador. This blend features coffees from three different Micro-Lots on the same farm, Don Roberto Espresso Reserve was a huge hit and didn’t last as long as we originally hoped it might. Boasting of two Honeyed Micro-Lot coffees and one fully washed coffee, Don Roberto introduced an all-new flavor profile to our line-up of espresso blends.

It was a slow year for us on Coffee Review as we only scored four other coffees that received 90+ reviews, unfortunately, as we transition through harvest seasons, some of them are no longer available.  Panama Elida Natural received a 93 and Guatemala Finca El Socorro Maracaturra received a 92, both are still available.  Burundi Mwurire and Colombia Los Naranjos San Agustin received 90+ reviews, but are no longer available.

Last but not least, as we rounded out the year, a unique find, and the only Kona coffee we’ve purchased in a number of years from Hawaii, scored a 94-point review.  Hawaii Isla Kona Mauka was the result of three pickers, including our friend Miguel Meza, who was sent to one of the highest farms in Kona, near 3200 feet, and close to the town of Holualoa.  We paid a premium to the pickers for only the ripest cherries and to process this coffee just for us to provide for you during the holidays. The resulting cup is remarkable and worth the effort. There is still a very small amount of this coffee available, but you’ll want to order soon as it won’t last. Jeff is working to process some more of this coffee, but we don’t have an arrival date yet.

2011 New Year Offerings

With so many exciting things happening in 2010, we are really looking forward to a great 2011.  

Introducing our newest Direct Trade Farm - Guatemala El Socorro Bourbon Espresso. This is our January Single Origin Espresso offering.  Holly believes this is the most balanced Single Origin Espresso she has seen since our offering of Ethiopia Sidama Ardi as an Espresso last spring.  This espresso has notes of Bing Cherry, Clementine Orange, and Bittersweet Cocoa.

We are anticipating the arrival of another new offering from South America very soon.  Brazil - Pocos de Caldas - Yellow Bourbon – Pulped Natural.  This coffee is produced and blended from 3 small farms in the region of Mogiana.  Pocos de Caldas is a volcanic crater, and these farms are located around the rim of the crater.  This coffee almost elevated itself off of the cupping table and insisted we purchase it last week. Keep your eyes open for this one.

The year 2011 is shaping up to be monumental in terms of quality for PT’s, but the high price of coffee is going to be an issue. Demand for Specialty Coffee worldwide is at an all-time high. So the climatic weather conditions that caused the loss of untold amounts of coffee in growing regions of Colombia, Brazil and many other coffee origins couldn’t have come at a worse time.  With demand sky high and supply at all time lows, the price is already at a 15-year high on the New York “C” market. This is the commodity market that sets the base price for coffee.  So we are very sorry to tell you our prices too will be rising in the near future. We’re doing everything we can to hold the line of prices, but this market is out of our control and it’s going to affect everyone. You’ll see prices for coffee going up everywhere, not just for PT’s coffee.  Stick with us and we’ll make it through this market and continue to provide you with the best coffees the world has to offer.

Because as we are often heard to say: “Without the love, it’s just coffee!”

PTs Coffee Roasting Co. and the Gombe Coffee Project, along with travels to Burundi and El Salvador, are featured in the Fall 2009 TKBiz Magazine. Click through the pages and check out the “postcards from coffees origin.”

You are invited to join PT’s Coffee Roasting Co and Gizmo Pictures to celebrate The Gombe Coffee Project Video release!  Gizmo Picture’s David Kitchner traveled with PT’s Jeff Taylor on a coffee sourcing trip to Tanzania, documenting the lives and work of these hardworking farmers.  That night will be the first viewing of this incredible documentary!  Join us at 6:00 pm on Thursday, October 15th at the Blind Tiger Brewery for great food, coffee and discounted Java Porter!

During the peak of new harvest arrivals, it is difficult to choose between so many great new coffees.  We have heard the questions time and time again…  “Which coffee from Los Planes should I try?  Which Panamanian coffee should I try first?  How can I choose?”  To help alleviate this conundrum, we are creating a new Celebration of Harvest Box that will highlight our new harvests and help you choose.  Each of these boxes includes one 12oz bag of two of our new harvests.  This week’s Celebration of Harvest offering hails from the Salvador coffee harvest.

Celebration of Harvest Box - Finca Los Planes

You no longer have to choose between the two wonderful coffees from our Direct Trade partner at Finca Los Planes!  The Finca Los Planes Celebration of Harvest Box gives you the chance to try both coffees, one right after the other or you can have the chance to give them both as the ultimate coffee gift.  In this box we include one 12 oz bag of Finca Los Planes Pacamara variety and one 12 oz bag of Finca Los Planes Lote la Lagunita. Purchase the Finca Los Planes Celebration of Harvest Box here!

Celebration of Harvest Box - Cup of Excellence

With so many spectacular accolades attached to our coffees, such as Finca Kilimanjaro and Finca Las Mercedes’ 1st  Place Cup of Excellence finishes, it can be hard to choose which award winning coffee to purchase.  Therefore, we have bundled two 1st Place Cup of Excellence Award winners for the Cup of Excellence Celebration of Harvest Box.  You will enjoy one 12 oz bag of Finca Las Mercedes’ El Pepinal 1 and one 12 oz bag of Finca Kilimanjaro’s spectacular Kenyan variety coffee.  This is one coffee box that will be too good to give away; so buy two so you can give one to your closest friend!  Purchase the Cup of Excellence Celebration of Harvest Box here!

Beautiful Beloya Box

The naturally processed Ethiopian Beloyas have made a name for themselves in the world of specialty coffee, and you  can now purchase both selections, Beloya Selection 8 and Beloya Selection 1, in one beautiful box.   Both of these coffees are the quintessential representation of naturally processed Ethiopian Yergacheffes.  Selection 8 bursts with strawberry and blueberry goodness, and Selection 1 has a sweet lemony goodness with a hint of blueberry.  Purchase this beautiful Beloya package here!

We have a little confession to make. When we are searching for great coffee at origin, we don’t always just fly to the country, get off the airplane and follow our super-sensitive noses up the mountainside to the best coffee farm in the country. Don’t tell anyone, but oftentimes we have help. One of our best guides in sourcing great coffee is the Cup of Excellence program. If you are not familiar with this program, here is its story.

The Cup of Excellence began in 1999 out of a desire to help reward coffee farmers for producing exceptional coffees. A group of industry professionals decided that one of the best ways to do this was to hold a national competition that would bring in coffee cuppers from across the world to find the best coffees in that particular country. After the competition, the winning coffees would be sold to roasters all over the world at an Internet auction.

After holding the first couple of competitions in Brazil, the coffee world started to catch on to the fact that this competition was doing an incredible amount of good for everyone involved. It was helping impoverished coffee farmers receive a sustainable price for their coffee. It was helping roasters connect with farmers who truly cared about producing exceptional coffee. And it was helping consumers realize the huge potential of this small bean. Now the Cup of Excellence program has been running for 10 years and has spread to 9 different coffee producing countries.

This week we are celebrating the launch of two new 1st Place Cup of Excellence Award Winners from El Salvador. The first of these coffees is El Pepinal 1, a mircrolot from Finca Las Mercedes in El Salvador.

Finca Las Mercedes won 1^st place in the 2006 El Salvador Cup of Excellence with a record-breaking score of 94. Our relationship with the producers of El Pepinal 1, the Oritz family, began back in 2008. From their history with the Cup of Excellence, we knew they had great coffee, but it was not until we tasted it for ourselves that we realized how fortunate we were to roast and sell this spectacular coffee. Finca Las Mercedes is a very complex coffee. It has the distinct aroma of coriander seed and black currant. In the cup, it combines slight floral notes with a bright spiciness. Its effervescent acidity sparkles with notes of peach.

In addition to producing great coffee, Finca Las Mercedes has everything else that we look for in a Direct Trade farm. Obviously, the quality of their coffee is outstanding. They go to great lengths to insure that their coffee is as pure and clean as possible by processing the coffee on their farm. Their dedication to sustainable practices, both environmental and social, aligns well with our own commitment to sustainability. They do this by continually giving back to their community, constructing and supplying a school, providing food for a nursing home and supporting the local soccer team. PT’s Coffee has pitched in with their efforts to help the community by providing medicines for a local clinic and soccer balls for the local team.

The second coffee for this week’s celebration is a rock star in the world of specialty coffee. In 2003, Finca Kilimanjaro astounded the judges at the first El Salvador Cup of Excellence with its complex sweetness and exquisite aftertaste and mouthfeel. Aida Batlle, the producer of Finca Kilimanjaro, is growing a Kenyan variety in the volcanic highlands of El Salvador that is an absolute pleasure to drink.

Finca Kilimanjaro’s quality is a testament to the hard work and attention to detail of Aida Batlle and her workers. On visits to Finca Kilimanjaro, it is clear that she is intimately involved in every aspect of coffee production. She is not one cut corners or to skimp on quality. She also recognizes that imperative to producing quality coffee is paying her workers a sustainable wage. In fact, she pays her workers almost twice the normal wage.

Because of all of this hard work, this coffee knocks your socks off! Its aroma has exquisite floral and fruity notes that balance very well with its supple sweetness. It has a lingering aftertaste that is so clean and so smooth that it leaves you with a sense of wonder. We have a very limited supply of this great coffee, so buy a bag before it runs out! This coffee is in our Passport lineup, so be sure to check on the next roast date before ordering!

In addition to Finca Kilimanjaro, we will also receive a very small lot of Peaberry from Aida named Aida’s Grand Reserve. She sorts out only the best Peaberry from her three coffee farms to create this exquisite coffee. We will launch this coffee closer to the holiday season, so be sure to be on the lookout for it before it sells out!

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.

---

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.

………….

Jeff