Coffee Origins
Thanks for visiting! In this section, we share our experiences in the places where coffee is grown. Traveling to origin and learning about the environment and culture of coffee growing countries are vital parts of what we do. We value coffee as a medium for cultural exchange, and we hope you enjoy these accounts of what we have experienced and learned.
Back from the Road: Finca Pashapa
3-25-09
The journey continues! After crossing the border between Esquipulas, Guatemala, and Nueva Ocotepeque, Honduras, in a taxi that reeked of gasoline fumes and broke down twice (even the dull moments aren't entirely dull on these trips), Tim and I met up with Roberto Salazar, the man driving the success of the incomparable Finca Pashapa. Counter Culture's relationship with Finca Pashapa is one of our oldest—going on seven years!—and, as we drove to the farm, we reminisced with Roberto about how much both of our operations have grown and changed in the intervening years. Once known as Organic French Roast, we now recognize the Salazar family's coffee as Finca Pashapa, and we've never felt better about the always-sweet, silky-bodied, and balanced coffee the farm produces.
If you remember nothing else about Roberto from Finca Pashapa trip reports and coffee biographies, you probably remember that this farm has the most impressive worm composting system I have ever seen, and, in fact, that system is a major contributing factor to Pashapa's economic sustainability as well as environmental sustainability because it helps them to make all of the compost that their farm requires. All of it! That's amazing!
I find this so inspiring because organic agriculture requires, of course, that growers comply with rules about what kind of inputs (like fertilizers and herbicides) they can apply to their plants but also stipulates monitoring the health of the soil that they cultivate. Healthy soil (as well as healthy coffee plants) requires a mixture of nutrients and providing those nutrients organically tends to be more expensive for growers than applying synthetic fertilizers. Those higher costs are a major challenge for many certified organic farms as well as an obstacle for many sustainably-minded small farms considering certification.
When a farm like Finca Pashapa demonstrates that it is possible to manufacture all of the necessary fertilizers on the farm using materials found on the farm, my heart soars and I feel a renewed commitment to supporting our certified organic grower partners and further promoting organic agriculture with those partners not yet certified. Did I mention that Finca Pashapa also have some of the highest and most stable yields of coffee per hectare of any organic farm I have seen, anywhere? Double-amazing!
Finca Pashapa might seem too good to be true except that they came to this holistic approach and integrated farming system by way of multiple generations of chemical-fertilizer, conventional coffee farming. According to Roberto, the family's quest to become the model organic farmers they are today began little over a decade ago when they recognized that in milling coffee at their house without regard for the water and waste created in the process, they had become the biggest polluters in their town. The impact of their actions dawned on them, and they started looking for opportunities to improve, and there's something in the Salazar blood that drives them to grab hold of an idea and not let go until they've figured it out.
Their approach to quality began the same way, with a cupping class that initially made Roberto laugh before he tried it (Slurping? Spitting? Is this for real?), but he enjoyed it and decided that he wanted to be good at it. Since that first day 8 years ago, he has gone on to serve as a judge in Cup of Excellence competitions in Honduras, worked on establishing and promoting the variety of flavor profiles of Honduras's diverse-but-generally-undifferentiated coffee regions, and forged the first farmer-run lot-separation program with the co-operative that he works with in La Labor.
Tim and I had the chance to cup the year's first offerings from this per-producer lot-separation program, and we were thrilled by what we found. We have a treat in store for you all this year! And what is said treat? Well, dear readers, I plan to leave you in suspense knowing that Tim, Roasting Manager and head of Counter Culture Coffee quality control, will surely weigh in on the cupping results and what's in store for all of us. Stay tuned!
abrazos,
Kim Elena
Kim Elena
Back from the Road: El Salvador, Why I Love You So
3-23-09
In 2007 I visited Finca Mauritania while Aida was in her third year of transitioning to organic production and, while everything looked really good, it didn't look like it does now. Everything now seems just a little bit lusher, a little bit greener, a little bit more shaded, and just a little bit happier. It was a great thing to see, and Aida talked about how the transition to organic was very hard but that was just the beginning. Now, the challenge is to make it really work and to breathe new life into everything through the many things she continues to learn.
After visiting Finca Mauritania, it was a quick little drive up the side of Santa Ana volcano to visit Finca Kilimanjaro. From first glance, it was apparent that Aida had been very busy. Finca Kilimanjaro also looked better, as well, much better. Aida said that Kilimanjaro and Los Alpes (another one of her farms) had been even more challenging than Mauritania because of the higher altitude, and that there is still a long way to go, but overall she was excited by the progress. Oh, and as a huge, awesome side note: this year Counter Culture is going to be able to purchase coffee from Finca Kilimanjaro!!! If you remember it from 2 years ago, I am sure your mouth is watering already.
With the all the excitement over the farms and the great things Aida has been working on, I almost forgot to ask about Pasa and Pulp Natural. Before I left for El Salvador, Peter warned me that 2 weeks prior there had been some unseasonable rains that could potentially make Pasa not happen this year. And, sadly that was true. Just like tomatoes, if rain comes at the wrong time, the fruit can split, and if you leave it on the tree (like Aida does for Pasa) the fruit can rot. However, being super-creative, Aida decided that while Pasa wasn't going to be possible, she could do a Sundried Natural more akin to the process in Ethiopia … so, this year, we will have Pulp Natural processed coffee and a natural sundried Finca Mauritania. After seeing and talking about all those coffees, I couldn't wait for the next day when I would actually get to taste them.
So, onward to the tasting. At Las Cruces the next day, the Sundried Natural Finca Mauritania was absolutely delicious – full of creamy fruit and chocolate which I don't think anyone will be disappointed in. I tasted this year's Pulp Natural, as well – and I see espresso in its future. I also got to taste this years washed Finca Mauritania and Finca Kilimanjaro, which were both mind-blowing. And, to my surprise I also got to taste some of this years Cascara. For those of you that didn't get to try it this past year, Aida took the skin from the coffee cherry and dried it out to make a tea. This has been done traditionally in Yemen and Kenya but never have I heard of in El Salvador. The best part about it is that because of Aida's exemplary picking of the coffee to begin with, the tea is so much sweeter and juicier than any of versions I have tasted in the past. This year in particular, she has improved the process, and we are expecting some great Cascara.
If all that weren't enough, after the Cascara, it was time to taste this year's Los Luchadores. The last two years, we have bought our Los Luchadores Pacamara from a farm in Metapán, El Salvador, called Finca Buenos Aires. This year that particular farm wanted to submit their Pacamara into the Cup of Excellence, and while we were disappointed that we couldn't buy it for Los Luchadores we wish them luck in the competition. Anyway, from the cupping table of Pacamara coffees one stood out immediately. The coffee was floral, full of deep, dark plum, black cherry, prune, savory tomato, with a crisp brightness, and in the end turned out to have that signature syrupy body. After cupping, Aida asked which one I liked best, and I said without hesitation, “Finca Las Delicias.” To which she said “Oh! Perfect that is where we are going right now." I love instant gratification!! So, off we went. We started driving to Finca Las Delicias and I couldn't quite put my finger on it but everything seemed very familiar. It was driving me crazy and then Aida said, “This side of the volcano is really different.” So long story short and oddly enough, Finca Las Delicias is on the Santa Ana volcano … just on the other side than Finca Mauritania. I guess there is something about the microclimates around the volcano. 
When we arrived at the farm – after some rough roads that had clearly been affected by the eruption 2 years ago – I couldn't believe the view from the farm.
The farm was great, I got to see the section where most of the Pacamara is planted and a lot of pre-mill cherry sorting. I can say is it was really all awe-inspiring, and I can't wait for the next lot of Los Luchadores. Wow, what a day. What a four days!
Next: I was off to Guatemala to meet up with Kim Elena and onto Finca Pashapa.
-Tim
