Coffee Origins

1-15-09

 

Long overdue, I am finally putting my notes down to paper from my trip back in June 2008 to Colombia. Just in time because the 2008/2009 La Golondrina recently arrived in our warehouse. It is hard to imagine that I was in Colombia just over six months ago helping to work out details for this year's La Golondrina, and six months later the fruits of what we worked on have now just become a reality. Talk about having to think ahead. Before I go into details of my trip back in June, I feel a little back-story is in order.

 

For three years, we have been working very hard with the producers of La Golondrina, always with the goal to source the best coffee we can in quality and sustainability. This means the coffee has to taste amazing first and foremost. The producers also need to believe in farming as stewardship of the land and in Counter Culture as a long term partner. Three years ago, when we first heard of producers in Colombia who were dedicated to quality, certified organic (a rarity in Colombia), and working with an amazing exporter, we knew this was going to be revolutionary. There was only one catch: the first year we were only able to purchase 10 percent of what we wanted to buy from the organic producers of La Golondrina. While this was a setback, we supported the farms by buying all we could and started talking about the next year. In the time between the first and second year, the producers worked on getting more farmers involved and worked on many projects to improve quality. And, it worked. Last year was better than the first, and we were able to buy almost 3 times what we had the year before. However, it was still much less than we were hoping for. Again we started planning for the 2008/2009 harvest, and again the producers worked even harder to get more farmers involved and to improve quality. This brings the story to about June 2008, when I arrived in Popayan, Colombia.

 

For a long time Director of Coffee and co-owner Peter Giuliano has been telling these stories of many days travel, 10-hour car rides, and driving on the side of a cliff to get to the farms of many of the producers we work with. So I almost feel left out when a less-than-4 hour flight to Bogota, another quick 45 minute flight, and stroll through the smallest airport I had ever seen, placed me in the heart of the coffee town Popayan.

 

Driving through the streets of Popayan with Giancarlo Ghiretti, one of the founders of Virmax – our exporting partners in Colombia – we started making our way to their warehouse and cupping lab. Looking down the streets as we drove through Popayan it is hard not to notice all the stark white gorgeous buildings. It is also hard not to notice there are no streetlights downtown directing the chaos of motorcycles, taxis, cars, vendors, and bicycles. At one time I counted 7 motorcycles driving all parallel to each other down a winding tiny road. From that very first drive I knew I was going to like this city.

 

When Giarcarlo and I arrived at Virmax we were greeted by Leonardo Henao, who oversees the lab and warehouse for the coffee being received from producers in Popayan, and Diego Bustos, the lead cupper. I knew a lot about how Virmax worked before I came here, but seeing it is whole different story. Giancarlo walked me around and started to take me through the process of what they do and how it all works. He showed me the storage room with hundreds of bags of coffee – stacked almost to the ceiling – every bag catalogued with different information. Once I finished admiring the many coffee bags, he showed me the cupping room – equipped with sample roasters, moisture meters, and, of course, tons of glasses and spoons to slurp coffee all day. Then I was taken step by step through a day's work – literally.

 

Producers start arriving pretty early in the morning, bringing their coffee still in parchment, by means of car, truck, and bus – whatever way they can. (Fridays actually tend to be the busiest due to better public transportation.) Once the coffee is brought to Virmax it is weighed, checked for moisture, screened, sorted for defects, and then meticulously sample roasted. Once it is roasted, generally within an hour or two it is set up to be tasted along with the all the other coffees that were submitted that morning. This is what I was waiting for: tasting coffee. Diego, Giancarlo, and I went through more than 15 coffees that were submitted that morning and began to rate them. Right from the start I knew some of them were going to be spectacular, one of them I will talk about in a particular. At the end of the cupping, Diego and I compared notes and gave the coffees a score. The ones that were good – scoring above an 86 on a scale of 0-100 – were accepted and would become part of La Golondrina, or if they were from another producer group would become part of someone else's lot. If the coffee was very good – scoring above an 88 – again, they were accepted and were noted to be paid a premium. If the coffee was outstanding – scoring above a 92 – these are lots that would become potential microlots and paid a very, very high premium. During this time it is important to note that the producers that brought in the coffee have an opportunity to taste the coffee alongside Diego, Giancarlo, and myself and talk about it so there are no misconceptions about the score the coffee was given. After the tasting, all the notes are put into a database and the farmers are given the information on their coffee. Based on that information, money is transferred that day often times in cash right there on the spot to the producer. Within a few hours time, coffee was brought in, quality checked in many different facets, tasted, and then paid premiums well over the market price … all right there, that day. For me, this was a truly remarkable system, and they were gracious enough to let me be a part of it.

 

On my third day in Popayan, after two days of cupping, sorting, and roasting, I was picked up by Liliana Pabón, and we headed to see some of the producers of La Golondrina. Before I talk about going to the farms, this would be a good time to talk about that spectacular coffee I mentioned above. It turns out that coffee is from none other than a producer named Nelson Melo, and as you probably guessed, his wife was the one showing me around the farms. Nelson and Liliana are not only producers of amazing coffee from their farm Las Acacias, but Nelson is the President of the group of producers we work with, and Liliana is very active in helping maintain organic certification and meeting any other needs the farms may have. Before I even left North Carolina, Peter and Producer Relations & Sustainability Manager Kim Elena Bullock both talked about Nelson and Liliana as having an unstoppable drive for producing and helping to produce great coffee, and I was about to experience that first hand. Liliana was happy to show me around, but she also had a lot of work to do, so I was about to get a whirlwind farm tour.

 

Within two hours I was able to visit five farms, where Liliana was asking other producers how well underway the harvest was and if they were having any issues this year. During that time, I was getting an overview of some of the improvements from the year before. One of the major improvements was that every farmer in La Golondrina received a small grant to build new drying facilities for their coffee. Before, the farmers were drying their coffee on cement patios, which is good for quality but not ideal because in Colombia it often rains during the harvest. What would happen is that the producers would be picking coffee when all of a sudden it would begin to rain, and they would have to run and clear the patio of any coffee that was drying. Now, every farmer has covered raised beds, so they no longer have to worry about rain, and the quality of drying is better, as well.

 

Besides the great drying racks, many producers including the famous Hipolito Pacheco (pictured at left) – who you may recognize from our Counter Culture Direct Trade pamphlet – and a great farmer named Jesus Fernandez talked about their plans for the future and expanding. On both of their farms not only had they really committed to better quality practices over the last year, but they believed in what they were doing so much that both had planted hundreds of new coffee trees.

 

Every farm I had to the chance to visit was truly beautiful, well-managed, and seemed to have infinite potential. I was sad to have to leave the farms but I knew there was more coffee to taste, and I only had one more day in Popayan, so it was back to the cupping lab for me.

 

When we got back to lab we had 12 more coffees to taste without knowing what they were, and little did I know this was going to be one of the most important cuppings I would do my entire time there. We started smelling the fragrance of the coffees, evaluating the aroma, and then cupping around and around the table until we had slurped all the coffees till they were cold. Three of the 12 coffees proved to be some of the best I had tasted all week, making me very excited and anxious to see what they were. The first coffee of the three I really like was citrusy with a good body, and was revealed as a coffee from northeast of Popayan in Canoas. The second coffee tasted slightly fruity with notes of cocoa was from La Plata in Huila. My favorite on the table however, tasted like, honey, peach, and mild citrus, with notes of caramel and cocoa, and just so happened to be revealed as being from Popayan. And in particular a small compiled lot from the producers of La Golondrina!! This moment really made the trip for me, and showcased all the hard work that the producers have been putting in. After one more day of tasting great La Golondrina coffees, I was back on a plane to North Carolina but with a whole new understanding of La Golondrina and the producers who make it possible.

 

Once back, and armed with what I learned and tasted in Colombia, the Counter Culture coffee department came to the conclusion that, based upon the last three years of quality, the commitment to being stewards of the land, and with the right leadership in Nelson Melo and Liliana Pabón, we would commit to buying coffee just from the organic producers in Popayan this year!

 

And a side note: during these last five months the organic producers came through 100 percent this year, producing insanely good quality, but not only that, we were able to purchase for the first time all the coffee we wanted for 2008/2009!

 

-Tim

12-15-08

 

I have never felt such love for an airport as I felt upon setting foot in Managua Thursday morning after our plane spent NINE HOURS on the tarmac between the gate and the runway in Houston, TX, caught in a the earliest snowstorm the city has seen since 1944. Thankfully, no one faked a heart condition to get off the plane or attacked a flight attendant over peanuts, and we arrived in one very relieved piece. I was tired and achy, but I was also excited to be back in Nicaragua and eager to get to Matagalpa, so I grabbed my backpack, walked out to the highway, and caught the first north-bound bus that passed. Giff Laube, the manager of Finca Esperanza Verde, met me in town and immediately started to fill me in on what's been going on with our grower partners here in Matagalpa.

 

As some of you know from personal experience visiting this group of coffee farmers over the years, they have struggled with issues that range from the viability of organic agriculture to their membership to the payments received – or more specifically, not received – from the co-op that exports their coffee. By January 2008, they had reached a point of no return in their frustration over these payments and approached Counter Culture, their buyer of five years, about selling coffee to us through some other means than co-op.

 

[Note: the use of the term "co-op" can be confusing because in a system like this one, there are various tiers of co-op that build upon one another. For the purposes of explanation, when I use the term, I will be referring to the export co-op, which is organized for the purpose of marketing and exporting the coffee of many small farmer co-ops, including the one from which Counter Culture Coffee has purchased coffee for our Café San Ramón for the past five years.]

 

While we understood their frustrations and wanted to support their decision, we felt hesitant to encourage them to leave the co-op because we knew that doing so would require a lot of work by every member, unity among them, and trust in their buyer. We discussed the actions that they would have to undertake over the course of the year. They felt confident that they could do it, so we promised to support them along the way and to see how we could make the new arrangement work for us, as well as for them.

 

Now, it's December. The harvest is in full swing and 11 of the growers, plus Finca Esperanza Verde, have done the legwork necessary to sell coffee to Counter Culture through a system that we all hope will lead to more transparency in the chain, better quality in the cup and more money paid to the growers. Giff and Javier Martinez, one of the founders of the co-op's organic program, are the architects of the new system, and they have put a ton of time and energy into keeping the group on track this year. Seriously, none of this could have happened without their leadership. So, as soon as they requested that Counter Culture visit before the end of 2008 to discuss some of the challenges they're facing, I was itching to talk things over in person. Since I have been here, I have visited a few farms and cupped early coffee samples from some of the growers at the mill, but the thrust of the trip is different from most of my origin trips in that I really came here to sit down and, as Giff says, "talk turkey." What is the group's plan for organic certification? How much will it cost? What are their costs, and how can we make sure that more money reaches them this year than in years past? Where is their financing coming from?

 

 

After an initial group meeting, coordination (between Counter Culture Coffee in Nicaragua, the mill in Nicaragua, Counter Culture stateside, and the importing company stateside – go team!) some strategizing and a second group meeting this morning, things look good. We've overcome many obstacles in securing access to credit for the farmers, reestablishing Counter Culture Coffee's coffee quality standards, and setting prices that will deliver more money to the farmers than ever before. It feels good, and I am excited to be returning here soon – in less than a month, in fact – to see how things are going. This is a big step for a group of farmers who describe themselves as poor and marginalized, and I am both proud of them and proud that Counter Culture is a part of it. Our mutual dedication to seeing if this new model works, and helping to make it work, is a great example of what it means to have real relationships with coffee growers. In order for a long-term relationship to work, both parties must allow for change, assess the ups and downs of prior years, and support each other through challenges. I believe that at the end of this year, our relationship with the growers of Café San Ramón will be stronger than ever and the coffee will taste better than ever, as well, which is inspiring!

 

Finally, in deference to the season, Felices Fiestas! (Happy Holidays!) It feels funny to hear American Christmas carols on the radio in tropical Nicaragua, but, then again, North Carolina is rarely a winter wonderland around this time of year. Not to mention, I love Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You," regardless of the season. I don't want a lot for Christmas …

 

abrazos,
Kim Elena

 

P.S. The first photo shows the dry mill, Beneficio La Pita, where the growers are tendering their coffee this year; the second is Javier and the third is Carmen, who is the head cupper at La Pita. She has worked with Counter Culture coffees since the beginning and has great affection for us – note the apron – and I have enormous respect for her as a person and as one of the best cuppers in Nicaragua! We are so lucky to work with such great people every step of the way.