by Jonah Katzeff, ETICO representative

The 2013 Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference was held in Boston. SCAA presents an opportunity for farmers, roasters, importers, educators, equipment makers, cafe owners, distributors, and non-profits to gather in one place and spend a few days together.

Want to come to SCAA next year?
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Part 3 in a series on brewing excellent coffee.

- By Jacob Long, Roasting & Quality Control Manager at Thanksgiving Coffee

Interested in brewing a great cup of coffee – quickly, and without much cleanup?
The Aerobie Aeropress may be for you. Aerobie is known for creating sports toys such as the Aerobie Flying ring, which when thrown, can fly farther than any other thrown object! The company is based in California and was founded by inventor and Stanford University Professor Alan Adler in 1984.

The Aeropress is hugely popular amongst specialty coffeehouses and Baristas, and there is even an Aeropress brewing competion held at the national and international level.

In the realm of hand brewing with so many methods to choose from, I believe the Aeropress is superior in the following ways:

1) Ease of use, allowing for a consistently great cup of coffee without having to pay a great deal of attention to detail as with the Hario or similar pour over methods.

2) Flavor; the Aeropress creates a really nice tasting, full bodied cup of coffee without the sediment of a French Press.

3) Portability; the Aeropress is great for travel as it is lightweight, durable and fits into an easy to transport carrying case.

4) Clean up is simple and fast.

Want your own Aeropress?
We sell them in our online store for $25.95

Time to brew!

Here is a simple recipe which will produce a beautiful cup of coffee in about 2 minutes.

1. Start with a medium-fine grind somewhere between the texture of granulated sugar and couscous.

2. Place filter in black filter cap and lock onto brew chamber, place over cup.

3. Bring water to boil and pour a few ounces through the filter-lined and capped brew chamber to rinse the paper filter and warm the sever below.

4. Let the water drop to 200°(about 2 minutes off boil). Empty water used to rinse filter and warm the server.

5. Fill the brew chamber to just below the “1″ mark with coffee.

6. Pour approximately 2 ounces of water onto the ground coffee in the brew chamber and start timer. This allows for de-gassing of the coffee which will result in a more ideal extraction.

7. Wait 30 seconds for the “bloom” to settle.

8. Fill the brew chamber with water to just above the “1″ mark, stir gently, place plunger and wait one minute.

9. Slowly plunge brew into cup.

10. Serve and enjoy!

Delicious Peace CD cover

This month, Smithsonian Folkways recordings is releasing a new album by the coffee farmers of the Mirembe Kawomera (Delicious Peace) Fair Trade cooperative in Mbale, Uganda, who we’ve purchased coffee from since 2005. The CD is titled: “Delicious Peace: coffee, music & interfaith harmony in Uganda.”

Village guitar groups and women’s choirs sing to stress the transformative impact of Fair Trade prices and to encourage their neighbors to join the coffee cooperative. Accompanied with xylophone, drums, and other traditional instruments, these farmers sing of the benefits of interfaith cooperation and, through music, teach new cooperative members how to produce great coffee.

J. J. Keki, the founder of the cooperative, says: “Use whatever you have to create peace! If you have music, use your music to create peace. For us, we have coffee. We are using coffee to bring peace to the world.”

–> Order the CD

–>Try some Delicious Peace coffee

Paul Katzeff

Back in 1980 I read in the coffee literature that a certain coffee variety known as Robusta had three times the Caffeine as Arabica varieties. Of course, I set my mind to thinking about putting them inside the chocolate covered coffee beans we were selling to people who preferred soda pop and candy to stay awake rather then drinking a cup of coffee. Students and Truckers were mostly the consumers who were buying them at the time. High caffeine was not my personal need and I was getting up there in age, ( in 1980 I was 42 ) and too much caffeine kept me up all night. But that was me. What about “them?”

I researched the issue of caffeine content in various varieties  of the coffee plant. I discovered the  high grown Arabica Variety had about 1 % caffeine by weight, and the low grown Robusta variety had about 3 %.. Hmm. I had an idea. A natural high caffeine coffee. There was nothing like that on the market other then “No Doze”, a high caffeine white little pill you could purchase over the counter for about $41,500 per pound. Granted, you got seven million little pills for the money invested, but in the short run, a high caffeine coffee that was naturally created by G_d, and tasted like coffee seemed a better choice.

At the time, the rap on Robusta was that it had a bad flavor profile. In 1980, I had been roasting coffee for 11 years, since 1969, and had never tasted a cup of Robusta. It lived up to its reputation: Leathery, woody, baggy, tobacco notes, and if you were lucky, some dark chocolate. But if you accepted the fact that it was like comparing Navel Oranges with Indian River Oranges (they are used for different purposes which evolved because of their different taste profiles), then you can start thinking about Robusta Coffees in a different way. And that is what I began to do.

I began by roasting Robusta dark, so that the flavor was primarily the roast color. A deep, rich, smoky and carbony flavor. I called our graphics guy, Chris Blum, and together we mapped out the idea for the label. I wanted it to be orange because I thought that was a “caution” color, like Cal Trans vests. Chris named it Pony Express and created the simple image that has stood the test of time for 33 years. During that time, Espresso entered the American consciousness and discussions turned to the use of Robusta in Espresso blends. Recently, a movement to include Robustas in the discussion of Specialty Coffee has created some real live polarization in the Trade. However, the quality of Robusta coffee has improved in giant steps since 1980.

Today, March 13, 2013, I tasted a Laos Robusta that was sent to me by the good people at Snake Bomb Coffee Company in Orlando, Florida. They sell coffee to raise funds for Land mine elimination and snake bite prevention in Laos. The coffee was roasted almost to a Vienna Roast. It was clean, the coffee flavors were balanced between cedar and oak. There was little acidity and no sweetness. This allowed a good amount of dark chocolate flavor to emerge. Ten percent added to our Upsetter Espresso Blend made a nice new espresso blend that was nothing like what we now offer.

Our Pony Express today is made from much higher quality beans than the ones we started with 33 years ago. With this increase in quality – perhaps it is time to begin roasting them a little lighter. Just remember to judge their taste differently than you would Arabica coffees. Look for the chocolate notes and do add cream and sugar if you choose – this coffee can stand up to adulteration better then any Arabica!

Pony Express

Smoky + carbony with notes of chocolate. High caffeine + a real kick in the pants.
$12.00

Two months ago, we helped to connect Molly Gore of the Bay Area Coffee Community with some of our partners at origin in Nicaragua. On her way back from coffee country, Molly wrote a beautiful letter back to our co-founder. We felt the post encapsulated many of the feelings that we have when we travel to origin, and so we asked if we could share her letter on our blog. Here it is, courtesy of Molly. Hope you enjoy!

Jan 28, 2013
Dear Paul,

Byron & Molly
photo courtesy Molly Gore, 2013

I'm writing you on my way out of Managua, lamenting leaving, and basking in an upwelling of inspiration. Rachel was a wonderful guide through coffee country. We carved our way into the mountains to Matagalpa, where I met Byron. Where I left my soul to steep. His vision is enrapturing, and kindred to a sensibility deep in my own heart. There is something about his farm that wraps you up, that feels important and prophetic. I'm still daydreaming of surrendering myself onto his land to work through the seasons. And then on to Jinotega. And Fatima! SOPPEXCCA! I'm so honored to have had the chance to speak with her. The more I ask about the mechanics of community development, about the roots of all these remarkable projects, the more it seems that she is at the bottom of the things I saw.

Before I came, I really had no idea how far SOPPEXCCA's impact reached into the community, or even what a cooperative's impact looked like.

SOPPEXCCA Beneficio
photo by Mischa Hedges, 2013

I've seen and heard about cooperative efforts failing when ideas come from the outside. And to see something different, SOPPEXCCA's model, that is so solidly and effectively empowering, makes me want to yell and preach. It swells my faith to see success this way, to see the kind of culture born from a model like this. I learned so much about what has to be done to make impact last. And what struck me, unexpected, was the positive impact that rippled into lives of those who were not even members. The entire community. The co-op holds up so much more than just itself, I was amazed. Oh! And! A gender committee! To see its effect trickle so readily into projects and relationships, that was amazing.

We stayed with Antonio and Norma at Los Alpes on their farm for a night. They took us to the school, the store, we traipsed through their land, the wet mill, the gravity pump. Saw the cherries at the end of harvest, the rust. I heard their stories. And ate a hell of a lot of plantains. Visited the SOPPEXCCA cafe, was led through a cupping, and toured the beneficio and heard stories from the women's workers' cooperative.

It's magic to see so much push behind their ideas, especially when machismo still runs so thick. They tell me how much they've changed, and their lives have changed, through capacitaciones and their own empowered movement.

Coffee Cherries in Nicaragua
photo by Mischa Hedges, 2013

I'm so moved by the integrity here. It runs deep. I'm not sure what I expected, and I know I only saw a fraction of this world, and a highly positive side, but feeling that the culture of a place can actually shift, that a population can be lifted, sustainably supported when you get it right, and feeling the visions of poets who are the guardians of the earth, reminds me of what's possible. The story is so abstract until you go. I told you I wanted to understand this relationship, between quality and empowerment. It's still incredible to me that I have the opportunity to learn this way. And, at the same time, I realize there's no other way.

I've seen the shape of the difference made on the ground, and I want to help. I'm working on the best way to proliferate all the information and heartchange that I've gleaned from this trip into the coffee community up here. Planning quite a bit of writing on it. I'm still working out my role in the scheme of things, I feel called as some kind of liaison, but I suppose this will take shape organically if it is supposed to as time goes on.

If anything, my responsibilities as a human are making themselves clearer, taking more concrete shape in a way.

Nicaraguan Coffee Country
photo by Mischa Hedges, 2013

I apologize if this was lengthy, but I wanted to extend a grand thank you for introducing me to all this. If anything, my responsibilities as a human are making themselves clearer, taking more concrete shape in a way. And the amount of things I don't know seems to grow larger the more I explore. But I suppose that's a good thing. Please let me know what more I can do to support these projects, and the work that's being done.

Thank you, from my heart. It's a beautiful thing to see the kind of world that Thanksgiving Coffee nurtures. Whenever it is I see you next, I hope it's soon. And always, thank you for the encouragement.

Cherry pulp and monkeys,

Molly

A guest post by Molly Gore, Bay Area Coffee Community
Molly handles PR + Marketing for the Bay Area Coffee Community and writes for the SFWeekly food blog.

Our latest arrival from origin is from the CENFROCAFE cooperative in Peru: Miel de Cajamarca. We offer this coffee as part of our single origin line, coffees that are sourced from a single cooperative or farmer, usually roasted lightly so the coffee’s unique characteristics can be appreciated.

About
High in the lush mountains of Northern Peru, the members of CENFROCAFE carefully pick ripe cherries, depulp, ferment, wash and dry their coffee on their small farms ranging in size from one to three acres. The result is a finely crafted coffee with hints of honey, papaya and milk chocolate, complimented by a soft, citric acidity.

Miel de Cajamarca, Peru

Delicate honey-toned sweetness, juicy citric acidity, subtle chocolate notes and papaya.
$14.00  Fair Trade & Organic

I remember the first full day of our initial trip to Uganda in October 2006 to produce a documentary about Mirembe Kawomera (“Delicious Peace”) Coffee Co-op. After three days of travel (one from NY to Europe, the second from there to Entebbe Airport, and the third by car up to the Mbale region), we enthusiastically showed up at the entrance of the coffee co-op’s clay-constructed storefront. We were eager to meet the legendary farmers who had formed a collective to bridge interfaith differences and generate economic development through a Fair Trade partnership with California-based buyer, roaster and seller Thanksgiving Coffee Company. Since we had been in touch via email for several months and the executive board had invited us to come, we were ready to break out the cameras following the handshakes and dive into work. Instead, the farmers asked that we sit down for a four-hour meeting that began with the question: “Why should we let you do this?”

At that moment, Curt looked at me and said, “You are the attorney. You can negotiate this. I’m going outside to take pictures. They may be the last ones we get!”

Now here it is, six and a half years after that meeting and three years after the premiere screening of Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean, and we are returning for our fifth trip, this time (as the last) with a group of friends in tow.  Dual goals motivate this journey: (1) adding an extra 15-20 minutes of footage for a one-hour TV release focused on co-op updates and the impact of climate change on the farmers’ crops, and (2) introducing more American consumers to the work of the Mirembe Kawomera co-op, helping to spread awareness about their truly delicious coffee and the myriad families whose lives orbit around it.

In many respects, the first aim parallels corporate video production shoots we do around the world for many clients. We have done our homework and know what we want to record, all the necessary equipment is packed and ready to go, a basic schedule is in place, and we have the contact information for folks who will be crucial data-providers.

This assignment, however, comes with advance bonuses. We already have established friendships with farmers in the co-op, who are excited to help with the new phase of the project by devoting days of time when we are present to providing assistance; they understand and appreciate our role in helping to publicize their messages. And – New Yorkers — you know that excited feeling of being with out-of-towners who arrive in New York for the first time and stand in transcendental wonderment upon their initial ascent out of the subway? We will have the opportunity to experience that feeling through the eyes of our trip participants, multiple-fold, beginning with the moment our friend/tourguide Samson drives our group out of the airport onto the streets of Entebbe.

In response to the farmers’ initial question in 2006, I promised a long-term, mutual partnership in which success would be shared. I promised we would produce, complete, and screen the documentary. I said this would be an important avenue to spread the message of the work they are doing to bridge interfaith differences and educate coffee consumers about the hard work of farmers dedicated to specialty coffee production so that purchasing decisions reflect that knowledge. I told them that a successful documentary will trigger interest in their coffee. I told them that we have always established long-term friendships with the people who are the subjects of documentaries we undertake – as we have often done with our corporate video production clients.

Almost seven years later, the documentary has screened (and continues to do so) at over 35 international film festivals with a TV debut in the near future. We have partnered with a distributor committed to creating local educational “Peace Party” screenings around the country. Countless people have watched the program and learned about the important work of the farmers – many are busy talking about it on social media avenues everyday. And we are going back again to visit our friends and continue to develop the informational base.

We’re grateful the farmers took a leap of faith with us and proud to have earned their trust. T-5 days until we are off to Uganda!

—————————————-

Purchase coffees from the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative and support their livelihoods:

by Scott Menzies,

My biggest fear, driving down the highway before dawn in a large delivery truck, is deer. The concept of roadkill – that wildlife should senselessly suffer and die because of automobiles – is abhorrent to me, not to mention dangerous. And, of course, dawn is one of the worst times for wildlife on the roads. Fortunately, what I have encountered has been safely on the side of the road, or crossed well before my arrival. Other drivers and wildlife haven't been so fortunate.

That said, dawn on Highway 1 along the Mendocino Coast is beautiful. I've been to a lot of places in my life – Nepal, Taiwan, Southeast Asia – and the Mendocino Coast is high on the list of the most stunning places I've been. Seeing the sun break on the Coast is a gift I get every time I do this run, which, as a cover driver is not always, helps keep me from taking it for granted. The days may be long and hard (especially for someone who is subbing), but the “office” is unreal. I feel very fortunate to have the chance to deliver along such a beautiful region.

As the sun rises, I'm always assured of seeing the ridiculous view at Cuffy's Cove, greeting me just around the bend from the Catholic cemetery before I reach the little town of Elk (also called Greenwood). Its full splendor is only really visible when you're coming from the north. Unfortunately, cruising south to get to my first delivery on time makes it hard to feel I can justify stopping on the tiny pull-off to snap a shot to share with you, though I would certainly have the view to myself if I did so.

Later in the day there are often a few cars pulled off, folks gawking at something that's just hard to describe. One of my colleagues told me it often catches people off guard, causing them to come to a screeching halt on the side of the road to take it in. It really is that beautiful.

The South Coast deliveries span from The Sea Ranch on the northern Sonoma County coast to Albion, a few miles south of Mendocino Village. The first deliveries are to the two, interestingly-facing, supermarkets in Gualala (virtually across the street from each other): Gualala Super and Surf Super. I'll let you guess which is on the ocean side of Highway 1. Gualala, derived from the original Pomo Native American descriptor for the area, and pronounced “Walala” or “Gwalala” depending on who you talk to, sits at the southernmost part of the Mendocino Coast. After stocking the fixtures at the two supermarkets and bouncing down to The Sea Ranch in Sonoma County, the deliveries are all on the northbound trip back toward our Noyo Harbor plant in Fort Bragg.

Driving north, by far the most interesting building I deliver to on this route is St. Orre's, with its “unique structures that honor the romantic Russian heritage of the area,” according to their website. If you go up on the little hill just off the parking lot, you will see the grave of Charles the cat, “The King of the Meadow”, who passed away at the ripe old age of 23 a few months back. I was bummed that I never got the chance to meet a feline who was born in 1989, as when I first started delivering there, Charles was still around. Alas, I waited too long ask to ask how I could visit him, and Charles decided that he was done with this plane. By the time I delivered again, I could only meet him at his memorial. I love cats.

The rest of the day takes me through Anchor Bay and up through Point Arena, where we recently installed a new coffee fixture in their local member-owned co-op, Point Arena Market & Café. A trip down to Pier Chowderhouse and the Wharfmaster's Inn affords me the opportunity to see up close Point Arena's impressive cliffs. It's hard to imagine the old wooden chutes that use to exist at each and every one of these ports to load logs onto ships during the period of timber extraction that originally brought these places into existence. I understand that the job of receiving the logs on the ship-end was particularly dangerous, and many a worker was killed for being unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of an errant old-growth redwood log.

Of course, nowadays, most of these places rely on tourism to function, and, well, there's certainly good reason for it. In places like The Sea Ranch or Irish Beach you can find vacation rental houses, for those who need a getaway from their everyday lives. I remember, well before moving to Fort Bragg in late 2011, spending time with my parents at a house in Irish Beach, visiting the shops in Elk and stopping at S&B Market in Manchester for supplies, which, nowadays, is notable as my last market fixture delivery for the day.

To think back to the wonder I felt being on the Coast with my parents as a visitor to now, being a resident (but still full of wonder), makes each delivery down there a trip partially of nostalgia. My Dad's not around anymore, and as I wind along the hills, coves, and cliffs - in a Ford van not unlike one my father had when I was younger - I think about how happy he'd be about the new life I have living in Fort Bragg and being a TCC employee who periodically gets to deliver the Mendocino South Coast.

In Early February, 12 Thanksgiving Coffee staff, partners and friends traveled to Nicaragua to meet farmers and cooperatives, start new sustainability projects and select the best coffees for 2013.

We visited the cooperatives and farmers that we buy coffee from, picked coffee on a small farm, tried our hands at turning coffee on the drying patios, learned about many exciting sustainability projects and cupped some excellent coffees. In every encounter with our partners in Nicaragua, we participated in heartening conversations about coffee and sustainability, built and strengthened relationships, learned a tremendous amount about coffee and ourselves, and saw a glimpse of the future of coffee.

Each of us is looking forward to the next opportunity we have to connect with our friends in Nicaragua, and to sharing our stories here at home over an excellent cup of Nicaraguan coffee. As our partners at Six Degrees Coffee say, “Coffee Connects Us.” After this year’s trip to Nicaragua, we feel even more deeply connected to the people and places where our coffees are sourced from.
—> See more photos from our trip.

Many of our blends include beans from Nicaragua…here are a few that feature 90% or more Nicaraguan coffee:

- By Paul Katzeff, Co-Founder of Thanksgiving Coffee

The year was 1994, the place was Washington DC, the event was the first Coffee Sustainability Conference; the host was The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.  The issue that brought 150 environmental activists and coffee business owners together was the fact that the new practice of growing coffee in the sun, which was begun in the early 70’s, had been discovered to be the cause of the disappearance of 60% of North America’s migratory songbirds. When you cut down forests to expose the land to sun, you remove the homes and habitat of birds that spend their winters in the southern hemisphere, vacationing in the warm climate, in wait for the Northern Spring to begin their migration back home.

I had come to D.C. “armed” with a Keynote Address that was more of a challenge then a speech. It was titled “Beyond Organic.” I had been frustrated with the way the industry was developing and promoting organic coffee. We at TCC had been importing and selling Certified Organic coffee since 1990 but demand was slow to develop because “organic” was a health issue in America, and who wants to think about health issues when you begin your day with a cup of Joe.  I saw “organic “ as a much bigger issue and so did the people at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC). They saw sun grown coffee as the way toward an environmental disaster being created by the removal of habitat needed for birds, monkeys and all sorts of forest canopy dwellers. The Conference was called to expose this problem and to stop the practice of cutting down forests to grow coffee in the sun.

Why coffee, a shade-loving evergreen tree, which was shade grown for 500 years was now being grown in the sun is a conspiracy story that involves The World Bank, national governments, chemical companies, the oil industry, international timber companies, the greed of Plantation owners and the hope of getting out of poverty by small scale coffee farmers. It is an interesting story about the early use of oil based chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides on coffee farms, and the US furniture and housing industry’s need for the hardwoods coming out of the virgin forests of Central and South America. (A story for another time).

IMAGE: Coffee Buyers Value Chart – 1994

This Sustainable Coffee Conference became a turning point for the industry. I introduced a TCC brochure that included our “Coffee Buyers Value Chart” which created a point system for buying and identifying sustainable coffee.

I challenged the attendees to think about Sustainability as more then “organic” and this set in motion the next evolution in coffee cultivation, and subsequently, the marketing of “shade grown” coffee as an essential to saving migratory songbirds.

Attending the conference was the Executive Director of The American Birding Association who, like me, was an Alumnus of Cornell University School of Agriculture. He approached me with the idea of creating a shade grown coffee package to both educate bird lovers about buying only shade grown coffee (yet to be found on the shelves), and also, to raise funds for his organization, The American Birding Association. After a handshake and three months of graphic design by Chris Blum, Songbird Coffee was launched.

In the fall of 1994 the world of coffee changed with the Songbird Coffee introduction. Coffee became a focus for America’s 73 million backyard bird lovers, the 1,000 Bird Business’ like Wild Birds Unlimited, and the 2 billion dollar bird food industry. Thanksgiving Coffee Company had used birds and shade to move organic coffee away from a health discussion and into an environmental discussion with Habitat preservation as the mission for buyers of shade grown coffee.

We have been selling Songbird Coffees for 19 years. By 2010 Songbird sales had raised $142,000 for ABA’s Birders Exchange, which purchases and donates scientific equipment to ornithologists in poor countries so they can study and preserve bird habitat in their countries to the south.

Try Some »» Song Bird Coffee

After 20 years, it is time to reintroduce Songbird Coffees to this generation of bird lovers. Lets make our 40^th year the year we put bird friendly coffee and the forest canopy it comes from into the climate change discussion.