For many years the most expensive prices paid for coffee has been a rare coffee found in Panama.  The record for this Panamanian coffee was set in 2007 when an auction fetched over $150 USD / lb (Green) for coffee grown at Esmeralda Estate using the Geisha Varietal.    Since this time, it is not rare for people to pay 10-20 times the regular asking price for this rare coffee.  In a café setting it is no different.   To get a taste of this coffee, you should expect to pay $10-12 per cup.  Is it worth it?  I think so.

So what is with this coffee and what makes it so unique?  I wanted to know as well, so the purpose of going to Panama was to begin to learn about this varietal and appreciate what it brings to the cupping tables.This very rare varietal (Type of coffee tree/cherry) is called a Geisha and was originally found in Panama over 40 years ago, but is said to have originally come from Ethiopia in the 1930’s, traveling through Africa, into Costa Rica and finally arriving into Panama in the 1960’s.   In the past 4-5 years we have begun seeing more countries in Central & South America now planting Geisha trying to see if they to can grow this coffee, and be rewarded with the same pricing.  So far this year I’ve seen Colombia and Costa Rica successfully harvest this varietal and receive upward of $50 USD / lb (Green).

When speaking with Jose David licensed Q Grader & owner of Mama Cata and the Garrido Estates, he tells me about a time when his father first began planting coffee trees.  He remembers his dad telling him how he went to buy coffee trees but the cooperative was almost sold out.  The only trees left were these tiny ugly trees called Geisha, he didn’t want them, but it was that or nothing.

He soon found out that there are many issues with the Geishas.  For starters they are extremely slow at growing and will usually take 7 years before they start-producing fruit (compared to 3-5 years).  Once producing the coffee cherry’s you will find that they yield around 75% less cherry then other coffee varietals.  In order to get these coffee trees producing fruit year after year, you will need to feed them twice as often with fertilizers (6-7 times per year compared to 3-4 times).  On top of the low yielding, slow growing and very hungry trees, you will find out that they are very susceptible to insect damage and diseases.

So why in the world would a coffee farmer continue to grow Geisha?  Funny enough, Jose David’s father decided to keep them primarily because they were beautiful looking trees.  He would have felt bad about cutting them down.   It wasn’t until many years later, once starting to cup coffees from trees, instead of blending them all together, did they realize that what was growing was not only unique, but outstanding in the cup.

To this day, many of these trees still exist and are still producing fruit.   Many things have changed since Jose David began working the farms.  Today they pick coffee and keep that coffee separate on EVERY Geisha coffee tree.  Each are marked for cup quality and characteristics.  Each day’s pickings are dried and processed on their own, with a GPS Settings attached to each lot for complete tractability/traceability. What they have begun to realize is that Geisha’s are not all the same.  Even neighboring trees can have very different cup profiles, and often do not have a “True Geisha Cup Profile”.   In some cases they have found that trees are picking up flavors of neighboring trees, like orange and lemon trees.  Due to this, wind barrier trees, or “flavor blockers” have been planted to protect the Geisha’s.

Elevation plays a large part in producing the most desirable cup characteristics in Geisha.   We found that lower elevations of 1500 meters gave a very sweet cup and also found the acidity in Geisha grown at 1800+ meters produced an acidity which was hard to tame (Lemon & Orange Zest).

Jose David doesn’t stop here.  He has shown me the evidence on his cupping table what his constant innovation has done.  Jose David is always working with different processing methods like Honey Prep or full Natural coffees, but he is the first one that I have seen to do the “Cracker Jack” process or “Half Natural” (TBD).  This involves saving the skin of the cherry after de-pulping, and re-mixing this into the drying coffee that has been Honey Prepped.  Crazy!   Next up for him is trying a wet hulled process, which is common in Sumatra.

It is for these reasons that Mama Cata Estate has become a name known for some of the highest scoring lots in the world.   They are often scored in the mid to high 90’s and are often in the top lots in the Best of Panama auctions.   It is also for these reasons that these very rare and unique Geisha profiles are fetching the prices that they do.  They deserve it.

To my amazement and delight, our trip started visiting the new offices of Exclusive Coffees.  They moved into a much larger facility with a state of the art cupping lab.  As always the coffees being cupped at Exclusive are roasted to perfection (which is extremely rare when visiting farms/labs at origin) and the selection of coffees for the most part where shining stars on the table.  Costa Rica has many great growing regions, and now has many first class micro-mills in each of these regions.  To keep our palates focused, we only cupped coffees from Tarrazu and the West Valley.  Aside from the cupping facility, Exclusive Coffees has installed their own Dry Mill to assist in the grading, separation and cleaning of the micro-lots being produced by the micro-mills they work with (approximately 100 micro-mills).

It’s no secret that the current pricing in the coffee market is almost at an all time high.  We’ve seen prices reach $3.00/lb at the New York Commodity Markets this year, the second highest since February 1997.   A weak US Dollar, increased demand for high quality Arabica coffees, global shortages of green coffee due to 25-35% shortfalls of production in most of Central & South America, coupled higher production costs due to costs of labor, oil, transportation costs as well as increases in fertilization are all are all factors which are driving prices up, with no real end in sight.

With these higher prices going to the farmers, what we noticed when touring the farms and micro-mills is how many of these famers have re-invested into the infrastructure of their wet mills.   Along with this, many farms have begun re-planting coffee trees, increasing the amount of fertilizer and making plans for increased production in the years to come.  What we see them doing is INVESTING INTO THE FUTURE OF QUALITY COFFEE & PRODUCTION.  This is huge!  This is something we also noticed in Colombia as well.  Looking 2-3 years out, we can see a lot more production to keep up with the increased demand, which continues to grow every year.

This unfortunately wasn’t the case at every farm/mill we went to.  Sadly, Rio Jorco was one of the mills that disappointed us this year.  I wont to get into why on this blog post, but what I will just say is that we are not going to continue with this relationship this year.  We will re-look at them again, but they need to see some significant improvements…

What is exciting is what we decided to come back with.  Our first 25 bag micro-lot  (Lot#37) of coffee is going to be from the farm San Pablo & La Cabana Micro-Mill.  It is located in a micro region of Leon Cortes of the Tarrazu Valley.   The coffee producer, Javier Meza, grows his 100% Caturra coffee at 1550 meters (5100 feet).  Only 3 people work at this mill and produce 250 sacks of coffee a year (38,000-42,000 lbs / year).  The lot we purchased is fully washed and sundried on raised African beds.  Javier takes great care in slow drying his coffee in hopes of achieving an above average consistency of moisture content and density of green beans.

The second 45 bag micro-lot (Lot #25-01) of coffee is produced by Miguel Rojas and processed at the award winning Helsar Micro-Mill in the Naranjo micro region of the West Valley.  This 100% Caturra lot of coffee was grown at a staggering altitude of 1700 meters (5600 feet).   This Lot is also fully washed & sun dried.

This gives Fratello’s clients two micro-lots of Costa Rican coffee to choose from that are both high altitude grown 100% Caturra, fully washed and sun dried.  You will need to try them both to taste the differences a micro-region makes in cup profiles.

Our commitment to quality continues to grow and prove itself in ever improving quality coffee.  We continue to deep-source our coffee in hopes of discovering unique coffee profiles & stories that hopefully educate not only you, but also your clients.  Thank you for your support, without it, we could not continue to support the families we work with.

We have more photos from this trip available to view on Flickr or Facebook.

We are also passionate at Fratello about the people and places we work with that grow our coffee and the many loyal customers that enjoy it. Fratello has been working hard to reduce our overall carbon footprint at each step of this journey to you.

We would like to take the time to highlight some of the steps we are taking to reduce waste and contribute positively to the environment. We would like to be part of a dialogue with you the consumer on how we can do more to affect positive change! We welcome comments, ideas and feedback so that we can learn and grow green.

When as a company you think of reducing your carbon footprint, Recycling comes to mind first. Running a warehouse and roasting facility where we are receiving and shipping coffee and other goods daily causes a lot of material to be used.

We looked at what everyday recycling programs we could put in place easily and maintain. So far we recycle:

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Milk containers
• Cans/bottles
• Shrink-wrap
• Plastic

We are looking to recycle or donate broken pallets. These come to us in shipments and often break due to use.  We would welcome a cost effective way to reuse or recycle these. Please contact us if you would like to come pick some up!

Coffee that is shipped to us from all over the world arrives in burlap coffee sacks. We have stopped putting these sacks into the garbage, and instead have been donating these. Gardening groups love the burlap sacks for making planters! In conversation with Green Calgary, an environmental consulting group we learned that the burlap sacks break down within a few years. Crafters also love them. Give us a call, and then visit Fratello to take away some burlap sacks for yourself!

We have also recently started donating all of our Chaff (a by product of roasting coffee, similar to the skin of a peanut) to be used in composting.  This Chaff is also going to chicken farms for making nests. Through these efforts, Fratello has reduced its garbage shipped to landfills by 60-70%.

We have also designed and implemented a revolutionary new gas burner system on our roaster which has 98% gas efficiency which is a departure from most if no all other roasters which operate at much lower efficiencies (as low as 50%).

We also have re-usable Blue Bins to do our local deliveries in, instead of cardboard, and have also changed our branded cups to a paper cup using 10% post consumer products (looking into using 100% post consumer products).

Fratello Coffee Roasters is opening our first café April 2011. Analog Café at the new location for the Calgary Farmers Market will run on 100% Bullfrog Power wind energy.  We are also working with Bullfrog to supply our roasting facility with clean energy for both electricity and gas. Our café is only a few miles from our roasting facility so there will be minimal transport emissions getting the coffee to Analog café. Our pastry supplier will be right at the market as well reducing extra transport. We look forward to also benefiting from the environmental practices of the market itself and insuring we take full advantage of any composting, recycling and waste reduction programs they offer.

However, we do not look just at our company, and the city we live in.  To us, the largest impact we can make is through our buying practices.  Our coffee is: Consciously Chosen, Responsibly Purchased & Carefully Roasted.  What this means is we do not treat coffee like a commodity.  We “deep source” our coffee and buy directly with the farmers.  We do this for many reasons; most obvious is to find the highest quality coffee.  But just as important, is to ensure the farms and farmers we work with our doing their parts to take care of their environments.

We seek out farms that are Rainforest Alliance Certified.  This is the most in depth certification available.  Please read the link on our website “Why Fratello Coffee Chooses to Support Rainforest Alliance Certification” for more information on why we choose this certification:

http://www.fratellocoffee.com/rainforest-alliance-farm-audits/

We also purchase certified Organic and Fair-trade Organic coffees on a regular basis.

As we dig deeper into ways that Fratello Coffee Roasters and Fratello Analog Café can reduce our environmental footprint, we will share them with you. Our goal is to work closely with our community right here in Calgary and the coffee communities we work directly with. The journey from seed to cup is one that carries with it many challenges and many rewards. We are hoping in our own way to make that journey a little greener.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Please write us, either in the comments here or directly. We would love to spark a dialogue about ways we can further our environmental commitment.

Contact Kevin McConnell at Fratello Coffee Roasters:

Kevin.mcconnell@fratellocoffee.com

Phone: 403 265 2112

Analog Café on Twitter: @fratelloanalog

At the end of February 2011, John and I got home from touring coffee estates throughout Central America with one stop in South America to Colombia. I always get excited about going to Colombia.   The culture, the diverse landscape, the food and the excitement around coffee is contagious.   To top it off, I just love what it takes to get to the farms.  They are much more remote and smaller in size then other growing countries, so it isn’t an easy task.  It takes work.  Due to this, we decided to focus on only one region located in the South of Colombia called Huila; however; within Huila are many micro-regions (and micro-climates).   Huila is generally known as the region that produces the highest quality coffees, and are typically ranked high in the Cup of Excellence competitions.

The first thing you notice when visiting a farm is how small they are.  Typically a farm in Colombia will produce 30-40 bags (152 lbs per bag) of high quality coffee per harvest.  In Colombia, unlike other regions, they produce 2 harvests per year due to their climate and proximity to the equator.  The main crop called Principal will happen in the North, while the smaller Mitaca crop will occur in the South (and visa-versa).

Our first visits occurred in the Northern Huila micro-region Suaza.  The average farm size is 3 hectares with an average of 5000 trees per hectare.  Typical elevation is 1300-1800 meters. In the past 2-3 years, Suaza like most regions in Huila were affected by a coffee tree disease/fungus called Leaf Rust.  This Leaf Rust severally damaged the crop sizes in Colombia by primarily attacking the coffee varietal Caturra.  Caturra and Colombia have been the two most commonly planted varietals in Colombia until recently.  What we witnessed was the mass planting of a new Leaf Rust resistant varietal called Castillo.  Castillo isn’t as sweet as Caturra, but it is a large producer of coffee cherries.  Colombia is at a time when they need to correct the coffee shortages, and fix it fast.  For the past 3 years Colombia has had bad crops, which affected most farmers/families in Colombia, as well as the worlds coffee pricing due to the shortages of high quality washed coffees.

Fratello will be offering two coffees from Suaza in March 2011.  Both have been purchased through our new partners CooCentral, a cooperative located in Garzon Huila.  Working with a cooperative seems to be necessary in Colombia due to the small farm sizes and logistical nightmares.   Finding a good cooperative to partner with is just as important as finding the great farms.  They are vital as they are the people on the ground every day.  They are the people who coach/teach technical issues, who have agronomists who analyze soil conditions for customized fertilization and basically insure the health and yields of the overall farms.   Over & above this, CooCentral has impressive social benefits for the 332 farms in Suaza that have partnered with them.

CooCentral starts by paying more money per lb than any of the other cooperative.  Because of this they get to be more selective with who they work with and ensure that only the farms producing the highest quality of coffee are associated.  Above this, they pay for 50% of the health care needs as well as 100% of any funeral expenses for their immediate families.   Also impressive is the fact that they offer lines of credit to the farms in order to buy fertilizer and other products they need at 0% interest rates.

Currently CooCentral is in the process of re-building 110 new homes, including new kitchen installations for the farms that have been the most loyal.  Next year, they will work on more.

The two lots we are bringing in have been chosen for their unique cup quality and characteristics.  The farms associated with these lots were paid an additional premium for this quality.

Our first lot is a blend made up of 14 different families in the Suaza region.  This was a special preparation of green coffee, which had extra attention in the dry mill to ensure a much more consistent bean size.  What we found was approximately 15% of the green beans were not used.  These families were:

1. Isauro Burgos, from the Cerritos-Galladro hamlet of Suaza.
2. Sigifredo Giraldo, from the Esmeralda hamlet of Suaza.
3. Pedro Jose Girald, from the Esmeralda hamlet of Suaza.
4. Jesus Antonio Mojo, from the Esnarlda hamlet of Suaza.
5. Ariel Pulido, from the Galladro hamlet of Suaza.
6. Sinforoso Cruz, from the Gallardo hamlet of Suaza.
7. Omar Antonio Realpe, from the Horizonte hamlet of Suaza.
8. Luz Mari Hurtado, from the Horizonte hamlet of Suaza.
9. Placido Espitia, from the Toribio hamlet of Suaza.
10. Jose Yadir Munoz, from the Toribio hamlet of Suaza.
11. Dario Munoz, from the Union hamlet of Suaza.
12. Roniro Duque, from the Vergel hamlet of Suaza.
13. Juan Carlos Taborda, from the Vergel hamlet of Suaza.
14. Jose Enrique Jordan, from the Vergel hamlet of Suaza.

Our second Lot is considered a Micro-Lot that is made up of only three tiny farms.  Together they made up a 22 bag lot of extraordinarily great quality coffee which showcases the profile of what Suaza is all about.   This Lot is from:

1. Ariel Pulido, from the Gallardo hamlet of Suaza.
2. Dario Nunoz, from the Union hamlet of Suaza.
3. Juan Carlos Taborda, from the Vergel hamlet of Suaza.

We have some exciting plans for Colombia in the second half of this year, which includes a competition held at CooCentral for many of the farms we visited.  Our goal is to find the highest quality coffee from a Single Estate in either El Pital, Los Naranjos and Suaza regions from the harvest coming this May/June.  Our goal will be to continue supporting this farm year over year in a true Direct Trade partnership that will allow both parties to prosper.   We will continue to update you on this project as more details come our way.

Watch for these two exciting new Lots coming very soon.  For more photos from this trip please visit our Facebook Page or Flickr Page.

We have successfully completed another buying trip in Nicaragua and this year we have done something a little different.   We are still working with Erwin Miersch and his family who have farms in both Jinotega and Matagalpa, but for the first time we aren’t focusing on just a single lot of coffee.  Instead we wanted to taste coffees and approach this up coming year with a variety of Estates, processes and varietals.  This is going to be a fun & exciting year filled with selection.

It is always rewarding when you visit a farm you have a relationship with and notice improvements in their processing.  This year the Miersch family has been very busy re-doing all of their wet mills (which are located on every farm, 7 in total) with custom made de-pulping machines.  These machines are very similar to the “Colombian” style de-pulpers which use 1/40^th the amount of water of traditional wet milling equipment.  This is obviously great, but the best part about them to me is the ability to customize the amount of mucilage you leave on the beans when doing Honey Prep (yellow or red), also known as Pulped Naturals.

As soon as we saw the honey coffee drying in the sun at the Don Esteban dry mill in Matagalpa you could see the difference.   Thick mucilage was on the beans, which gave a red look to them (Red Honey prep).   We have purchased this coffee in the past, and chose to again this year.  The sugars found in this type of mucilage create a sweet full body which you will notice when tasting this coffee.

The other big change I noticed was an improvement in the dry-mill.  A new addition of a color scanner which aids in removing any beans that are damaged or off colored.  This is used together with a screening system, an Oliver density sorter as well as hand sorting tables.

After 4 days in Nicaragua we are coming away with stronger relationships as well as 4 new lots of coffee we will be offering you.  This June we will have a:

1. 100% Caturra Honey Prep from Los Placeres
2. Fully washed Caturra from Mama Mina Estate
3. Fully washed Red Pacamara from Limoncillo Estate
4. Full Natural Java also from Limoncillo Estate.

I guarantee you this are going to knock your socks off!  To view more photos of this trip, click here.

Over the last 4 years the number of independent quality driven cafes has grown from less than a handful to over 20 to choose from, with multiple locations opening for some companies. We have seen a greater dedication to sourcing exceptional coffee, hiring and retaining baristas that are passionate about coffee and educating the public.

One of the key distinguishing qualities in a great coffee house, is the sense of community between the customer and the employees. Baristas working in great coffee shops see their role as a sort of guide for the customer to what coffee has to offer; and by extension the customer becomes excited and engaged with the experience. Independent cafes and progressive chains are opening up to their customers and inviting them to learn about the whole seed to cup journey of coffee.

The approach does not reduce the Barista to a “button pusher” but someone who takes care in the preparation of each beverage and takes the time to let customers know about the latest coffee offerings from their chosen roaster. Increasingly these coffee selections in coffee houses include Direct Trade coffee where the roaster themselves is traveling to coffee origin and foraging relationships on the ground with the artisan producers. To highlight the best of these coffees and insure that each distinct coffees unique flavor profile shines through, many independent and quality focused chain coffee houses are starting to use “by the cup” brewing methods that prepare a single cup of coffee to order. This means the coffee is ground fresh right before brewing and the customer has a greater choice over what coffee they would like to discover.

At Fratello we have been excited to be a part of this shift in Calgary towards coffee as a truly culinary product and not just a commodity. Along with this dedication from independent cafes, Fratello is proud to continue our ongoing partnership with Good Earth Coffee House. Good Earth is an ever growing Calgary Alberta based Franchise that serves coffee with pride and dedication to quality, roasted locally by Fratello Coffee. In the past few years Good Earth has undergone a further review of their coffee program and taken some impressive steps to show their loyal customers just how passionate they are about coffee.

I wanted to talk to Gerry Docherty of Good Earth to discuss what Good Earth have done to further their coffee quality in the last few years and what drives their passion as a company to continue to pass along great coffee to their customers:

In January you joined Russ Prefontaine on a coffee buying trip. When in Nicaragua you visited one of our Direct Trade partners Erwin Merisch and his coffee estates. How did the experience of traveling to the coffee origin and seeing first hand the dedication to quality and the connection to the coffee Good Earth serves affect you and your team?

“It would be impossible to make a trip like that and not be affected by it. Anyone who is passionate about serving a great cup of coffee must make a trip to see for themselves where their product originated. To see firsthand the degree of care and dedication that goes into producing and processing an outstanding product, you come to the realization that it would be a sin for that quality product to be produced, processed, and roasted with such care only to be mishandled at the point of sale with the customer. So, after meeting with such a passionate and proud farmer such as Erwin, you leave there with an unspoken promise to finish off the supply chain to the consumer with the care and respect his beans deserve.”

When a customer goes into a Good Earth location now, they can really get to know the coffee being served. Good Earth has a lot of info on each label about the countries and farms the coffee comes from.  What has Good Earth done as a company to help educate themselves and their franchise partners on each of the coffees being served and the countries they are from?

“With respect to direct trade, the biggest adjustment in the area we focus on with our Partners is to educate on why Good Earth has chosen this particular farmer and his product. Part of our big shift was that our product offering is no longer simply about the quality of the coffee, but in addition it is also about the farmer and his business practices. Of course we will only sell exceptional tasting coffees and our Partners are quite comfortable in understanding and describing quality. However now the coffee also has to have a story, which we refer to as “A World of Good”. We want to understand how that farmer treats his employees, how he treats his waste water, or what positive effects does his business have on the community in which he operates. Basically we are looking for like-minded business partners. We share this information with our Operating Partners who in turn share it with their customers to bring the end user a little closer to the origins of the cup of coffee they are enjoying.”

Your feature coffee rotates now very often and showcases some of the finest Direct Trade single estate farms that Fratello works with. How have customers embraced an always changing feature coffee and what have the franchise partners done to promote this seasonal approach?

“In addition to our unique blends that our customers have come to love and expect from every Good Earth, we decided to begin rotating in a feature coffee that would change every few months based on quantities available, to enable us to provide our customers with very unique estate coffee flavours that they might not otherwise ever have the opportunity to enjoy. Some customers are creatures of habit and stick to their “usual” but many of our more adventurous customers have come to love trying a new and unique coffee on a regular basis. Our Partners tell customers the story behind the Feature coffee and they will hold tastings and cuppings within the café to help promote these fantastic coffees.”

Good Earth is one of the few coffee house chains to still be working with semi automatic espresso machines and grinders to grind espresso fresh on demand. I have seen some impressive latte’s being made, even with latte art on the top showcasing the care your baristas are taking. What sort of training and steps do your baristas take in preparing customers drinks?

“We take barista training very seriously. We have several levels of training available to our Partners to assist with the training. Baristas start out with the basics which we call coffee 101 and they then progress through various modules and practical hands-on training until they achieve their barista certification. We are also fortunate to have great partners in Fratello who support with roasting tours, cupping sessions, and specialized latte art training support. All of this must take place prior to our baristas serving a single customer.”

With over 27 locations and expanding fast, how does Good Earth insure as a company it “serves exceptional coffee and wholesome food, with a down-to-earth attitude? What is next for Good Earth to keep this vision strong and to keep growing in quality?

“The secret to our success as we expand is our Operating Partners. As an organization, Good Earth made the decision over 4 years ago to adopt a franchise model to ensure that we have like-minded individuals who own their cafes, and who can put the care and attention into ensuring that all of the values that have driven the success of this company for the past 19 years, will remain intact. On the door of every Good Earth café no matter where it is found, is the statement “Locally Owned and Operated” and this is true. Every Partner comes into this business with a clear understanding, and is fully invested into the Good Earth way of running a coffeehouse. As we grow, it will be imperative to also ensure that the support and expertise that our Partners need from their Franchisor is there, and that we are aligned with supplier Partners such as Fratello to provide us with the specialized expertise we need as continue to succeed in a competitive industry.”

It is rewarding to know as a roaster that Good Earth is honoring the long journey that coffee takes from seed to cup. We are immensely proud of our Direct Trade partners and the care and attention needed for the whole process right up to our master roaster Mike bringing his years of experience to the final roasted coffee. It is great to have a business partner like Good Earth who carries out that final step so well to their customer. Look for the latest coffee discoveries to arrive at Good Earth soon!

We are going to take our award winning Costa Rican Rio Jorco Direct Trade coffee and show you how to prepare it 4 different ways. This class is all about discovering some simple, easy but really great alternative ways of brewing coffee in your café or restaurant or at home. There will be a chance to taste the coffee, try the brew methods yourself and a contest thrown in as well to win an Aeropress brewer!

Using a French Press, doing a Hario V60 pour-over, making a Chemex and preparing an Aeropress of your favorite Fratello coffee are all great ways to showcase the unique flavors of coffee. Each brewing method produces a different characteristic in the cup. We will demo each and taste the results. There will be lots of coffee to go around and a chance to pick up some of the brewers you will learn about and the coffee you will taste!

So don’t just set your automatic coffee maker! Let us show you the quality difference you can get by exploring these 4 brewing methods for yourself

We would love to know how many people will join us so please call the office and let us know you are coming!

Fratello main line: 403 265 2112

or email Kevin at kevin.mcconnell(at)fratellocoffee.com

See you there!

The Rio Jorco Micro-Mill employees between 4-6 people & has 65 pickers during harvest season.   Rio Jorco is situated at an altitude of 4600 feet, and like many farms in Tarrazu faces the Pacific Coast.  The strong winds from the Pacific are important as they create a defined dry season.  This dryness causes a stress on trees creating extra sweetness in Tarrazu coffees, and especially in the 100% Caturra lots we chose from Rio Jorco.

Rio Jorco which was once known as Hacienda Jorco, is rich in history and has played a key role in the development of excellent coffee within the Tarrazu region. The Rio Jorco Micro-Mill processes all of the coffee from their own estate. unlike in their early historyof 1910, when the coffee had to be taken from Jorco to San Jose using Oxen or on horseback. Though the distance was only 15 miles it was a long trip up winding muddy roads. This required oxen to be changed 2 or three times and a one day trip was considered fast.

Their proud tradition of quality estate coffee runs in the blood of these third generation coffee farmers, brothers Luis and Jim Alfaro.  Both of them believe in continuing the proud cultural love affair with coffee which was started so long ago by their grandfather. They describe their attention to detail as “Quality with passion, in our processes, our beneficio (processing plant/mill) and our care and selection of our coffee.”

“This year, we are reinforcing our attention to quality by increasing the number of siphons (receiving tanks) so we can better select our coffee into separate micro lots based on location and time of harvest.  We have doubled also the size our sun drying yards. Our goal is to be the Best Coffee in Costa Rica.“ says brother Luis Zeledon.

Luis continues “Along with careful hand picking, our coffee is processed and Sun dried with passion and care to produce the best coffee possible. Our Processing Plant is a highly ecological unit.  Our processor uses the latest technology to process our coffee without damaging the beans while at the same time conserving our natural resources. The pulp that is removed from the coffee beans is used as a natural fertilizer, some of the water is recycled, and the residual water is treated and returned to the ground. “

“The fuel for the indirect ovens (mechanical dryers) comes from recycling fallen trees and using the peel (parchment) from the coffee to heat the ovens. Nothing is wasted!  The grounds all around the processing plant are carefully planted in native flowering trees and flowers and tropical plants complete the setting.”

Fratello is thrilled to be working with the Zeledon brothers and the Rio Jorco Micro-Mill and to be including them in our line up of Direct Trade coffee partners.

I guess I’m a slow learner because it took me 4 days of visiting16 micro mills (and 1 mega mill), cupping 48 individual lots of coffee and traveling through the Tarrazu, West Valley and Central Valley regions with Jason to fully understand & appreciate the phenomenon in Costa Rica.

This phenomenon is being called “The Micro-mill Revolution” by Francisco Mena of Exclusive Coffees.   He has personally visited all 150 micro-mills that now operate through out Costa Rica and works with many of them to increase quality through proper growing, harvesting and processing techniques.

A micro-mill is small coffee farm (typically producing 1000 bags or less, or 152,000 lbs of coffee) that also has its own wet mill and processing on its farm. What this allows a farm to do is process their own cherries to ensure the absolute best quality and taste.  This also allows the farmer to separate varietals (Typica from Caturra, etc…) for micro-lots as well as introduce unique processing methods for individual coffee roasters needs (washed, honey, red-honey, naturals).  What this really means is complete traceability and a totally individual identity for each lot of coffee we bring in.

More importantly to the farmer is the ability to have a direct relationship with someone as well as make WAY more money for the coffee they produce. Of course not all roasters want to source this style of coffee and aren’t willing to pay for this type of quality.  Fratello travels Central & South America looking for this exact type of coffee partner.

To better appreciate what is happening in Costa Rica a brief look at their history is needed:

• 1790’s – Typica coffee plant was transferred from the Caribbean islands to Costa Rica.
• 1808 – First registered production.
• 1821 – Firest registered export.
• 1821-1940 – Costa Rica relied on a coffee oligarchy.  Society, culture, values, democracy were all about coffee.  This was Costa Rican’s main export.
• 1950’s – Co-op Revolution.  Large Co-op’s were buying from small farms but shorting them on cherry counts.  Exploiting their efforts.  50 large Co-ops were formed.  The Swiss and German private exporters were purchased out by the large national (and multi-national) exporters.
• 1950-60’s – Caturra & Catuai cultivars replaced Typica & Bourbon’s for the main purpose of higher yields.
• 1960’s – Massive production cycle with huge mega-mills using large producing cultivars going towards mass production.  Mult-nationals were doing the milling and the exporting.  Largest production was over 400,000,000 lbs of green coffee.
• 1997-2000 – The New York Commodity crisis as well as the new environmental movement forced clean milling practices on all farms.  This caused huge down size in production.  Production drops to 200,000,000 lbs of green coffee.
• 2000-2010 – The start of the Micro-mill Revolution.

Basically the mega-mills have been controlling the entire movement of coffee in Costa Rica for many years.  Exploiting coffee farmers of their hard work and blending extremely good quality and unique varietals with generic and potentially improperly harvested/processed coffees.  Until now there wasn’t motivation for farmers to excel in what they do as they were paid for quantity, not quality.

Finally these quality driven farmers are taking matters into their own hands.  Through working with people like Franciso, they are able to establish direct relationships with roasters who will pay them for the quality and hard work that they do.  For most, it is far beyond what any certification could/would pay them, often resulting in the farmer making twice as much for exceptional green coffee compared to average coffee cherries  being  sold to the mega mills

If you have not come out to one of our last cupping sessions this is a great way to learn about the distinctions amoung different coffee regions. You don’t have to be an expert to join us, just an interest in learning about some great coffee!

Here are the coffees we will be cupping on Feb 10th at 1:30

Guatemalan Montecristo, Single Estate, Rainforest Alliance, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 88.5
• Varietal: 100% Bourbon
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo, Single Estate, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 88.00
• Varietal: 25% Bourbon, 20% Caturra, 15% Java
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Panama Hacienda la Esmeralda – Diamond Mountain, Single Estate, RFA

• Cupping Score: 89.50
• Varietal: A blend of Typica, Bourbon and Catuai
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Colombian Tolima Tierra, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 89.0
• Varietal: 70% Caturra & 30 % Colombia
• Processing: European Prep – Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Bolivian Caranavi Villa Oriente, Organic Fair Trade

• Cupping Score: 86.00
• Varieties: Typica (80%), Catuai (both red and yellow) and 20 % Caturra
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

Brazil Sete Cachoeiras, Single Estate, Rainforest Alliance, Direct Trade

• Cupping Score: 87.00
• Varietal: Blend of Mundo Novo, Acaia & Catuai
• Processing: Passa / Natural

Sumatra Tabu Jamu

• Cupping Score: 88.00
• Processing: Full Natural – Double Pick
• Harvest Season: Late December – End of March

• Cupping Score: 87.00
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried
• Harvest Season: Early February – Late May

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Idido Misty Valley, Organic

• Cupping Score: 91.00
• Varietal: Heirloom and Longberry
• Processing: Full Natural, double picked and polished

Kenya Wamuguma, Ritho Coop

• Cupping Score 91.0
• Varietal: SL28 / SL 34
• Processing: Fully Washed / Sun Dried

We look forward to seeing you here on Feb 10th at 1:30. If you have any questions please give Kevin a call at Fratello 403 287 4586

For more information on any of these coffees please visit:

http://www.fratellocoffee.com/products-page/