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A Big Week for the Coffee Cultivar Nerd

Basically nobody should be surprised that I am a self-confessed cultivar nerd. I got turned on to cultivated varieties (cultivars for short) like almost everyone does- by reading a seed catalog and marveling at the myriad varieties of tomatoes. Over the years, my passion has grown- I did a little series on especially compelling food cultivars last year on this blog, and the year before I indulged both my cultivar and Star Wars enthusiasms with the quiz game “Coffee Variety or Star Wars Character?”. I am perhaps most well known in coffee for a short film we did while I was at Counter Culture on coffee varieties.

I mention all this only to underscore how happy I am this week. We passed a huge milestone as the largest shipment yet of plants for the World Coffee Research International Multi Location Variety Trial (IMLVT) left the U.S. to be planted at farms all over the world.

For a coffee cultivar geek, this is huge huge huge. Cultivar knowledge in the coffee industry- in other words, which varieties produce quality coffee under what conditions, which varieties are susceptible to disease in which climates, etc etc.- is largely what I would call ‘folk-knowledge’; i.e. things we learn from our colleagues and repeat to others. There has been some great research done by origin-country organizations, but these investigations are usually at the single-country level.There has never been a large scale, international, scientifically rigorous coffee variety trial- until now. These plants will grow and produce fruit in the various microclimates of the 60 farms in 19 countries where the trials will take place. A total of 35 varieties, including old-school traditional varieties like Mundo Nuovo and Catuai, famous-for-quality varieties like Geisha and SL-28, and new hybrids from Colombia and Nicaragua will be part of the study. Some of this research will be focused on the capacity of these various cultivars to produce quality coffee, along the lines of Michael Sheridan’s pioneering research in Colombia. However, we can go far beyond that: since the locations of the farms have been especially selected to reflect a variety of climates, altitudes, and temperatures, the trial gives us the opportunity to see which cultivars perform best in warmer conditions- a critical sustainability issue as the climate changes. Drought tolerance, another key sustainability issue as water supplies become less reliable, can also be evaluated.

It is very likely that some of our assumptions about coffee varieties- like, for example, which cultivars produce specific flavors- will be challenged. Others may be confirmed. We’ll undoubtedly learn some things we haven’t yet predicted. But, most importantly, for the first time ever we will have really good, broad, global data to base our research on. This is an essential, fundamental early step in quality-oriented coffee research, and it’s a major step forward. This collected data will be critical before taking the next step- higher quality, more climate-tolerant, better producing, disease-resistant coffee varieties, which have the flavor characteristics of the cultivars we know and love in coffee.

All this was made possible by the women, men, and companies who have collaborated on and supported World Coffee Research. If you’re reading this, you can participate too, by joining the effort.

davisrandsears

😍🎉🎊🙌🏻

petergiuliano

Pax Coffea.

I’m making a commitment this spring. It’s about communicating more, and better- trying to do my part to contribute to the ongoing conversation surrounding coffee. I get to do this in my work at the Specialty Coffee Association, but I feel that there’s so much I haven’t written yet, and so, inspired by friends and strangers, I’m putting some new effort into communicating here. In the spirit of this re-commitment, I’ve renamed the blog. Its original name was Dymaxion, a tribute to my hero R. Buckminster Fuller, who called his own personal journal his Dymaxion Chronofile. Fuller kept detailed, to-the-minute notes of his everyday activities on his Chronofile, and in that sense, my tribute failed to live up to its namesake. I’ve chosen the new name Pax Coffea for specific reasons, which i’d like to explain. It’s a fairly obvious reference to the Pax Romana, or “Roman Peace”, the period during which the Roman Empire’s domination of the Mediterranean led to a long, relatively conflict-free period. I’m fully aware of the gloomy overtones of the “peace” that comes from Imperial domination, but this contradiction is intentional: it’s meant to acknowledge coffee’s history as a tool of imperial- or at least colonial- expansion and domination. It’s important that we both acknowledge this dark history and its echoes in the present day, while we try to leverage coffee as an anti-colonialist and progressive force.

Echoes of the Roman Empire aside, pax coffea nevertheless means “coffee peace”, and it reflects my belief that coffee can be a force for peace in the world. And I don’t mean the hegemonic, grudging peace of the Pax Romana but a true, joyful, global peace. I realize this seems like a tremendous overreach for what is, for most people, a lowly, ordinary, commonplace beverage. But think of how much power is in the ordinary: it was largely the loose change collected by children and everyday citizens in the March of Dimes that funded the cure for polio. Ghandi’s use of salt as a symbolic, practical basis for civil disobedience triggered a movement in 1930s India. Everyday foods like sugar, corn, and rice have built empires, brought them down, and connected people in unexpected ways. I believe that coffee, thoughtfully applied, can be a force for good in this world, and my plan is to dedicate my blog to this idea.

Coffee as a force for peace starts in the smallest, simplest, most personal way: it makes people happy. The act of drinking coffee can be meditative and self-revealing: using the senses of the body to explore the flavors that are hidden, layer by layer, within it. It’s a simple thing, like eating a peach or smelling a flower, but who could argue that these moments of mindfulness and grounded sensibility don’t make us better, happier, and kinder? The multilayered sensory experience of smelling and tasting coffee is accompanied by a stimulant effect, clearing the mind at just the right time- mental mists part at the optimal moment to perceive, enjoy, and start to imagine.

But coffee isn’t limited to the personal. I began my life in coffee when I got a job as a barista in the late 1980s, and any barista will tell you the best part of their job is the happiness they get to dispense to people on a daily- even an hourly- basis. Most people come to coffee at a very fragile moment: that time between sleep and wakefulness. A barista is often the first person outside one’s family an individual might see in a day; at a time when that individual isn’t quite themselves yet. Coffee gives us the opportunity to perform an act of kindness, to create something warm and delicious and stimulating for another person. It’s a fundamentally human act, and in its simplicity can demonstrate affection, solidarity, sympathy, and love. Anyone who makes coffee for another person opens a door of communication, and sometimes this turns into a deeper relationship. I’ve been a counselor, an entertainer, a nurse, a conspirator and a referee from my place behind the coffee bar. Coffee’s special role in helping undergird social networks in a positive way gives those of us who work in coffee an opportunity to make a big difference in the lives of those within those networks.

Of course, this network isn’t limited to coffee drinkers. Coffee is the basis for a global network of trade relationships, including many between the developing world and the developed one. This trade is based in agriculture, and therefore has a powerful ecological dimension to accompany the network of farms and farmers who supply coffee to the world. Anyone who works in coffee is connected via this web of trade to coffee producers in Africa and Latin America, traders in the port cities all over the world, multinational financial and transportation companies, and thousands of craftspeople, entrepreneurs, scientists, bureaucrats, development workers, specialists and enthusiasts. Coffee cooperatives- agriculture-based organizations that deserve special mention when contemplating coffee as a source of good in the world- can form the basis for interpersonal, interfaith, cross-cultural relationships within a coffee community. Relationships across vast swaths of the web of coffee- between, say, baristas and producers- are possible and present opportunities for international understanding across borders and language barriers. Learning about coffee carries with it lessons in geography, language, culture, economics, agronomics, and ecology. I believe the more seriously we take this charge, the more opportunity we have to make a difference.

None of this is especially new thinking; I know many of my comrades in coffee are driven by these very same ideals. I find myself wondering, however, how much further we can push- really using our influence as coffee people to drive progress. Idealistic? of course. But nothing good ever happened without ideals. I hope to be a little controversial, a little provocative, with a lot of collaboration and celebration of others’ achievements. And I hope I can inform myself and others along the way. Most of all, I hope to update frequently. Let’s see how it goes.

A great peer and friend came from Wisconsin to Portland Oregon with this is hand. A perfect opportunity to start doing something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I want to keep an online journal of all the incredible coffees I taste from day to day. This box is the Case Study Series from Stone Creek Coffee Roasters. One coffee, from one farm, in three bags, processed three different ways so that they taste completely different. It's contents: -8 oz bag Guatemala washed Washed process means that after the coffee cherries are harvested the skin and fruit pulp are removed from the seeds we know as coffee beans and they are left out to dry until they reach an optimum moisture content. These coffees are often delicate, clean, and full of bright flavor. -8 oz bag Guatemala semi-washed Semi-wash also known as "honeyed" coffees have the skin removed with some of the fruit pulp still left on and are then put through a fermentation ad drying process. -8 oz bag Guatemala natural Natural process coffees have just the skins removed after harvest and are then left out to dry in raised beds exposed to the sun. Because of this sugars from the fruit pulp absorb into the beans. Natural coffee often surprise people when they taste like blueberries or other flavorful fruits. -a postcard in September these post cards that come in every box (pre stamped and addressed) will be sent to the San Sebastian farm in Guatemala. A family has been running this farm for many years. On top of that there are families living on the farm, working on the farm, having been a part of the community for over 50 years! In the next three weeks I will be sharing my adventure with these coffees. This adventure will be the blink of an eye compared to the incredible amount of work put into these coffees.

#stone creek coffee #specialty coffee #coffee #pour over #pour over coffee #chemex #hariov60 #aeropress #guatemala #wisconson #milwaukee #portland #oregon #pnw

Rwanda Gisenyi: Backstory

This is something i’m really excited about. Two months back i decided to start roasting large batches of coffee. I fiddled around with a small Probat doing 10 lb batches. while i’ve loved the previous coffees i’ve done, i haven’t had any special feelings about them. there was no connection. Coffees i’ve roasted prior to this where simply bought from a local green coffee shop with a focus on home roasting. upon purchase of the coffee i receive a small bit of information on whatever conditions are going to affect the final produced cup of coffee.

This offering from Rwanda has a story. A man i know named Matt sourced this coffee from Rwanda. This is his third year working with this estate through COOPAC. Even before Rwanda had been esteemed for its excellent quality (only to be muted by potato defect. an agricultural defect in the coffee caused by a combination of a unique stinkbug that bores into the coffee and a fungus that is only noticeable after roast) Matt has been bringing this coffee over to the states, Every years harvest grew better and better until we have here this 92 point coffee. Matts support made this farm flourishing!

The sad reality is even still these farmers aren’t getting paid enough. if every farm hand made U.S. minimum wage, the price of a cup of coffee would be incalculable.

For me, buying coffees like this and making them into something more than just brown beans we grind, brew, and drink is a matter of doing justice to the underpaid laborers working the make ends meet. what they do make is relatively enough, however i know i couldn’t be satisfied picking cherries working harder and more often than i do now only to make a fraction less weekly than i already do in a single day.

The photo you see is of the farm hands in Rwanda grading and sorting coffee. this process is long, boring, and requires a good sense of judgement and skill. perhaps more skill than preparing an espresso. I think of this picture every time i drink my coffee, and i can’t help but wish i paid more for it.

#coffee blog #specialty coffee #coffee roasters #barista #rwanda

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

my bed. every night. repeat until dead.

My Life as a Romantic

I think one of the most wonderful things about coffee people (in the field of specialty coffee most particularly) and coffee professionals, is that we are a community compiled of mostly romantics. Deep down at the very back of our mind we're reminded of that first life changing cup every time we accomplish that ideal extraction we're looking for. We've created special memories with our coffees and when we drink those coffees the second time around those warm and fuzzy memories we created rise back up and fill our lungs with new and familiar life. I suspect that every one of us has a fond recollection of that particular coffee that as first sip it seemed to be some other strange liquid pretending to be coffee. I've been lucky enough to see that monumental first sip more than once.

Let's create an imaginary, hypothetical, customer. Tom, is a bored early 20-something guy attempting to justify sitting somewhere and looking like he has no place to be. He passes a building he's always been curious about. Tom, suspects this is a coffee shop due to the abundance of cups and saucers nestling by the side of nearly every occupant in this ubiquitous building. However this space looks like none of the “central perk” scenes he's seen on re-runs of Friends. As the young wanderer finds his feet in front of the counter he's been waiting to reach impatiently, he's greeted with a gentle “hi, what can I get for you today?”. he suddenly finds there are no words on the menu to describe what he wants, and he see's no example of anything he's used to drinking at Starbucks, so he cannot simply respond “I want that” as he points to whatever looks good. A wood panel with text burned into it reads “coffee 3

espresso 3

macchiato 3.5

cappuccino 4

latte 4.5”

Tom forces confidence from under his gullet, “ i'll just have some coffee”. The barista quickly catches on, carries on with the transaction, and 3 minutes later Tom is approached by said barista with cup, saucer, and spoon in hand. This seemingly extravagant ordeal is placed in front of him as he hears the words “David Mancia, from Honduras”. No cream and sugar in sight Tom glances around and sips at the black cup of coffee as to not appear completely apathetic to the barista who brought it to him. And from there it begins. He's hooked. He just doesn't know it yet. It typically goes something like this:

Toms' first thought is that he's not drinking coffee. It doesn't taste like coffee. Is it sugar? Syrup? No. it's not the kind of sweetness from sugar. It tastes like fruit! Somehow more of a real sweetness than sugar. He takes another sip. Strawberries! Next not a sip, but a gulp. More strawberries! This time there is more though. Blueberries. And so many other flavors he can't put his finger on. What happens next is when makes him start to realize he can never go back to his usual White Mocha. He smiles, and he drinks. Tom simply sits there and enjoys his coffee. For the rest of the day when he finds a moment of solitude his mind goes back to that cup of coffee.

At one point, this was me. For me it was a macchiato. I remember taking that first sip. My mind was shattered, and my future forever altered. At the time I knew I loved coffee For caffeine. I thought it was pretty tasty. The fact that it was equally enjoyed both in solitude and with company drew me towards it, but this beverage was more than coffee! It was art! At that point onward coffee was my lifeblood. Being so incredibly awkward it was all I had to add some livelihood to my thought life. I've never understood how the presence of a delicious hot beverage somehow makes a person feel more human. We're already human, how can we be more so what we already are? How can a drink help make me 110% human? Well it can't actually do that. I think for a brief moment a special experience like a seemingly perfect cup of coffee can make us forget that we often think of ourselves as less than human.

Enjoyment is one of that many things that makes us unique as humanity. We all want to create something special, We want to share what we've created and we want to both enjoy doing it and watch people enjoy what we're sharing. Naturally us enjoying what we do will cause others to enjoy watching what we do. No matter how much I try to imagine farther, greater, and bigger things that seems to be my own personal heaven on earth.

Every day I have to remind myself. “create something! Even if you have no one to share and enjoy it with, create and enjoy doing it! Even if every member of your extended family wants a cup of coffee, and they're going to drown it with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and milk, create and enjoy doing it!”

#specialty coffee #scaa #latte art #coffee blog