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.

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!

Guatemala Montecristo Estate – Micro Lot from Russ Prefontaine on Vimeo.

Chris and myself along with Nan & Gerry (of Good Earth Cafes) just finished visiting the Meirsch family in Nicaragua.  Together we toured Matagalpa and Jinotega to see their 5 unique coffee estates, each show casing a different cup characteristic that stand out from one another.

The Merisch family is a 3^rd generation coffee family that currently evolves 2 generations, with a 3^rd (or the 4^th in total) not far behind.  It was easy to see how close this family is to one another and how important family is to them.  When staying at Erwin Merisch’s Seniors home, you were always in the company of his siblings and wives, their children as well as cousins.  We certainly didn’t feel like outsiders either, as we were welcomed with open arms.

Erwin Merisch (Junior) is currently involved heavily in the quality control systems with all farms.  Erwin helps many farms, cooperatives in Nicaragua and other countries increase their qualities their lending his expertise in farm management as well as cupping analysis.  Erwin was the first in Nicaragua to begin separating, cupping and selling coffees on cup profiles, rather than bean size.

Today they continue to experiment with different varietals and processing methods including a new process for Nicaragua, Passa.  Currently they are process full washed, pulped naturals, full naturals and passa with many varietals including Caturra, Catuai (red & yellow), Bourbon (red & yellow), Java, Pacamara (red & yellow) and Typica.

Another purpose of this trip was to cup several different lots from their estates to decide on what to import to Calgary for the coming year.  Our decision was to choose two Micro-Milled lots of Pulped Natural 100% Caturra from the Rainforest Alliance certified farm Los Placeres in the Mataglapa region.  This coffee was grown at an altitude of 1500 meters in an environment filled with shade cover.

60 families live full time on this farm and are provided homes, electricity, water, schools from grades 1-4, food and health care.  It was easy to see how the families loved it there as the sounds of children’s laughter filled the air as you traveled through their little community.

To learn more about their estates, please READ THIS.

To purchase and sample coffee from their Finca Limoncillo Estate Go Here.

After spending a few days with Johann and his wife Holly Nottebohm I come away with a renewed energy towards supporting there coffee.  Johann is a 3^rd generation coffee farmer who has been committed to the quality of not only the coffee they grow, but also the life styles of their workers and community around them.  This farm is meticulously keeping up with, and surpassing the standards of Rainforest Alliance certification.

When we last visited this estate, we saw first hand the activities and investments Johann was doing to improve the lives of their workers, but this time, we got to see how far his progress has come.  Not only does he have free health care and school for the 60 children that live full time on the estate (grades 1-6 as well as computer class), he is almost ready to open his 3rd class room which will host grades 7-9.  What excites us the most is that he is now going to open these classes up to the families that do not live on the farm.  This proves his commitment to continually improve the community which lives around the estate.

Last year Guatemala saw 40% above average rain falls which caused 30% less coffee production then typically expected.  This year, being the cyclical down year, we again see production down 30%; however, it is normal to see higher qualities in these down years as the coffee trees get a chance to rest, and therefore have more nutrients and energy to put into the cherries producing better flavors.  This was evident when cupping this coffee as we found a much cleaner and sweeter cup than before, as well as a thicker and creamier body.

A lot of work has been done to improve consistency from this estate which includes a color bean scanner as well as a more efficient hand sorting line which is situated directly after the color scanner in the dry mill.  The consistency and cleanliness of their green coffee is world class and shows on the cupping table, and now that we have approved this shipment of coffee, it will continue its resting process in parchment until it is ready to ship to Calgary in 1.5 months.

We can’t wait for this fresh shipment of coffee to arrive and for you to taste it.  To sample the current crop of this coffee please visit BUY NOW.  To read more about this estate, please visit READ MORE.

Not all of our coffee is RA, however, more and more are and we will continue to source coffees that first stand out as exceptional on the cupping table; followed with the hopes that these estates are/could be certified.

Below is a short video provided to us by The Rainforest Alliance that shows a few of their objectives while auditing at the farm level.

• Costa Rican Calle de Copy COE #3
• Colombian Villarrica COE #4 

Also available:

• Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo, Direct Trade, Single Estate
• Panama Esmeralda Diamond Mountain, Rainforest Alliance, Single Estate
• Bolivian Caranavi, Organic Fairtrade
• Ethiopian Sidamo, Organic Fairtrade

**Order these on line now**

Last year we were offering coffee from this same estate called Nueva Granada.  This year we wanted to dig a little deeper into their farm and decided on this single varietal coffee, Bourbon.  Bourbon, an American mutation of the Typica varietal, is known for its softer, creamer cup then most other coffee varietals.

This 100% Bourbon micro-lot has a sappy maple aroma with flavor notes of brown sugar and white chocolate.  The green grape acidity finishes thick and clean.

Cupping Score – 88.5.

Montecristo is located at the highest point of Nueva Granada in the San Marcos region of Guatemala.  At 5200 feet elevation, this is San Marcos highest farm.  From the top of this farm you can see two volcano’s and Mexico’s boarder. 

Fratello Coffee is the only roaster who had access to this coffee in the entire world as Johann D Nottebohm, the owner of the estate, did this special separation of 100% Bourbon just for us. 

Thank you Johann, we look forward to sharing this with our clients!  To read more information about this coffee/estate, please go to: http://www.fratellocoffee.com/2009/02/05/guatemalan-nueva-granda-buying-trip/

You can read more about this coffee here:

Look for this coffee to be available late this summer/early Spring.  Some incredible coffees are available now and coming soon to Fratello…..a few of these are:

• Brazilian Daterra Sweet Blue

Available now (and selling fast): READ more.

• Ethiopian Idido Misty Valley – Organic

Available now: READ more.

• Guatemalan Montecristol – Rainforest Alliance, Direct Trade, MicroLot

Available July: READ more.

• Colombian Villarrica – Cup of Excellence #4

Available July/August: READ more.

• Costa Rican Celle de Copey – Cup of Excellence #3

Available August/September: READ more.

These coffees are all limited quantities, so enjoy them while you can.  There are a few other origins we are working on, each as exciting as the ones above.  Looks like its going to be a tasty summer.  

Russ